This document introduces Hawaiian articles and determiners called ka'i that are used with nouns. The main ka'i are ka (the), he (a/an), and ke (the). It also discusses the words for "that" (kēlā means that which is far, kēnā means that which is near). The document provides examples of how to use different ka'i like kou (your) and kona (his/her) with nouns. It also covers making nouns plural with the word "mau" and some special plural forms.

1. KA`I HAW 101

2. KA`I Ka and ke are two of a group of words called ka`i because they alaka`i (lead) most nouns. Thus, you can think of a ka`i as a noun announcer.

3. HE a, an KA the KE the KĒIA this KĒLĀ that (far) KĒNĀ that (near) KO`U my KOU your KONA his/her* KEKAHI a/an, another, the other, a certain *Note that kona does not indicate whether the person being spoken about is male or female. You can usually tell from the context whether it should be translated as “his” or “her.”

4. Only ONE ka`i should be used per noun. For example: HE PĀPALE a hat KA PĀPALE the hat KĒIA PĀPALE this hat KĒLĀ PĀPALE that (f) hat KĒNĀ PĀPALE that (n) hat KO`U PĀPALE my hat KOU PĀPALE your hat KONA PĀPALE his hat, her hat KEKAHI PĀPALE a hat, the other hat, a certain hat

6. KĒLĀ vs. KĒNĀ There are two Hawaiian words translated as “that” in English. Hawaiian thinking is more specific than English thinking in this instance. KĒLĀ vs. KĒNĀ that (far) that (near) Far from the person Near to the person you are speaking to you are speaking to

7. KĒLĀ vs. KĒNĀ Specifically, “kēlā” means that (far), as in the person/place/thing that you are referring to is not near (hence far) to the person you are speaking to. For example, you would point to the sky and say to a friend, “What kind of bird is that (kēlā)?” The other word for “that” is “kēnā.” Specifically, kēnā means that (near), as in the person/place/thing that you are referring to is near to the person you are speaking to. For example, you notice that your friend has something green on his front teeth. You would say, “Hey, what is that (kēnā) on your teeth?”

8. KEKAHI KEKAHI ___ A __, a certain __, another __, the other __ KEKAHI O NĀ ______ One of the ________ kekahi manu kekahi o nā manu a bird, a certain bird one of the birds kekahi penikala kekahi o nā penikala a pencil, a certain pencil one of the pencils

9. KA`I NOTES Ka`i are often used even if there is no equivalent in English. See the following examples: Aloha, e ke kumu! Hello, (the) teacher! Aia ke keiki ma ke kula. The child is at (the) school. Hele au i ka halepule ma ka lāpule. I go to (the) church on (the) Sunday. Even though it sounds odd to include “the” before words like “teacher,” “school,” “church,” and “Sunday” in English, it is incorrect to leave it out in Hawaiian sentences. Note that the word kahakai (beach) is an exception and is not typically preceded by ke as shown in the following example. Ua `ike wau iā `oe ma kahakai. I saw you at the beach.

10. PLURAL: MAU The word “mau” is used before a word to make it a helunui (plural). You may think of “mau” as a way to add “-s” to the end of a word in English. Helukahi (singular) Helunui (plural) ko`u hoaaloha my friend ko`u mau hoaaloha my friends kēia hale this house kēia mau hale these houses kona puke his/her book kona mau puke his/her books kēlā keiki that child kēlā mau keiki those children he peni a pen he mau peni pens (some pens) kekahi pepa a (certain) paper kekahi mau pepa some papers

11. SPECIAL NOTES Note: Some words have an added kahakō when made plural, as in the following: Helukahi (singular) Helunui (plural) ka makua the parent nā mākua the parents kona mau mākua his/her parents ke kanaka the person nā kānaka the people kēlā mau kānaka those people

12. SPECIAL NOTES Continued… Helukahi (singular) Helunui (plural) ka wahine the woman nā wāhine the women ka `elemakule the old man nā `elemākule the old men ka luahine the old woman nā luāhine the old women ke kaikamahine the girl nā kaikamāhine the girls