Time Expressions in Hawaiian

In Brief

Hawaiian time expressions often begin with i: i kēia lā “today,” i nehinei “yesterday,” and i ka hola ʻekolu “at three o’clock.” To name a clock time, put the number after ka hola: ka hola ʻekolu “three o’clock.” The ʻokina (ʻ) and kahakō (the macron, as in ā) are meaningful parts of Hawaiian spelling.

Overview

Time words let you place an event on a day, in a part of the day, or at a precise hour. At A1, the most useful forms are i kēia lā (today), i nehinei (yesterday), ʻapōpō (tomorrow), the names of the weekdays and months, and ka hola + number for a clock time. These expressions appear in plans, appointments, opening hours, and everyday questions.

The basic patterns are compact, but they do not always match English word for word. English says “three o’clock,” while Hawaiian says ka hola ʻekolu, literally “the hour three.” English also uses several prepositions—“on Monday,” “in June,” and “at three”—where Hawaiian commonly uses i before a time expression.

A time expression usually tells when something happens; it does not by itself show whether the event is past, present, or future. In a full sentence, Hawaiian verb markers supply that information. You can learn the time phrases first, then notice how they combine with markers such as ua for a completed event and e ... ana for a future or ongoing event.

How It Works

Today, yesterday, and tomorrow

Hawaiian	English	Note
i kēia lā	today	Literally “on/at this day”
i nehinei	yesterday	Refers to the previous day
ʻapōpō	tomorrow	Often stands without i

In kēia lā, kēia means “this” and lā means “day.” The initial i marks the phrase as a time setting. The same short phrases can answer a question by themselves:

• I kēia lā. — Today.
• I nehinei. — Yesterday.
• ʻApōpō. — Tomorrow.

In a full sentence, the time phrase may come at the beginning or after the main statement. Putting it first makes the time setting especially clear:

• I kēia lā, ke hana nei au. — Today, I am working.
• Ua hana au i nehinei. — I worked yesterday.
• E hana ana au ʻapōpō. — I will work tomorrow.

Here, au means “I.” The pairs ke ... nei and e ... ana are discontinuous verb markers (markers whose two parts surround the verb). You do not need to master them to use the time words, but they show an important point: i nehinei does not make a verb past by itself, and ʻapōpō does not make it future by itself.

Parts of the day

Hawaiian	English	Typical time phrase
kakahiaka	morning	i ke kakahiaka — in the morning
awakea	noon, midday	i ke awakea — at noon
ʻauinalā	afternoon	i ka ʻauinalā — in the afternoon
ahiahi	evening	i ke ahiahi — in the evening
pō	night	i ka pō — at night

The article changes between ke and ka, both meaning “the.” Learn each common time phrase as a complete unit rather than guessing the article from English. Aloha kakahiaka (“good morning”) and aloha ahiahi (“good evening”) are greetings, while i ke kakahiaka and i ke ahiahi place an event in time.

A clock time can be made more specific by adding a part of the day:

• ka hola ʻehiku o ke kakahiaka — seven in the morning
• ka hola ʻelua o ka ʻauinalā — two in the afternoon
• ka hola ʻewalu o ke ahiahi — eight in the evening

The linking o can be understood here as “of”: “the seven o’clock of the morning.”

Days of the week

Hawaiian	English	Helpful connection
Poʻakahi	Monday	kahi relates to one/first
Poʻalua	Tuesday	lua relates to two/second
Poʻakolu	Wednesday	kolu relates to three/third
Poʻahā	Thursday	hā relates to four/fourth
Poʻalima	Friday	lima relates to five/fifth
Poʻaono	Saturday	ono relates to six/sixth
Lāpule	Sunday	The conventional name for Sunday

The sequence from Poʻakahi through Poʻaono makes the number system useful. To say that something happens on a particular day, place i before the day name:

• i ka Poʻakahi — on Monday
• i ka Poʻalima — on Friday
• i ka Lāpule — on Sunday

The article ka is normal in these phrases. This differs from English, where weekday names usually appear without “the.” Do not copy the English pattern and drop ka automatically.

Months

Modern Hawaiian month names are adapted forms used with the Gregorian calendar.

Hawaiian	English
Ianuali	January
Pepeluali	February
Malaki	March
ʻApelila	April
Mei	May
Iune	June
Iulai	July
ʻAukake	August
Kepakemapa	September
ʻOkakopa	October
Nowemapa	November
Kekemapa	December

Use i to locate an event in a month:

• i Iune — in June
• i ka mahina ʻo ʻAukake — in the month of August

Mahina can mean “month” as well as “moon,” a connection that reflects the close relationship between lunar cycles and the traditional understanding of time. The expanded pattern ka mahina ʻo + name explicitly presents the month’s name.

Telling the hour

The core clock pattern is:

ka hola + number

Hawaiian	English	Structure
ka hola ʻekahi	one o’clock	hola + one
ka hola ʻelua	two o’clock	hola + two
ka hola ʻekolu	three o’clock	hola + three
ka hola ʻehā	four o’clock	hola + four
ka hola ʻumi	ten o’clock	hola + ten

The number follows hola. This is the reverse of the most tempting English-based error: Hawaiian does not say the equivalent of “three hour” for three o’clock.

To say at a clock time, add i:

• i ka hola ʻekolu — at three o’clock
• i ka hola ʻumi o ke kakahiaka — at ten in the morning

A useful question is ʻEhia kēia hola? (“What time is it?”). One complete answer is ʻO ka hola ʻekolu kēia (“It is three o’clock”). In casual context, the shorter Ka hola ʻekolu is enough.

