In this te reo maori lesson for beginners we will look at how to create 600+ sentences using only 18 words.

First, let’s look at how to question WHERE something is, and the correct sentence structure to use:
Tense + where + object
(tense refers to past/present/future, or simply put – where was, where is, where will. For this particular less we’ll just look at “where is”)

If we wrote this out in English it would look like, for example:

Now + where + the ball – where is the ball?

In te reo Māori the above example looks like:

Kei + hea + te pōro

Or;

Kei hea – where is
Te pōro – the ball

Pretty simple when you break it down, right?

The challenge will be to start learning different object names in te reo Māori. However, don’t be afraid to simply use the sentence structure and put an English word in there if you don’t yet know the Māori word for it. For example:

Kei hea te remote?
Kei hea te broom?
Kei hea te toilet paper?!?!?!?

Remember – you can always use https://maoridictionary.co.nz to find translations for particular words. Let this website become your best friend for translating words!

 
Now that we’ve learned how to ask the question “where is....” we need to look at some responses. This is where we can open up a world of opportunity in terms of our learning because, if you think about it, there are loads of ways we could describe where something is. Let’s look at a few English examples of responses to “where is....”:
Where is the ball?
It’s:
On the .....
In/inside the ....
Outside the .....
Under the ....
In front of the .....
Behind the .....
Next to the ....
Next to you/me/him/Mary
In the middle of the .....

The following are all examples of the location of the ball relative to something else:
The ball is on the table
The ball is under the house
The ball is inside the box

We can also describe location as simply being “somewhere”. For example:
The ball is at school
The ball is at home
The ball is at my work

The ball is somewhere that is not relative to anything else.

A good way to distinguish the two in English is the use of “IN/ON/UNDER” versus “AT” within the sentence.

First, let’s look at the sentence structure of the “IN/ON/UNDER” response:

Tense + locative noun + subject + i + the place

If we wrote this out in English it would look like, for example:

Now + on top + the ball + i + the table – The ball is on the table

So, what are some of these location words for in, on, under, etc...

Runga – top, above, on
Raro – bottom, below, under
Roto – inside
Waho – outside
Mua – front
Muri – back

Kei + runga + te pōro + i + te tēpu – The ball is on the table
Kei raro te pōro i te tēpu – The ball is under table
Kei roto te pōro i te whare – The ball is in the house
Kei mua te tēpu i te whare – The table is in front of the house
Kei muri te pōro i te tēpu – The ball is behind the table

I often talk about the power of multiplication in language learning and this is a classic case where we can end up with a lot of learned sentences from a minimal number of learned words.

If you learnt the 6 above locative nouns and combined them with 10 subjects, and used the same 10 subjects as the places (i.e. the ball is behind the table, the table is behind the ball) you end up with a multiplication structure that looks like this:

Total words learnt:
Tense + locative noun + subject + i te + place
1 + 6 + 10 + 1 + 0 (objects and relative objects combined) = 18 words

Total phrases learnt:
1 * 6 * 10 * 1 * 10 = 600!!!

That is a loooooot of new sentences for you to speak in te reo Māori, ESPECIALLY since it only took 18 words to learn them all.

DISCLAIMER – I appreciate some sentences may not always make literal sense (The ball is inside the table) however the power of this lesson is in learning the structure and building your vocabulary in the language!
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