Hawaiian Grammar List

The word “he” means “a” or “an” and starts a sentence that names a kind of thing: “He puke kēia” means “This is a book”.

Answer a yes-or-no question with “ʻAe” (yes) or “ʻAʻole” (no): “He kumu ʻoe?” “ʻAe.”

“ʻEhia” asks for a number: “ʻEhia keiki?” means “How many children?”.

“He aha” asks what a thing is: “He aha kēia?” means “What is this?”.

“Ma hea” asks where something is: “Aia ma hea ka hale?” means “Where is the house?”.

“ʻO wai” asks who someone is: “ʻO wai kou inoa?” means “What is your name?”. Answer with “ʻO ... koʻu inoa”.

The numbers are ʻekahi, ʻelua, ʻekolu, ʻehā, ʻelima, ʻeono, ʻehiku, ʻewalu, ʻeiwa and ʻumi.

An adjective usually comes after its noun: “ka hale nui” means “the big house” and “ke keiki liʻiliʻi” means “the small child”.

Start with the describing word and the thing follows: “Nani ka lā” means “The day is beautiful”.

Put “ke” before the verb and “nei” after it for an action in progress: “Ke ʻai nei ke keiki” means “The child is eating”.

“Aloha” greets and says goodbye, and “mahalo” says thank you; “Aloha kakahiaka” and “Aloha ahiahi” greet the morning and the evening.

Ask “Pehea ʻoe?” for “How are you?” and answer “Maikaʻi au” (I am fine).

Use ʻo with a definite noun to say which one: “ʻO ke kumu ia” means “That is the teacher”.

Say “kākou” when the listener is part of the group and “mākou” when the listener is not: “E hele kākou” invites you, while “Ke hele nei mākou” talks about a group without you.

“E” plus a verb and “kāua” or “kākou” suggests an action together: “E hele kākou” means “Let us go”.

ʻO comes before a name or a pronoun that is the subject of a naming sentence: “ʻO Kalani kēia” means “This is Kalani”.

Hawaiian nouns have no gender, and “ia” means he, she or it: “Ke hele nei ʻo ia” can mean “He is going” or “She is going”.

Hawaiian has no verb like “is” or “are”. A noun phrase or a describing word can be the whole predicate: “He keiki ʻo Kala” means “Kala is a child”.

ʻAʻole means “no” and “not”, and it can stand alone as an answer or start a sentence: “ʻAʻole maikaʻi” means “Not good”.

The w sounds like w after u and o, usually like v after i and e, and like either one after a or at the start of a word.

Put “he” and the kind of person first, then ʻo and the name or pronoun: “He kumu ʻo Leilani” means “Leilani is a teacher”.

“Ma” puts a place in a sentence: “Noho au ma Hilo” means “I live in Hilo”.

A Hawaiian verb does not change for tense or person. Small words around it show the time, as in “ke hele nei” (is going) and “ua hele” (went).

“Mai” before a verb says “do not”: “Mai hele” means “Do not go”.

Start with “e” for a command: “E hele mai!” means “Come here!”.

“ʻO ia” means “that is so” or “that is the one”, and it is also the subject form for “he”, “she” and “it”.

The singular “the” is “ka” or “ke”: ka hale (the house), ke keiki (the child).

Use “ke” before a word that starts with k, e, a or o, and “ka” before the rest: ke kumu, ke ala, ka wahine, ka lā. Words that start with the ʻokina usually take “ka”, as in “ka ʻāina” and “ka ʻōlelo”. A few words break the rule, such as “ke pākaukau”, “ke ʻano” and “ke pā”.

The plural “the” is “nā” before a noun: nā keiki (the children), nā hale (the houses). Most nouns stay the same, but a few words for people lengthen a vowel, as in “wahine” and “wāhine”.

A basic sentence usually starts with the verb, then the subject, then the object: “Heluhelu ke keiki i ka puke” means “The child reads the book”.

The kahakō (macron) lengthens a vowel and makes it stressed. kala means “to forgive”, and kālā means “money”.

The ʻokina (ʻ) is a short catch in the voice, like the break in “uh-oh”. It is part of the spelling, so kou and koʻu are different words.

Put “loa” after a describing word for “very”: “maikaʻi loa” means “very good”.

Two vowels in a row can glide into one sound, as in “wai” (water), “keiki” (child) and “kou” (your).

In a positive sentence, a subject pronoun comes after the verb phrase: “Ke hele nei ʻoe” means “You are going”. As a subject, “ia” takes ʻo, as in “Ke hele nei ʻo ia”.

