he
/he/
In Hawaiian, the English phrase "a" is expressed by he.
he is an indefinite article used to refer to a single person or thing. It is used to state identity or classification, such as saying you are a certain type of person.
Which one should you use?
While he functions as the indefinite article "a/an", the words ka or ke are used as the definite articles "the".
How does it change in a sentence?
The form he is used specifically for singular nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/he/
Did you know?
- While he means 'a', it is completely unrelated to the English word 'he'. In Hawaiian, pronouns are not determined by gender, so there is no specific word for a male person.
- The word he can also function as a way to signal that a noun is being used as a predicate, effectively acting like the word 'is' in certain sentence structures.
- The word he is a homonym for the Hawaiian word meaning 'to lift' or 'to raise' up, depending on the context and usage.
Examples in context
- he wahine auI am a womanThis sentence is useful for stating your identity using he.
- he wahine kānaS/he has a wifeThis sentence is useful for showing possession using he.
- He wahine au.I am a woman.Tatoeba #3083409 by RoyalBee, translation #740214 by CC
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Keanu and Leilani are looking at a pet store window.
- KeanuHe ʻīlio nani kēia.This is a beautiful dog.
- LeilaniʻAe, he ʻīlio liʻiliʻi ia.Yes, it is a small dog.
- KeanuMakemake au i he ʻīlio.I want a dog.
- LeilaniHe manaʻo maikaʻi kēlā, Keanu.That is a good idea, Keanu.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry he, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0, Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
