Part I
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to make your first sentences in Hawaiian. You have already learned some kaʻi words (like «he, ka/ke, kēlā, kēia»). Before we can make our first sentences, you need to learn about another very important class of words called «memeʻa».
Four Kinds of Words We Categorize as «memeʻa»
We use the term «memeʻa» to refer to a class of four different types of words that we use to tell people what we are thinking about. You will need to know these four Hawaiian names in the first column below, and understand what kind of words they refer to.
| memeʻa | English name | Dict* | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ʻaʻano | adjective | vs | shows the state or condition of something |
| kikino | common noun | n | the word for a thing (not a person/place name) |
| hamani | transitive verb | vt | an action with a direct object (sth. receives the action) |
| hehele | intransitive verb | vi | an action with no direct object |
*you will see these abbreviations used in the popular Pūkuʻi-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary
Some Common Examples of Memeʻa
| memeʻa type | Hawaiian example | English |
|---|---|---|
| ʻaʻano | mālie, maikaʻi, pilikia | calm/serene, good/fine, problematic/distressed |
| kikino | hale, kaʻa, manu, noho | house, car, bird, chair/seat |
| hamani | ʻai, nānā, hana | to eat something, to observe sth, to do/make sth |
| hehele | holo, hele, lele, noho | to run/go, to walk/go, to fly, to sit |
Putting Kaʻi and Memeʻa Together
Here are some of the most common kaʻi paired with various memeʻa. This kaʻi+memeʻa sequence is perhaps the most common combination we use when making sentences.
| kaʻi | meaning | Hawaiian | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ka/ke | the | ka hale, ke keiki, ke kaʻa | the house, the child, the car |
| he* | a/an | he ʻelepani, he noho, he lei | an elephant, a chair, a lei |
| kēlā | that over there (OT) | kēlā puke, kēlā kaikamahine | that bookOT, that girlOT |
| kēia | this over here | kēia lā, kēia keikikāne | this day (today), this boy |
*note that we generally don’t use “he something” inside of Hawaiian phrases; more on that later.
Part II — Sentence Patterns
Stative Sentences: Saying That “Something Is in a Particular State or Condition”
I will use slashes below to help you get a feel for the separate segments of Hawaiian phrases.
- start with an ʻaʻano
- then who or what is in that state or condition; here we will use a kaʻi+memeʻa pattern
- Pidgin English copies this pattern. Eg., “Eh brah! Nice da car!”
Action Sentences: Saying That “Something Is Doing Something”
- start with an action (a hamani or hehele type word)
- next, put who or what is doing that action; here we will again use a kaʻi+memeʻa pattern
- note how the word order is identical to the stative sentences we did above! Beautiful!
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ʻŌlelo Online Virtual Classroom · kumu Kaliko Beamer-Trapp · Lesson revision 5 (October 2025)