kaʻu kāu

My and Your with the a Class

Level 2

Use kaʻu and kāu for things like books, dogs and children.

How It Works

The a-class possessives are the partners of koʻu and kou. The Reference Grammar describes this class as things you can give, control or carry, such as a book, a child, a dog or a school.

MeaningFormExample
mykaʻukaʻu ʻīlio
yourkāukāu keiki
his, herkānakāna puke

The Reference Grammar gives kaʻu puke (my book), kaʻu keiki (my child), kaʻu ʻīlio (my dog) and kaʻu kula (my school) for this class. It also shows that some nouns take either class with a different meaning: koʻu lei is a lei I wear, and kaʻu lei is a lei I give away.

The Reference Grammar adds that the short forms and the long forms are used interchangeably: kaʻu puke and ka puke aʻu mean the same. The long form is a later row.

Examples (5)

  1. Ke heluhelu nei au i kaʻu puke.

    I am reading my book.

    Kaʻu comes before the noun puke.

  2. Ua ʻike anei ʻoe i kāu keiki?

    Have you seen your child?

    Kāu is the a-class word for “your”.

  3. Aia kaʻu kula ma Hilo.

    My school is in Hilo.

    Aia says where it is, and kaʻu belongs to kula.

  4. Ua ʻauʻau kaʻu ʻīlio.

    My dog had a bath.

    Kaʻu goes with ʻīlio.

  5. Ke hana nei kaʻu keiki i ka haʻawina.

    My child is doing the homework.

    The noun after kaʻu does not change.

How It Connects

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

kaʻu kāuLevel 2My and Your with the a Class

Learn This First

These a-class words are a second set of “my” and “your”.

Words in This Pattern

kaʻukāu