Telling Time On The Hour (0514G)

An introduction to telling time in Hawaiian

Did you ever wonder how to tell the time in Hawaiian? This is the lesson to start you off!

Speaking about the time of day in modern Hawaiian blends both traditional and modern methods. Traditionally, the time of day was not nearly as specific as an hour or a minute; people didn’t care to worry if the time were 9:00 or 9:30 or 11:00 or 4:00. Rather, terms like the following would have been commonly used:

There are, actually, several other terms that reference times of day within those mentioned above, but as most of them are poetic, you can just stick to those shown above for starters. We’ll learn more terms in later lessons on time.

New Hawaiian Words Used For Time

With the coming of western technology and thought to Hawaiʻi in the early 1800s, new words and ways of speaking about time appeared along with chronometers of various kinds. Here are some words that were taken from the English versions:

The first printed use I have found of the word “hora” is in the 28 Feb. 1834 issue of Ka Lama Hawaii, a missionary newspaper (note that it is written in the old newspaper style without markings and refined word separation):

Let’s Tell The Time

Of course you will need to be able to count from 1 to 12 in order to state the hour. So if you need to go over your numbers, please review Video 0502V Hawaiian Number Basics: From 1 to 100 before continuing with this lesson.

Note that when we tell time, we want to use the ʻe- prefix before the number base names (from 1 to 9). To learn more about number prefixes, you can review 0505V Hawaiian Number Prefixes #1: ʻA-, ʻE- which came before this lesson.

Numbers 1 – 12 For Telling Time
1ʻekahi	2ʻelua	3ʻekolu	4ʻehā
5ʻelima	6ʻeono	7ʻehiku	8ʻewalu
9ʻeiwa	10ʻumi	11ʻumikūmākahi	12ʻumikūmālua

Sentence Structure for Time in Hawaiian

The sentence structures used to tell time are all based on what we call the Pepeke ʻAike, which is an “equational” type of sentence where you say [something] is equal to [something else], i.e.:

“This is the lesson” : Thissomething= the lessonsomething else

“It is 1 o’clock” : Itsomething= 1 o’clocksomething else

In Hawaiian, this “equation” is written the other way around for time. Also, instead of “o’clock (on the clock)”, we say “hour”. And finally, instead of “it is”, we say “this”. Here’s an example:

“1 hour this” : 1 hoursomething= thissomething else

“ʻO ka hola ʻekahi kēia” : ʻO ka hola ʻekahisomething= kēiasomething else

For now, just memorize this simple pattern as it is demonstrated in the examples below. Later on, you will come to understand the reason for the structure and its parts.

Add the Time Period

Remember the times of day we saw at the top of this page, like ahiahi and pō? You can add “…o ka [time period]” to the end of your hourly time to indicate what time period of the day you mean. See the examples below:

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Practice Telling Time In Hawaiian

Now it’s your turn to practice! The exercises and answers are right here for you! Here’s what you should do:

• write the questions out yourself so you can practice writing Hawaiian
• say the questions to yourself by reading them out loud
• write the answers
• say your answers too (even if they might be wrong at first!)

Note: Press and hold with your mouse on the answer link underlined in orange to see my answer for each question. On touch-based devices like iPads and phones, click on the disclosure triangle below each set of exercises to see the answers. Once again, be sure you read the correct answers out loud to yourself many times.

Basic Exercises

Someone might ask you, “ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia?” (What time is this?). What will you say?

1. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 10 o’clock (Press the link to see the answer)
2. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 2 o’clock
3. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 6 o’clock
4. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 8 o’clock
5. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 9 o’clock
6. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 3 o’clock
7. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 11 o’clock
8. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 12 o’clock

Time and Part of Day Exercises

You can add the part of the day to your answer, as explained above. Try to respond to an imaginary friend who is asking you the time:

1. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 10 o’clock in the morning
2. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 2 o’clock in the afternoon
3. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 6 o’clock in the evening
4. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 8 o’clock in the morning
5. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 9 p.m. light late evening eg. in Canada
6. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 4 o’clock in the morning
7. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 11 o’clock in the middle of the day
8. ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 12 o’clock in the middle of the night

Next Steps

When you are done with this lesson, move on to the next one in this series on time, 0515G Time On The Half Hour. And don’t forget to use what you have learned here every day so that you can answer this question quickly any time of day or night!

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