Hawaiian has five vowels, and each keeps one steady sound, as in “aloha” and “mahalo”.

The three single pronouns are “au” (I), “ʻoe” (you) and “ia” (he, she, it): “Hele au” means “I go”.

Hawaiian words use only seven consonants and the ʻokina: h, k, l, m, n, p, w and ʻ, as in “hale” (house) and “wai” (water).

The plural pronouns are “kākou” (we, including you), “mākou” (we, not you), “ʻoukou” (you all) and “lākou” (they).

Hawaiian has separate pronouns for exactly two people: “kāua” (you and I), “māua” (he or she and I), “ʻolua” (you two) and “lāua” (those two).

Use “kēia” for near me, “kēnā” for near you and “kēlā” for far from both: kēia hale, kēnā hale, kēlā hale.

Ke kumu a me ke keiki means “the teacher and the child”. A me joins nouns, not whole sentences.

Pehea ke kula? means “How is school?” and Pehea ʻo Keoni? means “How is Keoni?”

Makemake anei ʻoe? means “Do you want it?” Sources differ on where anei goes: after the verb phrase or after the first word.

Aia ka puke ma ke pākaukau is “The book is on the table.” Aia can also say who has something for now.

Makemake au e hele, akā ua hiamoe ke keiki means “I want to go, but the child is asleep.”

E Leilani, hele mai! means “Leilani, come here!” E goes before the name or the group you call.

Hiki iaʻu ke hele means “I can go.” The person who can goes after hiki with i or iā.

ʻUmikūmākahi is 11, iwakālua is 20, kanakolu is 30 and haneli is 100. To add ones, put kūmā and the digit after the ten.

The days are Pōʻakahi (Monday), Pōʻalua, Pōʻakolu, Pōʻahā, Pōʻalima, Pōʻaono (Saturday) and Lāpule (Sunday).

Kēlā me kēia lā means “every day”, and kēlā me kēia pō means “every night”.

Ua marks a finished action or a change: Ua hele ke keiki means “The child went.”

Ua hele paha ʻo ia means “Maybe she went.” Paha usually follows the word it is unsure about.

Pono ʻoe e hoʻomaha means “You need to rest.” Pono e hele means “It is necessary to go.”

E hele ana au can mean “I will go” or “I am going.” The context tells you which.

ʻElua keiki is “two children” and nā keiki ʻelua is “the two children”.

Kekahi keiki is “a certain child”, kekahi o nā keiki is “one of the children”, and kekahi mau keiki is “some children”.

ʻAʻole au i hele means “I did not go.” The i takes the place of ua.

ʻAʻole au e hele means “I will not go.” It can also say what someone should not do.

ʻAʻole au e ʻai nei means “I am not eating.” After ʻaʻole, the ke of a present sentence is replaced by e.

ʻAʻole he kumu ʻo ia means “She is not a teacher.” ʻAʻole ʻo Kalani ʻo Keola means “Kalani is not Keola.”

I kēia lā means “today” and i ka Pōʻalima means “on Friday”. A word like ʻapōpō can stand alone.

Hoʻokahi keiki means “one child”. ʻEkahi, ʻelua, ʻekolu is how you count.

ʻAi ke keiki i ka palaoa means “The child eats the bread.” I comes before the object.

ʻIke au iā Leilani means “I see Leilani.” Before a name, iā is the usual choice in place of i.

In ʻAʻole au i ʻike, au sits before the verb ʻike. A noun subject still comes after the verb.

He mau puke means “some books” or “books”, and kaʻu mau puke means “my books”.

ʻAʻohe palaoa ma ka hale means “There is no bread at the house.”

Kēia mau keiki means “these children” and kēlā mau puke means “those books”.

Hele mai means “come” and hele aku means “go”. The speaker is the point of view.

Ua before a verb is a marker, and ua “rain” is a noun: Ua nui ka ua uses both.

Piʻi aʻe means “go up” and hele iho means “go down”. Aʻe also means “next” after a day name.

Makemake au i ka wai means “I want water” and Makemake au e ʻai means “I want to eat”.

In most words with fewer than four syllables, the next-to-last syllable is stressed, as in ha in hale and ha in mahalo. A long vowel or a diphthong also gets weight.

Noho au me koʻu makuahine means “I live with my mother.” Me also names a tool, as in me ka penikala.

