HAWAIIAN GOODNESS
Even for the Mainlander
Duolingo Category #9: Likes
For the "Likes" category, there is NO Tips section. Since this is unfortunately lacking on Duolingo, take a peek at my explanation below.
Lessons Taught
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Vocabulary: Fruits/Vegetables, Colors, Activities
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Revisiting "Ka/Ke" : Collective Nouns
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The word "Puni" : Revisiting Shared Parts of Speech
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The word "Makemake"
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Asking and Responding to "Which?"
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The Adverb "Hou"
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Negative Statements: ʻAʻole
Vocabulary
Fruits/Vegetables, Colors, Activities
- Hua ʻai = Fruit
- Lau ʻai = Vegetable
- Maiʻa = Banana
- ʻōhelo papa = Strawberry
- Pīʻai = Blueberry
- Hala kahiki = Pineapple
- Manakō = Mango
- iʻa = Fish
- Uliuli = Blue
- ʻulaʻula = Red
- Poʻe = People [collective noun, not plural]
- Hoa hānau = Cousin (lit. Birth friend)
- Kinipōpō = Ball
- ʻīlio = Dog
- Hou = More
- A me = And [between nouns]
- A i ʻole = Or
- Hīmeni = Singing [n]; To sing [v]
- Hula = Hula [n]; To dance hula [v]
- Heʻenalu / Heʻe nalu = Surfing [n]; To surf [v]
→ Can be one or two words (pronounced the same); Duolingo prefers the latter
- ʻawa = 'awa / Kava
- ʻai / Poi = Poi
- Makemake =
→ Desire, want [n]
→ To want [v]
→ To like [v]
- Puni =
→ Lover (of objects) [n]
→ To love (objects, not people) [v]
This is a root grown in Hawaiʻi (and other Polynesian islands). The root is prepared in many forms (chewed, pounded, etc.); it's common to mix it with water/a drink to produce narcotic effects.
Both words mean poi. Poi is more common, but Duolingo likes to use ʻai in this section
Now we've seen ʻai to mean Poi [n] and To eat [v]
Revisiting "Ka/Ke"
Collective Nouns
Like we learned in a previous post, ka and ke are the singular ways to say "the" in Hawaiian. However, there can be times where we won't translate them at all!
In English, when we list Collective Nouns (a noun, either singular or plural, that represents a whole group of things, instead of something specific), we do so without a preceding article. In Hawaiian, you must always have an article (in this case, ka/ke) preceding a noun. For example:
Banana and pineapple.
Bananas and pineapples.
[Ka maiʻa a me ka hala kahiki.]
Here, in English, we're listing off types of fruit. We're not talking about certain bananas or pineapples that we can point to, we're just talking about them in general terms. But in Hawaiian, because nouns always have to have an article preceding them, we're going to keep using ka/ke.
When do you know to translate ka/ke as "the" or ignore the translation? It all depends on context:
Ka maiʻa a me ka hala kahiki.
[Banana and pineapple.]
[The banana and the pineapple.]
Let's look at one more example, in a complete sentence, to see this in action and understand why context is important:
Maikaʻi ka maiʻa a me ka hala kahiki.
[Bananas and pineapples are good.]
(general - perhaps you're talking about certain fruits that you like)
[The banana and the pineapple are good.]
(specific - perhaps you're eating these fruits and are commenting on their taste)
The Hawaiian can translate to either of these sentences, depending on what was going on or being talked about earlier in the conversation.
However, this concept does not apply to the plural Hawaiian article nā - this word will never precede a Collective Noun, so it will always be translated as "the" (marking the Hawaiian noun plural), referring to a specific noun:
Nā maiʻa a me nā hala kahiki ma ke pākaukau.
[The bananas and the pineapples on the table.]
As you saw from the Vocab section above, Puni means a couple different things.
1. As a verb, Puni means To love (objects, not people).
Puni au i ka hīmeni.
[I love singing.]
2. As a noun, puni means (a) lover. When followed by another noun, puni then means a lover of [that noun]. Alternatively, you can think of it as the following noun then starting to act as an Adjective describing the noun puni, which is a very common occurrence in Hawaiian grammar. Here's an example:
Sentence A
He puni heʻe nalu ʻo ia.
[He is a lover of surfing.]
[He is a surfing lover.]
Let's take this sentence further. Note how it looks normal in Hawaiian, but is awkward to translate into English:
Sentence B
He keiki puni heʻe nalu ʻo ia.
[He is a surfing-loving child.]
[He is a child who loves surfing.]
