Māori Grammar

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Telling time - kara

The following words are used to tell the time:

taima: time
karaka: clock or hour
hāora: hour
meneti or meniti: minute
pāhi or pāhitanga: past
hāwhe: half
koata: quarter
i: past
ki: to

For example:

E rua meneti mai i te whā karaka.
Two minutes past four.

Rua tekau meneti mai i te ono karaka.
Twenty minutes past six o'clock.

Hauwhā ki te rua karaka.
Quarter to two.

Ko te tekau tahi karaka.
It is eleven o'clock.

Hei te toru karaka.
See you at three o'clock.

Ko te rima karaka i te ahiahi.
5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Toru karaka te .
The time is 2 o'clock.

Hei te tekau karaka.
See you at ten o'clock.

Hāwhe pahi i te iwa karaka.
Half past 9.

Toru hauwhā.
Three quarters.

Ka tūtaki tātou ki te pāmu ā te 3 karaka.
We will meet at the farm at 3 o'clock.

Hei te whā karaka.
See you at four o'clock.

Oho ai au i te wari karaka i te ata.
I usually wake up at eight o'clock in the morning.

E rima meneti e toe ana.
There are five minutes remaining.

Hei te waru karaka.
See you at eight o'clock.

Ka kai tātou ā te whitu karaka.
We'll eat at seven o'clock.

A te waru karaka ka haere tātou ki te marae.
We will go the marae at 8 o'clock.

te iwa karaka rawa, ka tīmata te purei kāri.
Finally, at nine o'clock, the card games started.

te whā karaka i te ahiahi rātou i tīmata ai.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon when they started.

Hei te tahi karaka.
See you at one o'clock.

Āe, i te rima karaka.
Yes, at 5 o'clock.

Hei te whitu karaka.
See you at seven o'clock.

Te hui a te rua karaka, hei te whare wānanga.
The 2 o'clock meeting will be at the university.

Haurua mai i te iwa karaka.
Half past nine.

Hei te rua karaka.
See you at two o'clock.

I te ono karaka, kua tae atu rātou ki Ōmihi.
By six o'clock they had got to Ōmihi.

Kua whakaritea, me tae rātou ki te mira o Kawerau i te iwa karaka.
It was arranged that they should arrive at the Kawearau mill at nine o'clock.

E rua tekau meneti ngā tītī e tunua ana i roto it te umu.
The muttonbirds were roasted in the hot oven for twenty minutes.

Maranga mai ai au ia , ia i te whitu karaka.
I always get up every day at seven o'clock.

I te tekau karaka.
At ten o'clock.

Ka wehe tātou ā te 2 karaka ā tēnei ahiahi.
We (3 + incl) will leave at 2 o'clock this afternoon.

Hauwhā mai i te rua.
Quarter past two.

Haurua mai i te ono karaka.
Half past 6.

Ka taea au te whakaoho e koe ā te whitu karaka?
Are you able to wake me at 7 o'clock?

Haurua mai i te rua.
Half past two.

runga i te tereina o te ono karaka.
On the six o'clock train.

Hei te rima karaka.
See you at five o'clock.

Hauwhā ki te toru.
Quarter to 3.

I ngā ata katoa e ara ana is i te ono karaka.
He gets up at six o'clock every morning.

I taraiwa māua ko taku hoa ki te whare wānanga i te waru karaka.
Me and my friend drove to uni at 8 o'clock.

Ka whakaweto te koroua i ngā rama ā te 10 karaka.
The old man will turn the lights off at 10 o'clock.

Hei te tekau tahi karaka.
See you at eleven o'clock.

E rua meneti mai i te whā karaka.
Two minutes past four.

Hei te tekau rua karaka.
See you at twelve o'clock.

Ko te whitu karaka i te ata.
7 o'clock in the morning.

Hei te ono karaka.
See you at six o'clock.

Ā te tekau karaka tīmata ai te karakia.
The service starts at ten o'clock.

I te whitu karaka i te ahiahi, ka mate ia.
At seven o'clock in the evening, he died.

I te whitu karaka, kua haere mai ia.
He will have left at seven o'clock.