Hawaiian Reference Grammar V1 Jan2020 1

He Papa Kuhikuhi Pilina‘ lelo
Reference Grammar of the Hawaiian Language
E onipa a k kou i ka imi na auao
Aloha K kou!
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This is version 1.0, completed in 2019 and made available to the public in January, 2020.
Reference Grammar of the Hawaiian Language
Introduction 8
Who is this book for? 8
Who are we? 8
Version Information 8
Conventions and Notation 8
K mole (Reference Texts) 8
Notations and Conventions 10
Overview of Hawaiian Language 11
Origin 11
12
Orthography and Pronunciation 12
Formation of Syllables 15
Accent 15
Structural Elements 16
Words 16
Non-Word Elements 17
Phrases 17
Sentences 19
Ke Kino A Me Ke Kino (O-Class and A-Class Possessive Relationships) 22
Ke Kino‘ (A-Class) 23
Ke Kino‘ (O-Class) 23
Terminology 25
Comparing Classical (Andrews, Alexander), Modern UH M noa (Pukui/Elbert, Hopkins in Ka Lei
Ha aheo) and Modern UH Hilo (Kaman /Wilson in N Kai Ewalu) Grammatical Terminology 25
English/Latin Grammatical Terms 30
Word Types 32
Overview 32
N Kikino (Nouns) 37
N Meme‘a (Common Noun) 37
N I oa (Proper Nouns) 37
N Helunui (Plurals) 38
Mass Nouns 40
Gender 41
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N I oa Henua (Locative Nouns) 41
N Papani (Pronouns) 45
Personal 45
As Subject 45
N Ku i Papani (As Subject with additional participant) 48
After a preposition or object marker 48
N Nono a (Possessives) 49
N Ka i nono a (K-possessive) 49
Ko/k ia nei, ko/k ia ala 50
N Ami Nono a Iki (Æ-possessive) 50
N Ami Nono a Nui (n-possessive) 51
Comparison of pronouns, third person singular 53
Demonstrative 53
Interrogative 55
Indefinite 55
N Painu (Verbs) 56
N Hamani (Transitive) 58
N Hehele (Intransitive) 59
N A ano (Stative) 59
Loa a-type Verbs 60
N Huakahu Helu (Numbers) 62
Cardinal 64
Ordinal 65
Distributive 65
Fractions 65
N Ka i Iloa a H iloa (Articles) 66
Ka, Ke, N (Definite) 66
He, Kekahi, Kahi (Indefinite) 67
O (Proper noun marker) 68
N Ku i (Conjunctions) 69
a 69
A, A me (And) 69
(Until) 70
A i ole / ...paha (Or) 70
2
hea (When/future), In hea (When/past) 71
aia n a, aia wale n a 71
Ak , Eia na e, A ole na e, Na e (But, However) 72
akahi n a 73
Ane ane (almost) 75
A ole (Negative) 75
E pili ana no/i/i (about, concerning, relating to, pertaining to) 75
Emo ole (In no time at all) 76
h k lia n a 77
I (in order that), I ole e (in order that not) 77
I/he kikino + nono a e painu ai. (something for somebody to do something) 78
I mea e painu ai (as a way, as a means, as a thing) 78
I ka hana o (And then when) 79
i loa n a / i lawa n a 79
I/i , oiai/ oi, ke, a, h k lia, i loa n a, i lawa n a, aia n a, akahi n a, i ka hana o (While/When)
79
i/i 79
In , I, E ole, Ke (If) 80
ke 82
Makia, M ki a, Malia, M lia, Mali‘a, Malama (Perhaps) 83
Nani (Since/because) 83
N ho i (Also) 84
Na e (However/still/yet) 84
No ka mea (Because) 85
O (Lest) 85
oiai 86
Wahi a (According to) 86
N Ami (Prepositions) 87
(Emphatic to) 87
A/o nono a (Possessive) 87
Ami Kuhilana I/i /i (To) 88
Ami Hea E (Vocative) 88
Ami Henua Ma (At/In/On) 89
Ami Hoahana Me (With/Like) 90
Ami K mua Mai/Mai (From) 91
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E (Agentive) 91
I/i (Direct and indirect object marker) 91
I o (To the face of) 93
Na (Benefactive/agentive) 93
No (Benefactive/causative/locative) 94
O, Æ (Subject) 95
P (Like) 96
N Hunekuhi (Directionals) 96
N Hune a au (Intensifiers N , K , L , Paha, …) 99
Word Usage Patterns 102
Ke K hulu (Descriptors) 102
Adjectives 102
Adverbs 103
Comparative, Superlative 104
Comparative 104
Superlative 105
A oi, a keu, a emi (or more, or less) 105
No ka W (Temporal) 106
Date 106
Days of the Week 107
N P o ka Mahina (Days of the Month) 107
Helu Manawa Ana (Time) 109
N Kau (Traditional Seasons and Months) 110
Ho oilo (Cooler, Wetter Season) 110
Kau (Hotter, Drier Season) 111
N Mahina (Months) 112
Relative Time 112
Ka Painu (Verbs) 114
N M ka Painu (Verb Markers) 114
N M ka Painu Kauoha (Imperative) 118
Ia (Passivizer) 119
Ho o- (Transitivizer) 120
Ki a Painu (Nominalizer) 121
Special Verb Patterns 122
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Hele a 122
Koe (n ) 122
Kohu ABC 123
Kohu mea l /ala 123
K a 124
K i/i 124
Lilo 124
Lilo used as a hamani 124
Lilo used as a Loa a type A ano (stative) 125
M kaukau 126
Me he mea l 126
Nele i 127
Noke i ka 127
P p ia 128
Sentences 128
Ka Pepeke Painu (Simple Verb Sentences) 128
Composition of a pepeke painu 128
Ka H ole O Ka Pepeke Painu (Negative Simple Verb Sentences) 129
Order of Hune Types in Simple Verb Sentences 130
Ka Pepeke Aike O (Equational) 130
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Aike O (Negative Equational Sentence) 131
Questions with Aike O 132
O ka/ke kikino, (As for) 132
Ka Pepeke Aike He (Class-Inclusion Sentence) 132
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Aike He (Negative Class Inclusional Sentences) 133
Ke K lele kena (Actor-Emphatic) 133
Moving the awe forward 136
Ka H ole o ke K lele kena (Negative of the Actor-Emphatic) 137
Ke K lele K lana (Situation-Emphatic) 137
Moving ana forward for future tense: 139
Ka Pepeke Henua (Locational) 142
Time reference or tense in a locational sentence 143
Temporary Possession 144
Aia for Locational Questions 144
5
Expressing “with” an inanimate object in the Pepeke Henua pattern 144
Ke Aia A (Until) 145
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Henua (Negative Locational Sentences) 145
Variations of the Pepeke Henua pattern 145
Ke K lele K mua (From Where) 147
Ke K lele Hoahana (With) 147
Ka O Ka Painu Dir La N Ia O ABC (Immediate Sequential) 148
Ka Pepeke Nono a (Possessive) 149
Ka Hiki (It is possible) 151
Ka I Loko N O (Despite) 153
Ka n Iho N (Immediately after) 153
N Mea Ho oh likelike (Comparative and Superlative Sentences) 153
Ka Pepeke Oi Aku 153
Ka Pepeke E Aho 155
Clauses 156
Ke K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou Ole (Relative clause as subject of verb) 156
Contractions of ka mea i and ka mea e 158
Passive form 158
Ke K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou (Relative clause as object of its clause) 159
A or O class “possessive” 160
Variations of Form 161
Ke K hulu Pepeke K lele kena (Emphatic relative clause) 164
Ke K hulu Ki a Pepeke (Nominalized Relative Clause) 165
Ka Awe kena A ano (Causative with stative verb) 165
Ke K hulu Pepeke Nono a (Possessive) 166
Ke K hulu Pepeke Aike He (Known As) 167
Ka Ma Ke Ano He (As a, Like a) 167
Miscellaneous 168
Expressing Similarity 168
Ka Oi Loa (Superlatives) 169
Family Relationship Terms 170
Interjections 171
Idioms 177
Dropping Grammatical Elements 177
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I Kikino Na (Give To Someone, Someone Would Like) 177
Various Idioms 177
Appendices 180
Further Research 180
Tables
Types of simple (not compound or complex) sentences
English Grammatical Terms
Grammatical Term Table
M ka Painu (Verb Marker) Table
7
Introduction
Who is this book for?

This grammar of the Hawaiian language is primarily intended for the English-speaking student at an
institute of higher learning. It provides a quick reference to most grammatical constructs that an
undergraduate student of the Hawaiian language will encounter, while also offering examples and
further discussion of many topics. The project to create the book was born of the experience of the
authors in studying Hawaiian Language years one through four at the University of Hawaii Maui
College. A reference grammar of this type would have come to great use!
Who are we?

Anita Bardwell
Joe Bardwell
Rob Weltman
Hoaloha Westcott
You can reach us at hawaiian-grammar-grp@hawaii.edu.
We would like to thank the following for valuable suggestions, review and encouragement:
Kaliko Trapp (UH Hilo)

K ‘ope Raymond (UHMC)
Kepano Trussel (UH M noa)
Albert Schütz (UH M noa)
Version Information
This is version 1.0, completed in 2019 and made available to the public in January, 2020.
Conventions and Notation

K mole (Reference Texts)
A Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii (Ellis 1824)

William Ellis, 1824
Uber die Hawaiische sprache (Chamisso 1837)

Adelbert von Chamisso, 1837
Grammar of the Hawaiian Language (Andrews 1854)

L. Andrews, 1854
Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar (Alexander 1864)
8
W. D. Alexander, 1864
The Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian-English (Judd 1939)

Dictionary
Henry P. Judd, 1939
Rarotongan Personal Pronouns: Form and Distribution (Buse 1960)

J. E. Buse in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African
Studies, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1960)
Spoken Hawaiian (Elbert 1970)

Samuel H. Elbert, 1970
The o/a Distinction in Hawaiian Possessives (Wilson 1976)

William H. Wilson in Oceanic Linguistics Vol. 15, No. 1/2,
1976
Hawaiian Grammar (Elbert/Pukui 1979)

Samuel H. Elbert, Mary Kawena Pukui, 1979
Hawaiian Sentence Structures (Hawkins 1979)

Emily A. Hawkins, 1979
Pedagogical Grammar of Hawaiian (Hawkins 1982)

Emily A. Hawkins, 1982
Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui/Elbert 1986)

Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert, 1957/1986
lelo Hou (Lake 1987)

John Keolamaka ainana Lake, 1987
The Hawaiian Sentence Book (Snakenberg 1988)

Robert Lokomaika iokalani Snakenberg, 1988
Ka Lei Ha aheo (Hopkins 1992)

Alberta Pualani Hopkins, 1992
lelo iwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A O Olelo Hawai i (Cleeland 1994)

H k lani Cleeland, 1994
The Voices of Eden (Schütz 1994)

Albert Schütz, 1994
M maka Kaiao (Hua lelo 2003)

K mike Hua lelo, 2003
Pocket Hawaiian Grammar (Schütz/Kanada/Cook 2005)

Albert J. Schütz, Gary N. K. Kanada, Kenneth W. Cook,
2005
9
N Kai Ewalu - 1 and N Kai Ewalu - 2 (Kaman /Wilson 2012)
Kauanoe Kaman l ua o William H. Wilson, 2012
Hawaiian Lunar Month (Hawaiian Lunar Month)
Asia-Pacific Digital Library - Months (Asia-Pacific Digital Library Months)
Wikipedia, Polynesia (Wikipedia-Polynesia)
Wikipedia, Polynesian languages (Wikipedia-Polynesian languages)
HE K LAILAINA HUNE A AU (Neumann 2019)

Scott Kaua Neumann, 2019
Notations and Conventions
Kimo, Keola and Pualani are fictional characters and bear no relationship to any real persons, living or
dead. These 3 characters are used in examples throughout this book.
When translating the Hawaiian third party singular pronoun o ia into English, we may use "he", "she"
or "it" depending on the context.
"ABC" is used in patterns with the meaning "kikino (word phrase)". kikino is explained below.
10
Overview of Hawaiian Language
Origin
The first Western visitors to Hawaii towards the end of the 18th century were surprised to find that the
local language was very similar to that of New Zealand and Tahiti. The Polynesian languages are
spoken in an area of over 2,000,000 square miles - the Polynesian triangle.
Image from (Wikipedia-Polynesian languages).
Study of the phonetic and grammatical differences between the languages suggests the following
historical derivation (Schütz 1994:334).
11
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Tongic Proto-Nuclear Polynesian
Proto-Samoic Outlier Proto-Eastern Polynesian
Tongan (et al.) Samoan (et al.) Proto-Central-Eastern Rapanui
Hawaiian
Marquesan
Tahitian
M ori
(et al.)
Examples of common words in representative Polynesian languages (Wikipedia-Polynesian

languages):
Tongan Samoan Rapanui Tahitian M ori Marquesan Hawaiian
sky langi langi rangi ra i rangi ani lani
North wind tokelau to elau tokerau to erau tokerau toko au ko olau
woman fefine fafine vahine wahine vehine wahine
house fale fale hare fare whare ha e hale
parent madu a matua matu a metua matua motua makua
Orthography and Pronunciation

The Hawaiian alphabet was defined through a vote by a committee of missionaries in 1826, using
letters from the Latin alphabet. History and other traditional knowledge had been maintained through
the centuries with oral tradition, including complex compilations such as the Kumulipo. The
missionaries, who had arrived in 1820, were anxious to provide the means to convert the population
to Christianity, including the reading of the Bible in Hawaiian.
The definition of the alphabet was to build on the work done earlier to establish alphabets for Tahitian
and M ori. One of the goals was for the Hawaiian alphabet to be as similar to the Tahitian alphabet as
12
possible. However, there were clear differences between the languages as perceived by the
missionaries and there were also areas where their understanding was incomplete.
Besides the five vowels and seven consonants decided on for the alphabet (see below in this section),
the missionaries and other Westerners visiting Hawaii heard Hawaiians use the sounds b, d, r, t and
v. That was the source of much debate among the missionaries and the focus of the vote in 1826.
There is ample evidence that those additional sounds were used by native speakers, but the
committee voted to remove them from the alphabet because they formed pairs or triplets with other
letters which could be used interchangeably with no impact on the meaning or on the ability of native
speakers to comprehend. (Schütz 1994:111) illustrates the problem with an exchange from Albertine
Loomis, Grapes of Canaan:
"Is the dance called hulahula?

" Ae"
"Is it hudahuda?"
" Ae"
"Or hurahura?"
" Ae"
The pairs and triplet were:
p, b
l, r, d
w, v
k, t
The first of each set was chosen for the alphabet.
While not conclusive, there is evidence that certain differences in usage were geographical (t instead
of k on Kaua i and Ni ihau; t is still used on Ni ihau and occasionally in chants), others based on
phonetic context (w after u or o, v in other cases), others on personal preference, some pronounced
as intermediate sounds of the set and some varied seemingly randomly. (Ellis 1824:349) reported that
"The k in most of the islands is generally used in common intercourse, but it is never admitted into
their poetical compositions, in which the t is universally and invariably employed." In almost all cases
reported by the missionaries and by earlier Western Naturalists, native speakers did not perceive a
difference in words used with one or the other sounds of a set. Each set is one phoneme, with
potentially multiple renditions.
The missionaries were aware of two other important elements of pronunciation but were not able to
capture them in their alphabet or use them in printing: the glottal stop and vowel length, both of which
are essential to expressing meaning in the language. The glottal stop as a consonant, as well as
vowel length, were not formally recognized and used in print until the middle of the 20th century. The
glottal stop was known earlier as u uina but renamed by Elbert in 1991 to okina. The macron above
a vowel to show length is termed kahak .
13
The resultant Hawaiian alphabet contains 13 letters. Each of the letters are pronounced as shown in
the following table:
Hawaiian alphabet (Pukui/Elbert 1986:xvii):
Consonant Pronunciation
h About as in English
k About as in English but with less aspiration
l About as in English but may be dental-alveolar
m About as in English
n About as in English but may be dental
p About as in English but with less aspiration
w After i and e usually a lax v; after u and o usually

like w; after a or initially like w or v
Glottal stop, similar to the sound between the

oh s in English oh-oh
Vowel Pronunciation
a Like a in above
Like a in far
e Like e in bet
Like ay in pay
i Like y in city
Like ee in see
o Like o in sole but without off-glides
Like o in sole
u Like oo in moon but without off-glides
Like oo in moon but without off-glides
Vowels with kahak (macron) do not have off-glides, are somewhat longer than other vowels and are
always stressed.
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Diphthong Pronunciation
ei, eu, oi, ou, ai, ae, ao, au Rising, always stressed on the first element, but
the second element has more vowel quality than
the off-glide in an English diphthong
iu Even
Formation of Syllables
A syllable in Hawaiian always ends in a vowel
Two consecutive consonants are not allowed
This means that a syllable consists of either a vowel or of a consonant followed by a vowel, and that a
word ends in a vowel. Note that the okina is a consonant.
Accent
When a syllable is emphasized in Hawaiian, it is somewhat louder, longer and often higher in pitch
than other syllables. Words less than four syllables in length have accent on only one syllable, while
those with four or more syllables have more than one with emphasis. In words of less than four
syllables, the penultimate (second to last) syllable carries the accent, unless the last syllable has a
long vowel (kahak over it), in which case the last syllable has the most emphasis.
In speech and also in names, a ka‘i (ka, ke, n ) often joins with the following word to form one unit in
terms of accent, e.g. kamaka (= ka maka, the eye).
The separation of syllable groups by accent is indicated in (Pukui/Elbert 1986), (Schutz/Kanada/Cook

2005) and in the modern dictionary (Hua lelo 2003) with a raised period between accent groups:
Example Meaning
pule・lehua butterfly
makua・hine mother
The rules for which syllable receives emphasis apply within an accent group, not between them.
There is more emphasis on the accented syllable of the final accent group than on the preceding
ones.
15
Example Meaning
Kalani・ana・ ole A highway named after Prince Jonah K hi

Kalaniana ole; here there is more emphasis on
the red syllable than on the two green ones
Within an accent group, the penultimate (next to last) syllable receives the most emphasis unless the
last syllable has a long vowel (kahak over it), in which case the last syllable has the most emphasis.
Any syllable with a diphthong or long vowel also has emphasis.
Example Meaning
pule・lehua butterfly
makua・hine mother
kap sacred, prohibited

(Schutz/Kanada/Cook 2005: xvii-xx)
Structural Elements
Words
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:43) specifies the following types of words:
Type Description
Nouns Names of persons, places or things
Verbs
Noun-verbs Verbs commonly used as nouns without the

nominalizer ana; see the section below on Word
Types
Substitutes Pronouns, Demonstratives, Possessives,

Interrogatives; these can be used in place of a
noun
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Numerals
Interjections
Idioms Words not otherwise classifiable
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Non-Word Elements
Non-Word Elements Description
Particles Denote grammatical meaning, indicate whether

accompanying words are nouns or verbs,
whether action is completed or going on,
whether a noun is a subject, object, agent,
possessor, locative or instrumental
Affixes The addition of prefixes, infixes and suffixes to

bases; also reduplication; examples of prefixes
are ho o-, ma- and aka-; an example of a suffix
is -hine
Phrases
Words, particles and affixes are combined in phrases, which are divided into noun phrases and verb
phrases.
"Verb phrases contain verbs as their heads." (Elbert/Pukui 1979: 39). A word is identified as a verb by
its potential occurrence together with a verb marker such as ua to mark tense or aspect. See below
for examples of verb and noun phrases.
"Noun phrases contain nouns or substitutes for nouns" (where a substitute is a pronoun or
demonstrative); "these are names of persons or places" or are identified through their use with a
determiner such as he, ke/ka. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:39).
The order of the elements of a noun phrase is defined in (Elbert 1970:117,246) as:
Preposition ± Determiner + Noun ± Post-noun elements
± indicates that the following element is optional.
The determiners are:
Determiner Examples
Singular definite article ka, ke
k-demonstratives ± mau k ia, k l , k n , k l mau
k-possessives ± mau ka u, kou, kona, kona mau
Indefinite/abstract article kekahi
17
Indefinite demonstrative ia
Plural definite article n
Indefinite article he
Indefinite article plural he mau
Numbers elua, umik m kolu
The post-noun elements are:
Post-noun element Examples
Qualifying content words p , wale, ia
Directional mai, aku, iho, a e
k-less demonstratives nei, na/ana, la/ala
Verb marker ai ai
Qualifiers n , la, na e, ho i, e, anei, paha, noho i
Example:
i ka hale n
Preposition Determiner Noun Qualifier (post-noun element)
definitely in the house
Grammar studies of the Hawaiian language from the start and through the 1970's have categorized
noun usage by "case", as used in Latin. Breakdown by "case" is explicit in (Chamisso 1837),
(Andrews 1854), (Alexander 1864), (Judd 1939), (Elbert 1970) and (Elbert/Pukui 1979). Six cases
were identified. Unlike in the European languages, there is no declension of nouns; instead the case
is indicated with a preposition, object marker or the lack of either. (Judd 1939:13) provides a typical
list of cases and examples:
Case Example Translation
Nominative ka hale the house
18
Genitive o ka hale of the house
Possessive ko ka hale the house's
Dative no ka hale for the house
Accusative/ i ka hale to the house, the house (as object of

Objective a transitive verb)
Ablative ma ka hale at/by/in the house

mai ka hale from the house
me ka hale with the house
e ka hale by the house (agent)
Sentences
One or more phrases produces a sentence. For example:

Ua hele ke kanaka i Maui.
Verb phrase Noun phrase Noun phrase
The man went to Maui.
Ua ai ke kanaka i ka poi.
The man ate the poi.
Ua ai ia ka poi e ka wilik .
The poi was eaten by the engineer.
He kumu au.
Noun phrase Noun phrase
I am a teacher.
If there are pauses when speaking, they occur between phrases and not inside a phrase.
Sentences combining simple sentences are complex sentences:

O ia ka mea au i makemake ai.
Noun phrase Noun phrase Noun phrase Verb phrase
This sentence can be considered a composition of two simple sentences:

O ia ka mea. ("That is the thing." - Equational sentence)
Ua makemake au i ka mea. ("I wanted the thing." - Simple Verb sentence)
That's the thing I wanted.
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Types of simple (not compound or complex) sentences
English name Hawaiian name Example Translation
Simple Verb Pepeke Painu Ua hele ke keiki i ka The boy went home (to the
hale. house)
Simple Verb, Pepeke Painu H ole A ole i hele ke keiki i The boy did not go home.
Negative ka hale.
Class Inclusion Aike He He hale hou k l . That is a new house.
Class Inclusion, Aike He H ole Aole k l he hale That is not a new house
Negative hou.
Equational Aike O O ka hale o ke keiki That is the boy's house.

k l .
Equational, Negative Aike O H ole A ole k l o ka hale o That is not the boy's house.
ke keiki.
Actor-Emphatic K lele kena Na ke keiki i hele i ka It was the boy who went
hale. home.
Situation-Emphatic K lele K lana Ma ka hale i ai ai ke It was at home that the boy

keiki. ate.
Locational Pepeke Henua Aia ke keiki ma ka The boy is at home.

hale.
Immediate " O ka painu dir la n O ka hele akula n ia And then the boy went
Sequential ia" o ke keiki i ka hale. home.
Possessive Pepeke Nono a Elua puke a ke keiki. The boy has two books.
Comparative Oi aku Oi aku ke kaulana o Keola is more famous than

Keola ma mua o Keani.
Keani.
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:21-22,26) - developed for teaching first-year and second-year Hawaiian at UH
Hilo - takes a different approach to describe the components of a sentence. It introduces new,
Hawaiian terms corresponding to the parts of an octopus (see also the Terminology section below).
A pepeke is an octopus or sentence. It is divided into one or more l l (basic sentence parts;
corresponds with a verb or noun phrase as discussed above). A pepeke has one or more po o
(heads) and may have one or more awe (tentacles or descriptive phrases) connected with a piko
(navel or joining point). A po o, piko or awe may include a k hulu (descriptor). Every pepeke must
have at least one po o, but the awe and piko are optional (Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:80). A hamani
(transitive verb) may take a lauka (object or object phrase). A pepeke makua (primary pepeke) can
be connected to a pepeke keiki (secondary pepeke) with e. A ku i is a conjunction that connects
words within a po o, piko or awe.
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K hulu
Aw
Po o Piko
Examples:
Ono.
Po o
It's delicious.
Aia ke kumu i Honolulu.

Po o Piko Awe
The teacher is in Honolulu.
A ole au me Keola.
Po o Piko Awe
I am not with Keola.
Anuanu ka wai.
Po o Piko
The water is cold.
Hana k ia kaikamahine ma ka hale pule.

Po o Piko Awe
This girl works at church.
Hana ka wahine noho i Kapahulu me a u.

Po o Piko (with k hulu) Awe
The lady that lives in Kapahulu works with me.
A ole au hele me ia.

Po o Piko Po o Awe
I don't go with him.
A ole hele o Puaani me ia.

Po o Po o Piko Awe
Pualani doesn't go with him.
O Pualani oe.
Po o Piko
You are Pualani.
A ole o Pualani he haumana.

Po o Piko Po o
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Pualani is not a student.
A ole k l ka a o ko u hoaloha he mea ula ula.

Po o Piko (with k hulu) Po o (with k hulu)
That car of my friend is not red (a red thing).
Makemake au e ai i ka i a.
Po o Piko Po o Awe with Lauka
I want to eat (the) fish.
Makemake o ia e ike oe.

Po o Piko Po o Piko
He wants you to see.
Makemake au i oe e hele.
Po o Piko Awe Po o
I want you to go.
Ua ai o Leo i n manak me Kimo ma ke alanui.

Po o Piko Awe Awe Awe
Leo ate the mangos with Kimo on the street.
E Nani, k pulu i kekahi manawa k ia mau keiki!

Awe Po o Awe Piko
Nani, sometimes these children are sloppy!
Ke hele w w mai nei l kou i ane i.

Po o Piko Awe
They are coming over here quickly.
O ko u m m , a ole o ia makemake i ia ano mea, ak , o wau, makemake n au.

Awe Po o Piko Po o Awe Ku i Awe Po o Piko
My mom doesn't like that sort of thing, but I do. (As for my mom, she doesn t like that sort of thing, but,
as for me, i like.)
He kumu niu ma laila.

Po o Awe
There's a coconut tree there.
Hiki i oe ke lawe i k ia manak .

