iaʻu iā ʻoe iā ia

Me, You and Him or Her

Level 2

Learn the object forms as chunks: iaʻu, iā ʻoe, iā ia, iā kākou.

How It Works

For “me” the markers merge into one word, iaʻu. All the other object forms keep the pronoun and add iā.

Doer or subjectObject formMeaning
auiaʻume
ʻoeiā ʻoeyou
iaiā iahim, her
kāua, māua, ʻolua, lāuaiā kāua, and so onus two, you two, them two
kākou, mākou, ʻoukou, lākouiā kākou, and so onus, you all, them

The Reference Grammar gives Kōkua ka ʻīlio iaʻu for “The dog helps me”. Because iaʻu is one word, you do not add a second i to it.

Examples (5)

  1. Ke kōkua mai nei ʻoe iaʻu.

    You are helping me.

    Iaʻu is the object form of au.

  2. Ua ʻike au iā ʻoe i ke kula.

    I saw you at school.

    Iā ʻoe keeps the pronoun as it is.

  3. ʻIke ke kumu iā ia.

    The teacher sees her.

    Iā ia can mean him or her.

  4. Ke kelepona nei ʻo Kala iā mākou.

    Kala is calling us.

    Mākou leaves out the listener.

  5. Ua kōkua ke kauka iā lākou.

    The doctor helped them.

    Lākou follows iā unchanged.

Common Mistakes

  • Using au after i.

    Ke kōkua nei ʻoe i au.
    Ke kōkua nei ʻoe iaʻu.

    “Me” is the fused form iaʻu.

How It Connects

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

iaʻu iā ʻoe iā iaLevel 2Me, You and Him or Her

Learn This First

These are the pronouns that follow iā.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

iaʻuiāʻoeia