Having and Getting: loaʻa

Level 3

Loaʻa says someone has or gets something, and the person comes after it with i or iā.

How It Works

SentenceMeaning
Loaʻa iaʻu ka puke hou.I got the new book.
Loaʻa iā Kala ke kālā.Kala got the money.
Ua loaʻa iā ʻoe ka hana?Did you get the job?

Loaʻa is one of a small group of verbs where the person is not the one doing the action. The thing is the subject, and the person who gets or finds it comes after, marked by i or iā. That is why a plain au does not fit, and why iaʻu is used instead. The same word can mean “found”, as in a thing that someone came across. Context and the thing named show which meaning is meant.

Examples (4)

  1. Loaʻa iaʻu ka puke hou.

    I got the new book.

    Iaʻu marks the person who gets it.

  2. Loaʻa iā Kala ke kālā.

    Kala got the money.

    Iā marks a name.

  3. Ua loaʻa iā ʻoe ka hana?

    Did you get the job?

    Ua tells that it already happened.

  4. ʻAʻole i loaʻa iaʻu ka leka.

    I did not receive the letter.

    ʻAʻole i makes it negative.

Common Mistakes

  • The person is written as the subject pronoun.

    Loaʻa au ka puke.
    Loaʻa iaʻu ka puke.

    The person who gets the thing takes iaʻu, not au.

How It Connects

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

Having and Getting: loaʻaLevel 3

Learn This First

Loaʻa says that someone has or gets something, and it uses the object pronouns.

Words in This Pattern

loaʻaiiā