Po o Awe Po o Awe
You can take this mango
Ke Kino A Me Ke Kino (O-Class and A-Class Possessive Relationships)
22
Possessive relationships have two forms, where the form to be used depends on the noun that is
possessed. In one case the letter a is used and in the other case it s the letter o. This distinction is
called “A-Class” versus “O-Class”. The a and o appear in the context of possessive pronouns and
with nouns to express the possessive relationship. Do we say "ka u hale" (A-Class) or "ko u hale" (O-
Class) for "my house"?
The categorization is not consistent in all cases and does not necessarily imply ownership in the strict
sense, but rather speaks to the control of the relationship (and not directly to the control of the actual
object being possessed). So, for example, you may not be able to control your cat but you can control
your relationship to your cat (i.e. you can give it to someone else). (Buse 1960:131)
Ke Kino‘ (A-Class)
The thing possessed is “alienable” meaning that possession can be transferred to new ownership.
This implies that you have a choice as to whether or not you possess the thing. Characteristics of A-
Class things may include:
You choose whether or not you want to possess them
Relationships caused, created, or instigated by the possessor (including ka u wahine “my
wife”)
They are portable and can be carried
They are subordinate to and under the control of the possessor
Relationships controlled by the possessor in which the possessed does not serve as the
location of the possessor (i.e. ka u p ina “my field” that I own but I don t live there)
Example Meaning
ka u puke my book
ka u keiki my child
ka u p olo my package
ka u lio my dog
ka u kula my school
Ke Kino‘ (O-Class)
The thing possessed is “inalienable” meaning the possession cannot be taken from or given away by
the possessor. This implies you have no choice as to whether or not you possess the thing.
Characteristics of O-Class things may include:
You cannot choose whether or not you want to possess them
They are fixed and stationary and cannot be carried by the possessor
They are in close contact with the body
Possession in, on, under or something you wear
They are inherited
They are animals or vehicles used for riding
23
They carry important cultural and historical value
Your name, someone else s name, the name of a thing (i.e. any name)
Relationships which are not controlled by the possessor including parents, grandparents, all
previous generations, cousins, brothers, and sisters. All words starting with hoa- (friend) are
considered O-Class: ko u hoaloha “my friend”
Relationships which involve the use of the possessed by the possessor as a location 1 (i.e. n
i a o ke kai “the fish of the sea”). Location, when considered as a determinant of O-Class,
refers to the spatial use of an object and not just to a place where an object is situated. The
goal of a possessor s use of an object as a location is the realization of a customary spatial
relationship between the two.
Example Meaning
ko u moena my mat
ko u pena lehelehe my lipstick
ko u m malu my umbrella
ko u makuak ne my father
ko u ka a my car
ko u inoa my name
ko u hoah nau my cousin
ko u lio my horse
ko u hale aina my restaurant
ko u mana o my thoughts/feelings
The concept of an alienable versus inalienable relationship between possession and possessor is
illustrated in the following examples where O-Class and A-Class possessive relationships are used for
the same noun but where the two types imply different relationships:
O-Class / Inalienable A-Class / Alienable
ko u ki i The picture of me ka u ki i My picture (that I own)
ko u hale My house (that I live in) ka u hale My house (that I built for someone
else)
ko u ake My liver (my internal organ) ka u ake My liver (my food that I can eat)
1
(Wilson 1976:43)
24
ko u makua My parent ka u makua My adult (a student/employee of
mine)
no u k l That is mine (I control it) na u k l That is mine (I have it right now)
ko u lei My lei (that I wear) ka u lei My lei (that I m giving to someone

else)
Note that an object is O-Class when you own and control it but it is an A-Class when you are going to
give it to someone else, or it’s in your possession but you are going to transfer possession to
someone else. (Wilson 1976: 39-50)
“There is a nice shade of distinction between the meanings of the relations expressed by a and o; but
there is no preposition in English that will give the shade of difference. They must both be expressed
in English by the preposition of; and yet they are so distinct in a Hawaiian s mind as rarely to be
exchanged the one for the other.” (Andrews 1854:45)
Terminology
Comparing Classical (Andrews, Alexander), Modern UH M noa

(Pukui/Elbert, Hopkins in Ka Lei Ha aheo) and Modern UH Hilo
(Kaman /Wilson in N Kai Ewalu) Grammatical Terminology
The first publications to comprehensively document the grammar of the Hawaiian language were
(Chamisso 1837), (Andrews 1854) and (Alexander 1864). They all proceeded from classical Latin
assumptions around the structure of language, seeking to identify word classifications (noun, pronoun,
verb, adjective), noun declensions, verb cases and verb moods consistent with those in European
languages. See (Schutz 1994) for a discussion of the issues around this approach.
The practice of aligning Hawaiian grammatical constructs with Latin concepts continued well into the
20th century with (Judd 1939). (Elbert/Pukui 1979) mostly abandons the attempt to define Hawaiian in
terms of Latin grammar but assumes certain characteristic elements such as subject and predicate
that do not directly match Hawaiian syntax. It also attaches Latin cases to the prepositions.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979) does adopt the more natural classification of Hawaiian verbs into intransitive,
transitive, stative and loa a (and similar) stative types, following publications on verb classes in other
Polynesian languages in the 1960s.
The Hawaiian Renaissance, starting in the 1970s, gave rise to new ways to interpret and present
Hawaiian grammar, attempting to match its inherent characteristics and provide a path to competence
for a new generation of instructors in the language, particularly for the students of Hawaiian
immersion schools. (Kaman /Wilson 2012) introduced the concept of the pepeke (squid) to represent
a sentence, consisting mainly of the po o (head), piko (navel) and awe (tentacles). It applies
25
Hawaiian terms for all the constructs of the language as needed in the first and second years of
instruction in the language at UH Hilo.
(Hopkins 1992) takes a different approach, defining a number of new English-language terms - not
constrained by Latin grammar - for the Hawaiian language constructs for use in the first year of
instruction at UH M noa.
The following table relates and illustrates the Hawaiian grammatical terms used in (Kaman /Wilson
2012) by presenting the corresponding terms used by (Hopkins 1992) where available, supplemented
with examples and notes.
Grammatical Term Table

(Kaman /Wilson (Hopkins 1992) Examples/Notes
2012)
Word types
meme a common noun or verb: kikino, hamani,

hehele, a ano
kikino an entity with a body
papani personal pronoun au, oe, o ia, m ua, k ua, m kou,

l ua, l kou
ka i determiner
‘ koi meme‘a preceded by a ka‘i
ka i h iloa he (indefinite article)
ka i huahelu number
ka i iloa definite article ka, ke
ka i ko a ka, ke (indefinite plural)
ka i iloa/ koa n (definite plural)
26
ka i kuhi k ia, k n , k l , ia (demonstrative
pronoun)
ka i wae kekahi (one, some)
ka i nono a k-possessive kou, ka u, ko ke kumu
i oa proper noun
i oa paku place name
i oa kuhane person name
ami k hea vocative e
ami aike o (at start of sentence)
ami piko o (before name or location)
ami mole mai, mai (from)
ami henua ma (at)
ami hoa me (with)
ami kuhilana i (to)
ami lauka object marker i, i
ami nono a n-possessive, k-less possessive na, no, a, o
hune ano wale, loa, , hou
hunekuhi directional aku, mai, a e, iho
27
hunekaime ana, nei
hune a au intensifier k , l , n , ho i, paha
hunewae ano
waila a ole, aia, in
Verb types
hamani transitive k kau - takes a direct object
hehele intransitive hele - does not take a direct object
a ano stative ma a - describes a state, has a

passive sense
Syntactical constructs
pepeke sentence
poke phrase - incomplete sentence
k hulu adjective, adverb wikiwiki, anuanu
iae passive voice sentence with Ua k kau ia ka puke e a u. (The book

transitive verb was written by me.)
hia o passive voice sentence with Ua make ka i a i ke anuanu. (The fish

stative verb died of cold.)
pepeke aike o equational sentence O Keola ke kumu. (Keola is the

teacher.)
pepeke aike he class-inclusion sentence He kumu o Keola. (Keola is a

teacher.)
pepeke painu simple verb sentence Ke a o mai nei o Keola. (Keola is

teaching.)
28
pepeke henua locational sentence Aia o Keola ma ke kula. (Keola is at
school.)
pepeke nono a have-a sentence He puke ka u. (I have a book.)
pepeke k lele k lana situation emphatic sentence Ma ke kula e a o aku ana o Keola. (It
is at school that Keola is teaching.)
pepeke k lele kena actor emphatic sentence Na Keola e a o aku ana. (It is Keola
who is teaching.)
oi aku comparative sentence Oi aku ke kaulana o Keola ma mua o

Keani. (Keola is more famous than
Keani.)
ki a pepeke ana nominalization Kaulana ke a o aku ana o Keola.

(The teaching by Keola is famous.)
m ka painu verb marker Tenses and moods in verbs are

indicated with external particles rather
than conjugation:
Ua ike o ia ia u. (He saw me.)
E n na ana o ia ia u. (He was looking
at me.)
k hulu pepeke piko relative clause type A O ia n ke keiki i hele mai i ke kula.
ole (He is the child who came to school.)
k hulu pepeke piko relative clause type B O ia n ke keiki a u i ike mai i ke

hou kula. (He is the child I saw at school.)
29
English/Latin Grammatical Terms
As discussed above, this book considers Hawaiian grammar both in the terms used by the many
grammar books and course books from (Chamisso 1837) to (Schutz/Kanada/Cook 2005) as well as
the new Hawaiian terms of (Kaman /Wilson 2012). While the book discusses usage of all known
Hawaiian language patterns with references to books of both categories, it does not define the
English/Latin grammatical terms themselves but refers the interested reader to Wikipedia:
English Grammatical Terms

Term Wikipedia Reference
Ablative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_case
Accusative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusative_case
Adjective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective
Adverb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb
Agentive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active%E2%80%93stative_language,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_(grammar)
Article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_(grammar)
Benefactive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefactive_case
Cardinal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_number
Case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_case
Causative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causative
Clause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause
Conjunction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_(grammar)
Dative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dative_case
Definite, Indefinite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definiteness
Demonstrative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstrative
Determiner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_determiners
Direct Object, Indirect Object https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_(grammar)#Types
Distributive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributive_case
Gender https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender
30
Genitive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genitive_case
Intensifier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensifier
Interrogative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative_word
Intransitive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intransitive_verb
Locative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locative_case
Nominalization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominalization
Nominative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_case
Noun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun
Noun Phrase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_phrase
Ordinal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_number
Passive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_voice
Possessive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possessive
Preposition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preposition_and_postposition
Pronoun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoun
Proper Noun, Common Noun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proper_noun
Relative Clause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_clause
Sentence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(linguistics)
Subject https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_(grammar)
Subordinate Clause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_clause
Tense https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_tense
Tense-Aspect-Mood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%9
3mood
Transitive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitive_verb,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitivity_(grammar)
Verb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb
Verb Phrase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb_phrase
31
Vocative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocative_case
Word Types
Overview
One of the distinguishing features of the Hawaiian language is the versatility of word usage. The same
word (excluding particles, conjunctions and prepositions) can in principle be used in the sense of a
verb, a noun, an adjective or an adverb with no change in conjugation. Wahine, for example, can be
used to indicate a woman, to become a woman, to have female characteristics or to do something in a
feminine way.
English Type Example Translation
Noun He wahine o ia. She is a woman.
Verb Ua wahine o ia. She has become a woman.
Adjective He leo wahine kona. He/she has a feminine voice.
Adverb E hele wahine oe. Go like a woman.
In practice, many words are not commonly used as verbs, while any verb can be used as a noun
(similar to a gerund in other languages). (Elbert/Pukui 1979:105) suggests that the noun-only words
"are limited largely to material objects, plants and animals, and names of persons and places".
"...there is no formally distinguished class of adjective or of adverb in Hawaiian, Words performing as

English adjectives and adverbs are stative verbs in Hawaiian." (Elbert/Pukui 1979:49). The usage
patterns in Hawaiian suggest a different classification from that of verb, noun, adjective and adverb.
The comprehensive Hawaiian dictionary (Pukui/Elbert 1986) uses one of the following terms to
indicate the type of most words:
Abbreviation Meaning Example
n. noun kumu (base, source, tree, teacher)
vi. intransitive verb hele (to go)
32
vs. stative verb ma i (to be sick)
vt. transitive verb k kau (to write)
An additional category in (Elbert/Pukui 1979:43) includes "verbs commonly used as nouns without the
nominalizer ana". They are treated in (Pukui/Elbert 1986) as a subcategory of vi., vs. and vt.:
nvi., nvs., nvt. noun-verb Nani ke mele. (The singing/song is

beautiful.)
(Elbert/Pukui 1979) distinguishes between stative verbs of the loa a type and other stative verbs, and
between "deliberate transitive" and "spontaneous transitive" verbs, but (Hawkins 1982:27) indicates
that these distinctions are not relevant to a syntactical analysis such as ours.
A small number of words in (Pukui/Elbert 1986) have other well-defined types 2:
conj. conjunction (a ak (but)

particle connecting
sentences, phrases,
and words)
demon. demonstrative k ia (this)
inter. interrogative (a aha (why, what)

question word)
interj. interjection (a short k (disapproval, surprise)

expression that does
not fit into the normal
patterns of the
language, often
expressing emotion,
but also including
salutations, taunts,
song refrains, calls to
animals, and
2
Explanations taken from (Pukui/Elbert 1986) and from https://hilo.hawaii.edu/wehe/glossary.php
33
onomatopoeic
sounds)
loc.n. locative noun (a loko (inside)

noun indicating
location in space or
time)
num. numeral elima (five)
par. particle ia (verb marker indicating passive sense)
poss. possessive kona (his, her)
prep. preposition ma (in, on, at)
Note that the same word may have more than one meaning, with the same or different types for the
distinct meanings.
Counts by word type in (Pukui/Elbert 1986) (total entries there 26,853, whereof 20,890 unique terms):
Word type Count Notes
n.3 11,656 Noun
nv.4 337 Noun-verb
v. 181 Verb
vi. 1,171 Intransitive verb
nvi.5 763 Intransitive noun-verb
vt.6 1,035 Transitive verb
nvt. 674 Transitive noun-verb
vs.7 2,037 Stative verb
nvs.8 1,046 Stative noun-verb
3
Includes (Not cap.) n., (Cap.) n., (Cap.).n, and (Cap;) n.
4
Includes (Not cap.) nv.
5
Includes (Not cap.) nvi.
6
Includes (Not cap.) vt.
7
Includes (Not cap.) vs. and (Cap.) vs.
8
Includes (Not cap.) nvs. and (Cap.) nvs.
34
prep. 10 Preposition
conj. 23 Conjunction
demon. 14 Demonstrative
inter. 11 Interrogative
interj. 98 Interjection
loc.n. 33 Locative noun
num. 78 Numeral
par. 0 Particle (this class is not used; instead part. and various
specific particles are tagged)
caus/sim.9 4 The transitivizing prefixes ho-, h -, ho - and h -
poss. 37 Possessive
pronoun. 17 Pronoun
There are 7,275 words that are not classified explicitly as one of the above. Of them, the following can
be considered additional grammatical categories, variants or combinations:
idiom. (any short 37 Examples: aho, aia, eia, kana, mea

expression with
meaning not
deducible from the
meanings of the
parts)
part.10 32 Particle; includes verb markers ke-nei, ke-l and e, as

well as the directional aku and the intensifiers such as
ho i, paha and wale n
n.-poss. 6 N-possessives - n na, n u, na u, nona, nou, no u
Directional part. (a 3 a ela, akula, mai

particle following a
headword that
indicates relative
proximity in space
or time of the
speaker and
hearer)
Intensifying part. 3 e, n , noho i
9
Includes marker of the caus/sim.
10
These should be under par. according to (Pukui/Elbert 1986) page xxv
35
vi., interj. 3 Can be intransitive verb or interjection
directional.11 2 a e, iho
nvs., nvi. 2 Can be stative or intransitive verb - p , pali
nvs., nvt. 1 Can be stative or transitive verb - makeleho
The rest need to be analyzed individually to determine the grammatical category (they generally refer
to another term in the dictionary):
Same 2,068
Redup. 1,623 Reduplication
Var. 608 Variant, variety
Pas/imp. 262 Passive/imperative, verbs with the affix -a, -na or -ia to
indicate a passive or imperative sense, e.g. huia (to be
met) from hui (to meet)
ho o. 170 Words made transitive with the prefix ho o-, e.g.

ho opapa, ho onoho
Also 160 Secondary reference
(Cap.) 101 Beginning with a capital letter
Short for 99 Shortened form, e.g. hakule i - haku + polole i
Rare var. 81 E.g. nahe - rare var. of nahenahe
A variety 61
Similar to 59
Rare. 4 E.g. -k - rare. suffix. Here and there. See holoholok ,

holok , lelek .
Rare redup. 3 hulahula, kananana, lakolako
Miscellaneous 2,191
other definitions
1,533 words in the Wehewehe database have more than one type. Six of them have six types, but
only 346 altogether have more than two types.
11
Includes directionial; this class should also include mai (now under Directional part.) and aku (now under
Part.)
36
N Kikino (Nouns)
As discussed above, Hawaiian does not have a strict distinction between nouns and other word types,
particularly verbs. Any word that can be used as a verb can also be used as a noun. However, some
words that are used as nouns are rarely or never used as verbs. These words are classified as n for
nouns in (Pukui/Elbert 1986) and as kikino in (Kaman /Wilson 2012). n/kikino words are further
subdivided into proper nouns (i oa) and common nouns (meme a), while proper nouns distinguish
between names of people, spirits or pets (i oa kuhane) and names of places, buildings, canoes and
songs (i oa paku). Some words function as i oa kuhane in certain contexts and i oa paku in others.
(Kaman /Wilson P2 2012:5,19).
N Meme‘a (Common Noun)

Common nouns (meme a) are not capitalized in common usage. Hawaiian names (proper nouns) are
generally words with other usages (as common nouns). When the word is used as a name, it is
capitalized. Example:
Example Meaning
ke kula school
o Kula the place named Kula
Aia he kula i Kula. There is a school in Kula.
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 P1:5) describes meme a as "types of things, actions and conditions".
N I oa (Proper Nouns)
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 P1:5) describes i oa as "personal names, place names and a few other terms".
As in English, proper nouns are generally capitalized. Proper nouns take the determiner o when
functioning as the subject of a sentence, not ka or ke or he. Examples:
Example Meaning
O kona inoa o Kalei. His name is Kalei.
O Kalei kona inoa. His name is Kalei.
Ua hele mai o Kalei. Kalei came.
When a proper noun functions as the object of a verb, it takes i rather than i as the object marker.
Examples:
Example Meaning
Ua ike au i Kalei. I saw Kalei.
37
E ha alele ana o ia i Kula. He is leaving Kula,
That contrasts with i as object marker for common nouns:
Example Meaning
E ha alele ana o ia i ke kula. He is leaving the school.
Proper nouns are further divided into place names (i oa paku) and other names (i oa kuhane). While
all proper nouns take i instead of i as object marker, a place name takes the preposition i to indicate
location or direction.
Historically, the object marker in Proto-Polynesian was *i while the preposition was *ki. The two
merged in pronunciation in Hawaiian but should be treated as separate grammatical entities.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:135)
A non-place proper noun takes only an object marker i ; it does not take a preposition (i). Examples:
Example Meaning
Ua hele o ia i Kula. He went to Kula.
Ke noho nei o ia i Kula. He is living in Kula.
Makemake o ia i Kula. He likes Kula.
N Helunui (Plurals)
Only a very small number of nouns take a different form when indicating plural. (Elbert/Pukui
1979:106) lists ten such nouns, all of them referring to people; the plural of these nouns has the third
from the last vowel lengthened (note that a plural determiner is required when using these):
Singular Plural Meaning
aumakua aum kua family god
elemakule elem kule old man
kahiko k hiko old person
kahuna k huna priest
kaikamahine kaikam hine girl
kanaka k naka person
kupuna k puna grandparent
38
luahine lu hine old woman
makua m kua parent
wahine w hine woman
Plurality is indicated by the definite determiner n used with a noun or by the plural modifier mau,
used with the indefinite determiners he and kekahi and with the possessive and demonstrative
pronouns.
Example Meaning
Aia ke keiki ma . The child is over there.
Aia n keiki ma . The children are over there.
Aia ka wahine ma . The woman is over there.
Aia n w hine ma . The women are over there.
Aia he mau keiki ma . There are children over there.
Aia kekahi mau keiki ma . There are some children over there.
Aia ka u mau keiki ma . My children are over there.
Na u k l mau keiki. Those children are mine.
(Alexander 1864:6) adds three collective plural modifiers: po e (for people), pu u (for lifeless things)
and pae (for lands or islands). Similar uses are described in (Andrews 1854:39-41).12
Example Meaning
He po e haum na A company of disciples (students)
Ka po e w hine The women
He pu u p haku A pile of stones
K ia pae moku These islands
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:162) says that po e may be used also for inanimate nouns. It also lists kau for
more than two items, wahi for a small or insignificant number and n hi (contraction of n wahi), but
not pu u or pae as plural markers. kau and n hi are rarely used.
12
Given the small number of nouns that pae and pu u are used with, it may be more appropriate to consider
those cases as compound nouns rather than a noun with a plural marker, e.g. pae moku - "archipelago" rather
than "islands". K ‘ope Raymond reports the use of "pae p haku" for a pile of stones.
Pu u is used to mean a hill or pile on its own. Pu u p haku could be understood to mean literally "a pile of
stones" rather than "stones".
39
Example Meaning
K ia po e hale These houses
Ua ike anei oe i kau pua a a m kou? Have you seen our pigs?
k na wahi w hine his unimportant wives
Auhea akula n hi keiki? Where are the boys?
mau can also be used with collective nouns to indicate multiple instances:
Example Meaning
E ki i oe i ka wai! Go get water!
E ki i oe i kekahi mau wai! Go get the water (bottles)!
He one k ia. This is sand.
He mau one k ia. These are different kinds of sand.
Mass Nouns
To express "some" of an object type, the following patterns are used:
i/he kikino
(i) kekahi (mau) kikino
For example:
Ua noi ke kuene i k piki.
or
Ua noi ke kuene i kekahi mau k piki. The waitress asked for some cabbage.
Note that he never follows i. (Hawkins 1982:4) In other words, when the noun is an object, it takes
only i or only he.
Ua h nau mai o ia he keiki k ne. She bore a son.
Example Meaning
Ua hele mai o Puhi ula mai kekahi ina mai. Puhi ula came from some land.
I kona hele ana mai, ua ho ololi o ia i ia iho i On coming, he changed himself into a very large
puhi nui loa. eel.
E lawe mai oe i kalo na u e hana ai i ka poi. Bring some kalo for me to make poi.
40
Ua kua au i kumu l au na Kimo e k kulu ai i ka I cut some trees for Kimo to build a house.
hale. (or i hale, or he hale)
E k ai oe i kini na ke kumu e inu ai. Buy some gin for the kumu to drink.
Ua k ai mai o ia i kekahi palaoa na e h nai ai i She bought some bread to feed the fish.
ka i a.
I wai e inu ai? Can I have some water to drink?
Makemake au i kumu e ola ai. I want a reason to live.
Gender
Male and female instances of a thing represented by a noun are indicated by appending k ne or
wahine. In some common cases, a new compound word is formed while in most cases k ne or
wahine is written as a separate word.
Example Meaning
moa k ne cock
moa wahine hen
keikik ne boy
kaikamahine girl
N I oa Henua (Locative Nouns)
A number of nouns for time and place are considered to be locative nouns in Hawaiian. (Elbert/Pukui
1979:120-121) distinguishes between those that can be used with or without the determiner ka/ke
(usually with different meanings) and those that can only be used without the determiner.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:121) identifies ten words of the first type:
Locative Meaning Without determiner With determiner
luna up Aia ke ao i luna. (The No ka luna ko luna, no ka

cloud is above.) lalo ko lalo. (What belongs
up is up, what belongs down
is down - Everything has a
place and an order.)
lalo down Aia ke kanaka i lalo o ke Ua ike o ia i ka lalo o ke

ka a. (The person is under ka a. (He saw the underside
the car.) of the car.)
mua before, first Ua h nau ia o ia ma mua O Keola ka mua. (Keola is

o ka la i. (He was born the first-born, or the first to
before the earthquake.) go.)
41
waena middle, center Noho o ia ma waena o O Makawao ka waena o ka
Kahului a Pukalani. (He moku. (Makawao is the
lives between Kahului and center of the island.)
Pukalani.)
hope after, last, because Ua hiki mai o Keola ma O Keola n ka hope. (Keola
hope o Keani. (Keola is indeed the last-born.)
arrived after Keani.)
muli after, last, because Ma muli o l ua i ha alele O ka muli loa o Keola.

of o Keola. (Because of (Keola is the last-born.)
something/someone them, Keola left.)
loko in, mainland Ua komo o ia i loko o ke Pa ap ka loko o ka lumi.

ka a. (He got in the car.) (The inside of the room is
crowded.)
waho out Ke moe nei o ia i waho o Ua ike o ia i ka waho o ka

ka hale. (He is sleeping hale, (He saw the outside of
outside the house.) the house.)
kai seaward Aia o Ala Moana P ka Ua lawe l kou i ka wa a i ke

ma kai aku o ke alanui Ala kai. (They took the canoe to
Moana. (Ala Moana Park the ocean.)
is seaward of Ala Moana
Boulevard.)
uka inland Ua ne e aku o ia i uka o Anuanu ka makani o ka uka.

Kahului. (He moved (The wind of the inland is
inland from Kahului.) cold.)
(Hopkins 1992:126) does not consider muli to be a locative.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979) indicates that mamuli o (because) can be shortened to ma o.
Example Meaning
Ua hele mai au ma ona ala. I came for his sake.
Ma o wai oukou i pili ai? Through whom are you all related?
When using or referring to an I oa Henua the ka i clarifies the intended meaning. The following table
provides the meaning of the ka i and I oa henua combination as well as an example:
I oa henua Meaning Example Meaning
i luna The top En n oe i luna. Look at the top.
42
o luna Of the top Anuanu ka hau o The snow of the top is cold.
luna.
i luna Towards the En n oe i luna. Look toward the top.

top
o luna As a piko Anuanu o luna The top is cold.
ma luna On top A ia ke keiki ma The child is on top.

luna.
Locative nouns of the second type (not used with a determiner) are place names and the following
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:121-122):
Locative Meaning Example Meaning
ane i, one i here Aia ke ka a ma The car is here.

ane i.
ha i edge lepo ma ha i o ke dirt on the edge of the

kalo taro
hi ialo carried in front (poetic) ku u keiki i hi ialo ia my beloved child carried

in my arms
hi ikua carried in back (poetic) hele ia i hi ikua i gone far and near
hi ialo
kahakai, kahaone beach, seashore Hiki i n lio ke The dogs can swim at the
au au i kahakai. beach.
kahi (ka + wahi) the place I laila kahi a m kou i There was the place we
holo ai. rode to.
kapa, kakapa edge, boundary k ma kapa to stand on the edge

(figuratively: forbidding)
kauhale household, home kanaka hele i a person who goes from

kauhale house to house
kulakula fields Ua hiki aku k ua i We have reached the

kulakula. open fields (a place to
stop).
laila (often pronounced there A ohe a u mea There is nothing I want

leila or lila) makemake o laila. there.
makalae beach Aia akula i makalae i There [he's] gone on the

ka paeaea. shore pole fishing.
43
na e windward, easterly mai na e a lalo from east to west
ne i here n k naka lawai a o the fishermen of this

ne i nei place; the local fishermen
there i i ane i here and there, to and fro
Time words of the second type (used without a determiner):
Locative Meaning Example Meaning
n now Hele mai nei n n . Come here now.
ap p tomorrow Hele k kou ap p . We go tomorrow.
kinohi beginning mai kinohi a H ike from Genesis to

Ana Revelations (from
beginning to end)
nehinei yesterday N waliwali au mai I have been unwell

nehinei mai n . since yesterday.
When used with motion verbs, the locatives are generally preceded by i. In other cases, they may be
preceded by i or ma with no difference in meaning. (Hopkins 1992:126)
Example Meaning
Ua hiki o Keola i loko o ka hale Keola arrived in the house.
Ke moe nei o Keola i loko o ka hale. Keola is sleeping in the house.
Ke moe nei o Keola ma loko o ka hale. Keola is sleeping in the house.
When mua and hope are used to express location in time, they are always preceded by ma.
Example Meaning
ma mua o ka aina kakahiaka before breakfast
ma hope (iho) later on, afterwards
ma mua o k l manawa before that time, before then
ma hope o ka u hana after my work
Mua and hope are also used as adverbs and modifiers with "time" meanings.
Example Meaning
44
Ua ai mua o ia. He ate already (earlier).
ka u papa mua my first class
ka h ike hope loa the final exam
hele hope younger sibling (come after)
N Papani (Pronouns)
Personal
"Hawaiian distinguishes between singular, dual, and plural. The dual pronouns refer to groups of two
people (we two, you two, they two). The plural pronouns refer to groups of three or more... Hawaiian
distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive pronouns in the first person dual and plural. There are
four Hawaiian pronouns where English uses one word, 'we'." (Hopkins 1992:31).
Meaning of first person plural types:

Dual Inclusive You and me
Dual Exclusive We two (not including you)
Plural Inclusive All of us
Plural Exclusive We, but not you
As Subject
First person First person Second person Third person

inclusive exclusive
Singular au (I) oe (you) o ia (he/she)
Dual k ua (we) m ua (we) olua (you) l ua (they)
Plural k kou (we) m kou (we) oukou (you) l kou (they)
Examples:
Example Meaning
E hele au i ke kula. I will go to school.
E hele k ua i ke kula. Let's you and me go to school.
E hele m ua i ke kula. The two of us (not including you) will go to

school.
E hele k kou i ke kula. Let's go to school (three or more people,

including you).
E hele m kou i ke kula. We (three or more people, not including you) will
45
go to school.
Ua hele oe i ke kula? Did you (one person) go to school?
Ua hele olua i ke kula? Did you two go to school?
Ua hele oukou i ke kula? Did you (three or more people) go to school?
Ua hele o ia i ke kula. He/she went to school.
Ua hele l ua i ke kula. The two of them went to school.
Ua hele l kou i ke kula. They (three or more people) went to school.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:109) also discusses ha i in this context as a pronoun, with the meaning "someone"
or "someone else".
Examples:
Example Meaning
n keiki a ha i someone else's children
Na ha i k l . That was done by someone else./That belongs to

someone else.
Mai ha i i ha i! Don't tell someone (anyone)!
46
47
N Ku i Papani (As Subject with additional participant)
m ua and l ua are also used to express I and he/she together with an additional person (or other
animate entity), taking o or me to connect the additional entity. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:108-109)
olua may also be used in the same way to express you and an additional person (or other animate
entity). (Kaman /Wilson 2012 II:30)
Example Meaning
Hele mai l ua o Keola. He comes with Keola.
E k kulu ana l ua o kona makuak ne i ko u He and his father are going to build my house.
hale.
Ke ai nei m ua o Keola. Keola and I are eating.
m ua me ku u makuahine my mother and I
olua o k u k ne you and your husband
After a preposition or object marker

After a preposition or the object marker i , the third person singular pronoun drops the determiner o
and becomes ia instead of o ia, while the first person singular form is a u. With the object marker i ,
the first person singular contracts to ia u. As with proper nouns, pronouns take i as object marker
rather than i.

inclusive exclusive
Singular ia u (me) i oe (you) i ia (him/her)
Dual i k ua (us) i m ua (us) i olua (you) i l ua (them)
Plural i k kou (us) i m kou (us) i oukou (you) i l kou (them)
Examples:
Example Meaning
Hele o ia me a u i ke kula. He goes with me to school.
Ua ike o ia ia u i ke kula. He saw me at school.
Hele au me ia i ke kula. I go with him to school.
Ua ike au i ia i ke kula. I saw him at school.
48
E hele o ia me k ua i ke kula. He will go with us two to school.
Ua ike au i l ua i ke kula. I saw the two of them at school.
Ua ike o ia i m kou i ke kula. He saw us (three or more) at school.
E hele au me oukou i ke kula. I will go with you (three or more) to school.
N Nono a (Possessives)
The basic possessive particles used to build possessive pronouns and possessive relationships in
general start with or consist of a or o, depending on if the relationship is o-class or a-class. They are
called ami nono a iki or Æ-possessives or k-less possessives (because they do not have a prefix).
The ka i nono a or k-possessives have k prefixed while the ami nono a nui or n-possessives have n
prefixed.
A k-possessive and its corresponding Æ-possessive pronoun can be used interchangeably, although it
requires changing the order of the possessed and possessor.
N Ka i nono a (K-possessive)
The singular forms of the k-possessive pronouns have a distinct form with k- prefixed to the Æ-
possessive as a single word, while the dual and plural take k or ko (depending on if it is an a-class
or o-class relationship) with the personal pronoun retained unchanged as a separate word. Note that
k and ko are also used with nouns in general to indicate k-type possession, e.g. k ka haumana
puke (the student's book), in the same way. Some authors write k instead of ko.
a-class
inclusive exclusive
Singular ka u (my) k u (your) k na (his)
Dual k k ua (our) k m ua (our) k olua (your) k l ua (their)
Plural k k kou (our) k m kou (our) k oukou (your) k l kou (their)
o-class
inclusive exclusive
Singular ko u (my) kou (your) kona (his)
Dual ko k ua (our) ko m ua (our) ko olua (your) ko l ua (their)
Plural ko k kou (our) ko m kou (our) ko oukou (your) ko l kou (their)
49
Examples:
Example Meaning
ko u inoa my name
ko m ua makuak ne our father
kou ka a your car
k u eke your bag
k na kope his coffee
k l kou lio their dog
Ko/k ia nei, ko/k ia ala

