Convenience Store

1. 'Ia ora na!

   Hello! / Greetings!

   Usage

   The greeting to use as you walk in. Transactions in French Polynesia are mostly conducted in French ("Bonjour"), but "'Ia ora na" always lands well with locals. In small Tahitian and Moorean shops, launching straight into your request without greeting is considered rude

   Grammar Note

   Literally "may you live and be well". It shares its logic with Hawaiian "aloha" and Māori "kia ora" across the Polynesian family

2. Tei hea te fare toa?

   Where is the shop?

   Usage

   French Polynesia has no Japanese-style convenience stores; the small "fare toa" fills that role. Many are Chinese-family-run "magasins chinois" stocking bread, tins, cold drinks and phone credit. Papeete also has large supermarkets such as Carrefour

   Grammar Note

   "Tei hea + noun" is the standard way to ask where something is. "Fare" (house) forms many compounds: fare toa (shop), fare ma'i (hospital), fare pure (church)

3. E hia te moni o teie?

   How much is this?

   Usage

   The currency is the CFP franc (XPF), pegged to the euro. French Polynesia is expensive and shop stock is largely imported, so prices can be several times what you would pay at home

   Grammar Note

   "E hia" is the fixed quantity question. "Moni" is borrowed from English "money" and is now fully naturalised in everyday Tahitian

4. E hina'aro vau i teie

   I would like this one

   Usage

   Say this while pointing. In small shops much of the stock sits behind the counter, so pointing is the reliable approach

   Grammar Note

   Tahitian is verb-subject-object. The initial "e" is an imperfective aspect particle used for present-time and general statements

5. E hina'aro vau i te vai to'eto'e

   I would like some cold water

   Usage

   Tahiti is hot and humid year-round and cold drinks matter. Tap water is not drinkable on every island, so bottled water from the shop is the norm

   Grammar Note

   Adjectives follow the noun: "vai to'eto'e" is literally "water cold". "To'eto'e" reduplicates the root "to'e" — reduplication commonly marks states and continuity in Tahitian

6. E nehenehe anei 'oe e fa'ave'ave'a i teie?

   Could you heat this up?

   Usage

   Tahitian shops generally have no microwave and offer no reheating. For hot food, head to "les roulottes" — the food-truck park on the Papeete waterfront — or to a local "snack" eatery

   Grammar Note

   The prefix "fa'a-" is a productive causative shared across Polynesian languages (Samoan fa'a-, Tongan faka-). "Anei" is the interrogative particle

7. E hina'aro 'oe i te hō'ē pūtē?

   Would you like a bag?

   Usage

   Said by staff — though at the counter you will usually hear the French "Un sac ?". Single-use plastic bags are banned in French Polynesia, so you get paper or a reusable bag, generally for a charge

   Grammar Note

   Macrons are meaning-bearing in Tahitian — "hō'ē" and "pūtē" are not interchangeable with unmarked spellings. Do not drop them when writing or reading

8. E hina'aro vau i te hō'ē pūtē

   A bag, please

   Usage

   How to say yes to a bag. They usually cost money, so for a small purchase most people decline

   Grammar Note

   "Hō'ē" is both the numeral "one" and a functional stand-in for an indefinite article, which Tahitian otherwise lacks

9. 'Aita, māuruuru

   No thank you

   Usage

   Use this to decline a bag or an extra item. "'Aita" on its own sounds curt, so always pair it with "māuruuru"

   Grammar Note

   "'Aita" serves both as the answer "no" and as a clause negator: "'Aita vau e hina'aro" (I do not want it)

10. E hina'aro 'oe i te reçu?

    Would you like the receipt?

    Usage

    Said by staff — in practice you will hear the French "Le ticket ?". Commercial vocabulary in French Polynesia is French, and it mixes freely into everyday Tahitian speech

    Grammar Note

    Tahitian borrows administrative, commercial and technical vocabulary wholesale from French, producing sentences with Tahitian grammar and French nouns

11. 'A hōro'a mai i te reçu

    Please give me the receipt

    Usage

    Ask for the receipt this way. Receipts in French Polynesia show the TVA (value-added tax) and are needed for expense claims or returns

    Grammar Note

    A request uses the imperative 'A + verb; it is spelled with the macron: "Hōro'a : donner".

12. 'Ohipa anei te carte bancaire i 'ō nei?

    Do bank cards work here?

    Usage

    Cards are widely accepted in Papeete and on Moorea, but outer-island shops are often cash-only or set a minimum spend. Carry plenty of CFP francs if you head to the Tuamotus or the Marquesas

    Grammar Note

    The question particle "anei" follows the verb phrase. Payment vocabulary stays in French and is rarely nativised into Tahitian

13. Tei hea te 'āfata moni?

    Where is the cash machine?

    Usage

    ATMs cluster at bank branches and post offices (OPT) on Tahiti and Moorea; on outer islands the post-office machine may be the only one. In everyday speech the French word "distributeur" is more readily understood

    Grammar Note

    "'Āfata moni" (money box) is a descriptive compound. Tahitian has few native terms for modern devices, so it either combines existing words like this or borrows the French outright

14. E hina'aro vau i te hō'ē recharge Vini

    I'd like a Vini top-up, please

    Usage

    Vini is French Polynesia's main mobile carrier, and prepaid "recharge" credit is sold in shops and post offices. Tourist prepaid SIMs are available at the airport and at Vini stores

    Grammar Note

    Product and service names stay French and slot into the Tahitian frame. This code-mixing is what contemporary spoken Tahitian actually sounds like

15. Tei hea te fare iti?

    Where is the toilet?

    Usage

    Small shops rarely have a customer toilet, and asking in French ("les toilettes") is more reliably understood. The Papeete market, service stations and hotel lobbies are the practical options

    Grammar Note

    "Fare iti" (little house) is a euphemism for the toilet. The same image recurs across the Pacific — Tok Pisin "smolhaus" is built identically

16. Māuruuru roa

    Thank you very much

    Usage

    Say this as you leave. French "Merci" works, but "Māuruuru roa" carries extra warmth — visitors rarely thank people in Tahitian, so it is remembered

    Grammar Note

    "Roa" intensifies the preceding word and works broadly, as in "rahi roa" (very big). "Māuruuru roa" is the fullest way to express thanks

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