Want to learn a bit of Hawaiian?
Good on you.
Then this article will make you a little smarter and teach you some basic Hawaiian phrases. You’ll learn how to say hello in Hawaiian. You’ll learn how to introduce yourself.
And, you can always print this page out for reference.
Top 28 Basic Hawaiian Phrases.
Let’s start with the Hawaiian basics.
Here’s how you say hello in Hawaiian and do basic Hawaiian greetings.
1. Hello – Aloha
2. Hi – howzit
This is a bonus phrase and is Hawaiian pidgin slang. It has a bunch if meanings. You can use it to say “hi,” “hello,” “What’s up?” or “How are you?”
4. Good morning – Aloha kakahiaka
5. Good afternoon – Aloha ʻauinalā
6. Good evening – Aloha ahiahi
Now, what about “how are you?”
How do you say “How are you” in Hawaiian? There are 3 ways, depending on the number of people you’re talking to.
7. How are you in Hawaiian
- Pehea ʻoe? (asking 1 person)
- Pehea ʻolua? (asking 2 people)
- Pehea ʻoukou? (asking 3+ people)
Now, how can you reply to that?
8. I’m good and you? Maikaʻi, a ʻo ʻoe?
What about bye in Hawaiian? There are a few ways.
9. Bye in Hawaiian
- Aloha – Bye
- Ahui hou – Until we meet again
- Aloha, a hui hou – goodbye until we meet again (farewell)
Now, what about “what’s your name” in Hawaiian?
You’ll need that for basic introductions.
10. What’s your name? -ʻO wai kou inoa?
How would you respond to that?
11. My name is…
You can say one of the following phrases:
- ʻO [name] koʻu inoa.
- ʻO koʻu inoa ʻo [name].
12. Nice to meet you – Hauʻoli kēia hui ʻana o kāua
Now, what about “thank you” and “you’re welcome” in Hawaiian?
13. Thank you – Mahalo
14. You’re welcome – He mea iki ia.
15. Where are you from? – No hea mai ʻoe?
16. I’m from [place] – No [place] mai au
Now, what about basic words like “Yes” and “No” in Hawaiian.
17. Yes – ʻAe
18. No – ʻAʻole
19. Maybe – Pēlā paha
20. I don’t know – ʻAʻole au maopopo
At some point, you will run out of Hawaiian phrases to say, so this next one will be useful.
21. Do you speak English? – ʻŌlelo anei ʻoe i ka ʻōlelo Pelekāne?
And a similar Hawaiian phrase is this…
22. Do you speak Hawaiian? – ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi ‘oe?
You can answer either of these questions in one of two ways.
23. I understand – Maopopo iaʻu
24. I don’t understand – ʻAʻole au maopopo
Another useful Hawaiian phrase to know is this next one.
Use it and you will learn a lot of Hawaiian.
25. How do you say [ X ] in Hawaiian? Pehea ʻoe i ʻōlelo ai [ X ] ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi?
And what if you’re shopping in Hawaii? Well, you can ask this…
26. How much is this? – ʻEhia kēia?
Finally, it’s good to learn phrases that show courtesy and politeness. So, these next two phrases will be important.
27. Excuse me – E kala mai iaʻu!
28. Sorry – E kala mai iaʻu!
Now, you know a whole bunch of Hawaiian phrases. Enough to have a small chat with Hawaiians.
If you want to learn even more Hawaiian phrase and master more of the language, I recommend checking out some books. No, not mine. I don’t have any.
Here are some highly rated ones on Amazon you can check via my affiliate links.
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Am I a native speaker? No. Am I interested in the language? Yes.
Should there be more phrases in this article? Of course. If you have suggestions and feedback, please leave a comment down below.
The Main Lingua Junkie
aloha