When Duolingo prompts you with either of these English translations, you can't try to translate the sentence into Hawaiian literally. This sentence (Sentence B) is similar to Sentence A, but we added yet another noun before puni, thereby making puni here act a bit like an Adjective. Let's break down Sentence B:
He keiki ʻo ia.
=
He is a child. (or She is a child.)
*This is the main part of the sentence.
He keiki (puni heʻe nalu) ʻo ia.
=
He is a (lover of surfing) child. / He is a (surfing lover) child.
In the parentheses, you can see how Sentence A is applying to Sentence B. In both sentences, the English sounds weird. But if you understand the meaning in Hawaiian, the sentiment of the sentence, then you're really understanding the language!
As you saw from the Vocab section above, Makemake means several different things.
1. As a verb, Makemake can mean To want or To like. The only way to tell the difference is through context of the conversation. For Duolingo, either translation will work. For example:
Makemake ʻoe i ka pīʻai?
[Do you like blueberries?]
[Do you want blueberries?]
2. As a noun, Makemake means (a) desire or (a) want. You can use this in a sentence to make it clear that you "want" something (instead of "like" it) to save some confusion, like the verb makemake often presents. For example:
ʻO ka manakō koʻu makemake.
[lit. My desire (is) the mango.]
[I want the mango.]
Because makemake is being used as a noun in this sentence, we can use koʻu, like we do with other nouns, to mean my want/desire.
*The explanation for why we're using the ʻo here will be discussed in Category 12: Dates
1. When asking the question "Which [noun]?" use the formula " ʻO ka/ke [noun] hea?" For example:
ʻO ka mea hea?
[Which one?]
Here is an example with a complete question:
ʻO ka mea hea kou makemake?
[Which one do you want?]
[lit. Which one (is) your desire?]
2. To answer this question, replace the "ka/ke [noun]" and, as always, the question word "hea?" with the answer. For example:
ʻO ka manakō koʻu makemake.
[I want the mango.]
[lit. The mango is my desire.]
In this Duolingo category, hou translates to more, which can act as an adjective in English (e.g. "more vegetables"). However, in Hawaiian, it will act as an adverb and therefore be placed after the Verb and before the Subject, where adverbs are correctly placed. Here's how that looks in a simple sentence:
Makemake hou ʻoe?
[Do you want more?]
This might look simple enough, but adding Direct Objects can make this confusing. Again, in English, you'll want to use hou ("more") as an adjective, but in Hawaiian it stays in that adverb spot:
Makemake hou ʻoe i ka pīʻai?
[Do you want more blueberries?]
So far in our Hawaiian learning, we've only used affirmative/positive statements (what we do do). Let's learn how to make negative statements (what we don't do)!
Simply place the word ʻAʻole at the beginning of the Hawaiian sentence, before the main verb. This will mean not, don't, doesn't, etc. For example:
ʻAʻole makemake nā keiki.
[The children don't like (it).]
[The children don't want (it).]
However, if the Subject of the sentence is a Pronoun, the Pronoun will move to be after ʻAʻole, but before the verb. For example:
ʻAʻole au makemake.
[I don't like (it).]
[I don't want (it).]
Here, the Pronoun au moved from being after the main verb makemake, to being before it.
~~~
The word "Puni"
As we've seen previously, many Verbs in Hawaiian can also act as Nouns (and have similar meanings). We saw a lot of these in this category's vocab section, like hīmeni meaning the verb to sing or the noun singing. When we use puni as a verb, it is paired with the noun meaning of these words, which is why they are preceded by ka/ke.
The word "Makemake"
Revisiting Shared Parts of Speech
Note that, although Puni won't be tested very much beyond this Duolingo category, a lot of people ask for an explanation of this type of sentence since it's pretty difficult to see without instruction. You will also find similar Hawaiian sentences in the future, especially those that use Nouns as Adjectives ("chocolate cookie," for example), so it can be important to understand for the knowledge and grammar of the language.
Puni au i ka hīmeni. He wahine puni hīmeni au!
Note how "blueberries" is translated as a Collective Noun, as explained above! This sentence can also be translated as "Do you like the blueberry?" or "Do you want the blueberry?" as well.
"Makemake ʻoe?" " ʻAʻole. ʻO ka hua ʻai koʻu makemake. Mahalo!"
Asking and Responding to "Which?"
We have seen "Hea?" before to mean "Where?". So it is true that "Hea?" means "Where?" and "Which?" depending on which sentence structure you use.
