An Introduction to Tenses in Hawaiian: Māka Painu
In Hawaiian, we use little marker words together with an action or a condition to indicate the “tense” of that action or condition. We call the marker words “māka painu” (literally, painu markers). Sometimes, the māka painu wrap around the action or condition by having a pair of them: one goes right before and one right after. Other times, there is just one māka painu which comes before the action or condition.
Here are some of the major points about them:
- A painu is an action phrase. Sometimes there can be more than one in the same pepeke.
- The māka painu provide a sense of when the action happens (eg., in the past, happening now); or they help to show that something is a command or conditional.
- If we don’t use any māka painu, the action appears habitual or ongoing, or relies on context.
- There is an important distinction between using māka painu with action verbs (hamani or hehele) versus with an ʻaʻano (a stative showing a state or condition).
Māka Painu Table
In the following table, the “~” is either the action verb (hamani/hehele) or the ʻaʻano (stative). Poke divisions are shown with slashes; māka painu are bolded. Also, some of the more unusual possible combinations have been left out for simplicity.
| — painu — pre ~ post | tense | examples (first for hamani/hehele; second for ʻaʻano) |
|---|---|---|
| — ~ — | habitual, now, or understood by context | ʻAi / ʻoia / i ka poi. — She eats poi. Hauʻoli / ʻoia. — She is happy. |
| Ua ~ | past (actions) or past / present (ʻaʻano statives) | Ua ʻike / au / iā ʻoe. — I saw you. Ua hauʻoli / au. — I was happy (past with past context); I have become happy / I am happy (present) |
| Ke ~ nei | present (now and nearby) | Ke ʻai nei / ʻoia. — She is eating (now and nearby) Ke hauʻoli nei / ʻoia. — She is becoming happy (same) |
| Ke ~ ala | present (now + far away) | Ke hele ala / ʻoia. — She is walking (now and far) Ke hauʻoli ala / ʻoia. — She is becoming happy (now, far) |
| E ~ ana | plain future | E lele ana / ʻoia / i ka lā ʻāpōpō. — She will fly tomorrow. E hauʻoli ana / ʻoia. — She will be/become happy |
| E ~ ana | past ongoing (progressive) | I nehinei, / e hele ana / ʻoia. — Yesterday she was walking. cf. I nehinei, / ua hele / ʻoia. — Yesterday, she walked. |
| E ~ ana | present ongoing (progressive) | E noho ana / ʻoia / ma Oʻahu / i kēia mau lā. — She is living on Oʻahu these days. |
| E ~ ana | future ongoing (progressive) | E lele ana / ʻoia / ma ka mokulele / i ka lā ʻāpōpō. — She will be flying on the plane tomorrow. |
| E ~ | should, must, need, ought, etc suggestion or command | E kūʻai / au / i poi / i kēia pō. — I should buy poi tonight. E hauʻoli / ʻoe, / e ke keiki. — You should be happy, child |
| Mai ~ | don’t (negative command) directly to someone | Mai noho / ma ke pākaukau! — Don’t sit on the table! note: you must not use this with ʻaʻano statives |
| O ~ | very polite (high register) suggestion | «O hele / ʻoe / i uka, / e ke aliʻi ē.» — “You should travel upland, my chief.” |
| Ke ~ | whenever (any time) or when (expecting something to happen) | Ke holo / ʻoe, // e hoʻopaʻa / i kou ʻili kuapo. — Whenever you go, you should fasten your seatbelt. Ke haʻalele / ʻoe // e haʻi mai. — When you leave, let me know. (expecting it) |
| Inā* | if – then (real, imagined, or uncertain conditions) | Inā makemake / ʻoe, // e holoholo pū / kāua. — If you want, we can go riding around together. (might or might not happen) |
* Note that «inā» is a special case in that it can be placed before some other māka painu sets. Example: «Inā e holo ana / ʻoe, // mai poina / i kou lole keu.» “If you are going to go, don’t forget your spare clothes.” There is a lot more to learn about “inā” in future lessons.
ʻŌlelo Online Virtual Classroom · kumu Kaliko Beamer-Trapp · Lesson revision 7 (December 2023) · This is a work in progress; feedback is welcome.