The Future Tense

The words kākou and kāua meaning us. Think for a moment about the word “us” in this English question. Do you think they like us? Who is “us” in that sentence? In Hawaiian there are several ways of saying “us” and you choose the correct one depending on whether or not you the listener are included in the group. We say kākou to mean all of us; three or more people including you, “kākou.” And we say , “kāua” when we mean “you and I” two people only, “kāua”.

Do you remember at the start of the story for this chapter? We said, “aloha kākou”, we will greeting everyone at once aloha from us to you, from us to everyone else and from all of you to us as well. That is kākou. Now if i was on the telephone and I wanted to say “aloha” to you on the other end then I would just say “aloha kāua” aloha to you and I.

To indicate that an action will occur in the future, wrap the action word with “e-ana”. The action word itself does not change. Then, add who is doing the action right afterwards; in the following exercise, it will be “kākou”, all of us, you included. Repeat after me. Hoʻomākaukau!

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• E huakaʻi ana kākou – we are all going to travel
• E noho ana kākou – we are all going to sit
• E nānā ana kākou – we are all going to look
• E ʻike ana kākou – we are all going to see
• E makemake ana kākou – we are all going to want
• E holoholo ana kākou – we are all going to go for a ride

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E unuhi mai. Are you ready to try translating? Hoʻomākaukau!

• We are all going to travel – E huakaʻi ana kākou
• We are all going to sit – E noho ana kākou
• We are all going to look – E nānā ana kākou
• We are all going to see – E ʻike ana kākou
• We are all going to want – E makemake ana kākou
• We are all going to go for a ride – E holoholo ana kākou

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Now let’s try to add some ʻaʻano into the sentences to further describe the action. We will also change the subject to “kāua”, you and I. Sometimes, we will use an ʻaʻano alone if we want the state or description to occur in the future. Hoʻomākaukau!

• E huakaʻi nui ana kāua – we are both going to travel a lot
• E noho mālie ana kāua – we are both going to sit calmly
• E nānā maikaʻi ana kāua – we are both going to look properly
• E huikau ana kāua – we are both going to be confused
• E makemake nui ana kāua – we are both going to want a lot
• E maikaʻi ana kāua – we are both going to become better
• E kaulana loa ana kāua! – we are both going to become famous!

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E unuhi mai. Translate the following. Hoʻomākaukau!

• We are both going to travel a lot – E huakaʻi nui ana kāua
• We are both going to sit calmly – E noho mālie ana kāua
• We are both going to look properly – E nānā maikaʻi ana kāua
• We are both going to be confused – E huikau ana kāua
• We are both going to want a lot – E makemake nui ana kāua
• We are both going to become better – E maikaʻi ana kāua
• We are both going to become famous – E kaulana loa ana kāua!

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Hulō! Ua pau ka huakaʻi i ka mokupuni o Hawaiʻi. I kēia manawa, e hohoholo ana kākou i Maui. Hoʻomākaukau!

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