Māori email sign-offs: nāku noa, nā and ngā mihi

Of the Māori email sign-offs, Nāku noa, nā is the formal one, and it means roughly it is just me, from, followed by your name: Te Aka Māori Dictionary glosses nāku noa as it is just me, yours sincerely, so Nāku noa, nā Mere does the job of Yours sincerely, Mere. For everyday email the standard close is Ngā mihi ‘regards, thanks’. Below: which sign-off fits which email, what each word of nāku noa, nā is doing, where the university guides disagree about the English, and signatures you can copy.

Updated 2 November 2026 · 9 min read

Tap 🔊 to hear an example. Māori examples play Papa Reo, the te reo Māori voice made by Te Hiku Media from recordings of native speakers.

Which sign-off for which email

What does nāku noa mean?

Nāku noa, nā is three words and a comma, and each part is doing something. Every meaning below is Te Aka Māori Dictionary’s.

Why nā appears twice

Look at the two entries side by side and the repetition explains itself. Te Aka gives nā and nāku the same two senses in the same words: possession where the owner is in control, and the form that stresses who did an action. Its examples run in parallel too: Nā Te Ihorei tēnā nūpepa. ‘That newspaper belongs to Te Ihorei.’ and Nāku tēnā kurī. ‘That dog is mine.’ So nāku is the me form of the very word that comes back before your name. The first time the writer is me; the second time the writer is named: it is just mine, by me — from Mere.

What the comma does

The comma separates the two phrases, so nā belongs to the name, not to noa. Every guide cited here prints it the same way, comma after noa and the name after nā: Nāku noa, nā Hone, or with the name on the next line, as Massey’s letter template sets it out. Te Taura Whiri’s sheet prints it as Nāku noa, nā beside Yours sincerely, [NAME], with the name exactly where the English puts it.

Nā with a name and nothing else is a sign-off too. The University of Auckland gives Nā Te Rangi as simply from Te Rangi, and the course teaches nā Hone the same way.

Yours sincerely or yours faithfully? Where the guides differ

English letters distinguish sincerely (to a named person) from faithfully (to Sir or Madam). Māori does not draw the line in the same place, and the published guides map it differently. Here they are side by side; none of them is wrong to its own readers.

Te Taura Whiri’s sheet says why the English never lines up exactly: its Māori phrases “are often not literal translations of the English terms given alongside them. Rather, they are equivalent ways of expressing the same ideas.” In practice Nāku noa, nā is the formal close in all four guides, and nobody will read it as the wrong one. In the Auckland variant, iti is Te Aka’s small, unimportant, which keeps the line just as modest.

Signing for two or more people

Nāku is me, so it changes when more than one person signs. Victoria University’s guide gives Nā māua noa, nā for two signatories and Nā mātou noa, nā for three or more. These are the exclusive we: māua is he or she and I, mātou is they and I, and neither includes the reader, who is not one of the writers.

The guides stop at that first line. To write the names after it, Māori joins two names with rāua ko: Te Aka’s example is Tānia rāua ko Te Mete, Tānia and Smithy, and the course teaches Mere rāua ko Hone the same way. When you are one of the people, Te Aka gives māua ko or mātou ko before the other names to mean … and I: māua ko Pou is Pou and I.

The other sign-offs, and when each fits

These are every closing the four guides list, with the English each one gives. Where a guide says when to use a phrase, that is in the last column; where none does, the column says what the guides have in common.

Kia pai tō rā counts its readers, because tō is your for one person. Te Aka gives tō kōrua for two people and tō koutou for three or more, so a team email ends Kia pai tō koutou rā.

Why the farewells speak to the person who stays

Māori goodbyes depend on who is leaving. The University of Auckland gives Haere rā as goodbye to someone leaving and E noho rā as goodbye to someone staying, so saying haere rā on your way out tells your host to leave their own house.

