te - Te Aka Māori Dictionary

te

1. (determiner) the (singular) - used when referring to a particular individual or thing.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 13-14, 44;)

Anei te ongaonga. / Here is the stinging nettle.

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2. (determiner) the - when referring to a whole class of things or people designated by the noun that follows.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 48; Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 125;)

Kī tonu te wharenui i te tamariki. / The meeting house was full of children.

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3. (determiner) Mr, mister, sir - used before people's names to show respect. When used this way it begins with a capital letter.

(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 190-191;)

Kei Te Wharehuia, tēnei te mihi atu mō tō āwhina mai. / Wharehuia sir, thank you most sincerely for your help.

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Synonyms: Mita

4. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following a stative.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 58, 99-100;)

Kua oti i a au tāku pukapuka te tuhi. / I have finished writing my book.

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5. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following taea.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 75-76;)

Ka taea e ia tēnei waiata te whakamāori. / She will be able to interpret this song.

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6. (determiner) Used before the names for the days of the week.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 30;)

Ā te Rātapu mātou haere ai ki Poihākena. / We go to Sydney on Saturday.

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7. (determiner) Sometimes used before numbers with a following noun.

I tāwāhi a Pita mō te rima tau. / Peter was overseas for five years.

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8. (determiner) Used before ordinal numbers including those using tua-.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 12;)

I piki a Tāne-nui-a-rangi ki te tuangahuru mā rua o ngā rangi. / Tāne-nui-a-rangi climbed to the twelfth realm.

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9. .

tē

1. (particle) used before verbs to make an emphatic statement.

Kei āpōpō te teretere nei tē ū mai (NM 1928:163). / Tomorrow the party is certain to arrive (W 1971:409).

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tē

1. (verb) to make a sharp explosive sound, break wind, fart.

Ka tē te rākau, meāke e whati (W 1971:409). / The tree made a sharp noise and soon it will snap.

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2. (stative) crack, fart.

tē

1. (stative) be exhausted.

tē

1. (negative) not, no, none - a negative placed before the verb it negates, used most commonly in formal speech in modern Māori.

Tē taea hoki te pēwhea. / Nothing can be done.
Inā ko te pura o te kanohi kia āta tirohia, ā kāti tirohia, tē kore noa iho ai i konā kore noa iho ai. / If you’re going to look them in the eye, look them in the eye, but don’t just sit there doing nothing.

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Synonyms: kore, kore noa iho, kārekau, kāhore, āna, ehē, horekau, kāore, kāre, e, kāo, kaua, hore, karekau, hore kau, kāore kau

2. (particle) instead of - used with kē. Sometimes ai is also added.

Kei te haere ia ki te kēmu, tē mahi kē ai i ana mahi. / She is going to the game instead of doing her work.

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Te whakairinga o te kupu te whakapiringa o te tangata

1. The place where words are suspended te place where people come together: the wharenui or ancestral house (the words are suspended or hung in the carvings and kōwhaiwhai).

Nau mai e ngā iwi kia noho pūāhuru tātou i te pūmahana o te whakairinga o te kupu o te whakapiringa o te tangata / come hither people so we may sit close together in the warmth of the ancestral house.

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Rangihiwinui, Te Keepa Te

1. (personal name) (?-1898) Muaūpoko; leader, militarist and land assessor, he was a government supporter who fought in the Wanganui, south Taranaki and Ōpōtiki campaigns against Tītokowaru and Te Kooti.

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.

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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

Horetā, Te Taniwha, Te

1. (personal name) (?-1853) Ngāti Whanaunga; leader who, as a boy, met Captain Cook at Whitianga.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 134;)

... te tī, ... te tā

1. all directions, all over the place, hither and thither.

I taetae mai rātou i te tī, i te tā. / They arrived from all directions.

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Kura Te Au, Te

1. (location) Tory Channel - the channel that separates Arapaoa island from the mainland in the Marlborough Sounds.

kua tē te koito

1. run out of oomph, exhausted, used up, not working - an idiom used to indicate that a person has run out of energy or something no longer works.

Kātahi rā te wiki roa. Kua tē te koito! / What a long week. I’m buggered!

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Taniwha, Te Horetā Te

1. (personal name) (?-1853) Ngāti Whanaunga; leader who, as a boy, met Captain Cook at Whitianga.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 134;)

te mahi a te ...

1. abundance of, lots of, many, heaps of, in droves - an idiom to comment on an abundance of people or things.

Hoki rawa mai, kua pau ngā hua te kai i te mahi a te tamariki. / When they eventually returned, the many children had eaten all the fruit.
Ānini ana tērā, te pīnati, i te mahi a te kōhimuhimu, te taiaroa e rērere haere nei. / I've got a headache from so much gossip flying around the place.
I hora te mahi a te kai. / Food was in abundance.
Nā konā i mimiti haere ai te kōrerohia o te reo Māori, kātahi ka pā mai Te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, me te aha, ka riro te mahi a te tāne me ō rātou reo tangatanga ki te reo Māori i te māra a Tū-mata-uenga (Rewi 2005:51). / As a consequence, the speaking of the Māori language declined, and then the Second World War occurred and as a result many men, along with their fluent language, were lost on the killing fields of war.

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Synonyms: tokomaha, mahi, ngerongero, ngero, tuarea, mahamaha, te hanga a te, tini, pio, maha, tuauriuri, marea, wene, hia, takitini, nui

te hanga a te

1. there were lots of, many - an idiom used to comment on the abundance of something.

I reira te hanga a te wahine e purei poka ana. / There were lots of women there playing poker.

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Synonyms: tuarea, mahamaha, te mahi a te ..., tini, tokomaha, pio, maha, tuauriuri, marea, wene, mahi, hia, takitini, nui

Panekiretanga o te Reo, Te

1. Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language.

Rua o te Moko, Te

1. (location) mountains between the Waiau River and the fiords.

Te Huritau o te Kuīni

1. (noun) Queen's Birthday.

Ahakoa te pēheatanga o ngā whakaaro o te tangata, he rā whakatā ā-ture tonu te Huritau o te Kuīni. Despite what people think, the Queen's Birthday is still a public holiday. /

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Hērangi, Te Kirihaehae Te Puea

1. (personal name) (1883-1952) Ngāti Mahuta; Tainui leader who built Tūrangawaewae marae and worked to restore the strength of the Tainui people.

Kōpakatanga ki te Tonga, Te

1. (location) Antarctica.

te

tē

tē

tē

tē

Te whakairinga o te kupu te whakapiringa o te tangata

Rangihiwinui, Te Keepa Te

tē taea te aha

Horetā, Te Taniwha, Te

... te tī, ... te tā

Kura Te Au, Te

kua tē te koito

Taniwha, Te Horetā Te

te mahi a te ...

te hanga a te

Panekiretanga o te Reo, Te

Rua o te Moko, Te

Te Huritau o te Kuīni

Hērangi, Te Kirihaehae Te Puea

Kōpakatanga ki te Tonga, Te

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