HAWAIIAN GOODNESS
Even for the Mainlander
TO HAVE
In Hawaiian, there is no single word that directly translates to the
English verb "To have." Below are essentially four paradigms, each with numerous laʻana, listed to give you a better understanding of how to express ownership of objects in Hawaiian!
Loaʻa can also be used to convey possession, but is practiced in a separate laʻana.
To have a noun.
Formula: He [noun] [K-Possessive]
*The K-Possessive at the end tells us who the person owning the object is.
Translation: (Person) has a noun.
Laʻana mua:
He pōpoki kāu? (= Do you have a cat?)
He pōpoki kaʻu. (= I have a cat)
Laʻana hou:
He kaʻa koʻu. (= I have a car)
He mau kaʻa koʻu. (= I have some cars)
He kaʻa ko koʻu makuahine. (= My mother has a car)
He mau kaʻa ko koʻu makuahine. (= My mother has some cars)
He mau kaʻa ko koʻu mau mākua. (= My parents have some cars)
He kaʻa ko kākou. (= We have a car)
He mau kaʻa ko kākou. (= We have some cars)
He mau kaʻa ko kākou makuahine. (= Our mother has some cars)
He mau kaʻa ko kākou mau mākua. (= Our parents have some cars)
He kaʻa ko ka wahine. (= The woman has a car)
He mau kaʻa ko ka wahine. (= The woman has some cars)
He mau kaʻa ko kaʻu kāne. (= My husband has some cars)
He mau kaʻa ko koʻu mau hoa aloha. (= My friends have some cars)
Mau makes the noun owned plural
Laʻana hou:
You can use this formula with places too,
as another way to say that something is located in that place.
He hale kū'ai ko Ni'ihau? (= Does Ni'ihau have a store?)
-
[Aia he hale kū'ai ma Ni'ihau?]
He hale kū'ai ko laila. (= "There" has a store / There is a store)
-
[Aia he hale kū'ai ma laila]
*This can also be expressed with Loaʻa
Dialogue
Luika: E Pua, ua lohe ʻoe? Ua neʻe ʻo Kimo mā i Kona.
Pua: ʻOia? ʻAʻole au i lohe. No ke aha?
Luika: He hana hou kāna i laila.
Pua: He aha kāna hana hou?
Luika: ʻO ka luna ʻo ia i ka hale hua makekemia i Nāpoʻopoʻo. *hua makekemia = macademia nut
Pua: He hale ko lāua i Kona?
Luika: ʻAe, he hale nō ko ka hui makekemia. *hui = business
Pua: He hana nō ho'i kā Lauaʻe?
Luika: ʻAe, he hana nō kā Lauaʻe.
[Dialogue adapted from Ka Lei Haʻaheo, p. 101]
* ʻEhia, Numbers, ʻAʻohe are actually all the same formula, just laid out separately here for your understanding.
* The rest of these paradigms have a difference in placement if the Possessor is a Pronoun or a general noun.
To have how many nouns?
Formula: ʻEhia [K-Less Possessive] [noun]?
*The K-Less Possessive tells us who the person owning the object is.
Translation: How many nouns does (person) have?
Laʻana mua:
ʻEhia āu pōpoki? (= How many cats do you have?)
Laʻana hou:
ʻEhia ou paikikala? (= How many bicycles do you have?)
ʻEhia oʻu paikikala? (= How many bicycles do I have?)
ʻEhia ona paikikala? (= How many bicycles does he have?)
ʻEhia o mākou paikikala? (= How many bicycles do we have?)
ʻEhia o Tom paikikala? / ʻEhia paikikala o Tom? (= How many bicycles does Tom have?)
ʻEhia paikikala o ka wahine? (= How many bicycles does the woman have?)
ʻEhia pōpoki a ke keiki? (= How many cats does the child have?)
ʻEhia pōpoki a nā keiki? (= How many cats do the children have?)
Laʻana hou:
ʻEhia ou makahiki? (= How many years do you have? / How old are you?)
ʻEhia oʻu makahiki? (= How many years do I have? / How old am I?)
ʻEhia ona makahiki? (= How many years does he have? / How old is he?)
ʻEhia o Tom makahiki? / ʻEhia makahiki o Tom? (= How old is Tom?)
ʻEhia makahiki o ka wahine? (= How old is the woman?)
ʻEhia makahiki o ke keiki? (= How old is the child?)
(The following paradigm's dialogue will practice these)
To have number of nouns
Formula: Number [K-Less Possessive] [noun]
*The K-Less Possessive tells us who the person owning the object is.
Translation: (Person) has (number) nouns.
Laʻana mua:
ʻElima aʻu pōpoki. (= I have five cats)
ʻElima āu pōpoki. (= You have five cats)
Mau can be used with numbers, even if it sounds redundant. There's no change in meaning!
