Two Words Spelled ua

Level 2

One sentence can hold both: Ua nui ka ua means “The rain has grown heavy.”

How It Works

Hawaiian has two words spelled ua. They are easy to tell apart by what comes before and after them.

PositionJobExample
Before a verb or describing wordmarks something done or changedUa pau. It is finished.
After ka, ke or henoun, rainka ua, the rain

In Ua nui ka ua, the first ua is the marker and the second is the noun. The word nui is the describing word, so the sentence says the rain has become heavy.

Spelling does not tell them apart, so read the whole sentence. The same is true of other small words in Hawaiian, such as i and mai, which do several jobs.

Examples (5)

  1. He ua nui kēia.

    This is a heavy rain.

    After he, ua is the noun for rain.

  2. Ua nui ka ua.

    The rain has grown heavy.

    The first ua is the marker and the second ua is the noun.

  3. Ua pau ka ua.

    The rain has stopped.

    Ua pau uses the marker, and ka ua names the rain.

  4. He ua anuanu kēia.

    This is a cold rain.

    Anuanu describes the noun ua.

  5. Ua hoʻi mai ke keiki.

    The child came back.

    Here ua is only the marker, because there is no rain in the sentence.

How It Connects

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

Two Words Spelled uaLevel 2

Learn This First

Ua is also the word for rain, so learners need to tell it apart from the marker.

Words in This Pattern

uaua