Kē

Kē. different, other, of another kind, strange, extraordinary, different place / time / direction, contrarywise, for another purpose, already.

You all would have seen kē a million times in the phrase rere kē (now written as a single word rerekē) meaning different. That’s really as complicated as kē gets, it’s just different to previous, other than expected or not normal.

Huri kē
Turn away / turn the other way

He whero kē tēnei mea!
But this one’s red! or But this one’s the wrong red!

Haere ki wāhi kē / ki whenua kē
Go other places / to other countries

He whakaaro kē tōna.
She’s got another idea / opinion.

I te titiro kē mai ki ahau.
He was looking at me kinda weird.

In English, we tend to use already when something has happened contrary to expectation; in Māori, kē is used.

Kei konei ia? Kāo, kua wehe kē.
Is he here? Na, he’s already left.

Kua oti kē te mahi.
(Contrary to expectation) the work’s been done.

Kua oma kē ngā hoiho i te kēti.
The horses are already out of the gate.

Kē is put with a lot of common words to create new ones (huri kē – alter, whiu kē – divert, puta kē – be changed) but as long as you understand the meaning of kē, you’ll be able to work them out.

Next up: Kau