Saying It Did Not Happen

Level 2

Use ʻaʻole, the pronoun, i and the verb for a no about the past.

How It Works

The positive past sentence has ua. The negative has ʻaʻole … i instead, so they do not stand side by side.

YesNo
Ua hele au. I went.ʻAʻole au i hele. I did not go.
Ua hoʻi mai ke keiki. The child came back.ʻAʻole i hoʻi mai ke keiki. The child did not come back.

Notice where the subject goes. A pronoun such as au or ʻoe moves up between ʻaʻole and i. A noun subject such as ke keiki stays after the verb, as in a positive sentence.

The same i marks a negative for something finished. Use ʻaʻole e for the future and for a general no.

Examples (5)

  1. ʻAʻole au i hele i ka hale kūʻai.

    I did not go to the store.

    The pronoun au sits between ʻaʻole and i.

  2. ʻAʻole ʻo ia i hiamoe.

    She did not sleep.

    ʻO comes before ia when it is the subject.

  3. ʻAʻole lākou i hālāwai i kēia lā.

    They did not meet today.

    The subject lākou comes before i.

  4. ʻAʻole ʻoe i heluhelu i ka leka.

    You did not read the letter.

    The object marker i also appears, after the verb.

  5. ʻAʻole i hoʻi mai ke keiki.

    The child did not come back.

    A noun subject stays after the verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ua after ʻaʻole.

    ʻAʻole au ua hele.
    ʻAʻole au i hele.

    Ua is replaced by i in a negative sentence.

How It Connects

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

Saying It Did Not HappenLevel 2

Learn This First

ʻAʻole i makes a past sentence negative, so learners need ʻaʻole and the past marker ua.

Words in This Pattern

ʻaʻolei