Asking What

Level 1

He aha means “what”.

How It Works

Aha is the question word for “what”. With he, it asks what kind of thing something is. The answer begins with he too:

Question	Answer
He aha kēia?	He kalo kēia.
He aha kēlā?	He pāpale kēlā.

Use kēia, kēnā or kēlā to say which thing. The sources also show aha in other questions, such as no ke aha “why”, which come later.

He aha kēia?
What is this?
Kēia points to something near the speaker.
He kalo kēia.
This is taro.
The answer starts with he.
He aha kēnā?
What is that? (near you)
Kēnā points to something near the listener.
He aha kēlā mea?
What is that thing?
Mea means “thing”.
He aha kēlā? He pāpale.
What is that? A hat.
The answer can be short.

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Asking WhatLevel 1

Asking what something is uses he, so learners start with he.

Patterns that build on this one.

ahahe

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