e taea te aha
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Engari e taea te aha, kua puta, kua kore ia e taea te whakahoki atu ki tōna rua i puta ake ai (HJ 2012:21). / But nothing can be done, it's out and can no longer be returned to its lair that it emerged from.
Synonyms: e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Kāore hoki e taea te pēhea, i te kaha o te mamae o tōna ngākau mō tona tamāhine tūturu. / Nothing could be done because of her extreme grief for her own daughter.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
tē taea te aha
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka mania a ia ki roto i te wai. Ka whakamātau tōna hoa a Rāhera ki te hopu i a ia; tē taea te aha (Te Ara 2017). / She slipped into the water. Her friend Rāhera tried to grab her, but nothing could be done.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
e kore e taea te pēhea
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka utua e te kāpene o te tima ruku, "E kore e taea te pēhea he mea whakahau mai ahau kia whakatotohutia ngā tima e rere ana i ngā takiwā rerenga tima ki ngā tāone taha tai o te Ingarihi." (TKO 15/10/1916:8). / The captain of the submarine replied, "There as nothing I could do because I was ordered to sink the ships sailing in the shipping lanes to the coastal towns of England."
Synonyms: e taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
ūā ana
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka tata kore te huia i te mata o te whenua, ka tahuri te motu ki te whakaora. Ūā ana, tūreiti e te iwi (HJ 2015:235). / When the huia was almost gone from the face of the earth, the country set about saving it. Nothing could be done, it was too late, people.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
anahe
1. (particle) only, none but, nothing but, alone, without exception, there is nothing, no one else, these people and no others, these things and no others - used to show that only certain members of a group and thus ruling out others, or to indicate that only one type of thing is present. In the phrase, it comes after manner, directional and locative particles, if any are present. Tainui dialectal variation of anake.
Ko te Pākehā anahe anō kei te hanga ture, a te ture whiu iho i ana Māori, hari noa atu ki te herehere (TMP 16/12/1895:4). / The Pākehā alone are making laws and the law is punishing Māori, dispatching them to prison.
kāore he paku aha ka/i pahawa
1. nothing has come of it, nothing will come of it - an idiomatic expression.
Ki konā koe whakanonenone kurī ai i tō korenga i te hui me te aha, kāore he paku aha i pahawa! / There you go with your inconsequential grumbling about not being at the meeting and as a result, nothing has been achieved.
pākorehā
1. (verb) to be destitute, not a thing, nothing at all, absolutely nothing, zilch, not a sausage, nobody.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 220;)
Hei Te Aute rawa hanga whakaaro ai te tamaiti mō tana mahi tūturu, heoi ki te kore ia e whakaakona ki ngā painga o te ahuwhenua, e kore tōna ngākau e ahu whakatewhenua, engari ka kotiti kē ki ngā mahi huhua a te Pākehā, ā, ko te tukunga iho he pākorehā (TP 8/1908:2). / At Te Aute the boy develops ideas about his career, so if he is not taught the benefits of agriculture he will not consider the land, but will go off to the many jobs of the Pākehā, and the result is that there's nobody.
Synonyms: kore, kāore he aha, korekore ana (nei), he paku aha nei, korekore, kāore he tangata, ware, kore noa iho
2. (interjection) not a thing, nothing at all, absolutely nothing, zilch, not a sausage, nobody.
Ka puta anō te whakahau, "Pupuhi, tekau ngā matā. Kia teretere tonu." Arā, i pērā anō. Pākorehā (HP 1991:114). / The command came again, "Fire, ten rounds. Quickly." And so that was done. Not one hit home.
nahe
1. (particle) only, none but, nothing but, alone, without exception, there is nothing, no one else, these people or things and no others - used to show that the phrase it follows names all the entities referred to. In the phrase, it comes after manner, directional and locative particles, if any are present. Shortened form of anahe.
I pōtitia nei māua e ō māua hapū me ngā kōrero i kōrerotia e au i taua hui nei, nō roto nahe i ngā pire, nō roto nahe hoki i ngā pukapuka i kapea iho e au i ngā whaikorero o tō tātou Pāremata (HTK 23/9/1893:5). / We were elected by our subtribes and the statements made by me at that meeting were only those in the bills, and only in the reports I copied in the speeches of our parliament.
See also anahe
anake
1. (particle) only, none but, nothing but, alone, without exception, there is nothing, no one else, these people and no others, these things and no others - used to show that only certain members of a group and thus ruling out others, or to indicate that only one type of thing is present. In the phrase, it comes after manner, directional and locative particles, if any are present.
Ko māua anake ko taku tuahine kei te ora. / Only my sister and I are still alive.
E kī ana taku karangarua, a Kemureti, e toru tekau mā waru ngā tāngata i runga, he tāne anake (HP 19918). / My relation, Kemureti, says that thirty-eight people were on it, only men.
he aha te aha
1. what is what, what's what, nothing changes, nothing changed, to no avail, it was a waste of time - an idiom also used at the end of a sentence to indicate that what is stated preceding the idiom was a waste of time or of no benefit.
Kua hia marama ia e ako ana ki te kauhoe, he aha te aha! / Although she has been learning to swim for many months, she still can't!
Ahakoa pēhea taku whakaatu atu me pēnei kē te tui noke, he aha te aha! (HKK 1999:69). / No matter how I showed her that threading worms should be done this way, it was a waste of time!
kāore he aha
1. absolutely nothing.
