NUMBERS, COUNTING & TELLING THE TIME
Here are the numbers from zero to a million:
| 0 | 'áore | 6 | ono | ||||
| 1 | hó'é, tahi | 7 | hitu | ||||
| 2 | piti, rua | 8 | va'u | ||||
| 3 | toru | 9 | iva | ||||
| 4 | maha | 10 | 'ahuru | ||||
| 5 | pae |
To make 11, 12 and so on, just say "10" + ma + "number":
| 11 | 'ahuru ma hó'é | 14 | 'ahuru ma maha | ||||
| 12 | 'ahuru ma piti | 17 | 'ahuru ma hitu | ||||
| 13 | 'ahuru ma toru | 19 | 'ahuru ma iva |
To make 20, 30, etc just say "number" + "10":
| 20 | piti 'ahuru | 50 | pae 'ahuru | ||||
| 30 | toru 'ahuru | 70 | hitu 'ahuru | ||||
| 47 | maha 'ahuru ma hitu | 85 | va'u 'ahuru ma pae |
Larger numbers are used in exactly the same way as 'ahuru:
| 100 | hánere | |
| 200 | piti hánere | |
| 300 | toru hánere | |
| 440 | maha hánere ma maha 'ahuru | |
| 700 | hitu hánere | |
| 852 | va'u hánere ma pae 'ahuru ma piti | |
| 1000 | tauatini | |
| 2000 | piti tauatini | |
| 3000 | toru tauatini | |
| 10,000 | 'ahuru tauatini | |
| 100,000 | hánere tauatini | |
| 1 million | mirioni |
Ordinal numbers
To turn the above numbers into ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc), add the ordinal number announcers a or te. Note that tahi "one" can only take a:
| 1st | a tahi, matamua | ||||
| 2nd | a piti, te piti | 20th | a/te piti 'ahuru | ||
| 3rd | a toru, te toru | 100th | a/te hánere | ||
| 4th | a maha, te maha | 440th | a/te maha hánere ma maha |
Telling the time
Tahitians are often a lot more accurate that most other Polynesians about telling the time. They'll use expressions like "2 minutes to two" or "15 minutes past twelve":
| What's the time? | Eaha te hora? | |
| It's 3 o' clock | E hora toru | |
| It's 5 o' clock | E hora pae | |
| It's 12 o' clock | E hora 'ahuru ma piti |
Minutes before the hour are expressed by using the word toe ("to remain"), with minutes in the main clause, and the hour in a dependent clause marked by e...ai:
| It's two minutes to two | E piti miniti toe e hora piti ai | |
| It's fifteen minutes minutes to three | E 'ahuru ma pae miniti toe e hora toru ai | |
| It's twenty minutes to twelve | E piti 'ahuru miniti toe e hora 'ahuru ma piti ai |
Minutes past the hour are expressed with ma'iri ("to elapse"), with the hour coming first, then the minutes:
| It's ten minutes past five | E hora pae ma'iri 'ahuru miniti | |
| It's half past five | E hora pae ma'iri toru 'ahuru miniti | |
| It's five minutes past seven | E hora hitu ma'iri pae miniti |
Look at these clock pictures. Can you tell what time it is?
Numbers in Tahitian always take the zero-class possessives. These are o'u, a'u ("my"), ou, au ("your"), óna, ána ("his, her...") and ó, á..
| I have one car | Tahi a'u pereo'o, tahi pereo'o a'u | |
| How many islands do you have? | To'ohia fenua ou? | |
| How much (money)? | E hia moni? | |
| He has two children | Piti tamari'i ána, piti ána tamari'i |
Days and Months
| January | Tenuare | Monday | Monire | |
| February | Fepuare | Tuesday | Mahana Piti | |
| March | Mati | Wednesday | Mahana Toru | |
| April | Eperera | Thursday | Mahana Maha | |
| May | Mai | Friday | Mahana Pae | |
| June | Tiunu | Saturday | Mahana Ma'a | |
| July | Tiurai | Sunnday | Tapati | |
| August | Atete | |||
| September | Tetepa | |||
| October | Atopa | |||
| November | Novema | |||
| December | Titema |
Use the following formula to talk about dates in Tahitian:
| A/TE | + | DAY NUMBER | + | Ó | + | TE + MONTH |
Here's an exercise to try. Using the formula (Number) (Noun) teie/téná/térá ("This/That is/are 6 things, etc"), let's practice counting. The first two have been done for you.
Finally, look at the following dates and use the above formula to tell what dates they are in Tahitian. The first two have been done for you.
Copyright (c) 2002-2008 Bruce Rimell : All images, artwork, writings, texts and other information on this site
are copyrighted to Bruce Rimell and may not be reproduced in any form unless stated otherwise.