Finished or Changed: ua

Level 2

Put ua in front of the verb to say the action is done or the state has come about.

How It Works

Ua is a small marker that stands before the verb, like ke in ke … nei. It does not change for person or number. Everything else in the sentence follows the usual verb-first order, so the pronoun or noun subject comes right after the verb.

  • With an action verb it usually shows the action is finished: Ua hele ke keiki.
  • With a describing word it shows that something has become so: Ua nui ke keiki. The Reference Grammar gives Ua anuanu ka wai, “The water has become cold”, and says a sentence like this can be read as now or as before.

Because Hawaiian verbs do not change for tense, ua is one of the small words that carries the time. English may translate it as “went”, “has gone” or “is now”, so choose from the context.

To say it did not happen, ua is replaced: you say ʻaʻole and then i before the verb. Poppy teaches that in the row on ʻaʻole i.

Examples (5)

  1. Ua hele ke keiki i ke kula.

    The child went to school.

    Ua comes before the verb hele, and the subject follows it.

  2. Ua nui ke keiki.

    The child has grown big.

    With a describing word, ua shows that a change has happened.

  3. Ua ʻai au i ka palaoa.

    I ate the bread.

    A pronoun subject follows the verb.

  4. Ua hoʻi mai ka makuahine.

    Mother came back.

    Mai after the verb shows she came toward the speaker.

  5. Ua kākau ʻo Kala i ka leka.

    Kala wrote the letter.

    ʻO comes before the name Kala, and i comes before the object.

How It Connects

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Finished or Changed: uaLevel 2

Learn This First

Ua is one of the small marker words that show time.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ua