Using “kekahi” and “kekahi mau”

In the stories for Kauaʻi and the other islands, you heard the words “kekahi” and “kekahi mau” being used. As you already know from repeating the vocabulary lists from each island, we say “he” to mean “a” or “an”. For example, “he malihini” would be what? “A visitor.” Right! “He malihini.”

We also know how to say that someone specific will do something, or did someting. For example, “Ua hele ka malihini” – the visitor went; “E hele ana ka malihini” – the visitor will go.

Now how about if we wanted to say “a visitor went”? It would seem that you could say “ua hele – he malihini”, but this is not good Hawaiian. Instead, we use the word “kekahi” to take the place of “he”. Try it with me: kekahi. [2x] So we would say “ua hele – kekahi malihini”. A visitor went.

Makemake ʻoe e hoʻomaʻamaʻa? Are you ready to try some excercises? A ʻo ia! E hoʻomākaukau!

• E hele ana kekahi wahine i Kauaʻi – a woman will travel to Kauaʻi.
• Ua uʻi kekahi aliʻi – a chief was handsome
• E ʻōlelo ana kekahi kaikaina – a younger sibling will speak
• E kono ana kekahi malihini – a visitor will make an invitation (invite)
• Ua kaumaha kekahi kanaka – a person was sad

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Maikaʻi nō! You have learned how to use “kekahi” to mean “a” when used with the subject of the sentence. Now let’s try saying “kekahi mau”, which means “some”. Say it after me: kekahi mau. [2x] We use this in exactly the same way we used “kekahi” in the previous exercise. Let’s get straight to practicing!

Hoʻomākaukau!

• E hele ana kekahi mau wāhine i Kauaʻi – some women will travel to Kauaʻi.

(Note that when you say “wahine”, it means “one woman”, and “wāhine” means many women. There are very few words that are pronounced differently in the singular and plural, and this is one of them).

Let’s do that first one again:

• E hele ana kekahi mau wāhine i Kauaʻi – some women will travel to Kauaʻi.
• Ua uʻi kekahi mau aliʻi – some chiefs were handsome
• E ʻōlelo ana kekahi mau kaikaina – some younger siblings will speak
• E kono ana kekahi mau malihini – some visitors will invite
• Ua kaumaha kekahi mau kānaka – some people were sad.

(Here we have another of the handful of words that change in the singular and plural. You have already been using this in earlier lessons, however: “Kanaka” person; “Kānaka” people.)

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Now it is the time for us to practice what we have learned so far using “kekahi” and “kekahi mau”. We’ll mix them up a bit, but don’t be confused! Just think: if I say “a” something, then use “kekahi”. And if I say “some” somethings, then use “kekahi mau”.

Hoʻomākaukau!

• A chief was handsome – Ua uʻi kekahi aliʻi
• Some people were sad – Ua kaumaha kekahi mau kānaka
• Some chiefs were handsome – Ua uʻi kekahi mau aliʻi
• Some women will travel to Kauaʻi – E hele ana kekahi mau wāhine i Kauaʻi
• A person was sad – Ua kaumaha kekahi kanaka
• A younger sibling will speak – E ʻōlelo ana kekahi kaikaina
• A visitor will invite – E kono ana kekahi malihini
• Some younger siblings will speak – E ʻōlelo ana kekahi mau kaikaina
• A woman will travel to Kauaʻi – E hele ana kekahi wahine i Kauaʻi

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