For elapsed duration, “hour” is a unit being counted rather than a clock label. ʻEkolu hola means “three hours,” while ka hola ʻekolu means “three o’clock.” The presence and position of ka make the difference clear.

Examples in Context

Hawaiian	English	Note
I kēia lā, ke aʻo nei au i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.	Today, I am studying Hawaiian.	Time setting placed first
Ua hele au i ke kula i nehinei.	I went to school yesterday.	ua marks a completed event
E hele ana kākou ʻapōpō.	We will go tomorrow.	kākou includes the listener
Hana ʻo ia i ka Poʻakahi.	He or she works on Monday.	Weekday phrase with i ka
E hui kākou i ka Poʻalima.	Let’s meet on Friday.	A plan on a named day
Hoʻomaha lākou i ka Lāpule.	They rest on Sunday.	Sunday as a time setting
Aloha kakahiaka!	Good morning!	Greeting, not an “in the morning” phrase
Ke ʻai nei mākou i ke awakea.	We are eating at noon.	mākou excludes the listener
Heluhelu au i ka pō.	I read at night.	Habitual time phrase
ʻO ka hola ʻekolu kēia.	It is three o’clock.	Complete clock-time answer
E hoʻomaka ana ka papa i ka hola ʻeiwa.	The class will start at nine o’clock.	i introduces the time
ʻEkolu hola ka lōʻihi.	It is three hours long.	Duration, not three o’clock
Aia ka ʻaha mele i Iune.	The concert is in June.	Month introduced by i
E ʻai kākou i ka hola ʻehiku o ke ahiahi.	We will eat at seven in the evening.	Hour plus part of day

Common Mistakes

Putting the number before hola

• Wrong: ka ʻekolu hola (for “three o’clock”)
• Right: ka hola ʻekolu
• Why: A named clock hour follows the pattern ka hola + number. ʻEkolu hola, without ka, instead counts a duration of three hours.

Dropping the time marker from a weekday

• Wrong: Hele au Poʻalima.
• Right: Hele au i ka Poʻalima.
• Why: For “on Friday,” Hawaiian normally uses i ka before the weekday. English uses “on” but no article; Hawaiian uses both the time marker and ka.

Treating a time word as a tense marker

• Wrong idea: Adding i nehinei automatically makes any clause past.
• Right: Ua hana au i nehinei. — I worked yesterday.
• Why: The time phrase says when. The verb phrase shows how the event is viewed; here ua presents it as completed.

Confusing “three o’clock” with “three hours”

• Wrong: Ua hana au i ka hola ʻekolu when you mean “I worked for three hours.”
• Right: Ua hana au no ʻekolu hola. — I worked for three hours.
• Why: i ka hola ʻekolu identifies a point on the clock. no ʻekolu hola gives a duration (“for three hours”).

Ignoring the ʻokina and kahakō

• Wrong: apopo, Poakahi
• Right: ʻapōpō, Poʻakahi
• Why: The ʻokina represents a consonant sound, and the kahakō marks a long vowel. Omitting them hides the intended pronunciation and is not careful standard spelling.

Usage Notes

Hawaiian commonly places a time phrase either before or after the clause. Initial position establishes the scene—I kēia lā, ...—and is especially useful when contrasting today with another day. Final position often feels like adding the scheduling detail: E hui kākou i ka Poʻalima (“We will meet on Friday”).

English speakers should resist translating prepositions one at a time. English distinguishes “on Monday,” “in June,” and “at three,” but Hawaiian can use i in all three environments: i ka Poʻakahi, i Iune, and i ka hola ʻekolu. Learn these as Hawaiian patterns, not as a claim that i always equals one particular English word.

You may encounter both traditional Hawaiian ways of organizing time and the modern Gregorian weekdays, months, and clock. The month list above is the practical modern set. Traditional Hawaiian lunar months and named nights belong to a deeper cultural calendar and do not map neatly onto the Gregorian system.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master minute-by-minute clock expressions at A1. Once the whole-hour pattern is secure, you may encounter hapa (“half”) and hapahā (“quarter”) in more detailed time expressions. Usage can vary in how speakers frame the relationship to the hour, so learn such expressions from complete, reliable examples rather than building them by direct translation from “half past” or “quarter to.” In everyday conversation, digital-style hour-and-minute readings are also common.

At a later stage, distinguish several meanings that English compresses into “time.” Hola is an hour and appears in clock readings. Manawa refers more broadly to time, a period, occasion, or season. Lā is a day, and mahina can refer to a month or the moon. Choosing the right noun depends on whether you are naming a clock unit, a general period, a day, or a month.

More advanced Hawaiian also has a rich traditional vocabulary for phases of the day, seasons, lunar nights, and culturally significant periods. These terms carry knowledge about environment and practice; they should not be treated merely as exotic replacements for Western calendar labels. The beginner patterns in this article remain useful alongside that richer system.

Practice Tips

1. Build a seven-day schedule. Write one short activity for each weekday using i ka Poʻakahi, i ka Poʻalua, and so on. Say each line aloud, keeping the ʻokina in the weekday names.
2. Contrast point and duration. Make pairs such as i ka hola ʻelua (“at two o’clock”) and ʻelua hola (“two hours”). This prevents one of the most common English-based mix-ups.
3. Give a daily three-line report. Say what happened i nehinei, what is happening i kēia lā, and what will happen ʻapōpō. Use a full sentence so that the time phrase and the verb marker are practiced together.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers — supplies the number forms used after ka hola and when counting hours.