How to use the Word Awhi

Awhi is the te reo Māori word for hug, cuddle and embrace. It’s my hope that our Awhi Coat sewing pattern will be like a warm cuddle for your child.

You can use the word Awhi in your everyday language at home, here’s how:

Video Transcript:

“It’s Sophie here from Below the Kōwhai.

After our Awhi Coat sew along last week I wanted to jump on and do a little video kōrero, a little chat, about the word Awhi and give you some easy sentence structures that you can use to kōrero Māori in your own home.

The word Awhi means to embrace or cuddle in te reo Māori, the Māori language, and you can use it really simply.

Word Meanings:

The sentence structure is “He awhi māku“
He = a / some
Awhi = hug
Māku = for me (the person who is speaking would say this about themselves)

In English, this translates to “a cuddle for me?” or “a cuddle for me.” Which is using it as a statement or question interchangeably by changing your tone.

That is a great sentence to use in your home!

You can also swap out the “māku” (which means “for me”) for “māu” (which means “for you”)

If I was speaking to you who are watching, I would say “he awhi māku” (a cuddle for me) OR “he awhi māu” (a cuddle for you, at home).

You can also swap out the awhi in the middle for whatever you want!

A common one in our home is “he kihi māku?” (a kiss for me?) I say that every morning when the kids jump out of the car to go to school.

You could put heaps of kupu (words in there), whatever you know in te reo Māori::

Try these examples:

He kai māu? (would you like some food?)
He wai māu? (would you like some water?)
He pene māku? (A pen for me?)
He rare māu! (Some lollies for you!)

(for fun: See how the “he” translates as either a or some?)

You can use this same structure to introduce new te reo Māori words!

Let me know if you have any questions, and kōrero Māori! (speak the language!)