ehara ehara
1. my oath, you bet, yes indeed, of course, for sure, absolutely - an idiom used to agree strongly with a statement.
E kī, kei te tū a Hone hei mema mō Te Rōpū Māori. Ehara ehara. Kāore i ārikarika ōna pūmanawa. / Is that right, Hone is standing for the Māori Party. Yes indeed. He has many talents.
Synonyms: pū, anō, moruka, te mutunga (kē) mai (nei) o te ..., mārika, tahi, mōrukaruka, mārire, pohapoha, puru, piropiro, hāwerewere, rukaruka, mārie, engari engari, tonu
ehara
1. (negative) on the contrary - used to negate a negative sentence or question and may be followed by tonu.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 110;)
Kāore ōu hū? Ehara! He hū anō ōku. / Don't you have any shoes? On the contrary, I do have some shoes.
Synonyms: engaringari, anō, tonu, engari
2. (particle) sure enough (used in animated narrative), for sure - but not used with this meaning after negatives (see above).
Kotahi anō te whakarerenga iho o tana mere, ehara, kua mate tana hoariri. / With just one blow of his club, sure enough his enemy was dead.
See also ehara (tonu)!
3. (negative) Used in various negative sentence types, especially, but not exclusively, with those that do not have verbs. These uses are explained under separate entries where ehara is listed with each of the various particles it occurs before. As well as being marked by a negative word, negative sentences often differ from corresponding affirmative sentences by having a different word order and sometimes different particles.
ehara nā/nō
1. (negative) does not belong to, did not belong to - the usual word to negate affirmative sentences beginning with nā or nō is ehara. This is merely placed before the affirmative sentence. Although this is a common form in modern Māori, the alternative ehara i a ... was the more usual negative for nā and nō in classical Māori.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 29-30;)
Ehara nā Te Tiwha tēnei whakaahua. / This photograph does not belong to Te Tiwha.
See also ehara i a
2. (negative) if the subject is a pronoun it can be placed immediately after ehara.
3. (negative) did not - with sentences where the emphasis is on the actor to form the negative ehara merely precedes the affirmative sentence.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 29-30;)
2. (negative) will not - with sentences where the emphasis is on the actor, to form the negative ehara merely precedes the affirmative sentence.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 29;)
Ehara mā tōku matua tēnā nama e utu / It is not for my father to pay that bill.
ehara (tonu)!
1. (negative) heavens above! surprise surprise! of course! for sure! - an idiom that expresses amazement. It can also be used to emphasise affirmative sentences.
Kotahi atu te meke a Hani, ehara, kei raro te hoariri e putu ana. / Sonny made one punch and, surprise surprise, the opponent was down in a heap.
Synonyms: engari (tonu)
2. (negative) does not belong to, did not belong to - this was the common form in classical Māori, but the alternative ehara inā/nō ... is the more usual negative for nā and nō in modern Māori.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 29-30;)
See also ehara nā/nō
3. (negative) is not, are not - affirmative sentences with a personal name beginning with ko are negated by ehara i a or ehara ko.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 43-44;)
2. (negative) is not, are not - affirmative sentences with a noun phrase beginning with ko are negated by ehara.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 43-44;)
ehara i te tī
1. YOLO, you only live once, seize the day - this phrase is derived from the saying ‘ehara i te tī e wana ake’, a reminder that the life of a human is unlike like the tī (cabbage tree) that continuously springs forth new shoots.
Tama: Haramai ki te pāti ā te pō nei. Pare: Hoatu koe, he mahi tāku āpōpō. Tama: Haramai! Ehara i te tī, e kō. / Tama: Come to the party tonight. Pare: You go, I have work tomorrow. Tama: Come on! You only live once, girl.
ehara i te hanga
1. it's not something insignificant, it's no ordinary thing, it's pretty amazing - used as an expression to comment on something that is impressive.
Ehara i te hanga! Harawiniwini ana taku kiri i te mātao. / It's pretty unusual! I'm shivering from the cold.
Haere te pū repo, haere te pū Māori nei anō, ehara i te hanga ake! Ngateri ana te whenua i te tangi o te pū! (TWM 28/5/1864:3). / The cannons went off and so did the Māori guns, it was amazing! The ground shook from the noise of the guns!
ehara i te mea he aha
1. it is not for any particular reason, I'm not raising another argument, I'm not making a particular issue of it, no cause for alarm, it's no big deal - a saying used to indicate that the listener need not take too much notice of what the speaker is about to say. Also used to soften a statement or criticism.
Ehara i te mea he aha, engari i hē tō whakahua o taua kupu Wīwī. / It's not a major issue, but your pronunciation of that French word is incorrect.
e hawa (e hawa)
1. no way, you're joking, you're kidding, get away - an idiom to express disbelief about something the speaker has just heard. It usually follows another idiom ehara (ehara) (yes indeed) used by another speaker.
Rangi: E mea ana koe he pai noa atu koutou i a Rangiwewehi? Pare: Ehara, ehara. Rangi: E hawa, e hawa! (HKK 1999:64). / Rangi: Are you saying that you are way better than Rangiwewehi? Pare: You bet. Rangi: No way!
