Hawaiian grammar


This article summarizes grammar in the Hawaiian language.

Syntax

Hawaiian is a predominantly verb–subject–object language. However, word order is flexible, and the emphatic word can be placed first in the sentence. Hawaiian largely avoids subordinate clauses, and often uses a possessive construction instead.
Hawaiian, like English, is a non-pro-drop language. Nonetheless, there is an exception with commands, where the use of subject pronouns is optional. In these cases, the subject pronoun is seldom used if the context deems it unnecessary, as in e hele i ke kula " go to the school", "go to school"; here, the subject "you" is understood, and can be omitted.
The typical detailed word order is given by the following, with most items optional:

Exceptions to VSO word order

If the sentence has a negative mood and the subject is a pronoun, word order is subject–verb–object following the negator ʻaʻole, as in:
Another exception is when an emphatic adverbial phrase begins the sentence. In this case, a pronoun subject precedes the verb.

Interrogatives

s can be unmarked and expressed by intonation, or they can be marked by placing anei after the leading word of the sentence. Examples of question-word questions include:
See also .

Nouns

A verb can be nominalized by preceding it with the definite article. Within the noun phrase, adjectives follow the noun, while possessors precede it. Numerals precede the noun in the absence of the definite article, but follow the noun if the noun is preceded by the definite article.

Gender

In Hawaiian, there is no gender distinction based on biological sex. The word for third person is ia. It is commonly preceded by o as in o ia but is usually written as two words, seldom one.
Hawaiian nouns belong to one of two genders, known as the kino ʻō and the kino ʻā. These classes are only taken into account when using the genitive case.
Kino ʻō nouns, in general, are nouns whose creation cannot be controlled by the subject, such as inoa "name", puuwai "heart", and hale "house". Specific categories for o-class nouns include: modes of transportation, things that you can go into, sit on or wear, and people in your generation and previous generations.
Kino ʻā nouns, in general, are those whose creation can be controlled, such as waihooluu "color", as in kau waihooluu punahele "my favorite color". Specific categories include: your boyfriend or girlfriend, spouse, friends, and future generations in your line.
The change of preposition of o "of" to a "of " is especially important for prepositional and subordinate phrases:
ka mea "the thing"
kona mea "his thing "
kāna mea "his thing "
ka mea āna i ʻike ai "the thing that he saw"
kāna i ʻike ai "what he saw"
kēia ʻike ʻana āna "this thing that he saw "
kēia ʻike ʻana ona "this thing that he saw " where the seeing isn't much import

Demonstrative determiners


Demonstrative determinersProximalMedialDistal
Singularkēiakēnākēlā
Pluralkēia maukēnā maukēlā mau
Singular ua... neiua... lā/alaua... lā/ala
Plural ua mau... neiua mau... lā/alaua mau... lā/ala

Personal pronouns


Verbs

Tense, aspect, and mood

Verbs can be analytically modified to indicate tense, aspect and mood as follows:
In his "Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar," W.D. Alexander proposed that Hawaiian has a pluperfect tense as follows:
However, this is debatable since ʻē simply means "beforehand, in advance, already". Andrews suggested the same thing that Alexander forwards. However, Ua hana ʻē au could mean both "I have already worked", "I already worked", and "I had worked previous to that moment." "Already" is the operative unifier for these constructions as well as the perfective quality denoted by ua. ʻĒ therefore is acting like a regular Hawaiian adverb, following the verb it modifies:
Ua hana paha au. Perhaps I worked.
Ua hana mālie au. I worked steadily, without disruption.
Ua hana naʻe au. I even worked.

Equative sentences

Hawaiian does not have a copula verb meaning "to be" nor does it have a verb meaning "to have". Equative sentences are used to convey this group of ideas. All equative sentences in Hawaiian are zero-tense/mood.

''Pepeke ʻAike He'' "A is a B"

Pepeke ʻAike He is the name for the simple equative sentence "A is a B". The pattern is "He B A." ʻO marks the third person singular pronoun ia and all proper nouns.
He kaikamahine ʻo Mary. Mary is a girl.
He kaikamahine ʻo ia. She is a girl.
He Hawaiʻi kēlā kaikamahine. That girl is Hawaiian.
He haumana ke keiki. The child is a student.

''Pepeke ʻAike ʻO''

Pepeke ʻAike ʻO is the name for the simple equative sentence "A is B." The pattern is " ʻO A B," where the order of the nouns is interchangeable and where ʻo invariably marks the third person singular pronoun ia and all proper nouns.
ʻO Mary ʻo ia. ʻOia ʻo Mary. She is Mary.
ʻO Mary nō ia. ʻOia nō ʻo Mary. It's Mary.
ʻO wau ʻo Mary. ʻO Mary wau. I'm Mary.
ʻO ʻoe ʻo Mary. ʻO Mary ʻoe. You are Mary.
ʻO Mary ke kaikamahine. ʻO ke kaikamahine ʻo Mary. Mary is the girl. The girl is Mary.
ʻO ka haumana ke keiki. ʻO ke keiki ka haumana. The student is the child. The child is the student.

''Pepeke Henua'' (Locational equative)

Pepeke Henua is the name for the simple equative sentence "A is located." The pattern is "Aia A..."
Aia ʻo Mary ma Hilo. Mary is in Hilo.
Aia ʻo ia maloko o ka wai. He/she/it is inside the water.
Aia ka haumana mahea? Aia mahea ka haumana? Where is the student?

Pepeke ʻAike Na

Pepeke ʻAike Na is the name of the simple equative sentence "A belongs to B." The pattern is "Na A." The singular pronouns undergo predictable changes.
PronounAgentiveGenitive "for" or "belonging to"
First person singular "I"aunaʻu
Second person singular "You"ʻoenāu
Third person singular "he/she/it" ianāna
First person plural, dual inclusive "we; you and I"kāuana kāua

Pepeke ʻAike Na Examples:
Naʻu ke kaʻa. The car belongs to me. That's my car.
Na Mary ke keiki. The child is Mary's. It's Mary's child.
Nāna ka penikala. The pencil belongs to him/her/it.
Nāu nō au. I belong to you. I'm yours.
Note:
ʻO kēia ke kaʻa nāu. This is the car I'm giving to you.
He makana kēlā na ke aliʻi. This is a present for the chief.

Other verbal particles

Other post-verbal markers include
s can be created from nouns and adjectives by using the prefix ho'o-, as illustrated in the following:
can emphasize or otherwise alter the meaning of a word. Examples are: