Greetings
Saying "hello" is as simple as mālō in an informal setting. The more formal ways to say this are:
| Talofa lava | » | Hello (polite). |
| Mālō le soifua | » | Hello. |
And to say goodbye, you can say fā2, or:
| Tōfā soifua | » | Goodbye |
| Toe feiloa'i | » | See you later. |
| Feiloa'i taeao | » | See you tomorrow. |
The word manuia is used to wish somebody well with anything at all, and can be used to say goodbye as well:
| Manuia le taeao | » | Have a good morning |
| Manuia le aso | » | Have a good day |
| Manuia le afiafi | » | Have a good evening |
| Manuia le pō | » | Have a good night |
Manners
| Fa'amolemole | » | Please |
| Fa'afetai | » | Thank you |
| Fa'afetai tele lava | » | Thank you very much |
| Tulou lava | » | Excuse me (used when passing infront of somebody) |
Polite conversation
How are you?
| 'O ā mai 'oe? | » | How are you? |
| Manuia fa'afetai | » | Fine thank you (most common response) |
| Manuia fo'i fa'afetai | » | Fine also thank you |
| Feoloolo | » | Not so good |
An informal alternative to the above:
| 'Ua ā? | » | How are you? Good answers to this are apparently lelei and manuia. |
| 'O ā au mea na fai? | » | What have you been up to? |
Asking about age
See Numbers and Time for how to reply to these:
| E fia ou tausaga? | » | How old are you? (lit. how many years do you have?) |
| 'O le ā lau matua? | » | What is your age? (less common) |
Other
| 'O fea 'e te alu i ai? | » | Where are you going? |
| 'Ou te alu 'ou te fa'atau | » | I'm going shopping |
| 'O fea 'e te sau mai ai? | » | Where do you come from? |
The weather
| Mānaia le savili | » | The breeze is nice |
| vevela le lā | » | The sun is hot |
| 'Ua timu | » | It's raining |
| 'Ua lā | » | It's sunny |
| 'Ua 'ou ma'alili | » | I'm cold |
Temperatures are:
| māfanafana | » | warm | vevela | » | hot | |
| mālūlū | » | cold | ma'alili | » | cold (of person) |