The k-possessive is used in the following pattern to mean "his here" or "his there":
ko ia nei (pronounced koinei) his here (o-possessive)

k ia nei (pronounced k inei) his here (a-possessive)
ko ia ala (pronounced koiala) his there (o-posessive)
k ia ala (pronounced k iala) his there (a-possessive)
Example Meaning
ko ia nei ina his land here
ko ia ala ina his land over there
Ko ia nei k a ela n ia a ho i. And then she got up to go home. (This is an O

ka painu dir la pattern)
nonolo ko ia nei ihu his nose here snored (this guy snored)
N Ami Nono a Iki (Æ-possessive)

The singular forms of the Æ-possessive pronouns have a distinct single-word form, while the dual and
plural take a or o (depending on if it is an a-class or o-class relationship) with the personal pronoun
retained unchanged as a separate word. Note that a and o are also used with nouns in general to
indicate Æ-type possession, e.g. ka puke a ka haumana (the student's book), in the same way.
a-class
inclusive exclusive
Singular a u (my) u (your) na (his)
50
Dual a k ua (our) a m ua (our) a olua (your) a l ua (their)
Plural a k kou (our) a m kou (our) a oukou (your) a l kou (their)
o-class
inclusive exclusive
Singular o u (my) ou (your) ona (his)
Dual o k ua (our) o m ua (our) o olua (your) o l ua (their)
Plural o k kou (our) o m kou (our) o oukou (your) o l kou (their)
Examples:
Example Meaning
ka inoa o u my name
ka makuak ne o m ua our father
ke ka a ou your car
ka eke u your bag
ke kope ona his cup
ka lio a l kou their dog
N Ami Nono a Nui (n-possessive)

The singular forms of the n-possessive pronouns have a distinct form with n- prefixed to the Æ-
possessive as a single word, while the dual and plural take na or no (depending on if it is an a-class
or o-class relationship) with the personal pronoun retained unchanged as a separate word. The n-
possessive pronouns are used in verbless sentences to ask and answer the question "Whose is this
(thing)?" (HOPKINS-1992:176) Note that na and no are also used with nouns in general to ask and
answer similar questions, e.g. na ka haumana ka puke (the book is the student's), in the same way.
Na and no are also used as a preposition to indicate a beneficiary, e,g, No Keola k ia mele. (This
song is for/about Keola); Ua haku ia k ia mele no Keola. (This song was composed for/about Keola.)
Prepositions are discussed below.
Na at the start of a painu (verb) sentence indicates instead that the sentence structure is k lele
kena, e.g. Na u i holoi i n p . (It was I that washed the dishes.) K lele kena is discussed below.
a-class
51
inclusive exclusive
Singular na u (my) n u (your) n na (his)
Dual na k ua (our) na m ua (our) na olua (your) na l ua (their)
Plural na k kou (our) na m kou (our) na oukou (your) na l kou (their)
o-class
inclusive exclusive
Singular no u (my) nou (your) nona (his)
Dual no k ua (our) no m ua (our) no olua (your) no l ua (their)
Plural no k kou (our) no m kou (our) no oukou (your) no l kou (their)
Example Meaning
Na wai k ia p pale? Whose is this hat?
No u k n p pale. That hat is mine.
N na ka puke. The book is his.
No m kou ka hale. The house is ours
Nou ke kuleana. The responsibility is yours.
Na l kou ka lio. The dog is theirs.
A ole k ia ka a no u i k ia w . This car isn't mine any more.
A ole au n na. I'm not his (son).
The n-possessive pronouns have a stronger sense of ownership (vs possession) than the k-
possessive pronouns:
Na u k l ka a. That car is mine.

O k l ka a ko u ka a. That is my car.
They may also indicate "taking ownership/responsibility":
Example Meaning
Na u n e k kua. It is certainly I who am to help.
52
Na u e m lama kona mau iwi a hiki i ka w e I was to care for her bones until I had a child.
loa a ai o ka u pua.13
With i (be!, do!) or he, no and na imply "one of".
Example Meaning
He lio k ia na Kimo This is a dog of Kimo's (Kimo's dog).
He hoaaloha o ia no u. She is a friend of mine (my friend).
He mau mo opuna l ua n u? Are they grandchildren of yours (your

grandchildren)?
I ipo oe n na. Be a girlfriend of his (Be his girlfriend).
I wahi noho k ia no olua. Let this be a living place for you (Why don't you
live here?).
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 P2:174-175)
Comparison of pronouns, third person singular

Pronoun Example Meaning
Subject o ia Ua hele o ia. He went.
Object i ia Ua ike au i ia. I saw him
Æ-possessive ona/ na Elua na puke. He has two books.
K-possessive kona/k na O k l k na puke. That is his book.
N-possessive nona/n na N na ka puke. That is his book.
Demonstrative
The demonstratives in Hawaiian consist of k-class and Æ-class. Distinction is made between objects
close to the speaker, close to the addressee or far from both. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:93)
k-class and Æ-class:

Near speaker Indefinite Near addressee Far
k-class k ia k n k l
Æ-class nei ia, ua n ala, l /-la, ana
13
See below for dropping the ami (object marker) with a hamani (transitive verb) in a k lele kena (actor-
emphatic) sentence
53
Ia and ua are generally translated as "the aforementioned". In connected discourse or narration, k l
preceding a noun means “the” in the sense of aforementioned: K l mau mea, those things.
(Pukui/Elbert 1986:143) Ia is more common in conversation than k l or k n .
A common construction in literature is ua + noun + nei/n /l /ala (see below for examples).
Neia is termed an aberrant n-demonstrative by (Elbert/Pukui 1979:110) meaning "this" and is rare,
mostly used in the Bible and in mele.
Example Meaning
Ua maika i k ia. This is good.
A ole k n o ke kolop . That (near you) is not the crowbar.
A ole k n he wahine . That (near you) is not a strange woman.
E hele ana k ia i ka hana. I (this person) am going to work.
Maika i ia mea. This (aforementioned) thing is good.
Hawai i nei this (beloved) Hawaii
ua kanaka nei this person (just mentioned)
ua hale l that house (just spoken of)
o neia manawa of this time
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:114) suggests a third type of demonstratives: p-class.
p-class:
Near speaker Indefinite Near addressee Far
Like this p nei p ia
Like that p n p l
How pehea
Example Meaning
P l ka pane. The answer is like that.
P nei ka n hou. Here is (follows) the news.
Pehea ke ki ina a ka ipo? How to get a sweetheart?
54
Interrogative
The following are the Hawaiian interrogative words:
Interrogative Meaning
aha What, why
hea where, which
wai who
hea when (future)
in hea when (past)
ehia how many, how much
Aha, hea and wai substitute for nouns (see examples below). (Elbert/Pukui 1979:119).
Aha is commonly used in the phrases he aha (what, as subject of a sentence) and no/i ke aha (why).
Hea occurs frequently following the locational prepositions i, ma, mai and no. It can also follow a
kikino to mean "which".
Examples:
Example Meaning
He aha k l ? What's that?
No ke aha o ia i ha alele ai i ka papa? Why did he leave class?
Ua aha oe? What happened to you?
Aia ke kumu ma hea? Where is the teacher?
O wai ke kumu? Who's the teacher (what is the teacher's name)?
Ehia k l ? How much money?
No hea mai o ia? Where is he from (where is he a native of)?
hea e pau ai ka papa? When will the class end?
In hea oe i hiki mai ai? When did you arrive?
Ua n n oe i ke ki i oni oni hea? Which movie did you watch?
Indefinite
(Alexander 1864:13) lists the following as indefinite pronouns:
55
Pronoun Meaning
ha i another
wahi some, a little
kauwahi some part, some
kahi one, a, a certain
kekahi a certain, some
Alexander states that ha i "is used only after prepositions, and never occurs in the nominative case",
but that opinion is not shared in later studies, including (Elbert/Pukui 1979:109).
See above for consideration of ha i as a personal pronoun by (Elbert/Pukui 1979:109).
(Alexander 1864:13) suggests that in addition to the above, "is properly an adjective, but it may be
well to mention it in this connection."
kekahi is often used in the phrase kekahi i kekahi to mean "each other" or "one another". After the
subject of a sentence, it means "also", e.g. O au kekahi. (Me too).
Examples:
Example Meaning
ko ha i waiwai another's property
ke kauwahi o ka lelo a ke Akua a little of the word of God
Eia n inoa o kahi mau mea. Here are the names of certain persons.
E aloha oukou i kekahi i kekahi. Love one another.
k l wahi kanaka that fellow
N Painu (Verbs)
The distinction between hehele (intransitive), hamani (transitive) and a ano (stative) verbs was
introduced in the overview section of this chapter. It was also pointed out that any painu (verb) can be
used as a noun or as a modifier (k hulu - adjective or adverb). In common usage, some verbs take
the nominalizer ana when functioning as nouns while others don’t. The former are denoted as v, vt,
vi or vs in (Pukui/Elbert 1986:xviiii,xxv-xxvi) while the latter are denoted as nv, nvt, nvi or nvs.
Examples of verb usage as nouns, following (Pukui/Elbert 1986):
56
Example Verb type Meaning
ke kani ana vt; making noise
ke kei nvt; taking pride in
ke k lewa ana vi; moving from place to place
ke kele nvi; sailing
ke kale ana vs; being watery (poi)
ke koa nvs; being brave or a warrior
More words are denoted as nouns than as verbs in (Pukui/Elbert 1986).
Stative verbs are most common, followed by intransitive.
57
Using the vocabulary14 introduced in (Kaman /Wilson 2012) provides a somewhat different picture.
This vocabulary is focused on the language of modern conversation and news reporting.
The number of nouns is greater than that of verbs, but the stative verbs do not dominate among the
verbs.
Verbs acquire a mood or tense through m ka painu

(verb markers), not through conjugation as in European languages.
N Hamani (Transitive)
Transitive verbs take a direct object:
Example Meaning
Ua ai o ia i ka poi. He ate the poi.
Na ke Akua i hana i n mea. God made the things.
No ono o iho i ka panina. Think about the answer.
Ua ike au i Keola. I saw Keola.
A transitive verb takes the particle ia to express a passive sense, where the subject of the sentence
is the kena (object) rather than the kena (actor). See the section on ia for details.
Example Meaning
Ua ai ia ka poi e ke keiki. The poi was eaten by the boy.
Ua hana ia n mea e ke Akua. The things were made by God.
14
The numbers are approximate. An attempt was made to count each word once even if it is listed in more than
one chapter and to treat e.g. ka lumi moe and ka lumi ho okipa as one word since it is lumi that determines the
type.
58
N Hehele (Intransitive)
Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object:
Example Meaning
Mai hele oe. Don't go.
Ua k a e o Kalei. Kalei stood up.
E au au k ua. Let's swim (we two).
Intransitive verbs do not take nui or loa as intensifiers. "Hele loa" means to go far, not to go a great
deal. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:48).
N A ano (Stative)
The concept of stative verbs was introduced in the study of Polynesian languages in 1965 and
adopted in the 1971 version of (Pukui/Elbert 1986). They "refer to a state of affairs, rather than to an
action, event, or process." (Elbert/Pukui 1979:49) Stative verbs are often used where an adjective or
adverb would be used in English:
Example Meaning
Hau oli au. I am happy.
He puke maika i k ia. This is a good book.
O ka lio kaulana loa o Kimo. Kimo is the most famous horse.
Ua pa ani hau oli n l kou. They played quite happily.
When a stative verb is used with the m ka painu ua, the sense is not that the state occurred in the
past but that the transition to the state has completed:
Example Meaning
Ua wahine o ia. She is (has become) a woman.
Ua ma i o ia. He is (became) sick.
Stative verbs usually take the possessive o rather than a:
Example Meaning
ka nani o ka wahine the beauty of the woman
Where the passive form of transitive verbs takes e to indicate the agent, stative verbs take i (or i for
pronouns and proper nouns):
59
Example Meaning
Ua ike ia ke keiki e ke kumu. The child was seen by the teacher.
Ua ma i ke keiki i ke anuanu. The child is (has become) sick from cold.
Stative verbs take loa rather than nui as intensifier:
Example Meaning
make loa completely dead
maika i loa very good
A verb word may be stative in one context and transitive in another. (Hawkins 1979:21) gives the
example:
Example Meaning
Ono ka poi. The poi is delicious. (stative)
Ono au i ka poi. I crave poi. (transitive)
Ono ka poi ia u. The poi is delicious to me. (stative)
Minamina au i ka lei. I prize the lei.
Minamina ka lei ia u. The lei is prized by me.
Loa a-type Verbs

(Elbert/Pukui 1979:49) considers "a much smaller class of stative verbs, but of much-used ones...
called loa a-type (vsl)." The three most commonly used are hiki, loa a and maopopo. Verbs of this
type are15:
Loa a verb Meaning
loa a find, get
hiki able
maopopo understand
15
(Schutz 1994:283) says that (Hawkins 1982:29) expanded the list of loa a-type verbs to 30, but Hawkins’ list is
for all stative verbs, not for loa a-type verbs. (Hawkins 1982:32) only names loa a, lilo and maopopo as loa a-
type verbs.
60
ola live, save
eha in pain
hina be thrown down
make die
eo win, lose
hemo loose
hewa mistaken
k upright
lilo lost
makala loosened
p touched
pa a firm
punahele favorite
puni surrounded
The usage of many of these words is challenging to grasp for English-speakers because they indicate
the state of the object rather than an action by the subject:
Example Meaning
Ua loa a ke ka a i ko u makuak ne. My dad got the car. Literally "The car was gotten
by my dad".
A ole maopopo ia u kona lelo. I don't understand what he is saying. Literally

"His speaking is not understood by me".
Ua lilo k la kalaka i ka aihue. That truck was taken by a thief. Literally "That
truck was lost due to a thief".
Hiki n ia u ke a o aku i n papa. I can teach the classes. Literally "It is possible
for me to teach the classes".
As with the other stative verbs, the agent in the examples above is indicated with i, ia u or i , not with
e.
(Schutz 1994:288) suggests that "the feature the so-called loa a verbs have in common is that they
are not only stative, but that two entities are involved", i.e. that they are used with an agent as well as
a subject.
61
Traditionally, loa a-type verbs did not take the passive voice particle ia because their sense is
inherently passive, but (Elbert/Pukui 1979:50-51) indicates that some Hawaiian speakers now use it to
express a passive transitive sense:
Example Meaning
Ua wela ia kona i ka pauka. His neck was burned with powder.
Ua nui loa ia kona inaina. His wrath was very great.
N Huakahu Helu (Numbers)

The numbers zero through nine have a base form which is only used in certain contexts in speech, as
a suffix in compound words (e.g. makawalu - numerous, literally "eight eyes") and when included as
part of numbers greater than ten and as ordinals. They are prefixed with e when standing alone as
cardinal numbers in counting or in qualifying a meme a (noun).
Base form Stand-alone form Meaning
ole a ohe 0
kahi ekahi 1
lua elua 2
kolu ekolu 3
h eh 4
lima elima 5
ono eono 6
hiku ehiku 7
walu ewalu 8
iwa eiwa 9
For the number one, the form ho okahi is used to indicate one item, while ekahi is used in counting.
Example Meaning
ekahi, elua, ekolu one, two, three
ho okahi lio one horse
62
Base numbers beyond nine are:
Number Meaning
umi 10
iwak lua 20
kanakolu 30
kanah 40
kanalima 50
kanaono 60
kanahiku 70
kanawalu 80
kanaiwa 90
haneli 100 (from English)
kaukani 1,000 (from English)
miliona 1,000,000 (from English)
The base numbers from 10 through 90 are extended with -k m - and a number between 1 and 9 to
indicate the single digit part. In older texts and formal speech, -kumam - may be used instead of -
k m -. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:159) No conjunction is used when joining haneli, kaukani or miliona with
another base number from 10 up. A me is used to connect haneli, kaukani or miliona with a number
between 1 and 9.
Number Meaning
umik m kahi 11
umik m iwa 19
umikumam iwa 19 (in the Bible or formal speech)
kanahikuk m ono 76
eh kaukani, ekolu haneli kanalimak m lua 4,352
ho okahi haneli a me eiwa 109
ekolu kaukani a me elua 3,002
Older texts additionally used base numbers loosely identified as 4 followed by a number of 0's
(Alexander 1864:10):
63
Number Meaning
lau 400
mano 4,000
kini 40,000
lehu 400,000
Cardinal
The base form of the numbers one through nine is used in conversation when e.g. saying a telephone
number.
Example Meaning
walu ole walu, hiku kahi ole, h kahi iwa lima 808 710-4195
kahi, lua, kolu One, two three (here I come)
A compound number or the e- form of a number one through nine (ho okahi for one) may occur in
one of two positions in a phrase to indicate a number of items:
1. After a ka i (determiner) and before the optional plural marker mau:

(he) elua mau ia
(ka i) helu (mau) meme a
two fish
2. After a meme a (noun):

n ia he elua
ka i meme a (he) helu

the two fish
Example Meaning
elua i a two fish
elua mau i a two fish
He elua mau i a k ia. These are two fish.
Eia n n i a elua. Here are the two fish.
Eia n n i a he elua. Here are the two fish.
64
See Possessive Sentences for usage of cardinal numbers indicating possession.
Ordinal
Use the following pattern for ordinal numbers:
ka/ke helu o ka/ke meme a
Example:
ka lua o ke keiki
ka/ke helu o ka/ke meme a

the second child
Note that the meme a (noun) is singular.
However, mua is used instead of a base number for "the first".
Example Meaning
ka mua o ke keiki the first child
ke kolu o ka l the third day
ka hiku o ka makahiki the seventh year
ka iwak luakum kahi o ka l the 21st day
Distributive
To indicate "two-by-two", "three at a time", "into four parts", etc, use the form p - + base number:
Example Meaning
miki p lua to dip twice (eat poi with two fingers)
h nau p lima quintuplet birth
h awi p kolu to give to three
ho onoho p h to arrange by fours
Fractions
Fractions are expressed as hapa- + base number. Without a base number, hapa is loosely
interpreted as half.
Example Meaning
hapalua one half
65
hapakolu one third
hapah one fourth
Elua hapalima Two fifths
He hapa haole a he hapa Hawai i au. I am half non-Hawaiian and half Hawaiian.
N Ka i Iloa a H iloa (Articles)

Meme a (common nouns and verbs used as nouns) generally must be preceded by one and only one
ka i.
Example Meaning
Aia o Kimo ma ka hale. Kimo is at home (in the house).
Aia o Kimo ma ko u hale. Kimo is at my house.
Aia o Kimo ma hale. Incorrect
Aia o Kimo ma ka ko u hale. Incorrect
Ua k ai o Kimo i ka hale. Kimo bought the/a house.
Ua k ai o Kimo i hale. Incorrect
Ka, Ke, N (Definite)
As a general rule, ke is used as the singular definite article before words beginning with k, a, e, or o;
ka as the singular definite article before other words; n before plurals.
Example Meaning
ke kao the goat
ke ao the cloud
ka hale the house
ka ua the rain
n kao the goats
n hale the houses
There are some words starting with okina or p (and a few others) that take ke instead of ka.
66
Example Meaning
ke ala the fragrance
ke p the dish
ke po o the head
ke mele the song/singing
In most cases where the is used in English, ka/ke/n is used in Hawaiian. However, the reverse is not
always true. The following table illustrates some Hawaiian usage of ke/ka that differs from the
English.
Pattern Example Meaning
Before abstract and general me ke aloha with love

terms
As plural in some cases me ka w wae with his feet
Before collective nouns Ua inu iho au i ka wai. I drank water.
He, Kekahi, Kahi (Indefinite)
While he is the closest term in Hawaiian to English "a", it is not as widely used as in English:
As discussed above, ka/ke is generally used to indicate an abstract or non-specific object
The only ami (preposition) which he can follow is me
Kekahi or kahi is generally used as the ka i instead of he in painu (verb) sentences and in
general after prepositions other than me
Kekahi and kahi are usually translated (in this context) as "some".
He may be followed by mau before the noun to indicate plural.
The most common usage of he is at the start of pepeke aike he (class-inclusion) and pepeke
nono a (possessive) sentences.
The following table illustrates ways in which the indefinite article is expressed in Hawaiian.
Example Meaning
He kao ka u. I have a goat (pepeke nono a).
He mau kao ka u. I have goats (pepeke nono a).
He kumu o ia. He is a teacher (pepeke aike he).
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He poepoe ka honua. The earth is round/a globe.
Ua ike au i ia me he keiki k ne. I saw him with a boy.
Hele mai he elua w hine. Two women came.
O Pualani, he kumu ia. Pualani is a teacher (pepeke aike he; this

example shows how to reverse the order).
Ike o ia i kekahi hale. He saw a house.
Ike o ia he mau hale. He saw some houses. Literally, "he saw there
are some houses".
Ike o ia i mau hale. He saw houses.This sentence does not include

an indefinite article; it is included here to contrast
with the preceding sentence.
Ike o ia he wahi hale. He saw a small house. Literally, "he saw there is
a small house".
O (Proper noun marker)
A proper noun is preceded by o if it is not preceded by an ami (preposition) or the object marker i .
This is also the case when the proper noun directly follows a common noun (and so further defines it).
Note that this use of o is distinct from its use in Pepeke Aike O (equational sentences).
Example Meaning
ha alele o Kamapua a i n w hine a me kona And Kamapua a left the women and his father-
m kuah n ai o K neiki. in-law, K neiki.
hiki o Kamapua a i Wailunu u, ka lawai a. And Kamapua a went to Wailinu u, the

fisherman.
Auhea n wahi elemakule, o N n a me Where are the unimportant old men, N n and
K kohe? K kohe?
ka hale o ke ali i o Umi the house of the chief Umi
ka huaka i ka apuni a ke ali i a Umi the tour of the chief, Umi (the tour of the chief,
of Umi)
me k na wahine me Pualani with his wife, Pualani (with his wife, with Pualani)
no ke ali i no Umi for the chief, Umi (for the chief, for Umi)
68
N Ku i (Conjunctions)
a
a followed by a verb means "when", only in the past.
a painu
Example Meaning
a aoa ka lio when the dog barked
ak o Keola when Keola stood up
a ha alele m ua i Kahului when we left Kahului
a ho om kaukau ia ka mea ai when the food was prepared
A, A me (And)
To express "and", a me is used to connect a noun phrase with another noun phrase that starts with a
ka i (determiner), i oa (proper noun) or papani (pronoun); in other cases, a is used16.
(Kaman /Wilson I 2012:54) Verb phrases and simple sentences are connected with a.
Example Meaning
ma a ma ane i here and there
Ua hele o ia i Maui a i Moloka i. He went to Maui and Moloka i.
i k la manawa a i k ia manawa now and then; literally "at that time and this time"
Ua a o mai a hana au ma Maui. I studied and worked on Maui.
Hana au ma Honolulu a me Kapolei. I work in Honolulu and Kapolei.
O Pualani kona inoa ma ka hale a me ka hana. Her name is Pualani at home and work.
Aia o ia me kona makuahine a me kona makua She is with her mother and her father.
k ne.
Hau oli oe a me a u. You and I are happy.
A may also be used to start a sentence. It is then considered to be part of the po o:
A wela k l ina i k ia manawa.
16
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:164) uses instead of a.
69
po o piko awe
And that land is hot now.
Example Meaning
A aia kona ka a ma ke alanui. And his car is on the street.
A a ole o Kalei me a u. And Kalei isn't with me.
A pehea o Kimo? And how's Kimo?
A o k ia ko u makua k ne. And this is my father.
(Until)
is used as a ku i (conjunction) to indicate until an action. A closely related use is as an ami

(preposition) to mean up to, as far as, until. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:165) Some writers omit the kahak in
some or all usage.
Example Meaning Usage type
Hana ka hola elua. Work until two o'clock. Preposition
Hana n pau ka hana. Work until the work is finished. Conjunction
Hele a uka. Go as far as the uplands. Preposition
Hele n pau ke alanui. Go until the road is finished (until the end of the Conjunction
road).
Hele n puni ka honua. Go until the world is circled (Go around the Conjunction
world).
is also used with a stative verb in the pattern hele a ano meaning to become in a state of.
Example Meaning
Ua hele o ia h h . He has become angry.
A i ole / ...paha (Or)
Verb phrases or noun phrases are combined in the sense of "or" with a i ole or with ... paha.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:164-166) Note that, as in English, a i ole only occurs once for a series of
alternates, between the last two.
70
Example Meaning
E k kau i ka leka, ka leka uila, a i ole e Write a letter, email or call by phone to the Civil
kelepona i ka Civil Rights Compliance Staff. Rights Compliance Staff.
Ua makemake anei oe i k l p lule a i ole i Do you want that shirt or this (one)?
k ia?
E hele ana oe a i ole e noho ana? Are you going or staying?
elua ekolu paha two or three
hea (When/future), In hea (When/past)
The interrogative conjunctions hea and in hea introduce a verb phrase to ask "when" in the past
(in hea) or in the future ( hea). (Alexander 1864:17) considers them interrogative adverbs. See
K lele K lana for use in situation-emphatic sentences.
Example Meaning
hea oe e hele mai ai? When will you come?
In hea oe i hele mai ai? When did you come?
hea ana e h ea aku ai ka mokulele ma O ahu? When will the airplane reach O ahu?
In hea i lilo ai o Keola i m ka i? When did Keola become a police officer?
aia n a, aia wale n a

Aia n a or aia wale n a introducing a verb means "only when". Note that aia n (without a) means
"still".
aia (wale) n a painu
Aia n a komo aku i loko o ke a o ana, a laila ike ia n p maika i like ole o ko k kou lelo.
Only when getting into learning are the various benefits of our language known.
but
Aia n l kou ke hiamoe nei.

