2. LOA`A
• The word loa a is an a ano. As a reminder, a ano are stativeʻ ʻ ʻ ʻ ʻ
verbs. As the name implies, stative verbs refer to a state or
condition of a person or an object. When using a ano, theʻ ʻ
ami preceding the object will always be i or i .ʻ ā
• Loa a – to find, get, obtain, discover, acquire, have, take,ʻ
earn, gain, locate, procure, reach, receive, catch, win.
LOA Aʻ object I subject (ka i + meme a)ʻ ʻ
LOA Aʻ object IĀ papani/i oaʻ
3. LOA Aʻ object I subject (ka i + meme a)ʻ ʻ
• English thinking: My son earned that money.
• Hawaiian thinking: That money was earned by
my son.
• Unuhi: Ua loa a k l k l i ka u keiki k ne.ʻ ē ā ā ā ʻ ā
• English thinking: Your mom is going to win/get
the prize.
• Hawaiian thinking: The prize is going to be
won/gotten by your mom.
• Unuhi: E loa a ana ka makana i kou m m .ʻ ā ā
4. CONTRACTIONS
• Note that the same rules/contractions apply to
i/i as they do in other sentences:ā
– I used for ka i + meme aʻ ʻ
– Iā used for i oa and papani with the followingʻ
noted contractions:
I + AU = IA UĀ ʻ
I + O IA = I IAĀ ʻ Ā
5. LOA Aʻ object IĀ papani/i oaʻ
• English thinking: I found my dictionary.
• Hawaiian thinking: The dictionary was found by
me.
• Unuhi: Ua loa a ka puke wehewehe lelo ia uʻ ʻō ʻ
• English thinking: Mana found my dog.
• Hawaiian thinking: My dog was found by Mana.
• Unuhi: Ua loa a ka u lio i Mana.ʻ ʻ ʻī ā
6. IMPORTANT NOTES
• In conversations, you may hear loa a beingʻ
pronounced as “lo a.” It is typically used inʻ
casual conversations and should never be
written as lo a. In a formal situation, youʻ
would always pronounce it as “loa a.”ʻ
7. LOA`A = THERE IS
• Loa a is frequently used to express the ideaʻ
“There is….”
– Loa a ka poi?ʻ Is there any poi? (Got poi?)
– Loa a he laina.ʻ There’s a line.
– A ole loa a.ʻ ʻ ʻ There isn’t any (No get).
– Loa a he manu i loko o ka hale k ai.ʻ ūʻ
There’s a bird in the store.
8. LOA`A w/ILLNESS
• Also note that in English you would say “I have a cold.” In
Hawaiian thinking, however, you would not say “(Ua) loa a ke anuʻ
ia u.” To do so would infer that you went seeking the cold and got itʻ
(because you want it). In most cases, you do not seek a cold or a
sickness, but rather it finds you. Thus, to say “I have a cold” in
Hawaiian, one would say “(Ua) loa a au i ke anu” which wouldʻ
literally translate as “I am gotten by the cold.” The same mana oʻ
(thinking) would apply to other illnesses.
– She has a cold. Ua loa a o ia i ke anu.ʻ ʻ
– Kapua has a cold. Ua loa a o Kapua i ke anu.ʻ ʻ
– The child has a cold. Ua loa a ke keiki i ke anu.ʻ
*Note that you do not have to always use “he” for “a.” The ka i “ke” orʻ
“ka” is often translated as “a” as in the examples above.
9. IMPORTANT NOTES
• Because you are just starting to become familiar with this
pattern, please stick to translating them as shown above. As
you become more comfortable with the proper usage of the
word “loa a,” you may switch the first and second halves ofʻ
the sentence, particularly when the subject is a papani, as
done with many fluent speakers. See below for an example:
• English thinking: I found my dictionary.
• Hawaiian thinking: The dictionary was found by me.
• Unuhi: Ua loa a ka puke wehewehe lelo ia uʻ ʻō ʻ OR
Ua loa a ia u ka puke wehewehe lelo.ʻ ʻ ʻō
