Saying No: ʻaʻole

Level 1

ʻAʻole is the word for “no” and “not”.

How It Works

ʻAʻole is a negative word. It can be a one-word answer, or it can start a sentence and make it negative.

UseExample
one-word answerʻAʻole. “No.”
before a describing wordʻAʻole maikaʻi ka wai. “The water is not good.”
with heʻAʻole kēia he kope. “This is not coffee.”
before a pronounʻAʻole au makemake i ka poi. “I do not want poi.”

The Reference Grammar says ʻaʻole can negate most kinds of verb phrases, but not a command. For a command, use mai. Verbs after ʻaʻole often change their markers (ʻAʻole i hele), which comes later.

Examples (5)

  1. ʻAʻole.

    No.

    ʻAʻole can be a whole answer.

  2. ʻAʻole maikaʻi ka wai.

    The water is not good.

    ʻAʻole comes before the describing word.

  3. ʻAʻole kēia he kope.

    This is not coffee.

    Use he after the subject to say what it is not.

  4. ʻAʻole au makemake i ka poi.

    I do not want poi.

    The pronoun follows ʻaʻole.

  5. ʻAʻole nui ka hale.

    The house is not big.

    The same pattern works for any describing word.

How It Connects

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Saying No: ʻaʻoleLevel 1

Learn This First

ʻAʻole comes in front of a sentence and makes it negative, so learners need the basic order first.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ʻaʻole