They are still sleeping.
Example Meaning
aia n a aoa ka lio only when the dog barked
71
A aia n a m kaukau k ia mau mea, a holo n Only when these things are ready will the canoe
ka wa a.17 go.
Aia wale n a uku oe hiki i oe ke holo i laila. Only when you pay, then you can travel there.
Ak , Eia na e, A ole na e, Na e (But, However)
Ak is usually preceded and followed by a comma in writing, corresponding to the way a speaker
pauses briefly after saying it. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:166) Ak may be followed by na e with no change in
meaning. (Cleeland 1994:190) Eia na e is used the same way as ak and with the same meaning.
Either can start a sentence. On its own, na e cannot start a phrase or sentence.
A ole na e functions as ak - "but, however" - in introducing a negative sentence.
Example Meaning
Ua makemake au, ak , he hana nui. I like (it), but it is difficult.
E onou ia aku ana o ia i loko o k ia manawa, He is being persuaded now, but the confusion
ak na e, ua ho opau ia n pohihihi ma o kona ended about his change to a candidate for that
lilo ana akula i moho no k l k lana.18 position.
Ua imi a k kau no m kou i ka mea o ka He wanted to write about us concerning the

Mahimahi, ak na e, a ohe mea i loko o kona Mahimahi, but his stomach was empty (he was
p .19 hungry).
He kanaka kaulana ma ka ho okohukohu ana, He was famous for his showmanship, but not
eia na e, a ole i kaulana ma o ka he enalu wale famous only for surfing.
ana n .20
He mea nui ka ai, eia na e, o ka h nai kai oi Food is important, but being raised by the ocean
a e.21 is more so.
Eia na e, o ka mea ma amau elima mile no k l However, usually it was five miles (traveled)
me k ia hola.22 every hour.
Aole na e o ia i huikala ia. However he was not exonerated.
Ma mua na e o ko Waik k lilo ana he wahi However, before Waikiki changed into this
ho on nea kaulana o Hawai i nei, ua momona n Hawaii's famous recreational place, the
17
http://www.hokulea.com/ka-ipu-a-ka-hookele/
18
https://www.papakilodatabase.com/pdnupepa/cgi-bin/pdnupepa?a=d&d=KNK19111208-01.2.6&e=-------en-
20--1--txt-txIN%7ctxNU%7ctxTR-------
19
http://www.hokulea.com/crew-blog-kalani-asano-kau-ka-pea-a-holo-ka-waa/
20
http://data.bishopmuseum.org/mobile/index.php?b=z&i=76
21
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/03/09/editorial/kauakukalahale/column-he-mea-nui-ka-aeai-eia-naaee-
aeo-ka-hanai-kai-aeoi-aaee/
22
http://www.hokulea.com/hokulea-update-january-4-2016/
72
ke kaiaola o laila... ecosystem there was really fertile...
Ua kui au n lei a pau, koe na e k n lei maile.23 I threaded all the leis, except for that maile lei.
akahi n a
akahi n a followed by a verb means "just happened", "first time".
akahi n a painu
a is sometimes written with a kahak : .
The pattern is also seen without n .
As with many other verb patterns, when the piko (subject) is a papani (pronoun), the papani jumps
ahead of the verb (including a or a m ka painu).
Example Meaning
akahi n a aoa ka lio the dog barked for the first time
Akahi n oe hiki ma ane i? Is this the first time you have come here?
Akahi n pau ka u ha awina. My lesson is just finished.
Akahi n au i hele i laila. This is the first time I've gone there. (I've never
gone there before.)
akahi a ha o ia kekahi o l kou for the first time, one of them was missed
Akahi ho i a ike ku u maka i ka nani o Hilo. It was indeed the first time I saw the beauty of
Hilo with my own eyes.
As shown in the sections above, there are many different ways of saying or asking when. The
following table summarizes the various patterns that can be used.
Analula Example Meaning Time frame
Ki a Pepeke I ko u ike ana i ia… In my seeing her… Anytime (indeterminate

time)
23
Also "Ua kui au i n lei"; the object marker i/i is dropped sometimes in 19th century mo olelo, in examples in
modern grammars and in everyday speech.
73
Pepeke Painu Ia u i ike ai i ia… When I saw her… Depends on M ka Painu
K hulu Pepeke I ka manawa a u i ike At the time I saw Depends on M ka Painu

Piko Hou ai i ia… her…
K hulu Pepeke Ki a I ka manawa o ko u At the time of my Anytime (indeterminate

Pepeke ike ana i ia… seeing her… time)
Oiai Ki a Oiai ko u ike ana i While I seeing her… Anytime (indeterminate

ia… time)
Oiai Painu Oiai au i ike ai i ia… When I saw her… Depends on M ka Painu
Ke Painu Ke ike au i ia.. If/when I see her… Future
A Painu A ike au i ia… When/until I Anytime (indeterminate

see/saw her… time)
i/i ABC n a painu I Kimo n a ma i… As soon as Kimo Mostly for Past

is/was sick
I loa n a painu I loa n au a ike i As soon as I saw Mostly for Past

ia… her..
Aia n a painu Aia n au a ike i ia… Only when I see Future

her…
Akahi n a painu Akahi n au a ike i I just (first time) saw Past

ia… her…
I h k lia n a painu I h k lia n au a ike Finally (after a long Past

i ia… wait) I saw her…
I painu (vt/vi) ka I ike ka hana o u… When I saw… Past… in a sequence of

hana o ABC events
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Ane ane (almost)
Ane ane introduces a verb phrase to indicate that it almost happened:
Ane ane e painu or

Ane ane painu
Note that the tense is indicated by the context.
Example Meaning
Ua ane ane n ho i ko u lauoho e pili aku ma My hair indeed almost was close to/reached my
ko u w wae. feet.
Ane ane e kani ka hola ekahi. It is almost one o’clock.
E holoi ia ka lima, no ka mea, ane ane n The hands are washed because soon dinner will
m kaukau ka aina ahiahi. be ready.
Hapah i hala ka hola eiwa, ane ane pau ka It’s 9:15, class is almost finished.
papa.
Lohi n haum na, ak ane ane e hiki mai. The students are late, but they have almost
arrived.
Ane ane lawa ke k l no ka hele ana i Maui. There’s almost enough money for going to Maui.
Ane ane (au) m kaukau! I’m almost ready!
A ole (Negative)
A ole is used on its own as an interjection answering a question ("No") and to negate any of the verb
phrases except for the imperative form - see Sentences. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:168) also considers a ole
a conjunction because "(1) It introduces and connects clauses and sentences. (2) It may be followed
by the verb-marking particles used after conjunctions". The examples provided are:
Example Meaning
A ole i hele ke kanaka. The man did not go.
A ole o ia i hele. He didn't go.
E pili ana no/i/i (about, concerning, relating to, pertaining to)
The e pili ana pattern expresses what something/one is about, concerning, relating to, or pertaining to.
75
Example Meaning
Ua h meni o ia i ke mele e pili ana i She sang the song about Lili uokalani.
Lili uokalani.
Ke n n iho nei m ua i kekahi ki i oni oni e pili We are watching a movie pertaining to the
ana i ke kanu ana i ke kalo. planting of taro.
O k ia kekahi mele e pili ana no ke kaua o This is one song concerning the battle of
Kapaniwai. Kapaniwai.
Ua lohe oe i ka lelo o Keola e pili ana ia u? Did you hear Keola talking about me?
Eia ka mo olelo e pili ana i k l mau lio. Here is the story relating to those dogs.
Emo ole (In no time at all)

Emo ole introduces a phrase to add the meaning "immediately, in no time at all". Note its use stand-
alone before a comma - with or without He -, connected with to a verb and connected with a ka i
(determiner) to a verb/noun.
Example Meaning
Emo ole hele maila ke ali i. In no time at all, the chief came.
Emo ole ka pi o o ke anuenue. A rainbow suddenly appeared.
Emo ole, pa maila ka leo, mai ka lani mai. Suddenly the voice was heard from heaven.
Emo ole ka nanea o ka pepeiao i ke kani a n The ears immediately experience the pleasure of
pila. the music of the instruments.
He emo ole, a pae aku o Keola i ka nalu. In no time, Keola was on the wave.
Ike au i k ia ala pai pika, emo ole, ono au i ka I saw his pizza and suddenly wanted to eat
pai pika. pizza.
A few of the ku i discussed above are sometimes referred to as Ku a (conjunctions with painu). They
are somewhat different from the other ku i in that they are followed by a painu (verb). The following
table summarizes the Ku a:
Ku a Meaning Negated Meaning

Ku a
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i painu So, as a way, as a means, in order to i ole e So as not, etc
painu
o painu Lest, bumbye, or else
a painu Until, as far as, and until (when)
ke painu If and when, when future, whenever ke ole e If not, when not, etc.
painu
h k lia n a
H k lia n a before a verb means "when finally". The pattern is preceded by i for a completed action.
This is a rarely used term. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:166)
(i) h k lia n a painu
Example Meaning
i h k lia n a aoa ka lio when the dog finally barked
H k lia n a ao, o ko m kou hele n ia. As soon as it was daylight, we went.
I (in order that), I ole e (in order that not)
The word i has many functions in Hawaiian. See other sections for its use as a conjunction to indicate
"while", as an object marker and as a preposition.
As a conjunction to indicate "in order that" / "so that", i is followed directly by a verb without a marker:
i painu
The negative - "so that not" takes ole e between i and the verb:
i ole e painu
Example Meaning
I nui ke k l , mai k ai i n mea h p ! To have lots of money, don t buy stupid things!
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i n n mai o Keola ia u in order for Keola to look at me
Holo au i k l me k ia l i ola pono ko u kino. I run every day so my body will be healthy.
E ho okokoke mai i lohe oe. Come close so that you can hear.
Ua lawe mai m kou i ka pika i ole e p loli n We brought pizza so the girls would not be hungry.
kaikamahine.
E ku i i ke kalo me ka ikaika i ae ae ke kalo. Pound the taro very hard so it will be soft.
i ole k kou e lohi so we are not late
I ole e kuhihewa, e heluhelu pono i n mea e pono In order to not wrongly accuse, read carefully the
ai. righteous things .
I/he kikino + nono a e painu ai. (something for somebody to do something)
This form is used when one wants to identify ownership of someone/thing to do/perform an action.
Note that there is no ka i prior to the kikino.
Example Meaning
A ole o ia i h awi mai i mea ai na n keiki e ai She did not give the food for the children to eat.
ai.
Ua k ai mai o Kimo i k l hale i wahi no kona Kimo bought that house as a place for his family
ohana e noho ai. to live.
Ua h oi iho n ke ali i i k na ko i i mea n na e The king sharpened his axe as a thing for him to
pepehi ai i P p alaea. kll P p alaea.
I mea e painu ai (as a way, as a means, as a thing)
This pattern expresses that something is a way, means, or thing to do something.
Example Meaning
Ua heluhelu o ia i ka puke i mea e a o mai ai i He read the book as a way to learn that subject.
k l kumuhana.
Ua k hea ia n maka i i mea e ho ok ai i ko The police were called as a means to stop their
l kou ho opa apa a ana. arguing.
E ulana ana o Keola i kekahi upena i mea e hei Keola is going to weave a net as a thing to catch
ai i n i a. the fish.
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I ka hana o (And then when)
The following pattern means "and then when (somebody did something)":
i hamani/hehele ka hana o kikino
Example Meaning
i aoa ka hana o ka lio and then when the dog barked
i k ka hana o Keola and then when Keola stood up
i ha alele ka hana o m ua i Kahului and then when we left Kahului
i ho om kaukau ka hana o Kimo i ka mea ai and then when Kimo prepared the food
i loa n a / i lawa n a
I loa n a before a verb means "no sooner than", "as soon as".
i loa n a painu
i lawa n a may be used interchangeably with i loa n a.
Example Meaning
I loa n a welo ka l , anu o waho i ka makani No sooner than the sun sets, outside gets cold
ikaika. from the strong winds.
i loa n a lilo ka makana i Keola as soon as Keola won the prize
I loa n a ho i ka makuahine i ka hale, ua As soon as the mother returned home, she

ho om kaukau i ka aina ahiahi. prepared dinner.
I lawa n a ho i o Lonoikamakahiki i Kahiki a As soon as Lonoikamakahiki returned to Tahiti,

h ea hou mai ka w o K . K 's time returned again.
I loa n i ia e hala aku, ili ana ka makua k ne. No sooner had he gone, than the father appeared.
I/i , oiai/ oi, ke, a, h k lia, i loa n a, i lawa n a, aia n a, akahi n a, i ka hana
o (While/When)
i/i
As with the object marker i/i , i as a conjunction is used before papani (pronouns) and i oa (proper
nouns) while i is used before common nouns and ka i (determiners). Here the meaning is "while", so
a verb is required.
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i/i ABC e/i painu ai/nei/ana
i ka/ke painu ( ana)
With n a between the noun and the verb, the meaning is "as soon as" or "no sooner than":
i/i ABC n a painu
Example Meaning
i ka aoa ana o ka lio when the dog barked
i ka lio i aoa ai when the dog barked
i ka manawa o ka lio i aoa ai when the dog barked
i ka manawa o ko ka lio aoa ana when the dog barked
i ko ke kumu heluna ana aku i n mo olelo when the teacher was grading/marking the
papers
I ko u wehe ana i ka puke, a ohe wahi mea o ka When I opened the book, there was no trace of
pepa. paper.
ia u e ku i ai i ke kalo when I pound taro
i ka manu n a ha alele as soon as the bird left
i ia n a ha alele as soon as he left
In , I, E ole, Ke (If)
The most commonly used term for "if" (a conditional clause) is in 24. Most often there is no change to
the resultative clause, but in or a laila may be used to introduce it.
When the conditional clause marker is followed by a verb marker, the resultative clause is introduced
in different ways depending on the marker:
Conditional clause marker Resultative introduction
in i in ua
in a laila
in ... e ... ua
24
In Ho omana o No Kapa ahu, in is pronounced n ; this is thought to be typical of Puna on the Big Island
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in e he
i in / in l
ai -
e ole in ua
ke -
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:166-167), (Hawkins 1982:137-138)
For example:
In i h awi mai n ho okele i ka hoe i ia, in ua pakele l ua i ka make.
Conditional clause marker Resultative introduction
See the example table below for the translation.
It is very common for the resultative phrase to be introduced with a laila.
Example Meaning
Pono n e aloha i Mailani in e noho ka p poki You really need to love Mailani if the cat will live
ma ane i. here.
In ho i paha au e ike aku i wahi manawa If I had only known a little sooner!
u uku!
In au make, mai oukou m lama i k l ano If I die, don't take care of (worry about) that kind of
hana. thing.
In oe ike i ka pipi i o kahakai, he pipi i nunui If you see the rush of the shoreline water, it's a
loa k l . really big rush.
In he ali i oe, ua hiki i oe ke komo. If you are an ali i, you can enter.
In he nui ke k l , in e holomua ka hana. If the money is great, then the work will progress.
In i h awi mai n ho okele i ka hoe i ia, in ua If the steersmen had given him the paddle, then
pakele l ua i ka make. they would have escaped death.
In oe e ae ana e kau p ku u mau ope ope me If you agree to place my bundles with me, then
a u, a laila, holo p k ua. we'll sail together.
In i hele mai nei oe, in ua ike. If you had come, then you would have known.
In e hou mai o Kamalama ... he umi k naka e If Kamalama hurls (his spear), then ten men are
k . hit.
In he kaikamahine ke h nau mua mai, a laila, e If the first born is a girl, it will die, and if only girls
make, a in he mau kaikam hine wale n k are born to us two, they will certainly die.
k ua ke h nau mai, e make n .
In e lilo mai o L ieikawai, he oi oe. If L iekawai becomes yours, then indeed you are
the best.
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(Elbert/Pukui 1979:166-167) (Hawkins 1982:137-138)
I is also used to indicate "if" in some cases.
Example Meaning
I a o maika i ia e k ua, in holomua n ka hana. If they had been taught well by us, then the work
would really have progressed.
I h k lia ihola au, in l o au ke make mua i ka If I wait, the white man will kill me first.
haole.
i ino mai ke koko, pau p ka hale i ka ino. And if the blood is bad, the house is bad at the
same time.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:167) suggest two additional conjunctions for use with similar meaning to in : e ole
and ke. E ole means "if not", while ke in this context means if in the future.
Example Meaning
E ole au i ike aku nei i oe, in ua make oe. If I hadn't seen you, you would have been killed.
Ke hele oe, e hele au. If you go, I go.
E maluhia l kou ke hiki mai. They shall be at peace when/if they come.
ke
Ke is used directly before a verb to indicate when (but not in the past; see below for constructs to use
with a past action), whenever or if. Because no verb marker is used, the tense must be determined
from the context.
ke painu kikino
When the piko (subject) is a papani (pronoun), it may follow or precede the painu:
ke hele oe
or
ke oe hele
when you go
Example Meaning
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E maluhia l kou ke hiki mai. They shall be at peace when/if (they) come.
Ke ulu ka hua helo, h ka pele. When the helo fruit grows, the lava rises.
E hele aku ana au i ka hale, ke ki i o Pualani ia u I am going home when Pualani picks me up.
Ke pua ka pua k , lawai a au i ka he e. When the sugar cane flower blooms, I fish for
he e.
ke huh au i oe if/when I am mad at you
Ke oe k kua i ia, mai ha i i ka ha ina. When you help him, don t tell the answer.
Ke hele oe, hele au.25 If you go, I go.
Makia, M ki a, Malia, M lia, Mali‘a, Malama (Perhaps)
The most common word for "maybe, perhaps" is malia (m lia and mali a are variants); m ki a is less
common and malama is rare. Each may be followed by the particle o, probably the
imperative/intentive, according to (Elbert/Pukui 1979:168)
See the section on hune a au for the use of paha as "maybe, perhaps". Paha is not a conjunction and
cannot start a sentence.
Example Meaning
Malia paha o hele au. Perhaps I'll go.
Malama o ulu mai ka ano ano. Maybe the seeds will grow.
M ki a o uhaele aku k ua. We'll probably go.
M ki a paha e k hea aku au i oe. Maybe I should call you.
Nani (Since/because)
(Pukui/Elbert 1986:261) reports the use of nani as a conjunction meaning "since, because".
Example Meaning
Nani ho i ua ki i ia maila e make, he aha l ho i... Since [I] am indeed summoned by death, what of it
…
Nani n ia e hele ana oe i ke kula, e ho oikaika i Since you are going to school, work hard on the
ka ha awina. lessons.
25
Also "Ke hele oe, e hele au."
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N ho i (Also)
N ho i may be inserted between two phrases (noun and/or verb) to mean "also". It may also be
added after two phrases combined with a or a me to emphasize that the second is in addition to the
first. Note that n ho i is also used as a hune a ao (intensifier) with the meaning "indeed". The last
example below may have that intent rather than "also".
Example Meaning
Ua ai au i ka poi a me ka i a n ho i. I ate poi and also fish.
Ua oli oli a eleu n ho i k na mau lio. His dogs became happy and active as well.
E kipa aku ana au i ko u ohana a me ko u po e I am going to visit my family and my friends as

hoa n ho i. well.
Ma O ahu au i h nau ( ia) a i h nai ia ai n ho i. It was on Oahu that I was born and also raised.
Hau oli n ho i ko u mana o i k ia mau lelo I am also happy about these Hawaiian words of
Hawai i a k kou. ours.
Na e (However/still/yet)
Na e is followed by a noun phrase to indicate "yet", but", "however", "still". It also follows initial a ole.
Note that eia n na e means "therefore" and aia na e means "nevertheless" or "at the time of".
Example Meaning
Ua koe n na e ke ola. Yet life remains.
Aloha maila na e ho i k ipo. But your sweetheart did indeed send greetings.
A ole na e ia i hiki mai. He hasn't come yet.
A ole na e i ike ua keiki nei i ka pono ole o ua But that child didn t know about the injustice of
mau kaikamahine nei. those girls.
E hele aku ana paha au i ka p ina; a ole na e I may go to the party, but I won t be staying long.
au e noho ana a l ihi.
A i ka mao ana a e o k ia mau h ailona, ua As these omens waned, a fine boy child was
h nau maila na e he keiki k ne maika i. born.
aia na e i k ia manawa i h nau ai, ua ho ouna and at the time of birth, K ne and Kanaloa sent
akula o K ne a me Kanaloa i ko l ua kaikuahine their daughter
aia na e i ko ia nei w i hiki aku ai, aia o K e but when she appeared, K was attending the
lawelawe ana i ke keiki child
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he ole loa na e ka noho iho penei but living this way is a big nothing
Ua hiki o ia, ak na e, poina o ia i n k . She arrived, but she forgot the keys.
No ka mea (Because)
No ka mea connects two verb phrases to mean "because". It is often written with commas before and
after.
Example Meaning
Aia ke ali i i uka o ke kuahiwi, no ka mea, ke oki The chief is upland in the mountain because the
akula n kahuna i ke kumu l au. experts are cutting the tree.
A ole i pau ko u makemake e lawai a ma Kona, I hadn t stopped wanting to fish in Kona because
no ka mea, he m lie ke kai i n l a pau. the sea is calm every day.
...holo akula a pae ma Waik k , O ahu, no ka ...went to land at Waik k , Oahu, because that is
mea, o kekahi ia o n wahi noho mau ia e n one of the places still inhabited by the royalty of
ali i o O ahu nei. Oahu.
E h liu mai kou pepeiao, e Iehova, a e ho olohe Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am
mai ia u; No ka mea, ua pilikia au, a ua ilihune poor and needy.
ho i.
O (Lest)
O introduces a phrase with the meaning "lest" or "so that not".
Example Meaning
M lama o hina. Be careful lest (you) fall.
Mai pi i a e i ka l l ... o ike ia kou wahi hilahila. Don’t climb up the branches... lest your private
parts be seen.
o lelo oe lest you speak (so you don’t speak)
E ai oe i ka mea ulu o ma i auane i. Eat your vegetables lest you get sick (so you don’t
get sick).
o huh au i oe lest I be mad at you (so that I not be mad at you)
Mai hele i Las Vegas o nui ka pilikia. Don’t go to Las Vegas lest there be a lot of trouble.
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Mai maka u i ka oia i o o huikau kou no ono o Don’t be afraid of the truth or your thoughts will be
ana. confused.
oiai
Oiai directly before a noun or verb phrase means "when" or "while".
Oiai e/i painu ai/nei/ana ABC

Oiai ka/ke painu ( ana)
Note that if oiai is followed by a comma, its meaning is instead "since".
Oiai e ho om kaukau ana ke kaikamahine, ua hele aku au.

While the girl was preparing, I left.
but
Oiai, e ho om kaukau ana ke kaikamahine, ua hele aku au.

Since the girl was preparing, I left.
Example Meaning
oiai au ma Honolulu when I am in Honolulu
oiai au i inu iho i ka waina when I drank wine
Oiai e loa a ai i ia ke k l , e uku ia oe. When she gets the money, you should be paid.
oiai ko ka lio aoa ana when the dog barked
oiai i aoa ai ka lio when the dog barked
oiai ka maopopo ana i oe when you understand

Wahi a (According to)
The following pattern means "according to":
wahi a kikino
Example Meaning
wahi a k ia mo olelo according to this story
A wahi a kahiko he pilina k ka mo o me ka lio According to the old times, there is a connection
mo o. between the lizard and the brindled dog.
Wahi na, he haumana eleu oe. According to her, you are a good student.
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wahi a ka mea na i lohe ai according to the thing he heard
wahi a ko u lohe according to what I heard
Wahi a k puna, a ole pau ka ike i ka h lau According to the old folks, knowledge is not
ho okahi. complete with the first h lau.
N Ami (Prepositions)
(Emphatic to)
is used instead of i for "to" to stress the distance traveled, with a sense of "as far as", "all the way
to".
Example Meaning
hele i Maui going to Maui
hele Maui going as far as Maui
hele ke kuahiwi going to the mountains
Lele ka manu luna. The bird flies way up.
The use of as a conjunction meaning "until" is discussed above.
A/o nono a (Possessive)

The use of a vs o to indicate a possessive relationship is discussed above.
The possessive pattern is:
noun-phrase a/o noun-phrase
Example Meaning
ka i a a k kou our fish
n iwi o Pualani Pualani's (own) bones
n iwi a Pualani Pualani's bones (in her possession)
ka lei o ke kumu the lei of the teacher
ka nani o Maui the beauty of Maui
n h ike a ka u mau haum na the exams of my students (my students' exams)
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Ami Kuhilana I/i /i (To)
As with the object markers i/i , i as preposition is used as "in", "at", to" with common nouns while i is
used with i oa (names). However, i is used with i oa paku (place names). I is used in some biblical
texts instead of i .
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:135) says that in Proto-Polynesian, the preposition was *i and the object marker
was *ki, while in Hawaiian they have merged in pronunciation and therefore also in writing.
The preposition is also called ami henua.
Example Meaning
Hele au i ke Kula Nui o Maui i Kahului. I go to the university of Maui in Kahului.
Aia ka p ina ohana i ka hale aina P k . The family party is at a Chinese restaurant.
Ua hiki akula l ua i Mokoli i. And then they arrived in Mokoli i.
I hea oe e hele aku ai ma hope o ka papa? Where will you go after class?
Ami Hea E (Vocative)

E precedes the name or role of a person being addressed. It may also precede a third person
pronoun, but with the meaning "you"; it is then followed by nei or ala to indicate a person or persons
who are near or far. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:146-147) writes it as (long vowel) and says it may come
both before and after the name for additional emphasis.
E i oa
or
E ka i meme a
or
E papani
The use of e as vocative is distinct from its use to indicate the agent in a passive verb phrase.
Example Meaning
E Kimo, he k ne kolohe oe? Kimo, are you a rascal guy?
E Pualani, hele mai! Pualani, come here!
Pualani , hele mai! Pualani, come here! (Elbert/Pukui 1979:147)
E ku u ali i maika i, hele mai. O my good chief, come here.
E ke kumu, hiki ke hele aku? Teacher, is it OK to go?
E l kou l Say, all of you
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E ia nei Say, you here
E is followed by a pronoun and nei or ala in the following common expressions, which are considered
polite:
Pattern Meaning
E ia nei (pronounced Einei) You here
E ia ala (pronounced (Eiala) You there
E laua nei You two here
E laua ala (pronounced Elauala) You two there
E l kou nei O you here
E l kou ala O you there
Example Meaning
E l kou nei e pe e ho opue nei O you who are hiding crouched over here
E ia nei! Look at us!26
E ia nei e k alo aku nei Hey you who is passing by
Ami Henua Ma (At/In/On)

Ma is used synonymously with i/i in daily conversation in many cases to mean "at", "in", "on".
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:135) suggests the following distinctions in usage:
i is more definite and precise than ma: noho i Waik k ma O ahu (FS 35) “living at Waik k on
O ahu”.
Hawkins (1975, section 2.2.4) explained the difference in the two prepositions by suggesting that
when i and ma are spoken together, the larger area is marked by ma and the smaller, or more
specific one, by i. She also suggested that "stationary" descriptions are by ma, and nonstationary
ones by i: Ola n m kua ma Puna. 'The parents survive/live in Puna.' P 'ani n m kua i Puna.
'The parents play at Puna.'
(Hopkins 1992:41-42) says:
In addition to "to, toward", i can also mean "in, on, at"

...
26
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156207632668662
89
Ma also means "in, on, at," and is used more or less interchangeably with i in that context. If
anything, ma is more specific than i:
Ai m kou ma ka hale aina i ka Hale Kahawai.
We eat at the cafeteria in Hale Kahawai.
Noho au ma Ka a awa i ka mokupuni o O ahu.

I live in Ka a awa on the island of O ahu.
Ma does not mean "to/toward" and cannot be substituted for i in that context, nor does it
commonly occur with time phrases.
(Cleeland 1994:85) says:
Notice especially that the words i and ma have been given the same definitions, and they can
usually be interchanged without any difference in meaning. Some people feel that if two related
places are mentioned, ma should be used for the more specific place, while others feel i is the
more specific term. In general, however, native speakers seem to use the two words
interchangeably, often even using i or ma in both positions.
However, we will discover that the word i has a number of different meanings, and in this lesson,
we will use the terms ma ane i and ma because this is by far the more common usage. It is
possible, however, to say i ane i and i , but when used this way, the meaning of i is usual to.
See above for additional examples and for usage of ma and i with time expressions.
Example Meaning
Aia ka p ina ohana i ka hale aina P k . The family party is at a Chinese restaurant.
Aia ka p ina ohana ma ka hale aina P k . The family party is at a Chinese restaurant.
Ke hele nei au i ka hale. I am going home.
Ke hele nei au ma ka hale.
Ami Hoahana Me (With/Like)

Me is used with the meaning of "with". See above for a me meaning "and". Besides the physical
sense of one thing being "with" another thing, me is commonly used where English would use an
adverb or "like a" to modify/decorate a verb, either with a ka i and a verb or with he and a noun (often
followed by l ).
Example Meaning
Noho o Pualani me kona keiki. Pualani lives with her child.
K kau oe me k ia penikala. Write with this pencil.
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Noho ihola me ka olu olu. (He) lived then in comfort (He lived then
comfortably)
Me nei oe i hana ai. Do it this way.
Ua holo ia me he lio l . He (aforementioned) ran like a horse.
Pono e holo me ka wikiwiki. We must run quickly.
Ami K mua Mai/Mai (From)

Used as a preposition, mai means "from". Before a pronoun or proper noun, mai is used instead,
except with first person singular where mai a u is used.
See below for mai as a hunekuhi (directional). Mai commonly occurs twice in the same context, one
time meaning "from" and the other as a directional.
This use is also distinct from mai as the negative imperative ("Don’t").
When mai is used to mean from, it is in the awe. When used as a negative command it is in the po o.
When used as a directional it comes after the verb.
Example Meaning
Mai Honolulu mai From Honolulu (the second mai is a directional)
Mai Honolulu aku Away from Honolulu
mai ia aku away from him
mai a u aku away from me
Ua ike n mea a pau mai Hawai i a hiki i Ni ihau. Everyone saw from Hawai i to Ni ihau.
E (Agentive)
See Ia below for the use of e with an agent in a passive verb phrase.
I/i (Direct and indirect object marker)

As discussed above under proper nouns, i is used as object marker before a pronoun or proper
noun, while i is used before common nouns. I is also used before wai (whom). If the object is "me", i
is contracted with the pronoun to ia u.
In English, the subject and direct object of a hamani (transitive verb) are usually distinguished only by
their position in a sentence:
The dog ate the fish. vs The fish ate the dog.
An indirect object is indicated in English with the preposition "to":
91
The man gave the fish to the dog.
While awkward, the order can be changed and the meaning preserved thanks to the preposition:
The man gave to the dog the fish.
In Hawaiian, both the direct and the indirect object take i or i . The direct object generally precedes
the indirect object as in English where there is a preposition before the indirect object:
Ua h awi ke kanaka i ka i a i ka lio. The man gave the fish to the dog.
Ua h awi ke kanaka i ka lio i ka i a. The man gave the dog to the fish.
In English, the preposition can be eliminated before the indirect object; in this case, the indirect object
comes first:
The man gave the dog the fish.
That is generally the opposite order from Hawaiian.
The object marker is sometimes omitted before or after i:
Ha alele akula ia (i) ia aku. He (aforementioned) rejected this bonito.
The object marker is usually also omitted in k lele kena sentences (beginning with the agentive
na):
Na Pualani i ike ka hale. Pualani saw the house.

(Kaman /Wilson 2012 P1:106) calls the object marker an ami lauka. The kena is the actor and the
kena is the object. With hamani verbs, the kena is in the piko and the kena is in the awe:
Ai ke kanaka i ka man .
Po o (hamani) Piko ( kena) Awe Lauka ( kena)
The man eats the shark.
If there is an indirect object as well, it is a second awe:
H awi ke kanaka i ka man i ka lio.

