Key takeaways
- The Māori alphabet (te arapū Māori) has 15 letters: 5 vowels and 10 consonant sounds.
- The vowels are a, e, i, o, u—each said the same way every time, so once you know them you can read any word.
- Two of the consonants are digraphs (two letters, one sound): wh (usually said like 'f') and ng (as in 'singer').
- The macron (tohutō)—the line over a vowel—marks a long vowel and can change a word's meaning, so it is not optional.
- Māori uses none of the English letters b, c, d, f, g, j, l, q, s, v, x, y or z, and every syllable ends in a vowel.
Te reo Māori is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's official languages, and getting the alphabet right is the foundation for everything else—pronouncing students' names, saying place names correctly, and reading te reo aloud with confidence. The good news for teachers is that Māori is a phonetic language: it is spelled exactly as it sounds, so there are no silent letters and no exceptions to memorise.
This guide walks through all 15 letters, the two digraphs that catch English speakers out, and the macron. Say each sound out loud with your class—te reo is a spoken language first, and modelling the sounds yourself is the single most useful thing you can do.
What is in the Māori alphabet?
The Māori alphabet has 15 letters, made up of 5 vowels and 10 consonant sounds. Eight of the consonants are single letters (h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w) and two are digraphs—pairs of letters that make a single sound (wh and ng).
The conventional order teachers use puts the vowels first, then the consonants, with the digraphs last:
a, e, i, o, u, h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w, ng, wh
Notice which letters are missing. There is no b, c, d, f, g, j, l, q, s, v, x, y or z. That is why English words borrowed into Māori change shape—'Christmas' becomes Kirihimete and 'library' becomes raipraidi in some borrowings—because the sounds have to be built from these 15 letters, and every syllable has to end in a vowel.
The full Māori alphabet with pronunciation
Here is every letter with the sound it makes and a real te reo word to practise it. Read down the vowels first—they never change—then the consonants.
| Letter | Type | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | Vowel | as in 'car' (short) / 'father' (long) | awa (river) |
| e | Vowel | as in 'peg' | eke (to climb aboard) |
| i | Vowel | as in 'ski' | ika (fish) |
| o | Vowel | as in 'or' | ora (well, alive) |
| u | Vowel | as in 'moon' | uru (to enter) |
| h | Consonant | as in 'house' | hoa (friend) |
| k | Consonant | as in 'kite', with no puff of air | kai (food) |
| m | Consonant | as in 'moon' | maunga (mountain) |
| n | Consonant | as in 'net' | nui (big) |
| p | Consonant | as in 'spin', with no puff of air | pai (good) |
| r | Consonant | a rolled/tapped r, like the 'tt' in 'butter' | rā (sun, day) |
| t | Consonant | as in 'stop', with no puff of air | tama (boy, son) |
| w | Consonant | as in 'water' | wai (water) |
| ng | Digraph | as in 'singer' (one sound, no hard g) | ngā (the, plural) |
| wh | Digraph | usually as in English 'fun' | whānau (family) |
The five vowels do the heavy lifting
Because Māori is phonetic, the five vowels are the key to the whole language—get them consistent and everything else follows.
- a — as in car (short) / father (long)
- e — as in peg
- i — as in ski
- o — as in or
- u — as in moon
A useful habit for your class: sound out a long word one vowel at a time. Aotearoa is A-o-te-a-ro-a; whakawhetai is wha-ka-whe-tai. Every syllable ends in a vowel, so if you can say the five vowels cleanly you can read any word on the page.
The two digraphs: wh and ng
These are the two sounds English speakers most often get wrong, so teach them explicitly.
- wh is usually said like an English f. So whānau (family) sounds like 'FAH-now' and whare (house) is 'FAH-reh'. (A few iwi use a softer, breathier 'wh'—both are correct in their region.)
- ng is the sound in the middle of singer—a single soft nasal, not 'n' followed by a hard 'g'. The tricky part for English speakers is that in Māori this sound can start a word: ngā (the), ngahere (forest), Ngāi Tahu (an iwi). Practise it by saying 'singer', then dropping the 'si-' to leave just the '-nger'.
The macron (tohutō): why the line over the vowel matters
The line over a vowel—ā, ē, ī, ō, ū—is a macron, called a tohutō (sometimes pōtae, 'hat'). It tells you to hold the vowel longer. It is not decoration: a long vowel can completely change a word's meaning, so leaving a macron out is a spelling mistake, not a shortcut.
Some pairs that show why it matters:
- keke = cake, but kēkē = armpit
- wahine = woman, but wāhine = women
- tangata = person, but tāngata = people
- matua = parent, but mātua = parents
Notice the pattern in the last three: a macron on the first vowel is one of the ways te reo marks a plural. Teaching students to type macrons (on most keyboards, hold the vowel key, or use a macron keyboard) is a small habit that shows real respect for the language.
New Zealanders the Crown's Maihi Karauna strategy aims to have speaking basic te reo Māori by 2040.
Source: Te Puni Kōkiri, Maihi Karauna strategy
How to teach the Māori alphabet
- 1
Start with the five vowels
Drill a, e, i, o, u until they are automatic. They never change, so they are the foundation for reading every other word. A vowel chant or waiata (song) works well with younger students.
- 2
Add the single consonants
Introduce h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w with example words. Point out that p, t and k have no puff of air and that r is a light tap, not the English 'r'.
- 3
Teach the digraphs explicitly
Give wh (like 'f') and ng (like 'singer') their own lesson. These are the sounds students get wrong most, so practise them with whānau, whare, ngā and ngahere until they are secure.
- 4
Explain the macron with minimal pairs
Use pairs like wahine/wāhine and keke/kēkē so students hear that the long vowel changes meaning. Model how to type macrons on your class devices.
- 5
Practise with real names and places
Apply the sounds to students' names, your school name and local place names (maunga, awa, marae). Reinforce with a matching or fill-in-the-gap worksheet so students see the spelling, including macrons.
Turn the Māori alphabet into a ready-to-print worksheet
Generate a letter-matching, tracing or fill-in-the-gap sheet—macrons included—for your year level in seconds.
Make a Māori alphabet worksheetFrequently asked questions
Fifteen. There are 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 10 consonant sounds—eight single consonants (h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w) and two digraphs (wh and ng).
Māori does not use b, c, d, f, g, j, l, q, s, v, x, y or z. Words borrowed from English are re-spelled using only the 15 Māori letters, and every syllable ends in a vowel.
'Wh' is usually said like an English 'f', so whānau sounds like 'FAH-now'. 'Ng' is the sound in the middle of 'singer'—one soft nasal, not 'n' plus a hard 'g'—and in Māori it can start a word, as in ngā.
It is a macron, or tohutō. It shows the vowel is held longer and can change a word's meaning—for example wahine means 'woman' but wāhine means 'women'. Writing macrons correctly is part of spelling te reo properly.
Yes. Māori is a phonetic language, so each vowel makes the same sound every time: a as in 'car', e as in 'peg', i as in 'ski', o as in 'or', and u as in 'moon'. Once you know the five vowels you can read any Māori word.