Hawaiian Lessons

HA’AWINA ‘EHÄ – Lesson Four

Papa'ölelo

'ai - to eat
kona - his, her
akamai - smart
këia lä - today
alanui - street, road
ki'i - picture, to draw
'a'ole pilikia - you're welcome; no problem
komo - to enter
hä'awi - to give, to bring
komo mai - to come in
hä'awi aku - to give (away)
li'ili'i - small, little
hä'awi mai - to bring in
lohe - to hear
hana - work, to work
ma - in, at, on
helu - number, to count
mämä - mom, mother
heluhelu - to read
mokupuni - island
hö - ooh, wow [an expression also "hü"]
päpä - dad, father
holo - to go, travel, ride, sail
piko - navel, center
ho'olohe - to listen
pilikia - trouble, problem
'ike - to see, to know (ke)
po'o - head
käkau - to write
wa'a - canoe

More papani: There are 4 papani or pronouns in Hawaiian for "we". The pronouns specify whether or not you are including the person you are speaking to and can be number specific. If you are including the person you are speaking to, you use the "k" forms of "we" in Hawaiian. If you are talking about "we" but not including the person addressed, then you use the "m" form.

INCLUSIVE (K-) / EXCLUSIVE (M-)
käua “we” (dual) / mäua “we” (dual)
käkou “we” (more than two) mäkou “we” (more than two)

He mau haumäna käua - we (2 incl.) are students.
He mau Hawai'i käkou - we (incl.) all are Hawaiians

He mau käne mäkou - we (excl.) are all men
Maika'i nö mäua - we (2 excl.) are fine

Ka mäka painu kauoha e (E the imperative marker).
In Hawaiian e is used when you want to express a command.

E 'ai 'oe ! - (you) eat!
E hana käua! - let's (2 incl.) work!
E käkau! (you) write!
E noho! – sit!
E 'olu'olu – please... (literally: “be kind”)
E ki'i ma këia pepa - Draw on this paper!

Hawaiian sentence structure

A Hawaiian sentence is made up of 3 basic parts. The po'o, piko and 'awe. Think of the sentence structure like a he'e (octopus) where it is made up of the po'o (head), and the 'awe (tentacle) and they both meet in the center or "piko".
The basic parts of a Hawaiian sentence follows a particular order beginning with the po'o immediately followed by a piko. The 'awe normally follows the piko but in future lessons you will see how it can come before the piko as well as the po'o.
Sometimes the 'awe is purposely omitted because the pepeke (statement) is understood. Other times, the pepeke just won't have an 'awe.

STRUCTURE: po'o piko 'awe
He kumu au ma Kaleponi - I'm a teacher in California
He wahine 'o Laka - Laka is a woman
He wa'a këlä - that is a canoe H
He keiki käne li'ili'i 'o ia - he is a little boy
He mokupuni 'o Moloka'i - Moloka'i is an island
'O au 'o Keawe - I am Keawe
'O këia ko'u hale - this is my house
'O këia alanui 'o Sunset - this street is Sunset
'O ia ka haumäna akamai - he is the smart student
'O Hollywood këia - this is Hollywood
'O këia 'o Hollywood - this is Hollywood

Nä 'ami lauka i & iä (prepositions i/iä)

i: when linking other parts of a sentence to the main clause, you use the 'ami i. It joins the 'awe or the object (both direct and indirect object) to the piko. The 'awe requires a ka'i if it has a kikino (common noun) in it. The ka'i would come directly in front of the kikino. The ka'i that you have learned so far are këia, këlä, ka, ke, and nä. Other ka'i are kou and ko'u.

STRUCTURE: po'o (verb) + piko (subject) + 'ami (preposition) + 'awe (object)
Po'o piko 'ami 'awe

Heluhelu 'o Nalu i ka puke - Nalu reads the book
Noho 'o ia i ka noho - He sits in the chair
Käkau 'oe i ka leka - You write the letter

iä: when the 'awe is an i'oa (person's name, place or pronoun) then you use iä in place of i. When iä is used with the papani (pronoun) au (wau) it is contracted to ia'u.

Po'o piko 'ami 'awe

Heluhelu 'o Nalu iä mäkou - Nalu reads to us
Käkau 'o ia iä Pi'ikea - She writes to Pi'ikea
'Ike 'o Mähealani iä Kaulana - Mahealani sees Kaulana
E hä'awi mai 'oe ia'u - (You) bring (it) to me!

Note: the 'ami i and iä are actually part of the 'awe but in this particular lesson it was listed separately to show that it is required to join the remaining 'awe to the rest of the pepeke. So an 'awe begins with either an 'ami i or 'ami iä.
Päpä'ölelo (conversation)

Pü'iwa: Aloha e Maka'u'ole! Hello Maka'u'ole!
Maka'u'ole: Aloha nö e Pü'iwa. Hello Pu'iwa.
Maka'u'ole: E komo mai. Come inside.
Pü'iwa: Mahalo e Maka'u'ole Thank you Maka'u'ole.
Pü'iwa: 'O wai këlä kanaka ma ke ki'i? Who is that person in the picture?
Maka'u'ole: Ma këlä ki'i? 'O ko'u mämä. In that picture? It's my mom.
Pü'iwa: Hö, he wahine nani 'o ia. Wow, she is a pretty woman.
Maka'u'ole: Mahalo, he 'olu'olu 'oe - Thank you, you are kind. (a kind person)
Pü'iwa: 'A'ole pilikia e Maka'u'ole. You're welcome Maka'u'ole.
Maka'u'ole: Aloha käua. Goodbye.
Pü'iwa: Aloha nö. Bye then.

Ka pepeke painu (verb sentence): present tense To form the present tense in Hawaiian, the verb which is the po'o is first, followed by the piko which is the subject. The pepeke painu tells that something or someone has a certain trait or quality or does a particular action.

po'o (verb) + piko (subject)

Hana au – “I work”
'Ai 'o Pi'i – “Pi'i eats”
'Ike käkou – “we see”
Ho'olohe mäua – “we (dual excl.) listen”
Heluhelu läkou - “they read”

Päpä'ölelo

Nihopalaoa: E Pua, pehea 'oe? Pua, how are you?
Pua: Maika'i, mahalo. Heluhelu au i këia puke maika'i. I'm fine thank you. I am reading this good book.
Nihopalaoa: He aha kënä puke? What is that (near you) book?
Pua: He puke kula ia. Heluhelu ke kumu iä mäkou. (It's) a school book. The teacher reads it to us.
Nihopalaoa: E hä'awi mai 'oe i ka puke ia'u. Give the book to me.
Pua: No ke aha? Why?
Nihopalaoa: No ka mea, 'ölelo 'oe, he puke maika'i ia. Because you said it's a good book.
Pua: Hö! Akamai 'oe! 'A'ole pilikia, e hä'awi aku au i ka puke iä 'oe.
Wow! You're smart! No problem, I'll give you the book.