Po o (hamani) Piko ( kena) Awe Lauka ( kena) Awe
Tha man gives the shark to the dog.
Example Meaning
Ai oe i ka poi. You eat the poi.
92
Makemake o Pualani i k ia lei. Pualani likes this lei.
Makemake au i Kimo. I like Kimo.
K kua ka lio ia u. The dog helps me.
Kelepona o Kimo i ia. Kimo telephones her.
Ike m ua i L na i. We see L na i.
Ua ha i ko u makuak ne ia u i n mo olelo My father told me the old stories. (Here the

kahiko. indirect object comes before the direct object)
E ho ouna oe i ka leka uila ia u. Send me email.
Ua h awi oe i ka man i wai? Who did you give the shark to?
I o (To the face of)

I o is used similarly to i as a preposition before a papani (pronoun) or i oa (proper noun) meaning
“to”, but with a sense of “personally”, “to the person’s face”.
In older texts it may also appear as "i ma pono o".
Example Meaning
i ou to you (personally)
iou to me (personally)
E n nau oe i o Keola. Ask in Keola s face.
E lawe olua i ka makana i ona. Deliver the present to him personally.
Na (Benefactive/agentive)
Na as preposition indicates that something is for the benefit of, or intended for, or implemented by
someone or something else. Note that this is different from na/no as possessive pronoun (indicating
ownership), and that in this usage, it is always na and not no.
Comparing use of a k-possessive pronoun, no as benefactive preposition and na/no as n-possessive

pronoun:
Example Meaning Grammatical type
He ka a kona. He has a car. k-possessive pronoun
He ka a nona. There s a car for him. benefactive preposition no
Nona ke ka a. The car is his. n-possessive pronoun
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Benefactive no contrasts with agentive na in some common cases:
Example Meaning Grammatical type
He mele na Kimo. It is a song (written) by Kimo. agentive preposition na
He mele no Kimo. It is a song for/about Kimo. benefactive preposition no
A common pattern is:
E painu na kikino e painu ai For someone/something to do (something)
E ki i mai oe i wai na u e inu iho ai. Get water for me to drink.
Example Meaning
Na ka lani ka inoa. For the royal chief the name-song. (The name
song honors the royal chief.)
Makemake au i elua hua moa na u. I want two eggs for me.
Na Kimo k ia mea ono, a ole n u. This cake is for Kimo, not for you.
N na ke koloaka hope ma ka pahu kula. The last soda in the cooler is for him.
Ua h awi mai o Kimo i ka lio na m ua. Kimo gave the dog to us.
Na Kimo wale n k l . That is only for Kimo.
Na wai ke kuleana? Whose (For whom) is the responsibility?
E k kau oe i ha awina na k kou e a o ai i ka Write a lesson for us to learn the pepeke.

pepeke.
E h awi aku oe i ka a na Kimo e kalaiwa ai i Give Kimo (a) car so he can drive to Kahului.
Kahului.
E ha i mai oe i mo olelo na u e k kau ai. Tell me a story for me to write.
No (Benefactive/causative/locative)
No as a preposition may mean that something was caused by something else.
Common causative expressions with no are:

no laila therefore
no ka mea because
no ke aha why?
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It is also used to mean towards a location as an awe with a verb phrase, particularly with the verb
ha alele (to leave). With a noun phrase, it means "from", with more of a sense of "origin" as opposed
to "recent location", which would be mai instead.
No Kaua i au. I’m from Kaua i (That is my island).

Mai Kaua i mai au. I (traveled here) from Kaua i.
No hea kou mau k puna? Where are your grandparents from?
Mai hea aku kou mau k puna? Where did your grandparents leave from?
See the section on n-possessive pronouns for use of no to indicate ownership.
Example Meaning
Ua hana au i k ia mu umu u hou nou. I made this new mu umu u for you.
A ohe ou aloha no u? Don't you have any love for me?
Nui loa ka pilikia no m kou. There's a lot of trouble for us.
No laila maika i ole. Therefore [it s] no good.
Ua hele a e nei no Maui. [He] has just now gone to Maui.
Ua ha alele o Kimo i Maui no O ahu. Kimo left Maui for O ahu (to go to O ahu).
O, Æ (Subject)
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:131) considers o a subject marker preposition while (Kaman /Wilson 2012 P1:24-
25) calls it the ami piko o and says it is used "when SPEAKING ABOUT a person or place. The ami
piko marks the i oa referring to such a person or place in the piko." We consider here the use of o
other than as the introducer of an equational sentence.
As a subject marker, o precedes ia to indicate he/she/it, as well as preceding a proper noun. It does
not occur when there is a preposition or object marker before the ia or the proper noun. The following
examples illustrate cases where it is used as well as cases where it is not used.
Example Meaning
Aia o Keola me a u. Keola is with me.
Aia o Hanal ma ane i. Hanal is here.
Aia o Hanalei ma Kaua i. Hanalei is on Kaua i.
He wahine olu olu o Pualani. Pualani is a pleasant woman.
Ua ike o ia. He saw.
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Ua hele au me ia. I went with him.
E hele aku oe i Waikik ! Go to Waikik !
He mau makana k ia mai Pualani mai. These are some gifts from Pualani.
Hau oli loa m ua o Keola e ike i ko okou Keola and I are very happy to meet your mother.
makuahine.
Aia he p ina ma ko Pualani hale aina. There's a party at Pualani's restaurant.
A ole e ho i aku ana o Pualani i Honolulu i k l Pualani isn't returning to Honolulu tomorrow.
ap p .
P (Like)
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:150) says that the rare preposition p is used in the phrase p k ia ("like this").
N Hunekuhi (Directionals)
The four hunekuhi (directionals) are used in a verb phrase to "tell that someone is moving away from
you, to tell that something is facing you, and to tell that something seems far away." (Kaman /Wilson
2012 I:198). They are often not explicitly translated into English. Hunekuhi are much more heavily
used in 19th century Hawaiian writing than in current conversation. It is almost always possible to
include a hunekuhi in a verb phrase; doing so makes a sentence sound more idiomatic and truly
Hawaiian.
Hunekuhi Meaning
mai Towards me, towards us, to me. to us; facing me, facing us
aku Indicating a direction in a straight, forceful line not towards me, rather, facing away
from me, facing away from us, facing you; far off
ae In several directions with short jerky movements; not towards me, also in an upward
direction, facing away from me
iho In a downward direction, down into a person, as with thinking, drinking, eating; very
close
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:198)
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:91-95) identifies groups of verbs that tend to be used more with one or another of
the hunekuhi, but concludes: "It is difficult or impossible to fashion hard and fast rules for the use of
directionals. The safest course is simply to follow examples slavishly."
Example Meaning
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E hele mai oe (ia u)! Come (to me)!
E h awi mai oe i ka puke (ia u)! Give the book (to me)!
E hele aku oe! Go!
E m lama iho oe i kou kino. Take care (of your body).
E k ai aku ana o ia i kona hale i Hilo. She's selling her house in Hilo.
E k ai mai ana o ia i ka hale hou i Honolulu nei. She's buying a new house here in Honolulu.
Honi aku a honi mai Trade kisses (kiss you, kiss me)
See Helu Manawa Ana for the use of hunekuhi in time expressions.
When a hunekuhi is followed by ala, the two are written as one word nowadays because they receive
accent together: maila, akula, ihola, a ela. The present tense (but far away) verb pattern ke painu
ala most often occurs with a directional in this way (but the pattern is not commonly used).
Example Meaning
Ke ai ihola o Kimo i ke k ma ke p kaukau. Kimo is eating the stew on the table.
Ke k loi akula n keiki k ne i n p haku. The children are throwing rocks.
Aku nei, akula and maila are used in past tense verb phrases to indicate the timing of the action or
state change, especially in stories (mo olelo).
Pattern Meaning
Ua painu aku nei Recently
Ua painu akula Immediately, And then
The ua is often dropped in phrases of the second type.
Pattern Meaning
Ua au akula o ia mai kekahi kapa a kekahi kapa And then he swam from one side of the river
o ke kahawai. to the other.
Hele akula o ia. And then he left.
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Kauoha akula ua wahine nei, “ O ka Hale kuke And then that woman ordered: "the kitchen is
kona wahi e noho ai." where she is to sleep".
Heluhelu akula au hiamoe maila o ia. I read until she fell asleep.
The hunekuhi occur in k hulu pepeke piko hou (descriptive clauses with a new piko) with a present
tense verb to indicate an action in the present but far away. They replace ai in this context.
Pattern Meaning
Ehia a oukou k piki e k ai maila? How many (heads of) cabbage are you
buying?
Iho is also used as a noun or after a pronoun or locative to indicate "self". (Elbert/Pukui 1979:91-95)
Example Meaning
Ke n n nei au ia u iho. I'm looking now at myself.
No u iho As for me
i loko iho o kou no ono o within your thoughts
Hunekuhi occur in verbless sentences or noun phrases with a meaning of coming or going.
Example Meaning
I Maui aku nei au. I was on Maui / I went to Maui.
Eia mai au. Here I am / Here I come.
Eia a e o Kimo. Here comes Kimo.
Mai is often used without a preceding verb in calling someone to come, especially to eat. (Hopkins
1992:25)
Example Meaning
Mai! Come here!
Mai, mai, mai e ai! Come, come, come eat!
See O Ka Painu Dir La for another specific use of hunekuhi to indicate timing.
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N Hune a au (Intensifiers N , K , L , Paha, …)
The hune a au are a small set of words that occur at the end of the po o (a noun or verb phrase) and
express emotion or other qualifying aspect with respect to the phrase. While never necessary,
Hawaiian without hune a au sounds expressionless and flat. When more than one is used in a
phrase, they must be in the order of the following table.
Hune a au Meaning
n Assurance - "still", "just", "even", "do", "itself
k Shock or surprise (generally no equivalent in English), not often used after a verb; n
k expresses astonishment
l Adds force; uncommon except with wai, aha, pehea, ehia and hea where it is often
translated as "the heck"
na e Contradiction - "however", "but"; n na e means "still", "yet", "however"
ho i Connects two things - "too", "also", "either"; n ho i is a strong intensifier
anei Yes/no question (no equivalent in English)
paha Uncertainty - "maybe", "could have", "might", "I think"; when followed by n , it is often
translated as "probably"
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:103-105)
Only k is used independently:
K !
What the heck!
Example Meaning
Aia n o ia i Hilo. He is still in Hilo.
Makemake n au i k l . Boy do I ever like that.
Ae. Ua hele n au. Yes. I did (go).
A ole n o ia i k kua mai. He didn't even help me.
Na u n i hana i k n upena. I made that net myself.
I nehinei n , ua ike au i ia i ke kula. Just yesterday I saw him at school.
O oe k k na mo opuna! So YOU'RE his grandson!
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He ono k ! But it was good after all! Imagine!
A ole n k ho i k kou i kono ia. Of course (are you surprised to learn that) we
weren t invited.
O ia k ! You don't say!
Pehea l . Who knows.
O wai l ! Heck if I know who!
He aha l ! Heck if I know what!
A ole l ! No way! No sir-ee!
A ole na e au i hele. However, I didn t go.
He wela na e k ia p . Dis plate hot, but.
O Kimo na e kona p p . But, Kimo is her daddy.
Eia na e, However,
Aia na e, However,
A i nehinei ho i, ua ike au i Kimo. And yesterday, I saw Kimo.
Ua hele au i Kona, a i Hilo n ho i. I went to Kona, and to Hilo too.
A ole ho i au i lohe. I didn't hear either.
Akamai n ho i k l keiki. Well I'll tell you that kid sure is smart.
Eha ho i ka ihu. My nose sore as why (said after someone

notices that you are rubbing your nose)
O ia ho i! I should say!
Ua ike anei oe i Keola? Have you seen Keola?
E hele ana anei oe i Waimea? Are you going to Waimea?
Ke ai nei anei o Pualani? Is Pualani eating?
A ole anei oe i ike mai i m kou? Didn't you see us?
Ua hele paha o ia i Kekaha. Maybe he went to Kekaha.
Aia paha l kou ma loko o ka hale. They might be inside the house.
Ua pau paha i k ia manawa. I think it's "pau" now.
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A ole paha o ia i hele. I don't think she went.
He poi n paha k l ua. They probably have poi.
P l paha. You're probably right.
O ia paha. That could be so.
A ole paha! Not! Come on, that can't be true!

All examples from (Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:103-105).
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:100-104) considers the following to fall into the same general category as the
above:
Particle Meaning
auane i probably, soon
ho ih slight anger or annoyance
n now
kau superlative, usually used after ho i
Example Meaning
Mai wala au a e ho i o makani auane i. Don't say too much or the wind will blow.
He kau auane i i ka lae a . Watch out lest the canoe land on a rocky reef.
He pa akai auane i ke kanaka o hehe e. Man isn’t salt that melts.
E noho mai paha auane i kipi mai i oe. Perhaps (they) will wait and later revolt against
you.
He ali i waiwai auane i ia. Soon he will be a rich chief.
I Hawai i ho ih me Pele e noho ai. Then stay at Hawaii with Pele.
K hea ia ho ih . Then summon (her).
Hele mai nei n n . Come here now.
Hele mai ke ali i n . The chief is coming now.
He nani mai ho i kau! Oh, so beautiful!
E lohe mai auane i kau i ka leo o ka makua. Soon (you) will listen to the parent's request.
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(Elbert/Pukui 1979:100) considers noho i and nona e to be additional intensifiers, but they are
generally considered to be two words each today: n ho i and n na e.
The order of intensifiers when more than one is used in a phrase is:
n k l auane i* na e ho i ho ih h n anei paha auane i** kau
where auane i* indicates uncertainty while auane i** indicates soon/eventually. (Neumann 2019:20)
A recent study found that the order of certain words changes in specific contexts: l before k in
questions, anei before ho i in negative phrases. (Neumann 2019:50-53)
Word Usage Patterns
Ke K hulu (Descriptors)
Adjectives
Adjectives in English are modifiers of nouns. See the section on a ano verbs for how stative verbs
generally fill the function of adjectives in Hawaiian, following a verb. For example:
Wela ka hao.
a ano meme a
The iron is hot.
An English sequence of a noun preceded by two adjectives such as a 'fine new house' might in
Hawaiian be:
hale maika i a hou

meme a a ano ku i a ano
house good and new
Compounds also may be followed by qualifiers:
he mea hou maika i

meme a a ano a ano
a thing new good
some good news / a good new thing
limu kala lau li i

meme a a ano meme a a ano
seaweed rough leaf small
small-leafed Sargassum sp.
Any meme a can modify any other meme a (any meme a can be a k hulu), for example:
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peni pepa a pen for paper, or a pen of paper
pepa peni paper for a pen
Adverbs
Adverbs in English are modifiers of verbs or adjectives. As with adjectives, a ano verbs often directly
fill the role.
Example Meaning
Ua heluhelu wikiwiki o ia i ka palapala. He read the document quickly.
He wahine akamai loa au. I am a very intelligent woman. (loa is an adverb,

modifying akamai)
Another common pattern to express the function of an adverb is me ka painu or me ke ano painu.
Example Meaning
E lelo ana o ia me ka ha aha a. He spoke humbly.
E oli ana n keiki me ke ano ha aheo no ko The kids are chanting proudly about their place
l kou one h nau. of birth.
Ua kokoke o ia ia u me ka wikiwiki loa. He approached me very quickly.
Ua m lama ia me ke ano kapukapu akua. They were raised with the sanctity of gods.
Honua is used as an adverb in the meaning of "suddenly".
Example Meaning
Huh honua ihola o ia. He suddenly became angry.
Nalowale honua ka wahine hi ui a The mermaid suddenly disappeared.
Koke is used as an adverb with the meaning quickly. Koke iho n means "that very" with a time unit.
Example Meaning
No kona hele koke ole mai because of his not coming quickly
E hele koke mai n oe. Come quickly.
I ia p koke iho n , ua ho op iwa. That very night, he was afraid.
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Ho omaka hou a ela ke kula i ia pule koke iho School starts again that very week.
n .
"P , a modifier of both verbs and nouns has two meanings: 'together with, entirely, also with', and
'inactive, sluggish, quiet, bored'. Context determines which translation is appropriate; the second
meaning is quite rare." (Elbert/Pukui 1979:90)
Example Meaning
like p just the same
Me oe p . You too. / Same to you.
Noho p wale n . Just living together.
Noho p wale ihola n o Kimo. Kimo just sat there dejectedly.
In oe e ae ana e kau p ku u mau ope ope me If you agree to place my bundles with me, then
a u, a laila, holo p k ua. we’ll sail together.
(Elbert/Pukui 1979:63) calls out mai explicitly as an adverb when used before a verb, with the
meaning of "almost".
Example Meaning
Mai h ule ke keiki. The child almost fell.
(Alexander 1864:17) names hea, auhea, ihea, etc. as interrogative adverbs. It considers a ole and
ole to be negative adverbs.
(Judd 1939:20-22) lists adverbs of time ( n , ap p , inehinei, hou, etc), denial adverbs ( a ole,
mai, na e, etc.), place adverbs (aia, eia, kokoke and a puni), assent adverbs ( ae, e. u, and o ia),
affirmation adverbs (n , ho i, oia i o, etc), salutation adverbs (aloha, welina, ano ai), doubt adverbs
(i, in , paha, etc.) and resemblance adverbs (like, menei, penei, etc.).
Comparative, Superlative
In English, the comparative and superlative of an adjective are generally formed by adding "er" and
"est": fast, faster, fastest; pretty, prettier, prettiest. They can also generally be formed by preceding
them with "more" and "most": beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful. As discussed above, a ano
(stative) verbs are usually employed in Hawaiian where English would use an adjective.
Comparative
To express "more" for an a ano, the following pattern is used:
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oi aku ka a ano ma mua o ko kikino a ano
For example:
oi aku ka nani o Kaup ma mua o ko Kahului nani (Kaup is more beautiful than Kahului).
See the section on comparative sentences for the structure of sentences that focus on comparing a
property of two objects.
Superlative
The k hulu (adverb) loa is used where English would use "most" or "-est":
Example Meaning
ke keiki akamai loa the smartest child
n palaki hope loa he umi the last ten brushes
ka muli loa the last born
Note that there is ambiguity here since loa is also used where English would use "very".
I ka w ma mua loa a very long time ago

O ia kaulana loa ma Maui. He is very famous on Maui.
Me ka m m loa i hele ai o Ele io. It was with great speed that Ele io went.
Ua kaumaha loa au. I became very sad.
When loa is used without a definite determiner, it can usually be translated as "very". When used with
a definite determiner, it may be translated as "very" or "most".
A oi, a keu, a emi (or more, or less)

To express "more than" or "less than" a quantity, "or more" or "or less", the following pattern is used:
he helu a oi
he helu a keu
he helu a emi
"A oi" and "a keu" mean more than, while "a emi" means less than.
Sometimes (with kahak ) appears instead of a, especially in mo olelo (stories).
"A oi" and "a keu" may be followed by the directional aku with no change in meaning. Similarly, "a
emi" may be followed by the directional iho or mai.
The following expressions are equivalent to “a oi”:
a oi a e
a oi a e paha
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a oi iki paha
Example Meaning
he umik m lua mau haum na a oi more than 12 students; 12 or more students
he iw k luak m h mau pia a emi less than 24 beers; 24 beers or less
He umik m lua keiki a oi a l ua. They have more than 12 kids.
Ua lilo i ia he kaukani k l a emi. She lost a little less than 1,000 dollars.
E kupa aku i ke kalo no ekolu hola a oi a e Boil the taro for maybe 3 hours or more.
paha.
p umi a keu 10 and upwards
mai ka iwak lua o ko l kou mau makahiki a keu (all the men in Israel) who are twenty years old
aku or more
He kanakolu m lolo o k ia lawai a e loa a a emi Thirty and less of these flying-fish are caught in
mai n ho i.27 this method of fishing.
Keu is used to mean "very", exceedingly in the following pattern:
He keu au kikino a ka painu
Example Meaning
He keu aku ia a ka hahana. It was very heated.
He keu aku o ia a ka pakalaki. He was very unlucky.
No ka W (Temporal)
Date
A complete date is expressed as follows:
(weekday) o ka l (day of month) k ia o (month) o (year)
As in English, the part of the year before the decade may be expressed either as thousands,
hundreds (two thousand nineteen) or as a count of hundreds (twenty nineteen). The more common is
the latter, as in English.
27
Fornander
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Example Meaning
ma ka P alima o ka l umi k ia o Apelila o on Friday the 10th of April, 2019

iwak lua umik m iwa
ma ka l ehiku k ia o Kepakemapa on September 7
Days of the Week

The days of the week are formed with P (night) and the numbers one through six in the a- form, with
L pule (day of prayer) for Sunday.
Day Meaning
P ahia which day
P akahi Monday
P alua Tuesday
P akolu Wednesday
P ah Thursday
P alima Friday
P aono Saturday
L pule Sunday
The days of the week take a ka i (determiner), unlike in English.
Example Meaning
O ka P alima k ia, a pau ke kula. It is Friday and school is over.
Aia k u papa i ka p ahia? Which day is your class?
N P o ka Mahina (Days of the Month)

The days of the month are called n p o ka mahina - the nights of the moon. Knowledge of the
cycles of the moon was essential to Polynesian navigation.
Period Meaning
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ho onui growing
Day Name Meaning bigger
1 Hilo faint thread
2 Hoaka crescent
3 K kahi K 1
4 K lua K 2
5 K kolu K 3
6 K pau last K
7 Ole K kahi Ole K 1
8 Ole K lua Ole K 2
9 Ole K kolu Ole K 3
10 Ole K pau Last Ole K
poepoe round, full

Day Name Meaning
11 Huna to hide
12 M hala to blossom
13 Hua fruit, egg
14 Akua god, first night of fullness
15 Hoku second night of fullness
16 M healani third night of fullness
17 Kulua to drop, pass
18 L au K kahi L au K 1
19 L au K lua L au K 2
20 L au K pau last L au K
emi decreasing
Day Name Meaning
21 Ole K kahi Ole K 1
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22 Ole K lua Ole K 2
23 Ole K pau Last Ole K
24 K loa K kahi K loa Ku 1 (K loa is short for

Kanaloa)
25 K loa K lua K loa Ku 2
26 K loa K pau Last K loa Ku
27 K ne the god K ne
28 Lono the god Lono
29 Mauli ghost
30 Muku cut-off, new moon
(Hawaiian Lunar Month)
See more on the Hawaiian days of the month in an article from the Hokule a team.
Helu Manawa Ana (Time)

Hawaiian has taken the English terms for hour (hola), minute (minuke) and half (hapa) to tell the time
of day, although hapa does not necessarily mean exactly half but rather a part of the whole.
i hala ka hola indicates "past the hour".

i koe kani ka hola indicates "before the hour" (literally "remaining until the hour rings").
Example Meaning
O ka hola ehia k ia? What time is it?
o ka hola ekahi 1:00
o ka hapalua hola ekolu 3:30
He iwak lua minuke i hala ka hola eh . It is 4:20.
He umi minuke i koe kani ka hola elima. It is 4:50.
hapah i hala ka hola elua 2:15
I ka hola ehia? When (will it happen)?
The traditional Hawaiian divisions of the day are used independently or together with the hours of the
day.
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Division Meaning
kakahiaka early in the morning, from sunrise until as late as

between 10:30 and 11:00
awakea late morning (after kakahiaka) until 1:00 or 1:30

in the afternoon
auinal midafternoon
ahiahi 5:00 to 8:30 or 9:00PM
p from ahiahi to midnight
aumoe around midnight
wana ao from aumoe to dawn

(Cleeland 1994:23-24)
Example Meaning
hapalua hola ekolu o ka auinal . 3:30 in the afternoon
elima minuke i hala ka hola ewalu o ke ahiahi 8:05 in the evening
hapah i koe kani ka hola ehiku o ke kakahiaka quarter to seven in the morning
N Kau (Traditional Seasons and Months)

As in most tropical climates, there are two seasons in Hawai i, the cooler wetter season called Ho oilo,
and the hotter, drier season called Kau. Both seasons last about six months. In ancient times, the
months were marked by the appearance of different stars and constellations in the eastern sky at
sunset. The names of the months varied from district to district and island to island. The following
names are from the Prince Kuhi o Hawaiian Civic Club Calendar, published annually.
(Asia-Pacific Digital Library Months)
Ho oilo (Cooler, Wetter Season)
Month Meaning
Welehu (Oct.-Nov.) Makali i (Pleiades) appears in the ENE sky after sunset. Rainy
season. Makahiki, a four-month long harvest festival, dedicated to
Lono, a god of rain and agriculture, began toward the end of Kau and
continued into the new year. Opelu and akule fishing.
Makali i (Nov.-Dec.) Sun rises and sets at its southern limit (winter solstice). Land
prepared for planting. Opelu and akule fishing; ama ama (mullet)
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spawning and kapu through Feb. Kohol (humpbacked-whales) feed
and breed in island waters through April.
Ka elo (Dec.-Jan.) A a (Sirius) and Orion in the eastern evening sky. Uala (sweet
potato) planting in dry leeward areas to take advantage of winter
rains. Reef and inshore fishing.
Kaulua (Jan.-Feb.) Ke Ali i o Kona i ka Lewa (Canopus) in the SE by S evening sky. In

traditional times, aku kapu lifted at the end of Makahiki; opelu kapu
through July during its spawning season; reef and inshore fishing.
Planting period for all crops - kalo, uala, gourds, wauke (bark cloth),
olon (for cordage), bananas, yams, arrowroot.
Nana (Feb.-Mar.) Sun rises due east and sets due west (spring equinox). Mulch and
weed gardens; vigorous plant growth begins. Ama ama fishing
season opens; m lolo (flying fish) spawning.
Welo (Mar.-April) Leo in the eastern evening sky. All things grow; crops maturing.
Ama ama and m lolo fishing. Deep-sea fishing through summer. lio-
holo-i-ka-uaua (monk seal) pups are born, spring through summer.
Kau (Hotter, Drier Season)
Month Meaning
Ikiiki (April-May) Makali i in the WNW evening sky; Hokule a (Arcturus) in the ENE
evening sky. Uala planting with summer rains. Honu (green sea
turtles) come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand through summer.
Great schools of moi (threadfish) and m lolo.
Ka aona (May-June) Sun rises and sets at its northern limit (summer solstice). Ulu
(breadfruit) ripens. Ula (lobster) and moi kapu through August during
their spawning seasons. Aku and ahi (tuna) season.
Hinaia ele ele (June-July) Manaiakalani (Maui’s Fishhook, or Scorpio) in the SE evening sky.
Humid weather, sudden storms. hi a ai (mountain apple) ripens;
gourds and melons ripen. In traditional times, opelu kapu lifted; aku
kapu through Jan. during its spawning season; akule spawning.
Hilinaehu (July-August) Leo in the western evening sky. hi a ai abundant. He e (octopus)

fishing with lures.
Hilinama (Aug.-Sept.) Sun rises due east and sets due west (fall equinox). Tubers ripen for
harvest; sugar cane blossoms; vines dying off. Ula and moi season;
opelu fishing.
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Ikuwa (Sept.-Oct.) Iwakeli i (Cassiopeia) in the NNE evening sky. Thunder and rain. Plant
growth slows. Kalo and uala harvest. Preparation for the Makahiki
Harvest Festival. Akule and Opelu plentiful.
N Mahina (Months)
The months of the year are adopted from English. They are proper nouns and so take o when they
are the subject of a sentence.
Month Meaning
Ianuali January
Pepeluali February
Malaki March
Apelila April
Mei May
Iune June
Iulai July
Aukake August
Kepakemapa September
Okakopa October
Nowemapa November
Kekemapa December
Relative Time
Besides ap p for tomorrow and nehinei for yesterday, hunekuhi (directionals) are used with units
of time to indicate a time in the past or present, with nei as well for the past.
nei after iho, a e, and aku adds the meaning "past", with aku nei being more remote than iho nei or
a e nei.
Mai nei indicates past time and present place.
nehinei is generally used with a preceding i. ap p is generally used as ka l ap p , with i

preceding to mean on the day of tomorrow:
O ka P ahia ka l ap p ?
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What day is tomorrow?
E ho omaka ke kula i ka l ap p .
School starts tomorrow.
The time scale with directionals with and without following nei is more or less as follows:
Expression Time
aku nei distant past
a e nei, iho nei recent past
ae adjoining the present
iho near future
aku distant future

Example Meaning
In oe i hele mai nei me ka maika i... If you had come here with good [intentions]...
i nehinei yesterday
i k ia mau l iho nei these last few days
i k ia mau l iho the coming few days
hele mai nei n o ia he came here
k l pule aku nei last week
k ia pule aku nei ia pule aku nei the week before last
Ua hele a e nei no Maui. [He] has just gone to Maui.
ia l a e ia l a e from day to day
ko u mua a e the (one born) just before me
ap p ia l aku the day after tomorrow
ke kaikamahine a u e honi ai i k ia p the girl I will kiss tonight
Ek m kou i oe m i k ia ahiahi? Are we playing you folks tonight?
E ai ia ana ka mea ono e l kou i ka p nei. The cake was being eaten by them last night.
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Ua hiki mai nei k u leka. Your letter just arrived.
Ka Painu (Verbs)
N M ka Painu (Verb Markers)
In English, there is a somewhat confusing and difficult to understand process of “conjugating” a verb
in order to understand the time frame or state of completion under which the action happens. The
spelling of the verb sometimes indicates its “tense”. E.g. I see the bird, I saw the bird, I am seeing the
bird, etc. In Hawaiian, the spelling of the painu (verb) does not change but rather is marked by
indicators that signal the tense or state of completion. These indicators are called m ka painu.
(Hawkins 1982:38)
The table below shows the m ka painu that are used for various sentence patterns (analula) in
Hawaiian. This table will be used throughout this book with the appropriate row highlighted for the
analula being discussed.
M ka Painu (Verb Marker) Table

