au ʻoe ia

I, You and He or She

Level 1

Au is I, ʻoe is you, and ia is he, she or it.

How It Works

These are the pronouns for one person or thing:

Careful with the ʻokina: ia is “he, she” and iʻa is “fish”. The sources also write wau for “I” after ʻo, as in ʻO wau ʻo Kalani.

Hawaiian has no separate word for “he” and “she”, and no verb endings that change for you or me.

Ke inu nei au i ka wai.
I am drinking water.
Au is “I”.
Ke heluhelu nei ʻoe?
Are you reading?
ʻOe is “you” (one person).
Ke moe nei ʻo ia.
He is sleeping. / She is sleeping.
ʻO ia is the subject form of ia.
Maikaʻi au.
I am fine.
The describing word comes first, then the pronoun.
Hauʻoli ʻoe.
You are happy.
Pronouns follow the describing word too.

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

au ʻoe iaLevel 1I, You and He or She

The single pronouns do not change for gender, so learners meet that idea first.

Patterns that build on this one.

auʻoeia

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