pehea ʻoe?
In Hawaiian, the phrase 'how are you' is said as pehea ʻoe?
pehea ʻoe? is a greeting used to ask about a person's well-being.
Meaning: greeting (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of pehea meaning 'how' and ʻoe meaning 'you'.
Which one should you use?
pehea ʻoe? is used when addressing one person, whereas pehea ʻoukou? is used for multiple people.
How does it change in a sentence?
To ask 'how are you' to a group of people, use pehea ʻoukou? instead of the singular pehea ʻoe?
When do people say it?
A common response to pehea ʻoe? is maikaʻi au, which means 'I am good' or 'I am fine'.
Did you know?
- In traditional Hawaiian culture, a greeting is often accompanied by a honi, where two people touch noses and foreheads to share a breath.
- If you are greeting someone of very high rank or status, you would traditionally use a different set of pronouns than those found in pehea ʻoe?
- The glottal stop in ʻoe, represented by the symbol ʻ called an ʻokina, is a full consonant and is essential for the word to be understood correctly.
Examples in context
- Pehea ʻoe?How are you?This example shows the use of pehea ʻoe?Tatoeba #4913111 by nonong, translation #373320 by CK
- Aloha, pehea ʻoe?Hello, how are you?
Example conversation
Two friends meet on a sidewalk.
- NoelaniAloha Ikaika, pehea ʻoe?Hello Ikaika, how are you?
- IkaikaMaikaʻi au, a ʻoe?I am fine, and you?
- NoelaniMaikaʻi pū au.I am also fine.
- IkaikaHana hou!Until next time!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “how are you” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