Analula Habitual Completed Not Happening Suggestive Recently
Action Completed Right Now Completed
Action
Pepeke - Ua painu E painu ana Ke painu nei E painu Ua painu dir nei/la
Painu
A ole - i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
Painu
K lele e painu i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
kena
K lele e painu ai i painu ai ana, e painu e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
K lana ai
e painu ana
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
hou ole
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Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
hou
*The habitual form is sometimes marked with e and sometimes omitted.
The basic forms of the m ka painu are shown in the first row of the above table (Pepeke Painu).
Each of the m ka painu for the Pepeke Painu is discussed as follows:
Habitual:
A simple painu (verb) sentence that describes action without reference to tense can also be thought
of as habitual action. This type of action is not marked with a m ka painu in a pepeke painu. This is
true for any type of painu as shown in the following examples:
Example Meaning Verb type
Kalaiwa au i ke ka a. I drive (habitually) the car. hamani
Hele au i ka hale. I go (habitually) to the house. hehele
Anuanu ka wai. The water is cold (habitually) a ano
Sometimes, especially in literature, habitual sentences are marked with a preceding He (Hawkins
1982:40). The following example illustrates this:
He hele au i ka hale. I go (habitually) to the house.
This form is also used to indicate the type of person:
He lelo Hawai i k l keiki k ne. That boy is a Hawaiian speaker.
Completed Action:
The m ka painu marker ua indicates action that has been completed for hamani and hehele types of
painu and is therefore similar to the English past tense. For stative ( a ano) painu, the preceding ua
indicates that the state or condition described by the painu has already been reached, and that
condition might still exist. Therefore, for a ano painu the ua can represent present as well as past
tense (Kaman /Wilson 2012:121).
Example Meaning Verb type
Ua kalaiwa au i ke ka a. I drove the car. hamani
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Ua hele au i ka hale. I went to the house. hehele
Ua anuanu ka wai. The water has become cold. a ano
There are also situations where one wants to indicate a completed action of a single occurrence. This
is indicated by ana in the Po o. Using ana in the Po o can also be used to indicate future action (see
next section on Not completed action). Distinguishing what is meant when ana is used in the Po o
needs to rely on other contextual clues.
Example Meaning
I ka hola elua, kanu ana m kou i ke kalo. At 2:00 we planted the taro.
Not Completed Action:
Action that has not been completed is indicated using the m ka painu e painu ana. In other words,
that action could be currently happening, going to happen, or was happening. Clues to determine the
time frame under which the activity is happening need to come from the context of the conversation
(Hopkins 1992:64).
Example Meaning
E kama ilio ana au i Kimo i nehinei. I was talking to Kimo yesterday.
E hana ana au i k ia manawa. I am working at this time.
E hele ana au i ka hale i k ia P akahi a e. I am going to go to the house next Monday.
E wela ana ka wai. The water is getting hot, the water was getting
hot, the water will be getting hot.
There are situations where one wants to clearly indicate that an action will happen in the future. This
can be indicated by ana in the Po o. Using ana in the Po o can also be used to indicate completed
action of a single occurrence (see previous section on completed action). Distinguishing what is
meant when ana is used in the Po o needs to rely on other contextual clues.
Painu ana + piko: Example: Aia ana oe i ka hale? Are you going to be at the house?
Happening Right Now:
The m ka painu e painu ana can have the meaning of action happening now, but using the m ka
painu ke painu nei gives a stronger emphasis of the action happening right now. Consider the
following examples:
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Example Meaning
E ulana ana o Pualani i ka lei. Pualani is weaving the lei.
Ke ulana nei o Pualani i ka lei. Pualani is weaving the lei right now.
Note that Ke painu nei is sometimes expressed as Ke painu ala. Using nei indicates an action
happening near to the speaker in distance, and using ala indicates an action happening far from the
speaker in distance. Ke painu ala is not often seen. Ke painu nei occurs most often in formal
speeches, in church, and in writing. E painu ana is more commonly used in day-to-day conversations
to indicate ongoing action (Hopkins 1992:125).
Suggestive:
The suggestive m ka painu, e painu, has multiple meanings/usages is discussed in other sections of
this book as well as this one. Two of these meanings/usages will be discussed here. The first
meaning is when one is expressing a command. The second is when expressing “will”, “should”,
“shall”, and “”let s” (Kaman /Wilson 2012:126). The following examples illustrate these usages:
Example Meaning
E ha awi aku oe i ka poi i ka wahine. Give the poi to the women. (command)
E ho om kaukau oe i ka mea ai. You will prepare the food.
E kama ilio oe i ia. You should talk to her.
E m lama au i n keiki. I shall care for the children.
E n n k kou i ka h ike. Let s watch the show.
Recently Completed:
The m ka painu ua, used along with a directional (hunekuhi) (aku, mai, a e, iho) and either nei or
la indicates recently completed action. Using nei indicates the action completed near the speaker and
la indicates action completed action away from the speaker. he following are examples of this m ka
painu:
Example Meaning
Ua lele a ela ka manu i ke kumul au. The bird recently flew to the tree.
Ua kalaiwa mai nei ke keiki i ane i. The boy recently drove here.
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Ua noho iho nei o ia I ka hale. She recently lived in the house.
Ua hele akula o Kimo i L haina. Kimo recently went to L haina.
Note that the hunekuhi and la are often written and pronounced as a single word. As the above table
shows, the m ka painu can change based on the analula that is being used. Each of the rows of the
table will be discussed in the appropriate sections of this book that follow.
N M ka Painu Kauoha (Imperative)

There are three positive imperative verb markers and one negative. An imperative marker
immediately precedes its verb.
Marker Usage
E Strongest
Polite
I Suggestive
Mai Negative
Example Meaning
E hele oe! Go! (You should/must go!)
ho i lelo aku... Better go back and say...
hele k ua. Let's go.
Mai uw oe. Don't cry.
I ipo oe n na. Be a girlfriend of his. (Be his girlfriend.)
I wahi noho k ia no olua. Let this be a living place for you. (Why don't you
live here?)
In discourse, the imperative marker is often dropped:
Hele oe!
Mai is also used stand-alone:
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Mai! Don't! Stop!
Ia (Passivizer)
The particle ia after a hamani (transitive verb) gives it a passive sense. The kena (object) of the
verb becomes the piko (subject), instead of the kena (actor). Consider the sentence, “The fish was
eaten by Kimo”. In this case, the fish is the subject of the sentence but it is not the fish that is doing
the eating. Kimo is the one doing the eating, but is expressed in the sentence as the agent of the
action, not the subject. (Elbert/Pukui 1979:83)
Ai o Kimo i ka i a.
po o piko kena ami lauka awe kena
Kimo eats the fish.
Ai ia ka i a e Kimo.
po o piko kena awe kena
The fish is eaten by Kimo.
As a hamani (transitive verb), ai takes the object marker i to indicate the object of the eating. In the
passive form with ia, there is no object and so no object marker.
Examples of transitive verbs and their use in a passive sense with ia:
Example Meaning
E ai i ka i a! Eat the fish!
Ai ia ka i a. The fish is eaten
Ua h nau o ia i Pualani. She gave birth to Pualani.
Ua h nau ia o Pualani. Pualani was born
When an kena (agent, the one causing the action) is called out in a passive sentence, it s done with
e (which is translated as “by” or “by means of”) preceding the agent, e.g. “e ka p poki” - “by the cat”.
The painu (verb) with ia is typically translated with an "-en” or “-ed” in English, e.g. "eaten", "cooked".
Example Meaning
Ai ia ka i a nui e ka p poki. The big fish is eaten by the cat.
Heluhelu ia ka puke makemakika e k l keiki The math book is read by that girl.
wahine.
H nau ia o Pualani e28 Ellen. Pualani was born by Ellen.
28
Ellen does not take o because it follows e.
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Note that the passive verb portion of the sentence is exactly as described previously only now the
agent is identified as well: the cat, that girl and Ellen.
If the cause of the action is not intentional, the agent is indicated with i/i instead (as with loa a verbs).
In English, "with" is often used instead of "by" in similar sentences.
Example Meaning
Ua ho opiha ia k ia kiowai e ke keiki. This puddle was filled by the child.
Ua ho opiha ia k ia kiowai i ka wai. This puddle was filled with water.
Ola ka m i ke Akua. God save the king (Live the king by the god).29
Often times in speaking Hawaiian the person being addressed is spoken to indirectly (see section on
indirect addressing). This holds true for suggesting that something should be done. This is called a
passive voiced command and has the following form:
E painu ia piko
E ho om kaukau ia ka mea ai. The food shall be prepared.
This is a nicer way of saying that someone specific should prepare the food… they should know who
they are.
Ho o- (Transitivizer)
The prefix ho o- makes the word it is attached to into a hamani (transitive verb). It is most often
attached to an a ano (stative verb) or hehele (intransitive verb), but it may be attached to a kikino
(noun) or even a hamani to change its meaning. The meaning of a word prefixed with ho o- is to
cause to take on the state or form or action of the word following ho o.
The prefix changes form depending on the first letters of the word it is attached to.
First letters Form Examples
okina + kahak ho ho (to cause to burn or turn on) from (to burn or be
turned on)
ho hule (to cause to be bald) from hule (to be bald)
okina (and no kahak ) h h ike (to show, cause to be seen) from ike (to see)
h ano (to make weird) from ano (weird)
a, e or o ho + ho la (to cause to wake up) from ala (to be awake)
29
120
lengthened ho mi (to reduce) from emi (to diminish, go down)
vowel (if not ho la (to cause to be alive, cure) from ola (to be alive,
already long) healthy)
ho la i (to cause an earthquake) from ola i (earthquake)
all others (i, u or a ho o ho oikaika (to make strong) from ikaika (strong)
consonant other than ho oman o (to remind someone) from mana o (to think of
okina) something)
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 2:46)
Ki a Painu (Nominalizer)
The particle ana as a separate word following a painu (verb) changes the sense of the verb into a
kikino (noun) describing the action of the verb, e.g. ka holo ana (the running) from holo (to run).
Almost any painu or kikino can be used with ana, but it is most often seen with hamani and hehele
verbs. In English translation, the expression is often a gerund (running, seeing, knowing, climbing).
A very common usage of ki a painu is where English would use a subordinate verb clause, especially
to express the idea of "when" for an action in the past.
The relationship of the thing or person doing the action to the ki a painu is usually o-type.
Example Meaning
i kona hele ana when he went
ma mua o ka ho omaka ana o ka papa before the beginning of the class
Ua ike au i ka ai ana o ka p poki i ka manu. I saw the cat eat the bird.
I ko u ho i ana mai, ua lilo. When I returned, (it) was gone.
I ka wehe ana aku i ka puke, ua lilo paha ka pila When (X) opened the door, the bill was probably
i ka makani. taken by the wind.
Pehea ka loa a ana o ka aihue? How was the thief caught?
O ia ka hopena o ka hele ole ana e ho olohe That s the consequence of not going to listen to
lipine. the tapes.
E noho oe me ka ike ole ana o Kimo. Live without Kimo knowing.
No ke aha kou hele ole ana? Why didn't/don't you go?
There may be other words between the verb and ana, with the following pattern:
ka i kikino k hulu ia ana hunekuhi piko
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ko u ho i ana mai
my returning
ke kau ana o ka iole
the perching of the rat
ka ho iho i ia ana mai o ke kalaka
the returning of the truck
(Hopkins 1992:185-187)
Special Verb Patterns

These are verbs with particular idiomatic uses as po o (head of a phrase), expressing something other
than their fundamental meaning.
Hele a
The following pattern means "to become":
hele a painu
Example Meaning
Ua hele a laha loa Became widely known
Mai ai nui o hele a momona kou p . Don’t eat too much or you will become fat.
Pehea o ia i hele ai a m kaukau i ka How did he get good at math?

makemakika?
Ua hele a momona ka lio. The dog became fat.
Koe (n )
The following pattern means except for / remaining:
Koe (n ) kikino
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Example Meaning
Koe n ka penikala ma luna o ke p kaukau. Only the pencil is left on the table.
Ua hana m kou i n mea a pau, koe k ia. We did everything except for this.
A ole i koe ho okahi kanaka. Not one person remained.
a koe ka wai pa a except for cheese
See idioms for other special uses of koe.
Kohu ABC
This pattern means to resemble, to be similar to, something like a, but lacks the idea of something
fitting like a shoe. See the section on K i/i .
Example Meaning
Kohu keko kona pi ina i ke kumu niu. Like a monkey his climbing the coconut tree.
Kohu luahine kona lelo ana. Her speaking resembles that of an old woman.
Kohu nananana ke mea a u i ike iho ai. The thing that I saw was similar to a spider.
Kohu mea l /ala

seems like/as if, seems as though, indefinite
The kohu mea l /ala pattern expresses the idea that something seems to be, but without certainty.
Example Meaning
Kohu mea l , o ia k na ipo. Seems like, she is his girlfriend.
Kohu mea ala, ua h nau ia au i neheinei. Seems as though, I was born yesterday.
Kohu mea l , a ole maopopo ka ha awina i ia. It s as if he doesn t understand the lesson.
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K a
The following pattern means to turn into something:
K a kikino hunekuhi-la kikino
The pattern is often used in mo olelo (stories).
Example Meaning
K a kanaka a ela ka u ilio. My dog turned into a man.
A k a lio hinahina a ela ua po e iole nei. And these rats here turned into silver-gray
horses.
K a pua a li ili i a ela o Kamapua a. Kamapua a turned into a small pig.
K i/i
The following pattern means to fit, match, be similar to, resemble something:
K kikino i/i kikino
Example Meaning
K o Keola i kona makuak ne. Keola resembles his father.
K o ia i ka nani. She looks beautiful.
K ke k ma a i loa a i ia. The shoe seems to belong to her.
Lilo
Lilo is a word that can function as either a hamani or a loa a-type a ano. When functioning as a
hamani it means “to become”, and as a stative loa a it means to accrue (Elbert/Pukui 1979:53). It
also means “to be engrossed or absorbed in something” (Hopkins 1992: 186). Other meanings
include to be lost, gone, pass into the possession of, to relinquish; to become, turn into, to overcome,
be purchased, taken.
Lilo used as a hamani
When using lilo to describe becoming or turning into something/someone, the ami preceding the
target kikino indicates either something general (i) or something specific ( o).
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Example Meaning
E lilo ana o ia i kahu ma i. She is going to become a nurse.
E lilo ana o ia o ka u ipo aloha. She is going to become my sweetheart.
Mai lilo oe i aihue. Don t become a thief.
E lilo oe i kumu. You should become a teacher
Ua lawe a lilo ia ka ipo. The sweetheart was carried off and lost.
Ua lilo o Kimo o ke kauka o Kal kaua. Kimo became Kal kaua s doctor.
E lilo ana ka wahine o kona hoa. The woman is going to become his friend.
Kaman /Wilson indicate a slightly different structure for the case with a specific target; a second
pepeke aike o is added after the piko as shown below (Kaman /Wilson 2012: 176).
Example Meaning
Ua lilo o Kimo o ia o Kal kaua ma ka hana Kimo became Kal kaua in the play.
keaka.
E lilo ana au o au ka mea mua. I am going to be the first one.
E lilo ana l ua o l ua ia mau haum na i k ia They are going to be those students (we have
makahiki a e. been talking about) next year.
Lilo used as a Loa a type A ano (stative)
The following examples illustrate lilo functioning as a stative Loa a meaning “to accrue”, “to be
engrossed or absorbed in something”.
Example Meaning
Ua lilo ke k l i ka aihue. The money accrued to the thief. (The thief got
the money)
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Mai lilo ke k l i ka aihue. The thief almost got the money.
Ua lilo au i ka heluhelu ana I ka puke hoihoi. I was absorbed in reading the interesting book.
E lilo ana k u mea ai i Kimo. Kimo is going to get your food.
Ua lilo k na maunu i ka i a. A fish got his bait.
E lilo ana o Pualani i k l ki i oni oni. Pualani is absorbed in that movie.
Lilo o Keola i k na ha awina. Keola is (habitually) lost in his assignment.
M kaukau
The a ano (stative verb) m kaukau ("ready", "prepared") takes "no ka" rather than the infinitive
marker "e" to introduce the painu (verb).
Example Meaning
Ua m kaukau m kou no ka hele ana. We are ready to go (We are ready for the going).
Note that this use of m kaukau is different from when used to mean "proficient", where it may take i/i
like other a ano (stative verbs).
Example Meaning
M kaukau au i ka huaka i hele. I am proficient at traveling.
n lapa e m kaukau ana no ka mokomoko the athletes proficient at boxing
leka noi ma ka lelo Hawai i e h ike ana i kou letter in Hawaiian showing you are ready for
m kaukau no k ia k lana (have the proficiency for) this position
Me he mea l
seems like/as if, seems as though, Definite
Expressing the idea that something seems as though with definite certainty the Me he mea l pattern
is used. See examples in the table below for usage:
Example Meaning
126
Me he mea l , E ho opuka ia ana ka papa i k ia Seems as though the class will graduate this
makahiki year.
Me he mea l , ua ho opa ahau ia ka wai. Seems like the water has been frozen.
Me he mea l , ua k a i mai o Kimo i ka mea ai. Seems as if Kimo bought the food.
Nele i
"Nele" means "to be missing/lacking" something:
Nele kikino/papani i kikino ole
where kikino/papani is the subject and kikino is the thing that is missing.
The ole is sometimes omitted.
Example Meaning
Ua nele au i ka mea ai ole I am lacking for not having food (I am lacking

food).
Ua nele l ua i ka ukana ole. We don’t have any luggage.
A ole o ia i nele i ka ipo ole. He was not lacking a sweetheart.
Nele maoli k ia ohana i ka nui o n keiki. This family is truly lacking because they have so
many kids.
Nele oe i ka pepa ole? Do you lack paper?
Noke i ka
Noke (to persist, keep on) is used in the following pattern to mean persist in doing something:
noke piko i ka painu
Example Meaning
Noke l ua nei i ka p i n w wae o l ua i komo They (here) keep on pushing their feet inside.
i loko.
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noke i ka aka aka keep on laughing
P p ia
The following pattern means forbidden/prohibited to do something:
P p ia, a ole e painu
Example Meaning
P p ia, a ole e inu i ka lama ma loko o k ia It is forbidden to drink alcohol inside this room.
lumi.
E ia nei, e ala mai, ua p p ia, a ole e hiamoe You there, get up, it is prohibited to sleep at the
ma kahi kau ka a hua. bus stop.
Ua p p ia, a ole e pi i i uka o laila ma muli o ka It was prohibited to climb above there because
h ne e ana o ka mauna. of landslides.
Sentences
Ka Pepeke Painu (Simple Verb Sentences)

Composition of a pepeke painu
A simple verb sentence (pepeke painu) starts with a verb phrase, which is a verb with or without verb
markers (m ka painu) to indicate tense and optionally with directionals (hunekuhi) and/or intensifiers
(hune a au). The highlighted rows in the table below indicate the verb markers to use for each tense
for the positive and the negative cases.
Analula Habitual Completed Not Happening Suggestive Recently

Action Completed Right Now Completed
Action
Pepeke Painu - Ua painu E painu ana Ke painu nei E painu Ua painu dir
nei/la
A ole Painu - i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
K lele kena e painu i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
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K lele K lana e painu ai i painu ai ana, e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
e painu ai
e painu ana
Kahulu -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dirnei/la

Pepeke Piko
hou ole
Kahulu e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dirnei/la
Pepeke Piko
hou
*The habitual form is sometimes marked with e and sometimes without.
The verb phrase is the po o or head of the sentence. It is followed by a piko or subject and optionally
an awe or descriptive phrase.
Ua h loi au i n p .
Po o Piko Awe
I cleaned the dishes.
Ua hele n au i ke kula.
Po o Piko Awe
I definitely went to school.
Example Meaning
Hele aku au i ke kula. I go to school.
Ua hele aku au i ke kula. I went to school.
E hele aku ana au i ke kula. I used to go/am going/will be going to school.
Ke hele aku nei au i ke kula. I am going to school (right now).
E hele aku au i ke kula. I will/should go to school.
Ua hele akula au i ke kula. I went to school a while ago (or far away).
Ua hele aku nei au i ke kula. I went to school recently (or nearby).
Ka H ole O Ka Pepeke Painu (Negative Simple Verb Sentences)

A simple verb sentence is negated by starting it with A ole, which is considered an additional po o or
head. The other changes are that ua becomes i for past tense and that a papani (pronoun) used as
piko (subject) jumps before the verb. Any intensifiers (hune a au ) are placed directly after A ole.
A ole n au i hele i ke kula.
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Po o 1 Po o 2 Piko Awe
I definitely did not go to school.
Example Meaning
A ole au hele aku i ke kula. I don't go to school.
A ole au i hele aku i ke kula. I didn't go to school.
A ole au e hele aku ana i ke kula. I was not going/am not going/will not be going to
school.
A ole au e hele aku nei i ke kula. I am not going to school (right now).
A ole au e hele aku i ke kula. I will/should not go to school.
A ole au i hele akula i ke kula. I didn't go to school a while ago (or far away).
A ole au i hele aku nei i ke kula. I didn't go to school recently (or nearby).
Order of Hune Types in Simple Verb Sentences

With examples from (Kaman /Wilson 2012 II:106):
Ikoi K hulu Hune ano Hune iae Hunekuhi Hunekaime Hune a au
ai wikiwiki wale ia aku ana n

mua mai nei k
hou ae l
iki ihu na e
ho i
anei
paha
Only one hunekuhi and/or one hunekaime can be used at a time, while other types of hune allow for
multiple members of each category.
Example Meaning
E ai wikiwiki wale ia mai ana n k l ka i a. The fish is really amazingly quickly being eaten.
Ka Pepeke Aike O (Equational)

Aike O sentences, referred to as “equational” sentences, consist of two noun phrases that represent
things or people or properties that are the same as (equal to) each other. These sentences always
begin with O, followed by the noun phrases that are equal to one another.
O k l kanaka ko u makua k ne.
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There are two equivalent noun phrases when saying “That man is my father.” “That man” equals/is the
same as “My father”. Noun phrase 1 is “k la kanaka” and noun phrase 2 is “ko u makua k ne”.
In English, if the two noun phrases can be reversed and still mean the same thing, it s a sign that they
are equivalent. As shown in the example above, “That man is my father” could also be expressed as
“My father is that man.” They are equivalent and express the same thought, and therefore use the
Aike O sentence pattern.
To identify English sentences that use the Aike O pattern, look for English phrases that include “am”,
“is” or “are”. For example: “…am the teacher” or “…is the boss” or “...are your friends”. These English
sentences include “is”, “am” or “are” to express two things that are the same.
Being equivalent is not the same as "is an example of". In English it s the difference between “The
woman is the teacher” and “The woman is a teacher”. To say “The woman is a teacher.” the Aike He
sentence pattern is used and is described in the Aike He section. This pattern can usually not be
reversed without changing the meaning of the sentence - "The teacher is a woman".
Note that a ka i (ka/ke/k ia/etc.) is required following the O unless the first noun is a proper noun:
Example Meaning
O ka wahine ke kumu o ka papa. The woman is the teacher of the class.
O k ia (mea) kona alanui. This (one) is his street.
O Kimo ke keiki. Kimo is the child.
O Ka ala ke kuahiwi o O ahu. Ka ala is the mountain on Oahu.
O au o Kimo I am Kimo
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Aike O (Negative Equational Sentence)

When the two noun phrases are not equal to one another, the pattern is:
A ole (noun phrase 1) o (noun phrase 2).
Example Meaning
A ole k la kanaka o ko u makua k ne That man is not my father
A ole ke keiki o Kimo. Kimo is not the child.
A ole o Kimo o au I am not Kimo
The noun phrase to emphasize is placed at the beginning of the sentence, also in the negative form.
For example, if starting with a positive equational sentence:
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O k l wahine ke kumu kula o k ia papa. That woman is the teacher of this class.
The negation can be either of the following depending on what is being emphasized:
A ole k l wahine o ke kumu kula o k ia papa. That woman is not the teacher of this class.
A ole ke kumu kula o k ia papa o k l wahine. That woman is not the teacher of this class.
In conversation, the o may be dropped.
Questions with Aike O

The Aike O pattern can also be used to ask “Who is” type questions by starting with O wai... :
O wai ke kumu o k ia papa? Who is the teacher of this class?
The response to the question simply substitutes the answer noun phrase in place of wai:
O Keola ke kumu o k ia papa. Keola is the teacher of this class.
O ka/ke kikino, (As for)

A pattern beginning with " O ka/ke kikino," (note the comma) is a compound sentence, emphasizing
the kikino.
O ka p poki, lele o ia ma luna o ka noho. As for the cat, it jumped up on the chair.
Ka Pepeke Aike He (Class-Inclusion Sentence)

The He sentence structure expresses that some particular thing (a person, a thing) is a member of a
class of objects. We say the object "is a" or "is some" and not that the object "is the”. Keola is a
teacher but he is not the teacher. The plural marker mau is used after he to indicate plural or some.
The basic structure of the pepeke is:
He (mau) + predicate noun-phrase + subject noun-phrase

po o piko
Example Meaning
He kumu o ia. He is a teacher
He kumu akamai o ia. He is a smart teacher.
He mau kumu akamai l kou. They are smart teachers.
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He mau p poki k l . Those are cats.
He Hawai i k l kaikamahine. That girl is a Hawaiian.
He Hawai i k l kaikamahine akamai loa. That very smart girl is a Hawaiian.
The Hawaiian language doesn t have a verb meaning “to be”. In Hawaiian there are three sentence
patterns used to express the English "is":
English name Hawaiian name Implication Example Translation
Simple Verb with Pepeke Painu is Akamai k l . That one is smart.

stative verb
Class Inclusion Aike He is a He kumu akamai k l . That is a smart

teacher.
Equational30 Aike O is the O ke kumu k l . That is the teacher.
A ano (stative) verbs are used where an adjective would be used as the predicate. The simple verb
sentence with a stative verb expresses that one or more objects has a quality ("is").
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Aike He (Negative Class Inclusional Sentences)

The h ole (negative) form of the sentence begins with A ole. The class (that is being negated, and
which appeared at the end of the statement when expressed as a positive) follows the he that now
appears in the middle of the phrase. This expresses that something is NOT a member of a class (that
something “is not a...”).
A ole + noun phrase + he + noun phrase
Example Meaning
A ole k l he p poki. That is not a cat.
A ole k l he mau p poki. Those are not cats.
A ole o Pualani he kumu. Pualani is not a teacher.
Ke K lele kena (Actor-Emphatic)

The term K lele kena is made up of the two words “K lele” which means to stress or emphasize,
and the word “ kena” which means agent. Thus, this sentence structure is used when one wants to
emphasize who (the agent) is responsible to perform a certain action (Hopkins 1992:195).
30
(Cleeland 1994) calls class inclusion sentences "equational"
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The K lele kena sentence form contains two po o as shown by the color coded example below:
Na u i holoi i n p .
Po o 1 Po o 2 Awe.
Consider the following example comparing a simple Pepeke Painu sentence with a K lele kena:
Pepeke Painu form: Ua holoi au i n p . I washed the dishes.

Po o Piko Awe
K lele kena form: Na u i holoi i n p . It was I that washed the dishes.
Po o Po o Awe
This example illustrates that a K lele kena places emphasis on the responsible party. It also shows
the important aspects of constructing a K lele kena, namely, the following:
1. They are always constructed using N-possessives of A class.

