Key takeaways
- The days of the week in Māori are Rāhina (Mon), Rātū (Tue), Rāapa (Wed), Rāpare (Thu), Rāmere (Fri), Rāhoroi (Sat) and Rātapu (Sun).
- "Rā" means day and "wiki" means week, so the days of the week is "ngā rā o te wiki".
- Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) recommends the traditional Rā- forms over the older transliterations like Mane and Tūrei.
- Two names carry meaning: Rāhoroi is "washing day" and Rātapu is the "sacred day".
- Teach them through the daily roll, a waiata, a word wall and a weekly word search — repetition is what makes them stick.
Learning the days of the week in Māori is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to bring te reo into your classroom every single day. Because you already talk about "today", "tomorrow" and "the weekend" as part of your normal routine, ngā rā o te wiki (the days of the week) slot straight into things you're saying anyway.
There are two sets of names you'll come across. The traditional Rā- names (Rāhina, Rātū, and so on) are the forms recommended by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission, and are what you'll see on most modern resources and calendars. The older transliterations (Mane, Tūrei, Wenerei…) borrow the sounds of the English day names and are still heard, especially with older speakers. This guide teaches the Rā- set as your default while showing the transliterations so you recognise both.
The seven days of the week in Māori
| English | Māori (traditional) | Older transliteration | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rāhina | Mane | RAA-hi-na |
| Tuesday | Rātū | Tūrei | RAA-too |
| Wednesday | Rāapa | Wenerei | RAA-a-pa |
| Thursday | Rāpare | Tāite | RAA-pa-re |
| Friday | Rāmere | Paraire | RAA-me-re |
| Saturday | Rāhoroi | Hātarei | RAA-ho-roi |
| Sunday | Rātapu | Rātapu / Wiki | RAA-ta-pu |
Notice that every traditional name starts with rā, the word for "day" (and also "sun"). Once tamariki hear that pattern, they only have to learn the second half of each word. Sunday keeps the same name, Rātapu, in both the traditional and transliterated sets, so it's a handy one to start with.
What the day names actually mean
Two of the days have meanings that are genuinely useful for helping the words stick:
- Rāhoroi (Saturday) comes from horoi, meaning "to wash". It's the "washing day" — a nice hook for a Saturday.
- Rātapu (Sunday) comes from tapu, meaning "sacred" or "set apart". It's the "sacred day", historically the day of rest and church.
The key building blocks are worth teaching on their own:
- rā = day (and sun)
- wiki = week
- ngā rā o te wiki = the days of the week
- āpōpō = tomorrow, inanahi = yesterday, āianei = today
With just those, you can ask "He aha te rā o āianei?" — "What is today's day?" — every morning.
How to pronounce the days of the week in Māori
Te reo Māori is spelled the way it sounds, so once you know the five vowels you can read any day name confidently.
- The five vowels are a ("ah"), e ("eh"), i ("ee"), o ("aw") and u ("oo").
- A macron (tohutō) — the line over a vowel, like the ā in Rā — makes that vowel longer. Rā is a long "raa", not a short "ra".
- Every vowel is pronounced, so Rāapa is three beats: RAA-a-pa.
- wh is usually said like an English "f", and ng is the soft sound in the middle of "singer" — not the hard "g" in "finger".
Say each name slowly, then at natural speed. Modelling it yourself — even imperfectly — matters more than being flawless.
Five ways to teach ngā rā o te wiki
- 1
Name the day at the roll
Open every morning with "Ko te rā o āianei, ko [Rāhina]" — today is [Monday]. Doing it daily means seven short reps a week with zero extra planning.
- 2
Sing a days-of-the-week waiata
Set the seven names to a familiar tune your class already knows. A sung list is far easier to recall than a spoken one, and it becomes a transition song between activities.
- 3
Build a te reo word wall
Put the seven Rā- names in order across a wall, each with the English underneath and a small picture cue. Point to today's day during the roll so tamariki connect the spoken word to the written one.
- 4
Run a weekly word search or bingo
A word search of the seven day names gives independent reading practice; bingo turns it into a listening game where you call the Māori and students mark the day.
- 5
Label the real timetable
Rewrite your visual timetable headings in te reo so "Rāpare = library day" carries real meaning. Anchoring words to actual events beats flashcards on their own.
Turn the seven day names into a printable word search
Type in Rāhina, Rātū, Rāapa and the rest, and generate a classroom-ready puzzle in seconds — free, no login.
Open the word search makerA quick note on Māori Language Week
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) is held every September and is the perfect anchor point for introducing or refreshing the days of the week. But the real gains come from small, daily use across the whole year — the days of the week are ideal for that because you're already marking the calendar every morning. Start with today's day, add tomorrow and yesterday, and within a fortnight most classes can say all seven.
Frequently asked questions
Rāhina (Monday), Rātū (Tuesday), Rāapa (Wednesday), Rāpare (Thursday), Rāmere (Friday), Rāhoroi (Saturday) and Rātapu (Sunday). Every traditional name begins with "rā", meaning day.
The traditional Rā- names (Rāhina, Rātū…) are the forms recommended by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and used on most modern resources. The older transliterations (Mane, Tūrei, Wenerei…) borrow the English sounds and are still heard, especially among older speakers.
It means "the days of the week". "Rā" is day, "wiki" is week, "te" is the, and "ngā" is the plural "the". So ngā rā o te wiki literally reads as "the days of the week".
Rāhina is RAA-hi-na and Rātapu is RAA-ta-pu. The macron on the ā makes it a long "raa", every vowel is sounded, and there's no hard stress the way English adds it — keep the beats even.
Use them daily rather than in one lesson. Name the day at the morning roll, sing a days-of-the-week waiata, keep a te reo word wall, and run a weekly word search or bingo. Little and often is what makes them stick.