Doing Something Far Away: ke ... lā

Level 4

Ke ... lā and ke ... ala are rarer forms of ke ... nei for something farther from the speaker.

How It Works

Ke ... nei puts the action close to the speaker. The two other endings move it away.

FormPicture
Ke hele nei ʻo iaShe is going, close to me or right now.
Ke hele lā ʻo iaShe is going over there.
Ke hele ala ʻo iaShe is going, farther away still.

The grammars describe the difference as a matter of distance and feeling, not a strict rule, and they call ala and lā rare. Speakers may choose nei even when the action is some way off. English Wikipedia also shows lā after a passive verb (ke kūkulu ʻia lā), so the same swap works there. When you read lā or ala after a verb, picture the action at a distance.

Examples (3)

  1. Ke hele nei ʻo Leilani i ke kula.

    Leilani is going to school.

    Nei is the usual, close form.

  2. Ke hele lā ʻo Leilani i ke kula.

    Leilani is going to school over there.

    Lā moves the action farther from the speaker.

  3. Ke kuke ala ka makuahine i ka mea ʻai.

    Mother is cooking the food over there.

    Ala shows the cooking is far from the speaker.

How It Connects

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

Doing Something Far Away: ke ... lāLevel 4

Learn This First

Ke ... lā shows an action far away and builds on ke ... nei.

Words in This Pattern

lā