2. The verbs used are always hamani or helele but never a ano.
3. The verbs are marked with m ka painu to indicate verb tense. See the green highlighted row of
the table below which shows the m ka painu forms to be used.
Analula Habitual Completed Not Completed Happening Suggestive Recently

Action Action Right Now Completed
Pepeke - Ua painu E painu ana Ke painu nei E painu Ua painu dir

Painu nei/la
A ole Painu - i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
kena
K lele e painu ai i painu ai ana, e painu ai e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
K lana e painu ana
Kahulu
Pepeke Piko
hou ole -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
i painu dir nei/la
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Kahulu
Pepeke Piko
hou e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
*The habitual form is sometimes marked with e and sometimes no marker.
There are different schools of thought as to whether or not the ami (object marker) is required, not
required, or optional at the start of the Awe for K lele kena sentences with Hamani (Transitive)
type verbs. Elbert and Pukui state that “object markers do not occur after transitive verbs.”
(Elbert/Pukui 1979: 149). This leads to an example such as the following:
Na u e m lama kona mau iwi. I was (responsible) to care for her bones.
Hopkins states that “It is also acceptable to omit the object marker, but for clarity’s sake you should
probably use it.” (Hopkins 1992: 196). Kaman and Wilson don’t mention omitting the ami (object
marker) for Hamani type verbs in their discussion of K lele kena (Kaman /Wilson 2012 Vol II: 37).
As a result of these different schools of thought you will encounter K lele kena sentences both with
and without the ami (object marker).
The following examples illustrate the use of the K lele kena (all include the ami):
Po o 1 Po o 2 Awe Meaning
Na Kimo e p lehu i n uala a me ka It is Kimo that roasts the sweet

i a. potatoes and fish.
Na m kou i hoe i k ia wa a. It was us that paddled this canoe.
Na n makua e ho om kaukau ana i ka mea ai. The parents are going to prepare the
food.
Na ke keiki e wehiwehi nei i ka hale. It is the kids that are decorating the
house.
Na l ua e hele aku i ka hale k ai. It is the two of them that should go to

the store.
Na u i k kua i ia. I was responsible to help her.
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N u e hula ma ka P alima. You are the one that dances on
Fridays.
N na e lawe aku i ka pala i ke kini It is her responsibility to take the

pala. trash to the trash can.
Na n m ka i e hopu ana in aihue. It is the police (responsibility) that

are going to arrest the thief.
Remember that a ano type verbs are not used in K lele kena. Therefore an example like the
following is grammatically incorrect and in fact doesn t make sense:
Na Keola i anuanu i ka mea ai. It is Keola responsibility to cold the food.
If one wanted to express the thought that the food is cold because of Keola, a simple Pepeke Painu
with an awe kena a ano (causative noun phrase) would suffice as follows:
Ua anuanu ka mea ai i Keola. The food is cold due to Keola (perhaps he was late arriving)
Note that hune a au (intensifiers) follow the first po o as shown in the examples below:
Example Meaning
Na u n i h loi i n p . It is indeed I that washed the dishes.
Na Pualani n ho i i k kua aku i ia. It is indeed Pualani that helped her.
N na n ho i e p lehu a e i n uala. It is her indeed that will roast the sweet potatoes.
Na ha i l i ha i i ha i. It was someone that told someone.
Na n nananana n e n n ana i n n n . It is the spiders that are going to look at the

geese.
Moving the awe forward

Generally in Hawaiian, the most important parts of a thought are brought forward to the beginning
portion of the sentence (e.g. K lele K lana if it is the place or time). The awe in a K lele kena can
be brought forward which adds additional emphasis on the object of the sentence as illustrated by the
following examples:
Na Kimo e kalaiwa i n keiki i ke kula. It is Kimo that drives the kids to school.
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Na Kimo n keiki e kalaiwa i ke kula.
The above 2 sentences have the same meaning but the second emphasizes the fact that it is the kids
that Kimo drives to school.
In the case of moving a papani forward, the object marker needs to be inserted as shown below:
Na u i k kua i ia. It was I that helped her.
Na u o ia i k kua.
Ka H ole o ke K lele kena (Negative of the Actor-Emphatic)

Negating a K lele kena is a simple matter of adding the negation to the front of the sentence as a
third po o as follows:
A ole na Keola e a o aku i n keiki. It is not Keola’s responsibility to teach the children
Po o 1 Po o 2 Po o 3 Awe.
Keep in mind that hune a a u (intensifiers) are added to the first po o in any Hawaiian sentence. The
example below shows how the intensifier moves when the additional po o is added:
Na ka wahine paha e ho opa a i k l ka a. It is perhaps the women’s responsibility to fix that car.
Adding the new po o ( A ole):
A ole paha na ka wahine e ho opa a i k l ka a. It is perhaps not the women’s responsibility to fix
that car.
Ke K lele K lana (Situation-Emphatic)

Generally in Hawaiian, the most important part of a sentence comes first. The term K lele K lana
simply means to emphasize the situation (as opposed to the person or the action). Sometimes this
type of emphasis is referred to as “Topicalization” (Hawkins 1982:100). There is a distinct difference
between simply moving the awe to the beginning of a sentence and turning that sentence into a
K lele K lana. Consider the following:
A simple Pepeke Painu: Ua ho i mai n ke keiki i ka P alima. The child returned on Friday.
Po o Piko Awe
A fronted awe: I ka P alima, ua ho i mai n ke keiki. On Friday, the child returned.

Awe Po o Piko
K lele K lana form: I ka P alima n i ho i mai ai ke keiki. It was on Friday the child returned.
Po o 1 Po o 2 Piko
Simply moving an awe to the front of a sentence places some emphasis on it (the awe) but also is
used as a way to add interest and variation in both spoken and written Hawaiian. K lele K lana form
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is used when one really wants to emphasize the time, place or manner in which an event occurs.
Therefore, K lele K lana form is used to emphasize and ask When, Where, Why, Which, and How.
(Hopkins 1992:203)
In the K lele K lana example above, note that the awe became a new po o and that the hune a au
(n ) moved to follow the first po o.
Note that there are always two m ka painu markers used for K lele K lana. The painu (verbs) are
marked with m ka painu to indicate tense. See the green highlighted row of the table below which
shows the m ka painu forms to be used for the K lele K lana.

Pepeke - Ua painu E painu ana Ke painu E painu Ua painu dir

Painu nei nei/la
Painu
kena
K lana e painu ana
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
ole
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
The location of the piko within the K lele K lana form depends on if the piko is a papani (pronoun)
or not as illustrated below:
Piko is not a papani:

I ka P alima n i ho i mai ai ke keiki. It was on Friday, the child returned.
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Po o 1 Po o 2 Piko
Piko follows the painu/m ka painu.
Piko is a papani:
I ka P alima n m ua i ho i mai ai. It was on Friday, that we returned.
Po o 1 Piko Po o 2
Piko precedes the painu/m ka painu.
Note that the names of people are sometimes placed in this position as well.
Moving ana forward for future tense:
Looking into the above table of m ka painu markers you will see that the Not Completed Action
column for K lele K lana looks a little different. In order to distinguish the case for future action in a
K lele K lana, the normal e painu ana is replaced with ana, e painu ai. Leaving off the ana would
therefore mark the painu as habitual or suggestive as opposed to future, and not moving it forward
would mark the painu as past and on-going action. This is shown in the following examples:
Ma hea ana oe e hele ai i ke kula? Where (future) are you going to school?
Ma hea oe e hele ai i ke kula? Where (habitual or suggestive) do you go to school?
Ma hea oe e hele ana i ke kula? Where (past, on-going) are (or were) you going to school?
As mentioned earlier, K lele K lana is used when emphasizing or asking When, Where, Why, Which,
and How. The following examples illustrate the use of K lele K lana.
Example Meaning
Examples of emphasizing or asking When
I ka manawa hea i h ea mai ai n wa a mai When did the canoes arrive from Moloka i?
Moloka i mai?
I ka P alua ana m ua e ha alele aku ai i Maui It is on Tuesday that we are going to depart
no O ahu. Maui for O ahu.
I ka auinal o Pualani e h nai aku ai i n moa. It is in the afternoon that Pualani feeds the
chickens
hea o Kimo e hele aku ai i ka p ka? When should Kimo go to the park?
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In hea oukou i ho i maila i ka hale waihona When did you guys return(recently) to the
puke? library?
Examples of emphasizing or asking Where
Ma Pukalani ana au e noho iho ai. Pukalani is where I am going to live.
Ma hea i kau iho ai ke k ne i k na mau k ? Where did the man place his keys?
I ka p ka o Pualani e ulana nei i n moena It is in the park that Pualani is weaving the
lauhala. pandanus leaf mats.
Ma hea n e ai ana ai n keiki? Where are the kids eating?
Ma Hilo i ho opau ia aku nei ka hale e n k ne. It was in Hilo that the house was recently
completed by the men.
Examples of emphasizing or asking Why
No ke aha o Keola e kalaiwa aku ai i ke ka a Why does Keola drive the red car?
ula ula?
No ka hana ana l kou e noho iho ai i O ahu. It is for work that they are going to live in
O ahu.
No ke aha o Keola l ua o Kimo e kama ilio ana Why were Keola and Kimo talking in
ma Hanap p ? Hanap p ?
No ka ai ana i ho i mai ai ka lio i ka hale. For eating the dog returned to the house.
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No ke aha oe i pa i akula i k l mo olelo i ka Why did you recently publish that story in the
n pepa? newspaper?
No ka ho omaopopo au i pa i akula i k l mo olelo For remembering that story I recently

i ka n pepa. published that story in the newspaper.
Examples of emphasizing or asking Which
Ma ke ka a hea i hopu iho ai n m ka i i ka mea In which car did the police arrest the robber?
aihue?
Ma ke ka a ula ula i hopu iho ai n m ka i i ka In the red car the police arrested the robber.
mea aihue.
Ma ke alanui hea o Kimo e noho ai? On which street does Kimo live?
Ma ke alanui o Makani o Kimo e noho ai. On the street named Makani Kimo lives.
I ka mea hea e lawe aku ai ke keikik ne i ka Which thing should the boy take to class?
papa?
I k na penikala e lawe aku ai ke keikik ne i ka His pencil he should take to class.

papa.
I ka makahiki ehia oe i h nau ia ai? Which year were you born?
I ka makahiki umik m iwa kanaiwa au i h nau ia In the year 1990 I was born.
ai.
I ka p lule hea o Kimo e k ai mai ai? Which shirt should Kimo buy?
I ka p lule pol o Kimo e k ai mai ai. The blue shirt Kimo should buy.
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Examples of emphasizing or asking How
Pehea ana oe e h pai ai i k l mau manak a How are you going to carry all of those
pau? mangos?
I ka eke ana au e h pai ai i k l mau manak a In the bag I am going to carry all of those
pau. mangos.
Pehea o Kimo i uku aku ai i k ia papa? How did Kimo pay for this class?
Me k na k l o Kimo i uku aku ai i k ia papa. With his money Kimo payed for this class.
Pehea i hana ia aku nei k n p kaukau? How was that table made?
Me k l ko i i hana ia aku nei k n p kaukau. With that adze that table was made.
Pehea i eha ai kou lima? How was your hand hurt?
I k l p haku i eha ai ko u lima. Due to the rock my hand was hurt.
Pehea l kou e ho oulu a e ai i k l kalo ono? How do they grow that delicious taro?
Me ke aloha l kou e ho oulu a e ai i k l kalo With love they grow that delicious taro.
ono.
Ka Pepeke Henua (Locational)

The Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui/Elbert 1979:9, 39) defines Aia, as an idiom for “There”, “There it is”
and “There are” and Eia as an idiom for “Here”, “Here is” or “Here are.” However, it’s important to note
that the Aia and Eia do not always have to be translated into English but that one of these words
MUST be in the Hawaiian sentence, even if the words “there is/are” or “here is/are” are not in the
English sentence to be translated. (Snakenberg 1988:Intro-x)
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The Pepeke Henua Aia, or locational sentence, is used to tell where or when something or someone
is, or even describe what the piko is doing (or what state it is in). For example it’s used to tell that
something or someone “is on Maui”, “is with your uncle”, or “is on Friday.”
These sentences will have at least three parts, beginning with Aia (or Eia), followed by a piko
(who/what) and one or more awe. This pattern is used for locations such as: in, on, at, or with. It is
also used to express what day something is on .
Example Meaning
Aia ko u hale ma k ia alanui. My house is on this street.
Aia ke kumu i Honolulu. The teacher is in Honolulu.
Aia o Leo ma k l hale. Leo is at that house.
Aia ka l au i k ia l . The l au is today (on this day).
Eia n ano o ka lole Hawai i i ka w kahiko. Here are the kinds of Hawaiian clothing in the
old days.
Aia au i ka he e nalu. I am out surfing.
Time reference or tense in a locational sentence
The previous examples are all referring to the present tense, that is, someone or something is at a
location “right now”. Aia/Eia do not take m ka painu (verb markers) to indicated completed, past,
future, etc. That someone or something either “Was there” or “Will be there” is determined from the
context, often a date or time reference as an additional awe. For example, “Aia au i ke kula i nehinei.”
expresses that “I was at the school yesterday.”
Pepeke Henua Aia sentence patterns can also be used with a number or an amount. For these
sentences, the pattern is as follows:
Aia he # mau (item) i/ma/me where.
Example Meaning
Aia he eh mau hale ma k ia alanui. There are four houses on this street.
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The he and/or mau may be omitted in conversation.
Example Meaning
Aia eh hale ma k ia alanui. There are four houses on this street.
Temporary Possession
The Aia construction can also be used to express temporary possession (as opposed to ownership).
These sentences use the pattern:
Aia (possession) i/i (possessor).

Example Meaning
Aia ko u ka a i ko u kaiku ana. My sister has my car. (My car is with my sister.)
Aia ka puke i Kimo Kimo (temporarily) has the book.
Aia for Locational Questions
The Aia construction can be used to ask locational questions as well. The unknown location of the
thing is expressed with either i hea or ma hea. For example, “Where is Keola?” is expressed as “Aia i
hea o Keola?”
There are actually four ways to ask this question because the ami “ma” and “i” are interchangeable
and the awe and piko position can be switched:
Aia o Keoni i hea?
Aia o Keoni ma hea?
Aia i hea o Keoni?
Aia ma hea o Keoni?
The most common ways of asking this question are the last two above. (Kaman /Wilson 2012:30)
Voice intonation must also be used to express these as a question.
Expressing “with” an inanimate object in the Pepeke Henua pattern
If the piko is an inanimate object and you want to say that it is with someone, use i or i for “with”
instead of me. Following the pattern of I is to be used for ka i + Meme a; I is to be used with proper
nouns or pronouns.
In the examples below, the book (ka puke) is an inanimate object.
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Example Meaning
Aia ka puke i Pualani. The book is with Pualani.
Aia ka puke i ke kumu. The book is with the teacher.
Ke Aia A (Until)
The following pattern with Aia means "Only if/when", rather than "There is":
Aia a painu
Example Meaning
Aia a pau ka papa, hiki i oe ke hele e he e nalu. Only if/when the class is finished, you can go
surfing.
Aia a heluhelu o ia i ka puke, hiki i oe ke n nau. Only if/when you read the book, you can ask
questions.
Aia a maopopo i oe, e lelo mai. Only if/when you understand, speak up.
Ka H ole o ka Pepeke Henua (Negative Locational Sentences)
To negate a Pepeke Henua Aia sentence, simply replace Aia with A ole:
A ole (who/what) i/ma/me (when/where).
Example Meaning
Aia ka makua ma Kea au. The parent is in Kea au.

A ole ka makua ma Kea au. The parent is not in Kea au.
Aia ka p ina i ka P aono. The party is on Saturday.

A ole ka p ina i ka P aono. The party is not on Saturday
Variations of the Pepeke Henua pattern
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In Hawaiian, and similar to in English, when engaged in a conversation or when answering a question,
some repetitive or implied words might be dropped. In Hawaiian, in a Pepeke Henua, the awe and/or
the piko may be dropped, if they are obvious from the context.
Example Meaning
N nau: “Aia o Kimo ma ka hale?” Question: Is Kimo in the house?

Pane: “Aia n !” Answer: Certainly he’s there!
Eia oe ke h ike ia aku nei... You are hereby notified...
There are cases where Aia/Eia does not take a preposition; they are considered idioms:
Idiom, Phrase, or Interjection Meaning
“Aia l !” There, I told you so! (Elbert 1970:176)
"Aia aku aia mai" Occasionally, Now and then (Hopkins 1992:209)
“Eia a e o Pua” Here comes Pua. (Hopkins 1992:246)
"Aia n (ia) i oe" That’s up to you. (lit., there indeed it to you).

(Hopkins 1992:214, 258)
The awe in a pepeke henua may be a k hulu pepeke.
Example Meaning
Aia n manu i h nai ia e l ua ma hope o ka The birds who were raised by them are behind
hale. the house.
Aia ka hale na e k ai mai ana. There is the house that he was buying.
Aia ma hea n kuki a kou makuahine i kuke aku Where are the cookies which your mother just
nei? cooked?
Aia n oe ke hele nei i ke kulanui? Are you still going to the university?
Aia ana m ua ma laila ke kono ia. We will be there when we are invited.
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Aia ke kaha i ka pono o k u hana ma ka h ike Your grade depends on how well you work on
hope loa . the final exam.
Ke K lele K mua (From Where)

A sentence beginning with mai (for pronouns or wai) or mai says where the piko (subject) was
previously:
Mai kikino mai piko

Mai papani/wai mai piko
The negation begins with A ole:
A ole mai kikino mai piko

A ole mai papani/wai mai piko
The hunekuhi (directional) mai following the kikino may be dropped.
Example Meaning
Mai hea mai ka moku? Where is the boat from (where did it come
from)?
Mai Ni ihau mai ka moku. The boat is from Ni ihau (it was previously in
Ni ihau but may originally be from somewhere
else).
A ole mai Ni ihau ka moku. The boat did not come from Ni ihau.
Mai wai mai k ia makana? Who is the present from?
Ke K lele Hoahana (With)

A sentence beginning with me says who the piko (subject) is/was with:
Me kikino/papani/wai piko
The negation begins with A ole:
A ole me kikino piko

A ole papani me piko
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Example Meaning
Me Kimo o ia. He is with Kimo.
Me k ia ka hana. The work is with this (the work is like this).
A ole o ia me Kimo. He is not with Kimo.
A ole me a u o Kimo. Kimo is not with me.
Me wai l kou? Who is he with?
Me ke aha ka hana? What is the work with (what is the work like)?
Me k n . With that (like that).
Ka O Ka Painu Dir La N Ia O ABC (Immediate Sequential)

The sequence o ka painu dir la n ia o ABC, also called o ka v-dir-la, expresses an action
happening in the past immediately after (whatever was related prior to this expression). dir is any
hunekuhi (directional). The possessive particle is always o, not a. The subject of the phrase follows
o. The expression is common in mo olelo (stories). Example:
O ka hiamoe ihola n ia o n keiki k ne. Right after that the boys went to sleep.
The subject is generally expressed with a k-possessive rather than o if it is a pronoun:
O ko u wehe a ela n ia i n puka aniani a pau. Right after that I opened all the windows.
This sentence structure is common in literature, while in spoken Hawaiian today, a simple verb
sentence pattern is more likely to be used:
A laila, ua wehe au i n puka aniani a pau. After that I opened all the windows.
(Hawkins 1982:41)
Example Meaning
O ko l ua ha alele akula n ia i Maui no Kaua i. Right after that they left Maui for Kauai.
148
O ka loa a maila n ia o ka u makana. Then I got my present.
O ka aka aka maila n ia o Keola i m kou. And then Keola laughed at us.
O ke k akula n ia o k na kaikun ne i ka pua a. Immediately thereafter, her brother shot the pig.
O ke pane akula n ia o Ka ahumanu i ka mo o. Ka ahumanu quickly replied to the mo o.
O ka lele akula n ia o ka lio mo o mai loko a e Then the brindled dog jumped out of the
o ka umeke. calabash.
O ko m kou u maila n ia. And then we cried.
Ka Pepeke Nono a (Possessive)

Hawaiian does not have a verb meaning "to have". Possession is expressed through a version of
pepeke aike he with a k-possessive:
He nono ana ko/k einono a
where nono ana is the thing that is possessed and einono a is the possessor, e.g.
He lio k Kimo. Kimo has a dog.
To express the plural of the thing that is possessed, mau is added after He:
He mau lio k Kimo. Kimo has (some) dogs.
To express a number, none, many/much or "how many" (as a question), the number, none,
many/much or "how many" starts the sentence instead of just He. Instead of ko/k , a k-less
possessive o/a connects the possessed with the possessor:
Huahelu nono ana o/a einono a
Ehia lio a Kimo? How many dogs does Kimo have?

Eh (mau) lio a Kimo. Kimo has four dogs.
A ohe lio a Kimo. Kimo has no dogs.
Nui n lio a Kimo. Kimo has many dogs.
Note that nui can be used with either a k-less or a k-possessive:

Nui k Kimo mau lio. Kimo has many dogs.
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Nui ka u mau lio. I have many dogs.
Nui n lio a u. I have many dogs.
When the possessor is a papani (pronoun), the einono a precedes the nono ana:
huahelu o/a einonono a/papani nono ana
Ho okahi a m kou i a. We have one fish.

A ohe a m ua k l . We have no money.
Ehia o olua (mau) kuka? How many coats do you have?
A ohe can also be used with a verb to mean "never, never ever":
A ohe a u hele. I have never gone.

A ohe o u hele hou ana aku. I’m never going again.
Example Meaning
He poi k k kou. We have poi.
He lumi ko u. I have a room.
He puke k u. You have a book.
He maui hale ko l kou. They have (some) houses.
He mau puke k u. You have (some) books.
He iwak lua (mau) leka a n haum na. The students have twenty letters.
Ho okahi halek ai o Wainiha. Wainiha has one store (there’s one store in
Wainiha).
Ehia i a a ia kanaka? How many fish does that man have?
A ohe noho o Pualani. Pualani doesn’t have a chair (Pualani has no

chairs).
He umi a k kou (mau) p . We have ten plates.
He kanakolu a u (mau) haum na. I have thirty students.
A ohe ou p paple. You don't have a hat (you have no hat).
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Eiwa na (mau) k wele. He has nine towels.
(Kaman /Wilson 2012 I:214-218)
Ka Hiki (It is possible)
Hiki is introduced in the discussion of loa a-type verbs.
Hiki, meaning “to be possible”, is as close as we can get to the English “can” or “able to”. For example
in English, “you can go” expresses a similar concept to “(It) is possible for you to go.”
The subject of hiki is always ia (it): hiki ia = “it is possible,” but is generally omitted in the Hawaiian.
Whoever can do the action (the “do-er”) follows hiki as a direct object.
Instead of the usual infinitive e, verbs in hiki sentences are preceded by ke. (Hopkins 1992:164) This
ke is not the word for “the” and never changes to ka; ke is always used in these hiki sentences.
The hiki sentence pattern is affected by whether a hehele (intransitive verb) or a ano (stative verb)
follows ke.
Hiki with hehele (intransitive verbs)

When hiki is used in hehele verb sentences, the “do-er” who “can do/is able to do” the action is in the
awe position following hiki, which is the po o, as shown in the sentence construction:
Hiki i oe ke hele me a u? Can you go with me?

Hiki i/i “do-er” ke painu (i/i Direct Object)
Po o Awe Po o ( Awe)
Example Meaning
Hiki i oe ke hele. You can go.
Hiki ia u ke k kua i oe. I am able to help you.
Hiki i n piopio ke hana. The young people can work.
Hiki i Keola ke ai i ka i a. Keola can eat the fish.
A hiki i Keola ke noho ma ka hale. And Keola can stay home. (Cleeland 1994:265)
151
Hiki with a ano (stative verbs)
When the painu is an a ano (stative verb), the word order is:
Ua hiki ke pilikia oe i ia. You could have had problems with him.
Hiki ke painu “do-er” (i/i Direct Object)
Po o Po o Piko ( Awe)
The following examples use a ano (stative verbs), such as pilikia and loa a or the passive form of a
hamani (transitive verb) with ia.
Example Meaning
E hiki ana ke loa a ke k l i k kou. We are going to be able to find the money.
Hiki ke ai ia k ia i a e oukou. The fish can be eaten by you.
Hiki Negated and With Tense markers

The kino h ole (negative form) of a hiki sentence starts with a ole. Note that there is no piko after
a ole. (Kaman /Wilson 2012 II:100)
The m ka painu (verb markers) change as for negated pepeke painu (simple verb sentences).
(Hopkins 1992:165)
Example Meaning
A ole i hiki i ia ke k kua i k kou. He is not/was not able to help us.
A ole i hiki i ke keiki ke ike. The child couldn’t see.
A ole e hiki ana ke loa a ia mea ai ma laila. It is going to be impossible to get that sort of
food there.
A ole hiki i oe ke ho i aku. You can’t return.
Ua hiki i l kou ke ike i ia. They could see him.
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Ka I Loko N O (Despite)
Here loko is not used as a locative but introduces a sentence with “Despite”, “In spite of”.
Example Meaning
I loko n o kona ho opili ana i ka u lelo Despite his repeating my story
I loko n o ko Kimo molo In spite of Kimo’s laziness
I loko n o ka waiwai, hana n In spite of wealth, working anyway
E , i loko n o ia noho hewa ia, mau n ke Yes, despite that occupation, the independence
k oko a. continues.
Ka n Iho N (Immediately after)

The locative time word n with iho n introduces a sentence (usually after a comma) to mean
"immediately after".
Example Meaning
n iho n , ua ho i n keiki i k l kou papa. Immediately the kids returned to their class.
n iho n , komo mai o Liko ma loko o ka lumi Immediately, Liko entered into the meeting room.
h l wai.
N Mea Ho oh likelike (Comparative and Superlative Sentences)

Ka Pepeke Oi Aku
When comparing a quality belonging to two subjects such as “my truck is bigger than your car”, the
Pepeke Oi aku is used (Kaman /Wilson 2012, puke 1:200). The pattern of the Oi aku is as follows:
Po o Piko me ke k hulu Awe me ke k hulu
Oi aku ke/ka quality o A ma mua o ke/ka B
Example: Oi aku ka ono o k l i a ma mua o k ia moa. (That fish is more delicious than this
chicken)
The K possessive form can also be used as shown in the following:
Oi aku ko Kimo nui ma mua o u. (Kimo is bigger than me.)
153
Note that if the second subject (B) is a papani then the k-less possessive form is used at the end of
the sentence as illustrated in the above example.
Some of the m ka painu used for Pepeke Painu sentences can be used with Oi aku sentences as
well (Kaman /Wilson 2012, puke 1:200). Consider the following:
Ua oi aku ka nui o k l kalaka ma mua o k l ka a. (That truck was bigger than that car.)
E oi aku ana ko Kimo ikaika ma mua ona. (Kimo is going to be stronger than him.)
E oi aku ka palupalu o k na kapa ma mua ka u kapa. (Her kapa will be softer than my kapa)
Because oi is an a ano the m ka painu ke painu nei is not typically used, thus the following would be
incorrect:
Ke oi aku nei ka anuanu o k ia pia ma mua o k n pia. (This beer is colder than that beer.)
The “aku” in the Oi aku structure is simply a hunekuhi. Therefore, it can be replaced by other
hunekuhi, although a e is the one typically used in place of aku since they both give the sense of
outward or upward. This makes sense in that the oi aku pattern is used to say one item is somehow
superior to another. Also, since aku and a e are hunekuhi, other words can come between them and
oi (Kaman /Wilson 2012, puke 1:200). Consider the following examples:
E oi loa aku ana ka wela o ka l ap p ma mua o k ia l . (Tomorrow is going to be way hotter than
today).
Ua oi a e ke akamai o Pualani ma mua o Kimo. (Pualani was smarter than Kimo.)
Oi hou a e ka ono o k ia poi ma mua o k n poi. (This poi is once again more delicious than that
poi.)
When comparing the goodness of something compared to another, the Hawaiian word used is
maika i. Sometimes the ka maika i o is dropped as being understood as shown below:
Oi aku (ka maika i o) k l wa a ma mua o k ia wa a. (That canoe is better than this canoe.)
Negation: Negating a pepeke oi aku is done in the same manner as a pepeke painu. As shown
below:
Affirmative: Ua oi aku ka m luhiluhi o Keola ma mua o Pualani. (Keola was more tired than Pualani)
Negated: A ole i oi aku ka m luhiluhi o Keola ma mua o Pualani. (Keola was not more tired than
Pualani)
The following are additional examples illustrating the use of the Oi aku:
Example Meaning
154
Oi aku ke anuanu o ka hau ma mua o ka wai. The ice is colder than the water.
Ua oi aku ka poupou o Kimo ma mua o u i ka w Kimo was shorter than me when we were kids.
kamali i
Oi a e ka wela o ka laulau ma mua o ka poi. The laulau is hotter than the poi.
Oi aku kou ka a ma mua o ko u ka a. Your car is better than my car.
A ole e oi hou a e ana kou ikaika ma mua o u. Once again you are not going to be stronger
than me.
Ka Pepeke E Aho
This pattern is used when one wants to say that something is simply better without making a
comparison to something else. In English it could be translated as “it is better..”, or in Pidgeon “mo
bettah…”. The pattern can be used in several different forms as follows:
E aho ia
E aho e painu + piko
E aho + ki a
The following example illustrates the use of this pattern:
E aho ke k ai ana mai i ka makana ma k ia hale k ai. (Better buying the gift at this store.)
Po o Piko Awe
Note that because the E aho portion of the sentence is a po o, hune au au may be used following aho.
The following examples illustrate the use of the E aho pattern:
Example Meaning
E aho ia, e ho om kaukau koke l kou. Better they should get ready quickly.
E aho paha o McDonald s. Perhaps McDonald’s is better.
155
E aho n e ha alele k kou ma ka P akahi. Better indeed we should leave on Monday.
E aho n ka noho ana i ka hale. Better living in the house.
E aho n ka aikalima Ice cream is better.
Clauses
Ke K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou Ole (Relative clause as subject of verb)

K hulu (descriptors) are used very frequently in both written and spoken Hawaiian. K hulu were
covered earlier in this book, and recall that the term k hulu is derived from the word hulu (feather).
Thought of in this manner it means to put a feather on the word it follows, or to adorn the previous
word. This section will examine a specific type of k hulu, namely, a k hulu that describes an action
that the previous word performs. The modified word is sometimes referred to as the ka i kikino (head
noun). These k hulu are not complete sentences but rather painu (verbs) that adorn the word they
are modifying. There is no new subject introduced by using this type of k hulu, thus the name
“K hulu Pepeke Piko hou ole”, meaning without a new piko (subject). You may also see these
referred to as “K hulu Pepeke Type A”. (Hawkins 1982:108) or "P ku i Ha ina-Kumu Hou Ole" (UH
West O ahu). Consider the following:
A simple Aike O:
O Kimo ke k ne kioea. Kimo is the slender man.
Po o Piko k hulu
Now if we use a k hulu that describes an action (i.e. a painu):
O Kimo ke k ne i kalaiwa i ka hale. Kimo is the man that drove to the house.
Po o 1 Piko K hulu Pepeke Awe
Note the m ka painu marker (i) before the painu (kalaiwa) in the above example. The painu (verbs)
are marked with m ka painu to indicate tense. See the green highlighted row of the table below
which shows the m ka painu patterns to be used for the K hulu Pepeke Piko hou ole.


