Need To: pono

Need to and Must: Pono

Level 2

Pono comes first, then who needs to act, then e and the action.

How It Works

Pono opens the sentence. The person who needs to act follows it, and the action comes after e.

Sentence	Meaning
Pono ʻoe e hoʻomaha.	You need to rest.
Pono e hoʻomaha.	It is necessary to rest.
Pono ke noho.	It is fine to sit.

The Reference Grammar says that pono e expresses necessity, and that pono followed by ke can mean that something is fine to do, as in Pono ke hele, “[It is] fine to go.” The grammar glosses a sentence like Pono au e hana as “I must”, so pono e is the stronger pattern and pono ke is the gentler one.

Outside of this pattern pono is also a word for good, right and in balance. Poppy shows it in other lessons as a describing word.

Examples (5)

Pono ʻoe e hoʻomaha.
You need to rest.
The person comes right after pono.
Pono au e kākau i ka leka.
I need to write the letter.
E introduces the action.
Pono nā haumāna e heluhelu i kēlā puke.
The students need to read that book.
A noun subject also follows pono.
Pono ke noho ma kēia lumi.
It is fine to sit in this room.
Pono ke marks permission.
Pono e hoʻomākaukau i ka ʻaina ahiahi.
It is necessary to prepare the evening meal.
With no person, pono e speaks in general.

How It Connects

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

Need To: ponoLevel 2Need to and Must: Pono

Learn This First

Pono says what someone needs to do, and the action follows an e.

Telling Someone to Do Something
Know the e command, because the action after pono begins with e.
Level 1

Words in This Pattern

ponoe

Practice Need To: pono in Bubblegum

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