Greetings and politeness in Hawaiian
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the eleven openers everything else builds on. Play the ten Hawaiian words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 11 Hawaiian phrases in this lesson
- Alohaah-LOH-hah
- Hello
- Aloha kakahiakaah-LOH-hah kah-kah-hee-AH-kah
- Good morning
- Aloha ahiahiah-LOH-hah ah-hee-AH-hee
- Good evening
- A hui houah HOO-ee HOH
- Goodbye
- A hui hou akuah HOO-ee hoh AH-koo
- See you
- E ʻoluʻolueh OH-loo-OH-loo
- Please
- Mahalomah-HAH-loh
- Thank you
- He mea ikiheh MEH-ah EE-kee
- You're welcome
- E kala mai iaʻueh KAH-lah mai ee-AH-oo
- Sorry
- E kala maieh KAH-lah mai
- Excuse me
- Hauʻoli kēia hālāwai ʻanahow-OH-lee KAY-ah hah-lah-WAI AH-nah
- Nice to meet you
Hello, goodbye and love in one word. Literally the presence of breath.
Literally "aloha, morning".
Literally "aloha, evening".
Literally "until we meet again". Hawaiian has no final goodbye.
Until we meet again. It extends the same farewell used for Goodbye.
The ʻ is the ʻokina, a catch in the throat like the middle of "uh-oh".
"Mahalo nui loa" is thank you very much.
Literally "it is a small thing". "ʻAʻole pilikia" (ah-OH-leh pee-lee-KEE-ah), no trouble, is also common.
Literally "forgive me", the real apology.
Literally "pardon", to get past someone or get their attention.
Literally "this meeting is happy". The line over a vowel, the kahakō, makes it long.