Tahitian is the main language of French Polynesia.

Pronunciation guide

Vowels

Consonants

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Here are a few Tahitian useful words you could pick up from a conversation:

  • Aita---------No
  • E------------Yes
  • Fare---------House
  • Ma'a---------Food
  • Maeva--------Welcome
  • Maita'i------How are you?
  • Mauruuru-----Thank you
  • Pape---------Water
  • Tama'a-------Let's eat
  • Tiare--------flower, emblem of Tahiti and her Islands

Basics

Hello. 
ia ora nora
Hello. (informal) 
. ( )
How are you? 
 ? (Maita'i oe?)
Fine, thank you. 
. (Maruuru)
What is your name? 
 ? (O vai to oe io'a?)
My name is ______ . 
______ . ( _____ .)
Nice to meet you. 
. ( )
Please. 
. ( )
Thank you. 
. ( )
You're welcome. 
. (Aita pe'a'pe'a)
Yes. 
. (E, oia )
No. 
. (Aita )
Excuse me. (getting attention) 
. ( )
Excuse me. (begging pardon) 
. ( )
I'm sorry. 
. ( )
Goodbye 
Nana
Goodbye (informal) 
. ( )
I can't speak name of language [well]. 
[ ]. ( [ ])
Do you speak English? 
 ? (Ua ite oe i te parau Marite?)
Is there someone here who speaks English? 
 ? ( ?)
Help! 
 ! ( !)
Look out! 
 ! ( !)
Good morning. 
. ( )
Good evening. 
. ( )
Good night. 
. ( )
Good night (to sleep) 
. ( )
I don't understand. 
. (Aita i papu ia'u )
Where is the toilet? 
 ? ( ?)

Problems

Numbers

1:Tahi,2:Piti,3:Toru,4:Maha,5:Pae,6:Ono,7:Hitu,8:Va'u,9:Iv'a,10:Ho'e'ahuru

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days

Mon.Monire,Tues.Mahana Piti,Wed.Mahana Toru,Thur.Mahana maha,Fri. Mahana pae, Sat.Mahana ma'a,Sun.Tapati

Months

Writing time and date

Colors

Transportation

Bus and train

Directions

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating

Tahitian phrasebook nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Fare inura'a

Shopping

Driving

Authority

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Todd VerBeek and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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