He kupu e whai tikanga ana i tōna kotahi. Ka whai wāhi atu te tūingoa, te tūmahi me te tūāhua ki tēnei huinga kupu. Ko te 'tumu' o te whakapuakanga te kupu wetereo e tino whai pānga ana. Ehara te 'he' me te 'i' i te kupu kiko. Ko ngā punga ērā o te reo Māori, ka kīia he kupu kōiwi. Ko tā rātou mahi he tuitui haere i ngā kupu kiko i runga anō i ngā tikanga wetereo.
A word which has meaning in its own right. Examples include nouns, verbs and adjectives. The words 'subject' and 'nucleus' (of an utterance) are the related grammatical terms. Examples of words which are not content words include 'he' and 'i'. They are particles in the Māori language and are referred to as structural or function words. They bind the content words together according to grammatical rules.