HAWAIIAN GOODNESS
Even for the Mainlander
Duolingo Category #5: People
For the "People" category, there is a [very small] Tips section. Take a peek at that, and/or my explanation below.
Vocabulary
Professions, Possessives, Question Words
- Mākaʻi = Police officer; Policeman / Policewoman
- Mahiʻai = Farmer
- Kumu = Teacher [in the classroom and in general]
- Haumana / Haumāna = Student
→ both spellings are valid, Duolingo prefers the latter
- inoa = Name
- ʻo ia = He / She
- Koʻu = My
- Kou = Your
- Kona = His / Her
- He aha? = What?
- ʻo wai? = Who?
- No hea? = From where? [literal translation]
The pronoun "ʻ o ia" and the adjective "kona" are not gendered, so there is no way to tell which translation (he/she , his/her) is correct if they are out of context
Not to be confused with Maikaʻi
Lessons Taught
-
Vocabulary: Professions, Possessives, Questions Words
-
The use of " ‘o " : Proper Nouns
-
Asking and Responding to
"What is your name?" -
Asking and Responding to
"Where are you from?" -
Sentence Structure: "He" :
Asking and Responding to
"What is __?"
The use of " ‘o "
Proper Nouns
There are many uses of " ʻo " in Hawaiian, but this Duolingo category only introduces one very common way for now (yay!).
Put simply: if the Subject of the sentence is a Proper Noun/name, it is preceded by " ʻo. " For example:
Hele ʻo Becka.
[Becka goes.]
So, as we've seen with other Hawaiian words before, " ʻo " is not directly translatable and you'll have to remember how this is used in Hawaiian sentences, rather than memorize it as part of your vocab list.
Compare that sentence to one we've seen before:
E hele, e Becka.
[Go, Becka.]
1. The way to ask "What is your name?" in Hawaiian is as follows:
ʻO wai kou inoa?
[What is your name?]
As you can piece together from the vocab list above, literally this phrase means "Who (is) your name?" - you would NEVER ask "He aha kou inoa?" It doesn't make sense in Hawaiian.
2. To answer this question, replace the question word "wai?" with your name, and replace "kou" ("your") with "koʻu" ("my"). For example:
ʻO Becka koʻu inoa.
[lit. Becka (is) my name.]
[My name is Becka.]
This even obeys the " ʻo " rule explained above!
1. The way to ask "Where are you from?" in Hawaiian is as follows:
No hea mai ʻoe?
[lit. From where (are) you?]
[Where are you from?]
In this category, Duolingo omits the word "mai," as it's a rather confusing word to explain and they won't introduce its usage until later. However, asking this question sounds a bit unnatural without it. Duolingo will accept the above example, so I would suggest learning this phrasing (with the "mai") instead of the one they use (without the "mai").
2. To answer this question, replace the question word "hea?" with the place you're from, and replace " ʻoe " with "au." For example:
No Hawaiʻi mai au.
[lit. From Hawaiʻi I (am).]
[I am from Hawaiʻi.]
1. The way to ask "What is this?" in Hawaiian is as follows:
He aha kēia?
[What is this?]
2. To answer this question, replace the question word "aha?" with what the thing is, the answer. For example:
He haumana kēia.
[This is a student.]
~~~
Asking and Responding to "What is your name?"
What's the difference between "E Becka" and " ʻo Becka "?
If you forgot this use of " E, " revist the explanation here.
Asking and Responding to "Where are you from?"
-
Remember that Hawaiian doesn't have a word that translates to "to be / is"!
-
Note that, for the question and answer, you can use "kona (inoa)" for "his/her (name)," so you can ask what someone else's name is too!
-
Remember that Hawaiian doesn't have a word that translates to "to be / is"!
-
Note that, for the question and answer, you can use " ʻo ia " instead of " ʻoe " to ask where someone else is from!
Sentence Structure: "He"
Asking and Responding to "What is __?"
This is the first type of sentence structure introduced and thoroughly practiced in Duolingo. It is very important to make sure you understand how it works - you will see it throughout the Hawaiian Duolingo course from now on.
"Aloha kāua! ʻO wai kou inoa? No hea mai ʻoe?"
He aha kēlā kāne? He mahiʻai ʻo ia.
PRACTICE!
Practice what you learned by translating these sentences copied/pasted from this category of Duolingo. The English translations are below. When you feel confident enough, try translating the English into Hawaiian!
Then: try it on Duolingo!
Hawaiian Sentences:
He aha kēia?
He kāne kēia.
He aha ‘o Kēhau?
This question is probably asking about Kēhau's profession.
He kumu ‘o Kēhau.
He kumu ʻo ia.
He wahine au.
He mākaʻi au.
He mākaʻi ʻo Keoki.
He mākaʻi ʻo ia.
He kāne ʻo ia.
He haumana ‘o ia.
He haumana au.
He mahiʻai ʻo ia.
He mahiʻai ʻo Kaleo.
‘O wai kou inoa?
‘O wai kona inoa?
‘O Ka‘iulani ko‘u inoa.
‘O Keoki ko‘u inoa.
‘O Kaleo ko‘u inoa.
ʻO Kaleo kona inoa.
‘O Ka‘iulani kona inoa.
ʻO Kaleo kou inoa?
ʻO wai kēlā?
No hea mai ‘o Keoki?
No hea mai ‘o ia?
No hea mai ‘oe?
No Hawai‘i mai au.
No Moloka‘i mai ‘o ia.
~~~
Translations:
What is this?
This is a man.
What is Kēhau?
Kēhau is a teacher.
He is a teacher.
I am a woman.
I am a police officer (policeman / policewoman).
Keoki is a policeman.
He is a policeman / She is a policewoman.
He is a man.
He / She is a student.
I am a student.
He is a farmer.
Kaleo is a farmer.
What is your name?
What is his name? / What is her name?
My name is Ka‘iulani.
My name is Keoki.
My name is Kaleo.
His name is Kaleo.
Her name is Ka‘iulani.
Is Kaleo your name?
Who is that?
Where is Keoki from?
Where is he from? / Where is she from?
Where are you from?
I am from Hawai‘i.
He is from Moloka‘i.
~~~~