An email follows the same logic. You are leaving the conversation and your reader stays where they are, so the sign-offs address someone staying. Te Aka describes noho ora mai as only said to someone staying, and gives hei konā as goodbye to someone remaining on the phone, which is the same situation; konā is there, where you are. Ka kite anō and Mā te wā work from either side, which makes them the safe choice when you are not sure.

The line before the sign-off

A Māori letter often winds up with a short line before the closing itself. Te Taura Whiri’s office sheet lists these as ways of “ending the main part of a letter before the concluding salutation”, and notes that in Māori they are perfectly polite and do not seem abrupt, as their literal English might.

Replying to a sign-off

Nobody expects a reply to the sign-off itself. If an email ends Ngā mihi, end yours with Ngā mihi too; if it ends Nāku noa, nā, answer in the same register rather than with Mā te wā. Matching what you were sent is the safest rule.

Macrons in your email signature

Every source on this page writes Nāku, nā and Ngā with macrons. A macron marks a long vowel, and an email signature is typed once and then sent thousands of times, so it is worth getting right in the template rather than in each message. How to type Māori macrons covers Windows, Mac, Chromebooks and phones. The University of Auckland’s list also gives the words for the contact lines under your name:

Common mistakes

• Naku noa, na without the macrons. None of the guides writes it that way; Te Aka’s headwords are nāku and nā, with long vowels.
• The comma in the wrong place. It goes after noa, and nā goes with your name: Nāku noa, nā Hēmi.
• Nāku from a whole team. It means me. Two writers sign Nā māua noa, nā and three or more Nā mātou noa, nā (Victoria).
• Hei konā or noho ora mai to someone who is leaving. Te Aka gives both as said to the person who stays.
• Kia pai tō rā to the whole team. Tō is one reader; a group is tō koutou.
• Thinking ngā mihi can only close an email. It is not a mistake to open with it: Te Aka gives mihi as to greet, pay tribute, acknowledge, thank, and Te Taura Whiri heads its list of greetings Ngā mihi.

Māori email signatures to copy

Swap in your own name and details.

Everyday

Ngā mihi,
Mere Smith
Waea mahi: 04 000 0000

With thanks

Ngā mihi nui,
Hone

Formal, one writer

Noho ora mai.
Nāku noa, nā
Hēmi Walker
Policy Adviser

Formal, two writers

Nā māua noa, nā
Mere rāua ko Hone

A team

Nā mātou noa, nā
The Finance Team

Friendly, Friday

Kia pai tō mutunga wiki!
Mā te wā,
Mere

Going further

The other end of the email, from kia ora to tēnā koutou, is in Māori greetings, and the words that fill the middle of a work message, from hui to kaupapa, are in Māori words you’ll hear at work. Verbavia’s free te reo Māori course gives email Māori a lesson of its own, built on the possessives that make nāku work. When someone leaves your workplace, the longer goodbye is a poroporoaki.

Sources

1. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori: Te reo o te tari (Reo for the Office), “Ngā mihi: Greetings & sign-offs” (PDF in the downloadable pack)
2. Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington: Māori greetings and phrases (Endings)
3. Waipapa Taumata Rau – University of Auckland: Greetings and sign-offs
4. Massey University: Using te reo in letters and emails
5. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: nāku noa — it is just me, yours sincerely
6. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: nāku — belonging to me, mine; I did
7. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: noa — only, just, merely; absence of limitations or conditions
8. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: nā — of, belonging to; by (actor emphatic)
9. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: ngā mihi — acknowledgements
10. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: mihi — to greet, pay tribute, acknowledge, thank
11. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: maioha — to greet affectionately, appreciate
12. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: noho ora mai — stay well, only said to someone staying
13. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: hei konā — goodbye to someone remaining on the phone
14. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: mā te wā — see you later, time will tell
15. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: rāua (rāua ko, joining names), māua and mātou (māua ko, mātou ko: and I)
16. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: tō koutou — your (one thing, three or more people)
17. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: iti — small, unimportant
18. Te Aka Māori Dictionary: mauri — life principle, life force