Tēnā koutou - hello everyone.

How are you going in your te reo journey?  It’s great to hear people giving te reo a go with me.

Last week we looked at simple sentence structures and the simple ways to turn a sentence into a question.

This week, before we return to building more sentences, I thought we would look at getting bossy!

We all like to get a little bossy now and then. If you’re wanting to order someone around using te reo, here are a few examples.

The command phrase starts with ‘E’ when the command is a word with either one long or two short vowels.

Last week we formed the sentence Kei te oma ia. He or she is running. We then formed the question Kei te oma ia? Is he/she running?

If we want to command someone to Run! we use the same verb oma, meaning to run.

E oma!  Run!

Simple, right?

Here are some other examples for you to try:

E tu! Stand up!

E noho! Sit down!

E moe! Sleep! 

E oho! Wake up!

E kai! Eat up!

Drink up! E inu!

If the command word has more than two vowels, you don’t need to use the E.

Titiro mai! Look here!

Titiro atu! Look over there!

Haere mai! Come here!

Haere atu! Go away!

Whakarongo! Listen!

Hoihoi! Be quiet! It’s noisy!

Pātai ki a ia! Ask him/her!

Next week we’ll look at  commands that encourage people. In the meantime, Kia pai te rā. Have a great day.

Check out te wiki o te reo Māori here