Small Words Show Time

Level 1

The verb stays the same. Small words before and after it show the time.

How It Works

In English, “go” changes to “went”. In Hawaiian, hele stays hele. A small word in front, and sometimes one after, shows the time:

Pattern	Meaning	Example
ke … nei	happening now	Ke hele nei au “I am going”
ua …	finished or changed	Ua hele au “I went”
e … ana	going to happen, or ongoing (context decides)	E hele ana au “I will go”
no marker	time left to context	Hele au “I go”

The same markers work for every person, so there is no table of verb endings to learn. Later lessons add more markers.

Ke heluhelu nei ke keiki.
The child is reading.
Ke … nei shows it is happening now.
Ua heluhelu ke keiki.
The child read.
Ua shows the reading is done.
E heluhelu ana ke keiki.
The child will read.
E … ana points ahead. Context can also make it “is reading”.
Ke kākau nei au.
I am writing.
The verb kākau has the same form for I, you and he.
Ke kākau nei ʻoe.
You are writing.
Nothing on the verb changes for a different person.

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

Small Words Show TimeLevel 1

Patterns that build on this one.

uae

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