Laʻana hou:
ʻElua oʻu waʻa. (I have 2 canoes)
ʻEhā ou [mau] waʻa. (You have 4 canoes)
ʻEkolu ona waʻa. (He has 3 canoes)
ʻElima o lākou waʻa. (They have 5 canoes)
ʻEono o Tom waʻa. / ʻEono kaʻa o Tom. (Tom has 6 canoes)
ʻEono waʻa o ka wahine. (The woman has 6 canoes)
ʻElua [mau] ʻīlio a ke keiki. (= The child has 2 dogs)
Hoʻokahi ʻīlio a nā keiki. (= The children have 1 dog)
Some teach that He is used with numbers over 10;
Some teach that it's optional. You decide!
Laʻana hou:
ʻElima oʻu makahiki. (= I have 5 years / I am 5 years old)
ʻEiwa ou makahiki. (= You have 9 years / You are 9 years old)
ʻEono ona makahiki. (= He has 6 years / He is 6 years old)
(He) ʻUmi o Tom makahiki. / (He) ʻUmi makahiki o Tom. (= Tom is 10 years old)
(He) iwakāluakūmāwalu makahiki o ka wahine. (= The woman is 28 years old)
ʻEhā makahiki o ke keiki. (= The child is 4 years old)
Dialogue
Kaleo: Aloha kāua, e ʻAnakē. E komo mai!
Lilinoe: Mahalo, e Kaleolani. Auē nō hoʻi! Lōʻihi loa ʻoe! ʻEhia ou makahiki? *Auē nō hoʻi = Oh my goodness
Kaleo: ʻUmikūmālima oʻu makahiki.
Lilinoe: Hū, he luahine au. ʻEhia makahiki o kou kaikuahine? *Luahine = Old woman
Kaleo: ʻElima wale nō makahiki o Kuʻuipo.
[Dialogue adapted from Ka Lei Haʻaheo, p. 112]
To have no nouns
Formula: ʻAʻohe [K-Less Possessive] [noun]
*ʻAʻohe is the negative word of Aia. So if Aia means "There is" then ʻAʻohe means "There isn't;" so the translation that's more literal would be something like "There aren't (any) cats that I have/in my possession."
Translation: (Person) doesn't have noun.
Laʻana mua:
ʻAʻohe aʻu [mau] pōpoki. (= I don't have [any] cats)
ʻAʻohe āu [mau] pōpoki. (= I don't have [any] cats)
La'ana hou:
ʻAʻohe aʻu nīnau. (I don't have questions)
ʻAʻohe āu nīnau. (You have no questions)
ʻAʻohe āna mau nīnau. (He doesn't have any questions)
ʻAʻohe a mākou nīnau. (We don't have a question)
ʻAʻohe a Tom nīnau. / ʻAʻohe nīnau a Tom. (Tom doesn't have questions)
ʻAʻohe nīnau a ka wahine. (The woman has no questions)
ʻAʻohe manaʻo o ke keiki. (= The child has no ideas)
ʻAʻohe mau manaʻo o nā keiki. (= The children don't have any ideas)
When mau is used with ʻAʻohe,
it's commonly translated to "any"
Dialogue
Lilinoe: Aia i hea ʻo ʻAlapaki?
'Ekekela: Ua hele ʻo ia i Panaʻewa e kanu i ka ʻuala. ʻAʻohe āu hana i kēia lā?
Lilinoe: ʻAe, e hana ana au. Ua hele mai au e kūʻai mai i ka ʻopihi ma ka hale kūʻai ʻo ʻAwili. *ʻopihi = limpet shellfish
'Ekekela: Auē, ʻaʻohe a lākou ʻopihi. Ua kelepona au i kēia kakahiaka.
[Dialogue adapted from Ka Lei Haʻaheo, p. 113]
To have many nouns
Formula: Nui [K-Possessive] [noun]
*The K-Possessive tells us who the person owning the object is.
Translation: (Person) has a lot of nouns.
*Nui also means "big," so can be translated accordingly - you can see how both meanings are related! Context will decide which translation is best.
Laʻana mua:
Nui kaʻu mau pōpoki. (= I have a lot of cats)
Nui kaʻu pilikia. (= I have a lot of trouble)
Mau makes the noun owned plural, with pronouns
Laʻana hou:
Nui can take plural nouns (nā) or singular ones (ka/ke)
Nui koʻu mau lio! (I have a lot of horses)
Nui kou mau lio! (You have a lot of horses)
Nui kona mau lio! (He has a lot of horses)
Nui ko ʻoukou mau lio! (You guys have a lot of horses)
Nui ko Tom mau lio! / Nui nā lio o Tom! (Tom has a lot of horses)
Nui nā lio o ka wahine! (The woman has a lot of horses)
Nui nā pōpoki a ke keiki. (= The child has a lot of cats)
Nui nā pōpoki a nā keiki. (= The children have a lot of cats)
Nui ka pilikia a nā keiki. (= The children have a lot trouble)
Dialogue [comprehensive]
Keola: Aloha, e Māmā Ikaika. ʻO kou lā hānau ʻehia kēia?