Aia ʻo Kala ma ka hale means “Kala is at the house.” Aia ʻo ia i Honolulu means “She is in Honolulu.”

The forms are iaʻu (me), iā ʻoe (you) and iā ia (him, her). The longer pronouns are iā kāua, iā māua and so on.

Kaʻu puke is “my book” and kāu keiki is “your child”. They are the a-class words.

Koʻu hale is “my house” and kou inoa is “your name”. They go before the noun.

Noho au ma Hilo is “I live in Hilo”, Hele au i Hilo is “I go to Hilo”, and Hele mai au mai Hilo mai is “I come from Hilo”.

Say ma luna o “on top of”, ma lalo o “under”, ma loko o “inside” and ma waho o “outside”, then name the thing. The small word o joins the place word to the thing.

Hoʻi after a word adds “also” or “too”: ʻO ia hoʻi “Him or her too”. Nō hoʻi comes after the part it adds to: “and also”.

Say no ke aha at the start of a question: No ke aha ʻoe e hele ai i ke kula? “Why are you going to school?” The verb after it takes e and ends with ai, or takes i and ends with ai for something already done.

Put no ka mea before the reason: Ke hele nei au i ke kula, no ka mea makemake au e heluhelu. “I am going to school because I want to read.”

Say ma mua o ka ʻaina ahiahi “before dinner” and ma hope o ke kula “after school”. For places, ma mua o is “in front of” and ma hope o is “behind”.

Telephone became kelepona and computer became kamepiula. Hawaiian has no s, t, d, b or r, so those sounds are usually swapped for k, l or p, and vowels fill in between consonants.

Use makuakāne “father”, makuahine “mother”, kaikamahine “daughter”, keiki kāne “son”, kupuna “grandparent” and makua “parent”. Family words in the o class say koʻu, and children use the a class.

Say ka mua o ke keiki “the first of the children”, ka lua “the second” and ke kolu “the third”. Another way is to put the number after the noun: ka puke ʻelua “the second book”.

Say e hele ana au i Hilo for “I am going to Hilo”. Other verbs fit the same frame: e kōkua ana au means “I am going to help”.

Say Loaʻa iaʻu ka puke for “I have the book” or “I got the book”. The person who gets it is marked by iaʻu, iā ʻoe, iā ia or iā plus a name, not by a plain pronoun.

Put nō after the word you want to stress: Maikaʻi nō ka mea ʻai “The food is really good”. It has a kahakō, unlike no “for”.

The twelve months are Ianuali, Pepeluali, Malaki, ʻApelila, Mei, Iune, Iulai, ʻAukake, Kepakemapa, ʻOkakopa, Nowemapa and Kēkēmapa. A month that names the subject takes ʻo before it.

Directions often use ma uka “inland” and ma kai “toward the sea”. Say Aia ka hale ma uka “The house is inland”. Mauka and makai are often written as one word.

Kaikuaʻana is an older sibling of the same sex, and kaikaina is a younger one. A woman calls her brother kaikunāne, and a man calls his sister kaikuahine. Sources differ on some details.

Put wale after the word it limits: ʻElua wale nā keiki “Only two children”. After a verb it can mean doing something just so, with no special reason.

Put a i ʻole between two choices: Makemake ʻoe i ka poi a i ʻole i ka laiki? “Do you want poi or rice?” With more than two choices, it usually comes once, between the last two.

Say kā or ko, then the pronoun: ko māua makuakāne “our father (not you)” and kā lākou ʻīlio “their dog”. Use kā for the a class and ko for the o class.

Say ʻO Leilani ka mea e kuke nei for “Leilani is the one who is cooking”. Put ʻo and the person first, then ka mea and the action.

Say ko ke kumu hale or kā ke kumu puke, which mean “the house of the teacher” and “the book of the teacher”. Use ko for the o class and kā for the a class.

Say ʻO ka hola ʻehā kēia “It is four”. Add i for the hour of an event: i ka hola ʻewalu “at eight”. For minutes after the hour say i hala ka hola.

The a class (kaʻu, kāna) and the o class (koʻu, kona) are the two main ways to say “my” or “his or her”. Which one you use depends on the kind of relationship, so you learn it noun by noun.

Say ka mea e hana ana for “the one who is working” and ka mea e kuke nei for “the one who is cooking now”. Without a verb, mea means a thing or a person.

Say ka hale o ke kumu “the house of the teacher” and ka puke a ke keiki “the book of the child”. Use o or a to match the class of the thing owned.

