Café & Drinks

1. Hōmai na i te pape

   Please give me water

   Usage

   Used at restaurants or markets to ask for water

   Grammar Note

   Homai: "to give (towards the speaker)"; adding na makes it polite.

2. Hōmai na i te hō'ē hapaina pape 'ānani

   Please give me one orange juice

   Usage

   Ordering fruit juice at a café or restaurant

   Grammar Note

   "Hapaina : verre", "'Ānani : orange" and "Pape mā'a hotu : jus de fruits". tāpiri means "glue, to stick", not "juice".

3. Te ū ha'ari

   Coconut (milk)

   Usage

   Refers to coconut, a staple drink ingredient in Tahiti

   Grammar Note

   "ū ha'ari : lait de coco". 'āpo'o means "hole", not "coconut".

4. 'Aita vau e inu i te pia

   I don't drink beer

   Usage

   Used to decline alcohol politely

   Grammar Note

   'Aita + verb forms a negative sentence

5. Hōmai na i te hō'ē 'āu'a tāofe

   Please give me one cup of coffee

   Usage

   Ordering coffee at a café

   Grammar Note

   Taofe is borrowed from English "coffee"

6. Tē vai ra anei te fare tī i 'ō nei?

   Is there a tea shop here?

   Usage

   Looking for a place to drink local or herbal tea

   Grammar Note

   "Tī : thé".

7. Māuruuru, 'aita rā vau e inu i te 'ava

   Thank you, but I don't drink alcohol

   Usage

   Politely declining alcohol while thanking the offer

   Grammar Note

   "'Ava : alcool". Without the glottal stop, ava is a reef passage, and the reduplicated 'ava'ava is tobacco, so the spelling matters.

8. Te pape puna

   Natural / spring water

   Usage

   Requesting mineral or natural spring water

   Grammar Note

   "Puna : source". māori refers to the Māori people and does not mean "natural".

9. Mōmona roa!

   Very delicious!

   Usage

   Exclaiming that a drink or food tastes very good

   Grammar Note

   In Tahitian 'ono is the barracuda and the numeral six; "delicious" is mōmona ("savoureux ; délicieux").

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