Want to put a specific constant into a register? Use theaddi
instruction.addi $t0, $zero, 1 # put 1 in $t0 addi $t1, $zero, 42 # put 42 in $t1 addi $t2, $zero, -4 # put -4 in $t2For convenience, MIPS provides themove
pseudo-instruction to copy from one register to another:move $t8, $s0 # equiv. to add $t8, $s0, $zero