The kahakō

Level 1

A bar over a vowel makes it longer. Leaving it out can turn one word into another.

How It Works

The kahakō is a bar over a vowel: ā ē ī ō ū. The vowel is a little longer than a plain vowel, and it gets the stress (Reference Grammar).

Long and short vowels make different words:

ShortLong
kala “to forgive”kālā “money”
kanaka “person”kānaka “people”
wahine “woman”wāhine “women”
na “for”nā “the” (plural)

The plural of a few words for people uses a kahakō, as in kānaka. Older books and some signs leave the kahakō and the ʻokina off. The marks tell words apart, so the full spelling is the one to learn.

Examples (5)

  1. kālā

    money

    The bar makes the second vowel long.

  2. ʻEhia kālā?

    How much money?

    The word kālā means money.

  3. nā keiki

    the children

    Nā with a bar is the plural “the”.

  4. wāhine

    women

    The bar sits on the first a, and it makes the plural.

  5. mālama

    to take care of

    The bar is on the first a, so that syllable is long.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the kahakō, which can give a different word.

    ʻEhia kala?
    ʻEhia kālā?

    Kala means “to forgive”, so the question stops making sense.

How It Connects

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

The kahakōLevel 1

Learn This First

A bar over a vowel changes the vowel, so learners meet the five vowels first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

kahakō