Kāore he raruraru, kāore he aha. / There were no problems, absolutely none.
Synonyms: he paku aha nei, pākorehā, korekore ana (nei)
kāore kau
1. (negative) no, nothing, nil - also used to agree with a negative sentence.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 15, 56, 75-76, 83-84, 109-110;)
Ka tae mai te rongo ki a mātou mō taua purei, Aotearoa tekau mā iwa, ō Ahitereiria, kāore kau. / The news reached us about that match, New Zealand 19, Australia, nil.
See also kārekau, kāore, karekau
Synonyms: kāre, kāo, e, tē, kārekau, kāhore, āna, ehē, horekau, kāore, aha, kore, korekore, karekau, kore noa iho
kāore i kō atu i ...
1. [you] can't be beaten, there's nobody better than, there's nothing better than - an idiom used to indicate how exceeding good someone is at a particular activity, or how good something is. Also as kāore i kō atu, kāore i kō mai or kāore i kō atu, i kō mai.
Kāore i kō atu i a Te Ururoa mō te kōkiri i ngā take Māori. / There is nobody better than Te Ururoa at promoting Māori issues.
Ahakoa he aha te reo o tēhea whenua o te ao, ki te kore e kōrerotia e kore e ora, me whai kaikōrero tēnei mea te reo e tino ora ai, kāore i kō atu, kāore i kō mai - koinā! (HM 3/1998:2). / No matter what language of whichever country of the world, if it's not spoken it will not survive, languages must have speakers to really survive, there's nothing as important - that's it in a nutshell!
Kāore i kō mai, i kō atu o Whāingaroa mō te whakahekeheke ngaru (HJ 2012:26). / There's nowhere better than Raglan for surfing.
kore noa iho
1. nothing, none, not any, not one, nil, nobody.
Tau: Nā wai i kati te kūaha? Ira: Nā kore noa iho. I ākina noatia e te hau (HJ 2012:46). / Tau: Who shut the door? Ira: Nobody did. It was slammed by the wind.
Koirā te mate ina whai te tangata kia mutu tana kaipaipa, ka nihoniho mō te kore noa iho te take (HJ 2012:46). / That's the problem when a person tries to stop smoking, they become quarrelsome for no reason.
Synonyms: karekau, korekore, kāore kau, kore, kāore he tangata, ware, pākorehā, tē, korekore ana (nei), aha
whakatepe
1. (verb) (-a) to finish off, conclude.
Hei whakatepe noa ake, kei te nui hoki ngā mihi a mātou, a te Taura Whiri, ki te hunga nāna ēnei tauākī marautanga i whakaputa ki te ao (HM 1/1994). / In conclusion, we of the Language Commission sincerely thank the group that produced these curriculum statements.
2. (verb) (-a) to do completely, do fully, do without ommission.
He nui te haringa i hari ai i taua rā. Kāore e taea te whakatepe atu i ngā koa, i ngā wīketi, i ngā aha atu o ia hanga (TWMNT 11/8/1874:200). / It was an exceedingly enjoyable day, but I cannot fully describe the pleasant activities, the wickets, and the whole proceedings.
3. (verb) (-a) to do in unison so that nothing is missed.
Whakatepea te kō, kaua e pokapokaia (RM 1894:77). / Dig in unison so that nothing is missed, not here and there.
4. (modifier) completely, without ommission.
E kore e taea te kōrero whakatepe atu te katoatanga o ngā kupu me ngā ritenga me ngā tini pepeha o te 'Wananga' (TW 12/2/1875:23). / The words, and meanings of the many proverbs of the 'Wananga' cannot be all properly explained completely.
5. (modifier) concluding.
Hei kupu whakatepe noa, ko te āhuatanga nui kei te kaha te whiriwhiritia ko te āhua ki te whakangungu kaiwhakaako (HM 4/1993:4). / As a concluding remark, the main aspect being discussed is the form that teacher training should take.
6. (noun) conclusion, termination, end, finish.
He kaitautoko a Tāmihana i ngā mahi a te Kīngi ki te aukati i ngā mahi hoko a te Māori i ō rātou whenua ki te Pākehā. Ki a ia hoki mā te whakatepe anake i te uru mai o te Pākehā ki ngā whenua Māori e taea ai e ngā iwi e rua te noho i runga i te rangimārie (TTR 1990:304). / Tāmihana supported the King movement's attempt to block the Māori selling their land to the Pākehā. He also thought that only by stopping the encroachment of Pākehā onto Māori land could the two peoples live in peace.
7. (noun) outro.
Pēhea ōu whakaaro mō te whakatepe i tā rātou waiata ā-ringa? (RTP 2015:125). / What do you think of the outro of their action song?
Synonyms: whakatepenga
aurukōwhao
1. (noun) leakage from the lashing holes of the rauawa of a canoe.
Ehara i te aurukōwhao, he takerehāia (TTT 1/2/1922:13). / It is not a leak at the top-strake lashing but an open rent in the bottom of the canoe. (A whakataukī saying that the misfortune is not a minor one but a major catastrophe.)
2. (noun) minor damage, nothing major - a figurative use.
Mate i te tamaiti, he aurukōwhao; mate i te wahine, he takerehaia (TP 11/1908:7). / The death of a child is a minor matter; the death of a woman is a catastrophe. (A whakataukī likening the death of a child to a leak in the lashing hole of canoe and contrasting it with the death of a woman being likened to a split in the hull of a canoe.)