Use kaʻu, kāu and kāna with children, pets, books, bags and other things you choose or make. Food and tools are commonly listed here, and nouns are learned one at a time.

Use koʻu, kou and kona with parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, body parts, a name, a home, a vehicle and clothes you wear. Learn each noun with its class, because sources differ on a few.

Say i ka wā e kuke ai koʻu makuahine for “when my mother cooks”. The verb has e before it and ai after it, and the clause can come first or second.

A sentence with naʻu or noʻu says that a thing is mine: Naʻu kēia puke “This book is mine”. Naʻu is the a class, and noʻu is the o class.

Put mea before a verb to name its doer or its use: mea ʻai “food”, mea inu “drink” and mea kākau “writer”. Mea hana “maker” often has a noun after it.

Use mai when the words or the gift come toward the speaker, and aku when they go away from the speaker. ʻŌlelo mai ʻo ia means “he or she spoke to me”, and hāʻawi aku au means “I gave to you”.

After a verb, mai means “toward me”: hele mai “come”. Before a verb, mai means “do not”: Mai hele “Do not go”. Before a place name, usually with a second mai after it, it means “from”: mai Hilo mai.

Use no before a noun to say who something is for, what it is about, where someone is from, or why. No Hilo au means “I am from Hilo”.

Nā is the plural article: nā keiki “the children”. Na is a small word for who does a thing or who it is for: Na ke keiki ka puke “The book belongs to the child”.

Ke ... nei tells what is happening now, near the speaker. Ke ... lā and ke ... ala point to something farther away, in place or in time.

Put mai before the start and a (or a hiki i) before the end: mai Hilo a Kona.

Put inā at the start of the if-part. The result part follows, and it often needs no special word.

Put e like me before a noun or a possessed noun to say what something is like.

Add hoʻo- in front of a word: nani (beautiful) becomes hoʻonani (to make beautiful).

Say ʻoi aku, then the quality with ka or ke and o, then ma mua o and the second thing.

Learn common hoʻo- verbs as whole words: hoʻomaka (begin), hoʻopau (finish), hoʻolohe (listen).

After the passive verb and its subject, put e and the doer.

Ua ... ʻia makes a finished passive, and e ... ʻia ana makes a passive that is still to come.

Repeating a word, as in wiki and wikiwiki, can add emphasis or make a new word. Learn each pair as it comes.

Put no laila before the result: Ua pau ka hana. No laila, e hoʻi ana mākou.

Put ia before a noun with no article: ia keiki means that child, the one we know about.

Say ka mea, then i and a verb: ka mea i hele mai means the one who came.

Put ʻia right after the verb, and the thing acted on comes next as the subject: Heluhelu ʻia ka puke.

ʻOi loa is taught as “the very best”. Adding aku and ma mua o makes a strong comparison: much more than.

Add nei, lā or ala after a noun: ke kula nei (this school here), ka mauna lā (that mountain over there). English Wikipedia shows ua wahine nei for someone already mentioned.

Put a hiki i before a time or place: a hiki i ka hola ʻelima means until five.

Naʻe adds a turn against what came before: Makemake au e hele, ʻaʻole naʻe hiki iaʻu.

Say kuʻu where you would say koʻu or kaʻu, to show affection: kuʻu keiki, my dear child.

Put ma ke or ma ka before a thing that is used: ma ke kelepona means by telephone.

Put ke ʻole before e and a verb: Ke ʻole e hele mai ʻoe means if you do not come.

Some nouns are verbs with -na added: noho (to live) and nohona (way of living). It is not a rule for every verb.

Put e before the verb and ai after it: ka hale e noho ai au means the house where I will live.

Put i before the verb and ai after it: ka hale i noho ai au means the house where I lived.

Say who spoke, then e and the report: ʻŌlelo mai ʻo ia e hele ana ʻo ia means she said she will go.

Add ʻana after the verb and an article or a possessive before it: heluhelu becomes ka heluhelu ʻana, the reading.

Learn kāuna, kaʻau, lau and mano to read older counting. Modern counting uses tens and hundreds.

To read a long sentence, find each verb and the small word before it, then see how a, akā and no ka mea join the parts. Read the ʻokina and kahakō as they are written.

A word in a poem can mean more than one thing. Start with the plain meaning and read notes or ask a teacher for more.

Learn a proverb whole. Read its words, its literal meaning and what people say it means.

Old newspapers and books usually did not write the ʻokina or kahakō. Use the sentence to decide which word is meant.