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.

I have had a question sent in to me, asking for some general, friendly phrases to use. So, let’s get friendly!

Kei te pēhea koe?  How are you? 

We learned this one previously, as a good follow-on from Kia ora.

You can use it any time of the day - and quite often you hear it shortened to just kei te pēhea. 

Leave off the pronoun, 'you', to keep it very informal and just say 'How's it?' Kei te pēhea?

Kei te pai tō āhua - You're looking good.

This is another dexterous phrase. It’s used to describe someone who's looking healthy and well. You can also use it for someone who you wouldn't mind getting to know a little better.

The last time I heard this phrase used, it was a friend I hadn't seen in a while. He said, “Kei te pai tō āhua.”  So, he could have been talking about my physical appearance, or perhaps my happy, healthy glow.

What if you're out at a party and spot someone you quite like the look of? You could saunter over with a cheeky wee “Kei te pai tō āhua."  And maybe follow it up with a smile and a little wink!

 Kia pai te rā - Have a good day.

There's a familiar word in this phrase - pai, which means 'good'. Ra is 'day' - so we're telling someone to have a good day: Kia pai te rā.

It's a sentence that can be used at any time of day - and it’s also useful in a variety of situations. You'll normally hear it when you're saying goodbye to someone.

I use it to sign off my emails, as well as at the end of phone conversations.

We can also substitute the word rā with other words.

If we want to say, ‘have a good meeting’,  Kia pai te hui.

‘Have a good trip’ is, Kia pai te haere.  So, we can change that last word to fit many different contexts.

If it’s late in the day, you can also change ra for po, which means night.

Kia pai te rā. Have a great day.

Check out te wiki o te reo Māori here