Saying the Date

In te reo Māori, you can say the date by giving the day of the week, the day number, and the month. You may start with Ko te ... but, just like in English, it is common to simply state the date directly.

English	Te Reo Māori
Today is Monday the 4th of September.	Ko te Mane, te tuawhā o Hepetema, tēnei rā.
It is Friday the 10th of May.	Ko te Paraire, te tuatekau o Mei.
It is Sunday the 1st of January.	Ko te Rātapu, te tuatahi o Hānuere.
It’s Tuesday.	Ko te Tūrei.
It’s Saturday.	Ko te Hatarei.
It’s June.	Ko Hune.
It’s December.	Ko Tīhema.
It’s the 15th.	Ko te tekau mā rima.
It’s the 30th.	Ko te toru tekau.

Notes: Saying the full date

The day of the week comes first, then the date number, then the month.
It's preferred to use ordinals (e.g. 1st = tuatahi, 2nd = tuarua, 3rd = tuatoru, 4th = tuawhā) for the day number.
It's also acceptable to use cardinal numbers (e.g. 1 = tahi, 2 = rua, 3 = toru, 4 = whā) for the day number, though this is less common in modern teaching.
From 10 upwards, the same number forms are used for both ordinals and cardinals (e.g. tekau = 10 or 10th, tekau mā tahi = 11 or 11th, rua tekau = 20 or 20th).
tēnei rā (today) is optional – add it if you want to emphasise "today".
Both loan-words and modern Māori names can be used for days and months – choose the system that suits you and your learners.
You can include the year at the end, e.g. Ko te Mane, te tekau mā rima o Hepetema, i te tau rua mano rua tekau mā rima (Monday the 15th of September, 2025). In practice, the year is often left out if the context is clear (today’s date).

See the next page for links to resources.