Mama: ʻO koʻu lā hānau kanaonokūmālima. ʻAe, kanaonokūmālima oʻu makahiki.
Keola: Auē ka nani! Maikaʻi nō kou ola kino. ʻEhia a ʻolua keiki?
Mama: ʻEono a māua keiki, ʻekolu keiki kāne, ʻekolu kaikamahine.
Keola: A ʻehia a ʻolua moʻopuna?
Mama: Auē nō hoʻi ē! Nui loa kā māua mau moʻopuna. ʻUmikūmāhā paha a māua moʻopuna.
Keola: ʻEhia keiki a ka hiapo, ʻo Lilinoe?
Mama: ʻAʻohe āna keiki.
Keola: A pehea nā kaikamāhine ʻē aʻe?
Mama: ʻElima a Luika keiki, a ʻelua keiki a Pua.
Keola: A ʻehia keiki a nā keiki kāne?
Mama: ʻElua a ʻAlapaki keiki, ʻehā a Kimo keiki, a hoʻokahi wale nō keiki a Lopaka.
[Dialogue directly taken from Ka Lei Haʻaheo, p. 112]
To have the noun
Formula: 1) Aia [noun-owned] i [Possessor-general noun] OR
2) Aia iā [Possessor-Pronoun] [noun-owned] OR
3) Eia iaʻu [noun-owned]
*This is essentially stating that a specific object "is with (Person)" or "is in (Person's possession)"
*As is common in Hawaiian, if the person who is possessing the object is a Pronoun, it usually jumps to the front
*If the person who is possessing the object is "I" (iaʻu, in Hawaiian here), Aia often changes to Eia -
"There is" to "Here is," due to the nature of the object being close to the speaker
Translation: (Person) has the noun.
Laʻana mua:
Aia ke kī i ka wahine. (= The woman has the key)
Aia iā ʻoe ke kī. (= You have the key)
Eia iaʻu ke kī. (= I have the key)
Laʻana hou:
Aia ka pālule i ka wahine. (= The woman has the shirt)
Aia ka pālule i ke kāne. (= The man has the shirt)
Aia ka pālule i nā keiki kāne. (= The boys have the shirt)
Aia nā pālule i nā kaikamāhine. (= The girls have the shirts)
Aia iā wai ka pālule? (= Who has the shirt?)
Aia iā ʻoe ka pālule. (= You have the shirt)
Aia iā ia ka pālule. (= He has the shirt)
Aia iā lākou ka pālule. (= They have the shirt)
Aia iā ʻoukou nā pālule. (= You all have the shirt)
Eia iaʻu ka pālule. (= I have the shirt)
Eia iaʻu nā pālule. (= I have the shirts)
Eia iaʻu nā pālule a me ka makaaniani. (= I have the shirts and the eyeglasses)
Laʻana hou:
Aia ka mea pāʻani i ke keiki. (= The child has the toy)
Aia ke kaʻa i koʻu makuahine. (= My mother has the car)
Aia ke kīwī i kaʻu mau keiki ma ka lumi moe. (= My children have the TV in the bedroom)
Aia nā pua a me nā lau ʻai i nā mākua. (= The adults have the flowers and the vegetables)
Aia iā ʻoe ka pōpoki. (= You have the cat)
Aia iā ia koʻu pālule. (= He has my shirt)
Aia iā ʻolua ko Māmā kaʻa. (= You have Mom's car)
Aia iā lāua kā Pāpā mau lolouila. (= They have Dad's computers)
Eia iaʻu kāu lolouila. (= I have your computer)
Eia iaʻu kā lākou mea pāʻani. (= I have their toy)
Eia iaʻu kā Tom mau pāʻani wikiō. (= I have Tom's video games)
Dialogue
Makia: E Māmā, aia i hea koʻu pālule?
Luika: Aia kou pālule hou i kou kaikuaʻana.
Makia: No ke aha? ʻAʻohe ona pālule?
Luika: ʻAʻohe ona pālule i holoi ʻia. Aia i hea kou pālule ʻē aʻe? *i holoi ʻia = washed
Makia: Aia i koʻu hoa aloha. ʻAʻole hiki iaʻu ke hele i ke kula.
Luika: Tsā! E komo ʻoe i ka muʻumuʻu a hele aku! *komo = put on [clothes]
[Dialogue adapted from Ka Lei Haʻaheo, p. 217]
Other phrases
Aia (nō) iā ʻoe. (= It's up to you, whatever you want to do)
- Hiki iaʻu ke nānā i kēia polokalamu? (= Can I watch this show?)
- Aia iā ʻoe, e hele aku ana au. (= It's up to you, I'm leaving)