Asking what something is and answering

A useful thing to know when you are learning Hawaiian is being able to ask someone what something is. Here we will learn sentence patterns so that you can ask someone what something is; and understand their answer.

We will first learn to ask these three things:

1) What is this?

2) What is that near you?

3) What is that?

Before getting into the sentences understand that Hawaiian is different in the division of a personʻs space into 3 regions where English differentiates only between two regions (this & that).

English

this: the space near me

that: the space NOT near me, or the space near you

Hawaiian

kēia (this): The space near me

kēnā (that): The space near you

kēlā (that): The space not near you and not near me

kēia Imagine the space you would normally consider your own space where you would say "this can of soda" or "this pencil". Its just about the area you would reach around and could touch.

kēnā Now imagine that same type of space extends around the person you are speaking to; something they are holding or is just immediately surrounding them; if they could reach out and touch it it is kēnā. The space which is theirs. In English, it would be "that which is next to you".

kēlā What doesnʻt fall into into either category is kēlā. That which is not near your physical space and not near mine. Or the abstract "that" which refers to something being mentioned but not existing in the current space; like "oh, that book!" when mentioning a book someone had read; when there are no books around. To simplify things between kēnā and kēlā for translation we will term kēnā as "that near you" and kēlā simply as "that". You should know that kēlā is "that not near you or me" but instead of repeating that you will just see "that". Kēlā you should translate it as "that". Kēnā you should translate as "that near you" or "that (near)", or "that (near you)" in the exercises. Now that we know the difference between the terms we need to learn how to ask the questions "What is this?" (kēiā), "What is that near you?" (kēnā), and "What is that?" (kēlā). To ask what something is in a particular space use the following sentence pattern: He aha _____? Substitute the blank spot for kēia, kēnā, or kēlā as follows: He aha kēia? What is this? He aha kēnā? What is that (near)? He aha kēlā? What is that? You should know the responses as well. We are using English for now to substitute for the Hawaiian word. If you know the Hawaiian word feel free to use it; otherwise use the English. He (object) ______. He pencil kēia. This is a pencil. He cola kēnā That (near you) is a cola. He flower kēlā That is a flower. Now think about how you would go about asking someone what something in their hands was? What is that? This is a watch. To say this in Hawaiian we need to remember the spaces. When we ask "what is that?" we mean "what is that (near you)?" When they answer "This is a watch" they mean "This (in my space) is a watch." So in Hawaiian we would ask. He aha kēnā? What is that (near you)? And we would expect the answer to be: He watch kēia. This is a watch. Exercise 1: Find some objects around the house (15-20) and a person. If you canʻt find a person substitute an inanimate object like a lamp or a stuffed animal. We will be using some English here since we don't know the Hawaiian yet. If you are using a person please show them the exercise so that they can respond in simplest terms like the examples. Itʻs important to know that we are referring to single quantities of objects (flower versus flowers; pencil versus pencils). Hawaiian has a plural markers we havenʻt learned yet. Also we arenʻt referring to people but objects; we arenʻt going to use sentences like "This is Kawika" yet as this is handled differently in Hawaiian than what we have just learned. Place roughly the same number of objects around you, around the person or lamp/stuffed animal (representing the person you are talking to), and in a space not occupied by either. For each of the objects ask: What is this/that (near you)/that? and answer (change the voice if it helps): This/That near you/that is cup. Remember to use the correct location in both.