" ʻO ka mea hea kou makemake?" " ʻO ka lau ʻai koʻu makemake."
The Adverb "Hou"
Note how "blueberries" is a Collective Noun, as explained above! The Hawaiian could also be "Makemake hou ʻoe i nā pīʻai?" for "Do you want more blueberries?" since, in this context, you're probably able to point to specific blueberries.
Makemake hou kēia ʻīlio i ke kinipōpō.
Negative Statements: ʻAʻole
So far, we've learned the following Pronouns: au, ʻoe, ʻo ia, kākou, kāua. Note that these do not include Proper Nouns/Names (ʻo Kaleo, for example). They will be placed normally in the sentence (after the verb), positive or negative.
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:
Ka maiʻa a me ka hala kahiki
Ka maiʻa a i ʻole ka hala kahiki
Ka ʻōhelo papa a i ʻole ka pīʻai
Ka ʻōhelo papa a me ka pīʻai
Ka ʻai a me ka iʻa
Ka makua kāne a i ʻole ka makuahine
Ke keiki a me Kaleo
Puni au i ka hīmeni.
Puni nā keiki i ka heʻe nalu.
Puni ka poʻe i ka hula.
Puni nā kāne a me nā wāhine i ka hula.
He puni ʻawa ʻo ia.
He keiki puni heʻe nalu ʻo ia.
He tūtū kāne puni ʻawa ʻo ia.
Makemake ʻoe i ka pīʻai?
Makemake ʻoe i ka ʻōhelo papa?
Makemake ʻoe i ka lau ʻai a me ka hua ʻai?
Makemake ʻoe i ka lau ʻai a i ʻole ka hua ʻai?
Makemake ʻo ia i ka iʻa?
Makemake ʻo ia i ka hala kahiki.
Makemake nā hoa hānau i ka manakō.
Makemake ka ʻīlio i ke kinipōpō.
Makemake ka ʻīlio i nā kinipōpō.
Makemake au i ka mea ʻulaʻula.
Makemake ʻo ia i ka mea uliuli.
Makemake ʻo Kēhau i ka mea uliuli.
Makemake hou ʻoe i ka ʻōhelo papa a i ʻole ka pīʻai?
Makemake hou ʻo ia i ka ʻai a me ka iʻa?
Makemake hou au i ka iʻa.
ʻAʻole au makemake!
ʻAʻole ʻo ia makemake.
ʻAʻole makemake nā keiki.
ʻAʻole makemake ka poʻe.
ʻAʻole makemake ka ʻīlio i ke kinipōpō.
ʻAʻole makemake ʻo Kaleo i ka ʻīlio.
ʻAʻole au makemake i ka mea ʻulaʻula.
ʻAʻole makemake ʻo Kaleo i ka mea uliuli.
ʻAʻole ʻoe makemake i ka manakō?
ʻO ka mea hea kou makemake?
ʻO ka hua ʻai hea kou makemake?
ʻO ka manakō a me ka hala kahiki koʻu makemake.
ʻO ke kinipōpō hea kou makemake?
~~~
Translations:
Banana and pineapple / bananas and pineapples / the banana and pineapple
Banana or pineapple
Strawberry or blueberry
Strawberry and blueberry
Poi and fish
Father or mother
The child and Kaleo
I love singing.
The children love surfing.
The people love hula.
The men and women love hula.
He/She is an 'awa lover. / He/She is a lover of 'awa.
He/She is a surfing-loving child. / He/She is a child who loves surfing.
He is an 'awa-loving grandpa. / He is a grandpa who loves 'awa.
Do you like/want blueberries? / Do you like/want the blueberry?
Do you like/want strawberries?
Do you like/want vegetables and fruit?
Do you like/want vegetables or fruit?
Does he like/want fish?
He likes/wants pineapple.
The cousins like/want mango.
The dog likes/wants the ball.
The dog likes/wants the balls.
I like/want the red one.
He likes/wants the blue one.
Kēhau likes/wants the blue one.
Do you want more strawberries or blueberries?
Does he want more poi and fish?
I want more fish.
I don't like/want (it)!
He doesn't like/want (it).
The children don't like/want it.
The people don't like/want it.
The dog doesn't like/want the ball.
Kaleo doesn't like/want the dog.
I don't like/want the red one.
Kaleo doesn't like/want the blue one.
You don't like/want mangoes? / Don't you like/want mangoes?
Which one do you want?
Which fruit do you want?
I want the mango and the pineapple. / The mango and the pinapples (is) my want.
Which ball do you want?
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