There Is None: ʻaʻohe

Level 2

Say ʻaʻohe and then the thing there is none of.

How It Works

ʻAʻohe is the negative of “there is”. It starts the sentence, and the missing thing follows.

Pattern	Example	Meaning
ʻaʻohe + noun	ʻAʻohe kula i kēia lā.	There is no school today.
ʻaʻohe + noun + place	ʻAʻohe palaoa ma ka hale.	There is no bread at the house.
ʻaʻohe + thing + a + owner	ʻAʻohe puke a Kala.	Kala has no book.

The Reference Grammar gives ʻAʻohe mea me aʻu, “There is no person with me”, and ʻAʻohe ʻīlio a Kimo, “Kimo has no dogs”. It also shows a pronoun owner in front: ʻAʻohe aʻu hele, “I have never gone”.

You can also say “none” by itself with ʻaʻohe mea, which means “nothing” or “no one”.

Examples (5)

ʻAʻohe palaoa ma ka hale.
There is no bread at the house.
The missing thing follows ʻaʻohe.
ʻAʻohe kula i kēia lā.
There is no school today.
A time phrase can end the sentence.
ʻAʻohe puke a Kala.
Kala has no book.
A and the owner come after the thing.
ʻAʻohe mea ma ka lumi.
There is nothing in the room.
ʻAʻohe mea means nothing or no one.
ʻAʻohe aʻu penikala.
I have no pencil.
A pronoun owner can come before the thing.

How It Connects

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

There Is None: ʻaʻoheLevel 2

Learn This First

ʻAʻohe says that there is none, and it also places the missing thing.

Saying Where: ma
Know ma with a place, because ʻaʻohe can be followed by a place, as in ʻAʻohe palaoa ma ka hale.
Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

ProverbsLevel 6

Words in This Pattern

ʻaʻohema

Practice There Is None: ʻaʻohe in Bubblegum

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