Māori Alphabet Chart

Understanding Māori Letters

Māori (Te Reo Māori) uses a Latin-based alphabet with a small, practical set of letters. Long vowels are marked with macrons (tohutō), and two common digraphs, ng and wh, are treated as single units in reading.

Macrons are not decoration. They signal vowel length, which can change meaning in Māori words. Learning to notice macrons early is one of the fastest ways to improve reading accuracy.

The chart above gives you a clean reference for the letters and the long-vowel forms. Start with recognition, then practice reading short syllables and common patterns.

Reading Māori Spelling Patterns

Māori spelling is highly phonetic once you respect macrons. Train your eye to treat ā, ē, ī, ō, and ū as distinct from a, e, i, o, and u.

Also treat ng and wh as units rather than two separate English letters. This helps your reading flow and prevents common beginner mistakes.

Practice with short vowel-focused patterns first. Māori reading improves quickly when your vowels are consistent and your eye stops skipping macrons.

How to Write Māori Letters Properly

Māori is written left to right and uses uppercase and lowercase like English. Your main writing skill is placing macrons clearly above the vowel.

Write the base vowel first, then add the macron second. This keeps your handwriting neat and prevents the macron from drifting off-center.

Practice ng and wh in short syllables and short words. Writing them repeatedly helps your hand learn them as natural units.

Use the worksheet for repetition and recall. Copy a small set today, then rewrite it tomorrow from memory.

Learning Tips for Māori Alphabet

Master macrons early. This single habit improves readability and accuracy more than anything else.

Keep practice short and daily. Ten minutes per day is enough to make long vowels feel normal.

When you miss a macron, slow down and correct it immediately. Training accuracy early prevents bad habits later.

Practice Māori With Downloads

Use the PDF for printing, the image for quick reference, and the worksheet for writing drills. A clean chart nearby helps you keep macrons consistent.

Pick a small set of vowels today, include long-vowel forms, and practice them well. Māori becomes easy to read once macrons stop slowing you down.