Painu nei/la
156
A ole - i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir
Painu nei/la
K lele e painu i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir
kena nei/la
K lele e painu ai i painu ai ana, e painu ai e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir
K lana e painu ana nei/la
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir
ole nei/la
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir
nei/la
*
The habitual form is sometimes marked with e and sometimes not.
When translated into English, the word who or that will be immediately followed by the action phrase
as shown in the following examples illustrating the use of the K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou ole.
Po o Piko K hulu Awe Meaning

Pepeke
O Kimo ka mea i kuke i ka mea ai. Kimo is the one who cooked the
food
Ok l ka ilio e aoa ana i ka p hale. That is the dog that was barking in
the yard.
Ma hea ka wahine e hula i k ia ahiahi? Where is the women that should

dance this evening?
He aha ka mea i h ea mai mai L haina What is the thing that recently
nei mai? arrived from L haina?
157
O wai ke k ne e ulana nei i ka lau hala? Who is the man that is weaving the
pandanus leaf?
O l ua n mea e hele* i ke kula nui. They are ones that (habitually) go

to the university.
O l ua n mea hele* i ka hale k ai. They are the ones that (habitually)
go to the store.
O ia ka wahine e hana nei i laila She is the woman who works

there.
O Kimo ke kanaka i aihue i ko u eke kua Kimo is the person that stole my
backpack.
*Note that the habitual form is sometimes marked with the m ka painu e but sometimes not.
Contractions of ka mea i and ka mea e

There are 2 contractions that are often used along with the K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou Ole.
The words for “the one” and the m ka painu “i” are often combined as follows:
O ia ka mea i kalaiwa i ke ka a. O ia kai kalaiwa i ke ka a. (She is the one that drove the car.)
The words for “the one/thing” and the m ka painu “e” are often combined as follows:
O Kimo ka mea e m lama i ke kalo. O Kimo ke m lama i ke kalo. (Kimo is the one who cares for the
kalo).
Passive form
The passive form of a painu is often used with K hulu Pepeka Piko Hou Ole. Recall that to make a
painu passive the word ia follows it.
O n uala ke p lehu ia iho e Pualani ma ka P aono.

The sweet potatoes are the thing that are roasted by Pualani on Saturdays.
Note that the contraction ke of ka mea e has been used in this example.
The following examples illustrate the use of the passive form:
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Po o Piko K hulu Awe Meaning
Pepeke
O ka mea ai ka mea i kuke ia aku e Keola i nehinei The food is the thing that was
cooked by Keola yesterday.
O ka poi ka mea e ai ia iho no ka aina ahiahi. The poi is the thing that is eaten
for dinner.
Ma hea ka pua a i k lua ia aku i ka imu e Keola? Where is the pig that was baked
in the imu by Keola?
He aha ka mea e ho olele ia e Kimo? What is the thing that is being

aku ana flown by Kimo?
Cleeland points out that commonly, when the piko (subject) is a living thing, the k hulu can be an
active or passive painu (verb). He further says that commonly, when the piko (subject) is a thing, the
painu (verb) will likely be passive (i.e. followed by ia) (Cleeland 1994:344).
Ke K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou (Relative clause as object of its clause)

This section will examine another type of k hulu, namely, a k hulu that adds another piko (subject)
and action to the modified ka i kikino (head noun). Once again, these k hulu are not complete
sentences but rather are adorning the word they are modifying (referred to as the head-noun in
English grammar). There is a new subject introduced by using this type of k hulu, thus the name
“K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou”, meaning with a new piko (subject). You may also see these referred to as
“K hulu Pepeke Type B”. (Hawkins 1982:110) or "P ku i Ha ina-Kumu Hou" (UH West O ahu).
Consider the following:
A simple Aike O:
O k l ke ka a ula ula. That is the red car.

Po o Piko k hulu
Now we use a k hulu that adds a new piko and describes the action (i.e. a painu (verb)) that the
new piko is performing:
O k l ke ka a a Keola e kalaiwa ai i ka hale k ai. That is the car that Keola drives to the store.
Po o Piko (ka i kikino) K hulu Pepeke Awe
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As always, the k hulu in the above example is simply adorning the word it follows. It is telling us
something additional about the car. Namely, it is the car that Kimo drives to the store. Kimo in this
case is the new piko.
Note that there are always two m ka painu markers used for painu in K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou. The
painu (verbs) are marked with m ka painu to indicate tense. See the green highlighted row of the
table below which shows the m ka painu forms to be used for the K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou.


Painu nei/la
Painu
kena
K lana e painu ana
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou -, e* i painu e painu ana e painu nei e painu i painu dir nei/la
ole
Kahulu
Pepeke
Piko hou e painu ai i painu ai e painu ana e painu nei e painu ai i painu dir nei/la
A or O class “possessive”
Looking again at the example used above, you will see that the new piko (Keola) is of the k-less
possessive form as highlighted in red below:
O k l ke ka a a Keola e kalaiwa ai i ka hale k ai. That is the car that Keola drives to the store.
160
Although the new piko is marked as possessive for the K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou, it is not a true
possessive. In other words, Keola does not possess the car in this example, rather it is the car that
Keola drives and therefore simply a possessive attribute of the ka i kikino.
The marking of the new piko as a possessive attribute of the ka i kikino raises the question of
whether A or O class possessive form should be used. The general convention is based on the type
of painu that is being used and the ka i kikino that is being modified. The convention is as follows:
1. If the painu (verb) is a hamani or hehele, use A Class unless, the ka i kikino is a time, place, or
reason, then use O Class.
2. If the painu (verb) is a hopena ( a ano or passive) use O Class.
See the examples at the end of this section to see these conventions in use.
Variations of Form
There are three variations of form that can be used with a K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou. In addition to
immediately following the ka i kikino, the new piko can be moved in front of the ka i kikino and also
behind the painu.
Although there are no hard and fast rules, forms 1 and 2 are the most commonly used for hamani and
hehele types of painu. Form 3 is used mostly for hopena (i.e. a ano and passive form painu). That
said, you will see each of these forms used in the old Hawaiian newspapers and books which, in
some cases, don t necessarily follow the common “rules”. The following illustrates the three forms:
Form 1: New piko following the ka i kikino:
O k l ke ka a a Keola e kalaiwa ai i ka hale k ai. That is the car that Keola drives to the
store.
Po o Piko K hulu Pepeke Awe
Form 2: New piko before the ka i kikino:
O k l k Keoloa ka a e kalaiwa ai i ka hale k ai. That is the car that Keola drives to the store.
Po o K hulu Pepeke Piko Awe
Note that when the piko is moved before the ka i kikino the “possessive” is changed from k-less to k
form.
When translating to English, remember that these possessive attributes are the piko hou (subject) of
the k hulu and not possessors of the ka i kikino:
K na kaikamahine i k kua ai = the girl he helped
NOT: “his daughter who helped”
Form 3: New piko following the painu:
161
O ka ua ka mea i pulu ai ka wahine i nehinei. It is the rain that made the woman wet yesterday.
Po o Piko K hulu Pepeke Awe
Note that Form 3 is typically used when the painu is a hopena ( a ano or passive), as in the example
above. This form is sometimes referred to as Kahulu Pepeke Type C.
Cleeland reports that this form is commonly used when the ka i kikino refers to a time, place, or
reason, and the painu is a hopena ( a ano or passive) (Cleeland 1994:371). Consider the following
examples:
Time: O ia ka manawa i make ai k na kupuna k ne. It is the time his grandfather died.
Place: O ke kahakai kahi i pulu ai k na lole. The beach is the place where his clothes were wet.
Reason: O ia ke kumu i ho okano ai o Ululani. It is the reason that Ululani was haughty/proud.
Although this form is typically used when the painu is a hopena, it is seen used in other cases as is
shown in some of the following examples which illustrate the use of the K hulu Pepeke Piko Hou:
Note the color coding: Po o Piko K hulu Pepeke Awe
Example Form Why O or Meaning

A class?
He aha ka mea a Pualani e ohi nei i ka p 1 Painu ( ohi) What is the thing that
hale? is a hamani Pualani is gathering in the
yard?
He aha k Pualani mea e ohi nei i ka p 2 Painu ( ohi) What is the thing that
yard?
He aha ka mea e ohi nei o Pualani i ka p 3 Painu ( ohi) What is the thing that
yard?
Ua holoi l kou i ke ka a a Kimo i k ai mai ai i 1 Painu They washed the car that
ka pule aku nei. (k ai) is a Kimo bought last week.
hamani
Ua holoi l kou i k Kimo ka a i k ai mai ai i 2 Painu They washed the car that
hamani
162
Ua holoi l kou i ke ka a i k ai mai ai o Kimo i 3 Painu They washed the car that
hamani
Eia n ka poi na i pa i iho ai. 1 Painu (pa i) Here is the poi that she
is a hamani pounded.
O k l n ka l o Keola i h nau ia iho ai. 1 Painu That is the day that Keola
(h nau ia) was born.
is a
hopena,
Ka i kikino
is a time
O ka P ah a e n ko Kimo l e holo aku 2 Ka i kikino Next Thursday is the day

ana. is a time. that Kimo is going to go.
He aha k na mea e noi aku ai? 2 Painu (noi) What is the thing that she
is a hamani should ask?
O ka iwi ka mea a ka lio e mama iho nei ma 1 Painu The bone is the thing the
ka l nai. (mama) is dog is chewing on the
a hamani porch.
O k ia ka hola e hemo ai ka puka o ka hale 3 Painu This is the hour that the
k ai. (hemo) is door of the store opens.
an a ano
Maopopo n ho i i Pualani ke kumu o Keola i 1 Ka i kikino Pualani indeed

hele aku ai i ke kauka. is a understands the reason
reason. that Keola went to the
doctor.
Ke heluhelu iho nei o Pualani i k Kimo puke 2 Painu Pualani is reading the book
i h awi aku ai i ia. (h awi) is that Kimo gave to her.
a hamani
Ua loa a i ia kahi o ka p poki e noho ai. 1 Ka i kikino She found the place where
is a place. the cat lives.
163
He aha ke kumu e hele ole aku ai olua i ka 3 Painu What is the reason you two
p ka? (hele) is a don’t go to the park?
hehele
O ia ka manawa e ike ia ai ke ki i oni oni. 3 Painu ( ike

ia) is a
hopena,
Ka i kikino
is a time
O k l kahi e k kulu ia ai ka halepe a. 3 Painu

(k kulu ia)
is a
hopena,
Ka i kikino
is a place
He aha ke kumu e ho ouna ia mai ai ka leka? 3 Painu

(ho ouna
ia) is a
hopena,
Ka i kikino
is a reason
Ke K hulu Pepeke K lele kena (Emphatic relative clause)

The entire K lele kena sentence structure can be used as a k hulu (descriptor) in the way single
word descriptors are used. This is called a K hulu Papeke K lele kena.
A simple Aike O without a K lele kena:
O ia ka mea mua. He is the first one.
A simple Aike O with a K lele kena:
O ia ka mea n na e ha i lelo ana. He is the one (responsible) that was speaking.
Note that n na is really the only N possessive that is used in this manner and therefore the following
example would not typically be used in a K lele kena.
A simple Aike O without a K lele kena:

O k l ke ka a ula ula. That is the red car
O k l ke ka a ula ula na Kimo e kalaiwa aku. That is the red car that Kimo is responsible for
Driving.
164
The following would be used to express the thought that Kimo is the one responsible for driving the
red car, using a K hulu Pepeke K lele kena instead:
O Kimo ka mea n na e kalaiwa aku i ke ka a ula ula. Kimo is the one driving the red car.
In conversation, "ka mea" is often dropped before n na:
O wai n na oe e k kua? Who did you help?
Ke K hulu Ki a Pepeke (Nominalized Relative Clause)

The nominalizer ana is discussed under ki a painu above. The k hulu ki a pepeke is a pattern to
form a relative clause where the nominalized verb phrase "possesses" in a grammatical sense the
noun phrase that it describes:
piko o ka i ki a painu
I ka l o ko Kamehameha h nau ia ana... On the day Kamehameha was born...

(On the day of Kamehameha's being born...)
A very similar meaning can also be expressed with a k hulu pepeke piko hou:
I ka l i h nau ia ai o Kamehameha... On the day Kamehameha was born...
Example Meaning
He aha k na o ka n nau ana aku i oe? What did he ask you?
O Keola paha ka mea o kona k kua ana. Maybe it was Keola who helped him.
I ka makahiki o kona ho omaka ana i ke kula… In the year that she started school…
He aha ko l kou ai ana? What are they eating?
O k la ke kumu o kona n nau ana i oe. That is why she asked you.
Ka Awe kena A ano (Causative with stative verb)

A ano (stative) verbs do not take e to indicate the cause or agent responsible for the state of the piko
(subject), but i/i . The noun phrase starting with i/i is the awe kena a ano or cause of the state.
A ano piko awe kena a ano (cause)
165
Ua eha ko u mau w wae i k ia k ma a. These shoes hurt my feet. (My feet hurt from these
shoes)
Example Meaning
Ua pau ka mea ai i ka ai. All the food was eaten (The food is all gone
due to being eaten)
E kaumaha ana oe i kona ha alele? Are you going to be sad because he will leave?
E ula ula ana ka p lule “t” o Kimo i ke koko. Kimo’s t-shirt is getting red from the blood.
Ua pulu ka u p pale i ka ua. My hat is/got wet from the rain.
Ke K hulu Pepeke Nono a (Possessive)

A k hulu pepeke nono a (possessive phrase) follows a noun (phrase) to indicate a property or
possession of the piko (subject).
piko nona/n na ka i kikino
ke kanaka nona ke po o nui the man with a big head (who has a big head)
Nona is used with possessed objects/persons/properties of o-class, n na with those of a-class.
Example Meaning
O wai ke keiki n na ka puke nui? Who is the boy with the big book?
Aia ka u peni i ka wahine nona ka lole ele ele. My pen is with the woman dressed in black.
Ma i loa k l keiki ma , ka mea n na ka lio. That boy over there is very sick, the one with
the dog.
O Kimo paha ka mea nona ka makaaniani? Is Kimo maybe the owner of the glasses?
E olu olu oe e kelepona i Kapua, o ia ka mea Please call Kapua, she is the one who has the
n na ke keiki m lie. calm/quiet child.
O oe anei ka mea nona k ia palaka aloha? Are you the one that this aloha shirt belongs to?
166
Other pepeke nono a (possessive) forms may also be used as a k hulu (modifier):
piko (he) helu ka i kikino
ka wahine he elua na keiki the woman who has two children
Ke K hulu Pepeke Aike He (Known As)

The following pattern can be translated as "the one known as":
ia mea he kikino
O wai ia mea he wahine akamai? Who is the one known as a smart women?
Ka Ma Ke Ano He (As a, Like a)

The following pattern indicates that an action, object or person performs as/like another noun:
ma ke ano he kikino
Example Meaning
Ma ke ano he kumu a oa o ma ke kulanui Like a teacher at the university
Ma ke ano he ho olimalima ina In the capacity of (As) a tenant
Ua komo maila i loko o ko l ua mau pu uwai n Both their hearts wished to live as man and
makemake like e noho ke k ne a wahine, ma ke wife, as appropriate to their history.
ano e ho opololei i ko l ua mo olelo.
Makemake m kou e ike n haum na i ka honua We want the students to see the world through
ma o k ia hale ma ke ano he paka. this building as a prism.
Ke pa i hou ia nei o M maka Kaiao ma ke ano M maka Kaiao is being reprinted as a

he hoa like o ka puke wehewehe lelo. companion to the dictionary.
167
Miscellaneous31
Expressing Similarity
There are a variety of ways to compare two things by stating that something or some quality is “like”
or, in some way “similar to” something else. The comparison could be straight-forward (“The child
climbs like a monkey”) or could be a more subtle reference to a characteristic of a person or thing as
similar to something else (“The man became angry” i.e “The man’s demeanor became like one who
was angry”.)
Term Meaning
like, e like me, ua like me alike, similar, same; most commonly used with e
or ua
A ole e like… ..is not like…

A ole i like... ..was not like..
me he kikino l like, similar

(sometimes written as one word, “mehe”)
k In a state of, resembling (often followed by i or

)
kohu (similarity with respect to visual appearance)

resemblance, likeness, matching, alike, similar
la a together with, such as, like this
p ia, p la, penei, pehea32 like this, like that, in this way, how (like what)
hele In a state of, similar, imitating
a ano equal to (the mathematical term expressing “=”)
Example Meaning
hana like to do together (to do like each other)
mea like similar thing
E like me ka loihi mai ka hikina a i ke komohana As far as the East is from the West (“Like the
distance from the East to the West”)
(Alexander 1864:48)
31
This section presents a few areas of semantic usage not typically part of a reference grammar, but of
assistance to a student of Hawaiian
32
See demonstratives for usage of p nei, p l , etc
168
Ua like ko u ka a hou me k l ka a ma . My new car is like that car over there.
Ua ai oe me he hipa l . You eat like a sheep.
k i ka pilikia to be in trouble (to be in a state that’s like

trouble)
K no i makuahine Having the character or appearance of the

mother (like the mother)
K kahiko As of long ago (like unto long ago)
Ke kohu haole n ke namu mai. He talks just like a white person.
He kohu Pukiki oe ke n n aku. He looks just like a Portuguese.
E la a me k ia Like this (Alike in characteristic with this)
Ua hele oia huh . He became angry (His state became similar to a

state of anger).
Ka Oi Loa (Superlatives)
Hawaiian has several ways to express the greatness of something or someone. The following is a list
of common superlatives:
Term Meaning
launa ole unmatched
ana ole immeasurable
lua ole second to none
palena ole boundless
Example Meaning
Launa ole ke akamai o Pualani. Pualani’s intelligence is unmatched.
Noho n uhane o n k puna i ka lani ana ole. The spirits of the ancestors reside in the
immeasurable heaven.
Wikiwiki k la elele me ka lua ole. That messenger is fast, second to none.
169
Palena ole ka nani o Mauna a W kea. The beauty of Mauna a W kea is boundless.
Additional ways to express the superlative nature of someone/thing:
Term Meaning
Nani maoli n Truly beautiful
He a ano ho i kau “Wow” of some quality
A ole o/i/a kana mai ka/ke a ano So much, extremely, beyond, without compare
of something/one
Example Meaning
Nani maoli n n pali o Kaua i! The cliffs of Kaua i are truly beautiful!
He akamai ho i kau! Wow how smart!
A ole o kana mai ka hau oli o Kimo i ka manawa Kimo was overjoyed at the time his wife returned
na wahine i ho i mai ai mai k na huaka i!! from her trip!!
Family Relationship Terms
Male Female
Parent Makua
Parent Makuak ne Makuahine
Grandparent Kupuna, T t
Grandparent Kupunak ne, T t k ne Kupunahine, T t hine
Great-grandparent Kupunak ne kuakahi Kupunahine kuakahi
Great-great-grandparent Kupunak ne kualua Kupunahine kualua
Uncle/Aunt Anakala Anak
Younger cousin of parent Makua k ne pio Makuahine pio
170
Older cousin of parent Makua k ne makua Makuahine makua
Child Keikik ne Kaikahine
Grandchild Mo opuna k ne Mo opuna wahine
Great-grandchild Mo opuna k ne kuakahi Mo opuna wahine kuakahi
Great-great-grandchild Mo opuna k ne kualua Mo opuna wahine kualua
Older sibling of same sex Kaikua ana
Younger sibling of same sex Kaikaina
Brother of a woman Kaikun ne
Sister of a man Kaikuahine
Sister-in-law of woman, Kaiko eke

Brother-in-law of man
Cousin Hoah nau
First-born Ka hiapo
Youngest Ka muli loa, Poki i, Panina
Interjections
The following is a subset33 of the list of interjections in (Elbert/Pukui 1979:175-178) plus a few from
Hawaiian Conversation 221.
Interjection Meaning
A ole nao, A ohe nao Intensifying idiom usually followed by words

expressing damage, havoc, distress, pain. A ohe
nao ka pilikia! How very much trouble!
Ahahana Shame on you! You're going to get it!
Ai ! Oh, no!
33
Excluding "Mele Kalikimaka", "Aloha ahiahi" and similar greetings
171
i! Oh, wow!
Aia ho i! See! Behold!
Aia k ! So there!
Aia l ! There, I told you so!
Aia n i ka n na ana. We'll see.
Aikola! Serves you right!
Ai . Heigh-ho!
la a l . Serves you right.
Alia! Wait a minute!
oia. That's right.
A ole loa! No way!
Aloha ino What a pity (serious or sarcastic)
Au ! Auw ! Auw ! Oh! Oh boy! Ouch!
Au noho i ! What a shame! How terrible!
Aui Ouch
! Alas!
. Yes
, , , Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ea. Say! Listen!
E ! Isn't that so!
172
e e song refrain
Ehehehe Ha! Ha! Ha!
ehehene song refrain
Ei a! Here!
Ei a mai ! Take that!
Eleu ! Hurry up!
Einei! I say!34
E . Yes. (in answer to a call)
e ue chant ending
haik amuamu a call to lift a canoe or rally to work
a uha u song refrain
Hawahawa a children's taunt
He aha sanan !, W senan ! What use is it
Hehe! Yip!
Hele p l ! Get out!
Hem ! Be off! Scat!
Hiki n . Okay, certainly.
Hipahipa! Hip, hip, hurrah!
H lina! Haul in!
34
(Judd 1939:25)
173
H !, H ! Huh!
H i, i! Halloo! (as when knocking at a door)
Hul ! Hurrah!
rare interjection of scorn. I ka ! “What does [he,

she] know about it?”
ike interjection of scorn in the phrase I ka ike! “What

does [he, she] know!”
Inane! Show me! Let me see!
K ! K ! Ch ! S ! Oh dear! Ridiculous!
K h h !K h h !K h h ! Amazing!
K hh! Horrors!
Kai! My! Goodness!
Ka , Ka , Keu exclamations of annoyance or displeasure: Ka !

Ch ! Ino maoli k na hana! “Oh! Oh! His work is
downright wicked!”
K ina! Strike! (said by a kahuna invoking eternal

destruction)
K mau! Drink! (a toast)
Kamipulu! Damn fool!
Kanapapiki! Son of a bitch!
Kao! Oh!
Kapu ! Taboo! (cry announcing a taboo)
K l ! Sail ho!
Kihe a mauli ola. Bless you! Gesundheit! (formal)
174
K! Gee!
K k k , Kolo kolo kolo call to pigs and chickens
Kokami! God damn!
Kuailo! I can't guess!
Kulikuli!, Kulikuli i oe! Keep still! Shut up!
Kupaianaha! Kupanaha! Astonishing! Amazing!
K p k p ! Boom! Boom!
l common song refrain
la ehana song refrain
lae la lae song refrain
Lanah ! Land ho!
Laweke ! cry of the stilt bird
Leik ! Let go! (as of an anchor)
Makani call of a sentinel, as “All's well!”
Minamina How touching, too bad (precious or sad)
N n ! See!
Nani . . . How much . . . How . . . (followed by a noun phrase)
Nauane! Move along! (said by priests as they carried images)
Niu k lolo! Oily k lolo pudding! (Don't talk so much!)
Oae! Yep!
175
Oia ho ih ! Oi ho ih ! That's right! That's so! Then do it!
Oia k ! You don't say!
Oia n ho i! That's for sure!
Oia paha! Maybe so!
O ia wale n That's all for now
Okole maluna! Bottoms up! (vulgar)
Ola! Bless you! Gesundheit!
Oliana! Let me see! Show me!
Ololaiki. All right!
Pehea kou piko? How's your navel? (a facetious greeting avoided by

some because piko also means 'genital')
Pehea l ? Well who knows? Well, I don't know.
P l paha! Maybe so!
Sila (ho opunipuni) k ho i oe! Boy, are you full of it!
! Yes!
uh , uh uhene song refrain
h ! Huh!
Uih ! Woopie doo! (said when having fun)
Uk a call to pigs
Uoki!, Ua oki! Stop it!
Wela ka hao! The iron's hot! (Now's the time for fun, hurray!)
(Considered old-fashioned in 1976)
176
W ! Whoa!
Idioms
This section covers "one-off" usage patterns - used only with one verb - that do not fit into any of the
regular patterns; from H k lani Cleeland via Hawaiian Conversation 221, as well as from HAW 201-
402.
Dropping Grammatical Elements
I Kikino Na (Give To Someone, Someone Would Like)

In conversation, "makemake papani i kikino" (I/we/you/he/they want something, I/we/you/he/they
would like something) and "e ha awi i papani i kikino" (give me/us/you/him/them something) are
commonly replaced with the pattern:
I kikino n-possessive
For example:
I penikala na u? Can I have a pencil?
I kanak n u? Would you like candy?
Various Idioms
Idiom Meaning
A ohe launa It doesn't jive; no match
A ohe mea painu ole You painu everything; A ohe mea ai ole (You
just eat everything)
A ohe po e o ka hale No one's home
A ole hana p l ! Don't do that!
A ole hike ke alo a e. It can't be helped.
E ho i mai koe. Be right back.
E noho mau! Continue sitting!
H l ( al ) You're gonna get it
177
Hana hou Do it again
Hapalak , hapalak Speaking half-English, half-Hawaiian
He aha k ia i oe? What's it to you?
He aha ka pili? What's that got to do with it?
He aha l kou ano? What's the matter with you?
He ho i mai koe. Going to return. (Be right back.)
He painu mai koe gonna happen, soon as, almost
He wai au au nona Duck soup
H ka a ano o kikino Wow, it is really; H ka h p o l ua! (Wow, they

are really stupid!)
Ho oku u, Ho opoina, Waiho Forget about that
I hewa n i ka waha. It's your mouth's fault.
I ike oe Just so you know
Kali iki Wait a little
Koe aku ia I don't know, that remains to be seen
K i ka pono. Stand up for what is right.
K ka paila (o ka po e) What a lot (of people)
Launa k l mana o. That makes sense.
Ma e loa Good, cool
Maika i, ua loa a n k u! Good, you got what's coming to you!
Manene ka pepeiao You're offending the ears (making me feel

uncomfortable)
178
Mea, Aia i hea k u mea? Da kine, where's your da kine?
Mea ka mea ka mea Blah, blah, blah
Na ia manawa n e ike, Na ia manawa n e Time will tell

h ike mai
O au p . Me too.
O ia ana n . It's the same result (regardless),
O ia ko u lohe That’s what I heard
O oe ma ka (wala au)! You for (talk)!
Pau pele, pau man Cross my heart and hope to die (May I be killed
by lava or a shark)
Pehea l kou ‘ano! What's the matter with you!
Peia n . Just like that.
Penei ka hana. Here is how you do it.
P kole ka na au Short-tempered
Tah h Tease with something humorous that may be

embarrassing
Ua aha ia i oe? What happened to you?
Ua hoka akula oe. Tough luck. You lost out.
Ua like n me ka ma amau. Just like always.
Ua like p ! It’s the same!
Ua p ka leo Told something that hurt the feelings
179
Appendices
Further Research
See parallel document with ideas for further research that we came up with in working on this book.
180

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He Papa Kuhikuhi Pilina‘ lelo

Reference Grammar of the Hawaiian Language

E onipa a k kou i ka imi na auao

Who is this book for?

Who are we?

You can reach us at hawaiian-grammar-grp@hawaii.edu.

Kaliko Trapp (UH Hilo)

Conventions and Notation

A Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii (Ellis 1824)

Uber die Hawaiische sprache (Chamisso 1837)

Grammar of the Hawaiian Language (Andrews 1854)

Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar (Alexander 1864)

The Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian-English (Judd 1939)

Rarotongan Personal Pronouns: Form and Distribution (Buse 1960)

Spoken Hawaiian (Elbert 1970)

The o/a Distinction in Hawaiian Possessives (Wilson 1976)

Hawaiian Grammar (Elbert/Pukui 1979)

Hawaiian Sentence Structures (Hawkins 1979)

Pedagogical Grammar of Hawaiian (Hawkins 1982)

Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui/Elbert 1986)

lelo Hou (Lake 1987)

The Hawaiian Sentence Book (Snakenberg 1988)

Ka Lei Ha aheo (Hopkins 1992)

lelo iwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A O Olelo Hawai i (Cleeland 1994)

The Voices of Eden (Schütz 1994)

M maka Kaiao (Hua lelo 2003)

Pocket Hawaiian Grammar (Schütz/Kanada/Cook 2005)

Hawaiian Lunar Month (Hawaiian Lunar Month)

Asia-Pacific Digital Library - Months (Asia-Pacific Digital Library Months)

Wikipedia, Polynesia (Wikipedia-Polynesia)

Wikipedia, Polynesian languages (Wikipedia-Polynesian languages)

HE K LAILAINA HUNE A AU (Neumann 2019)

Notations and Conventions

Image from (Wikipedia-Polynesian languages).

Proto-Tongic Proto-Nuclear Polynesian

Proto-Samoic Outlier Proto-Eastern Polynesian

Tongan (et al.) Samoan (et al.) Proto-Central-Eastern Rapanui

Examples of common words in representative Polynesian languages (Wikipedia-Polynesian

Tongan Samoan Rapanui Tahitian M ori Marquesan Hawaiian

sky langi langi rangi ra i rangi ani lani

North wind tokelau to elau tokerau to erau tokerau toko au ko olau

woman fefine fafine vahine wahine vehine wahine

house fale fale hare fare whare ha e hale

parent madu a matua matu a metua matua motua makua

Orthography and Pronunciation

"Is the dance called hulahula?

The pairs and triplet were:

The first of each set was chosen for the alphabet.

Hawaiian alphabet (Pukui/Elbert 1986:xvii):

k About as in English but with less aspiration

l About as in English but may be dental-alveolar

n About as in English but may be dental

p About as in English but with less aspiration

w After i and e usually a lax v; after u and o usually

Glottal stop, similar to the sound between the

o Like o in sole but without off-glides

u Like oo in moon but without off-glides

Like oo in moon but without off-glides

The separation of syllable groups by accent is indicated in (Pukui/Elbert 1986), (Schutz/Kanada/Cook

Kalani・ana・ ole A highway named after Prince Jonah K hi