Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori LFE cheat sheet

Te reo Māori has five vowels - a, e, i, o, u - each occurring short or long; vowel length distinguishes words.

Long vowels are written with a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū); doubled letters (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu) also occur in some texts.

The consonant letters are p, t, k, m, n, ng, w, r, h, and wh; ng is a single sound /ŋ/ and wh is commonly /f/ or /ɸ/.

Primary stress usually falls on a long vowel; when no vowel is long, it tends to fall on the first syllable of the word.

Direction particles mai (towards speaker) and atu (away from speaker) follow verbs and can change the meaning heard.

Tense-aspect particles include ka, i, kua, e ... ana, and kei te ...; these signal future/sequential, past, perfect, and ongoing events.

Numbers are tahi, rua, toru, whā, rima, ono, whitu, waru, iwa, tekau; toko- is used when counting people.

Kin terms are gender- and age-specific: tuakana (older same-sex sibling), tēina (younger same-sex sibling), tuahine (sister of a male), tungāne (brother of a female).

Pronouns include au/ahau (I), koe (you), ia (he/she); māua (we two, excluding addressee), tāua (we two, including addressee), mātou (we 3+, exclusive), tātou (we 3+, inclusive).

Possessives select a-category (tāku, aku) or o-category (tōku, ōku); a-category typically covers controlled or acquired things such as food and tools, o-category covers land, dwellings, vehicles, and senior relatives.

The default verbal clause order is verb–subject–object: Kei te inu a Hine i te wai (Hine is drinking the water).

'Kei te' marks present progressive; 'i te' marks past progressive; 'ka' marks future or a sequential event (including narrative past); 'kua' marks completed action.

The direct object is usually marked by i, but some verbs take ki; before proper nouns i combines with a: Ka kite au i a Mere.

Passive verbs end in suffixes such as -a, -ia, -tia, -ngia, -hia, -kia, -mia, -na, -nga, and -ria; the passive emphasizes the affected entity.

Negation: kāore au i te kai (I am not eating), kāore au i kai (I did not eat), kāore au e kai (I will not eat).

Question words: he aha (what), ko wai (who), kei hea (where), āhea (when), pēhea (how), e hia (how many).

Demonstratives use nei (near speaker), nā (near addressee), rā (away): tēnei, tēnā, tērā.

Definite articles are te (singular) and ngā (plural); he marks an indefinite noun.

Ko introduces proper nouns and emphatic nominal predicates: Ko Tāne te kaiako (Tāne is the teacher).

Tense/aspect particles help order events: i (past), kua (perfect), ka (future/sequential), e ... ana (ongoing).

Passive suffixes signal that the subject is affected: tuhia (written), kainga (eaten), inumia (drunk).

Reduplication often marks repetition, plurality, or intensity: paki → pakipaki (clap repeatedly), kōrero → kōrerorero (chat).

Nominalizing suffixes include -nga, -tanga, and -ranga: kite → kitenga (sighting); hui → huinga (gathering).

Numbers: tekau (10), rua tekau (20); ordinals use tua-: tuatahi (first), tuarua (second), tuatoru (third).

The particle ai often links a reason, place, or time to the preceding verb phrase; its meaning depends on context.

Relative clauses can be introduced by e ... ana or i ... ai and follow the noun they modify.

Write macrons consistently on long vowels; do not mix macron and double-vowel spellings within the same text unless quoting.

Separate particles from lexical words with spaces: kei te haere a Mere ki te kura.

Use he for indefinite nouns and te/ngā for definite nouns: He pukapuka tēnei (this is a book).

For nominal negation use ehara ... i: Ehara ia i te kaiako (she is not a teacher).

For verbal negation use kāore ... i/e: Kāore au i kai (I did not eat); Kāore au e kai (I will not eat).

Passive suffixes attach to the verb stem: tuhi → tuhia; inu → inumia; kai → kainga.

Ko precedes proper nouns in nominal predicates: Ko Mere te kaiwhakahaere (Mere is the manager).

Conjunctions include engari (but), rānei (or), nō te mea (because), and ā (and then, linking clauses).

Days: Rāhina, Rātū, Rāapa, Rāpare, Rāmere, Rāhoroi, Rātapu; dates use te ... o ... as in te 5 o Hune.