The One Who, The Thing That: ka mea
Ka mea means “the one” or “the thing”, and a verb can follow it.
How It Works
Learner pages teach ka mea e for the present and future and ka mea i for the past. The words nei and ana after the verb work as they do in ordinary sentences.
| Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ka mea e kuke nei | the one who is cooking now |
| ka mea e hana ana | the one who is working, or will work |
| ka mea i hele | the one who went |
On its own, mea can mean a person, as in ʻAʻohe mea ma ka lumi “Nobody is in the room”. The Reference Grammar has ʻAʻohe mea me aʻu “There is no one with me”. Hawaiian Wikipedia writers use ka mea in many ways, so a sentence with it can be longer than these first examples.
Examples (4)
- Ke ʻike nei au i ka mea e kuke nei.
I see the one who is cooking.
Ka mea e ... nei means the one doing it now.
- Aia ka mea e hana ana ma ka lumi.
The one who will be working is in the room.
Ana can point to later or to work that is going on.
- ʻO wai ka mea e heluhelu nei?
Who is the one reading now?
Ka mea follows ʻo wai.
- ʻAʻohe mea ma ka lumi.
Nobody is in the room.
Mea alone can mean a person.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Ka mea means “the one who” or “the thing that”.
Related Patterns
- Words Built on mea
Covers mea joined to a verb.
Level 3 - Pointing Out the One: ʻo ... ka mea
Covers the sentence that names the one who does it.
Level 3 - The One Who Did: ka mea i
Covers the past form ka mea i.
Level 4 - There Is None: ʻaʻohe
Covers the word for there is none.
Level 2 - Not Finished Yet: e ... ana
Covers the future frame e ... ana.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice The One Who, The Thing That: ka mea in Bubblegum
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