Come on, if you’re going to Hawaii you gotta learn some greetings beyond just ‘Aloha’.
In this post I’ll cover how to greet people in Hawaiian and some essential phrases including ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’.
I’ll also cover some other greeting etiquette such as gestures that are used to say ‘hi’.
Lets start with the MOST essential greeting in Hawaiian…
Table of Contents
How Do You Say ‘Hello’ Or ‘Hi’ In Hawaiian?
If you want to say ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ to someone in Hawaiian then you can do so with the following phrase:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
Hello | Aloha |
The word ‘aloha’ actually means both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.
‘Aloha’ actually means much more than this, it is also a way of life (yes that’s right!).
You can use this word to send out kindness, love, positive intentions and respect to others.
A great phrase to follow this with would be ‘how are you?’ in Hawaiian.
Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of ‘aloha’ by a native Hawaiian speaker:
Another common greeting phrase you might hear in Hawaiian is ‘Howzit?’:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
How’s it going?/What’s up? | Howzit? |
This slang term was developed from the English phrase ‘how is it?’ and it’s very commonly used in Hawaii as a greeting.
Other Greetings In Hawaiian e.g. ‘Good Morning’
You may want to use some other greetings in Hawaiian such as ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’.
Check out these other Hawaiian greetings below:
‘Good Morning’ In Hawaiian
To say ‘good morning’ in Hawaiian, you can say:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
Good morning (6AM – 10AM) | Aloha kakahiaka |
Good noontime (10AM – 2PM) | Aloha awakea |
The phrase ‘aloha kakahiaka’ which means ‘good morning’ should be used between the hours of 6AM and 10AM.
From 10AM until 2PM, you should use ‘aloha awakea’ which means ‘good noontime’ to greet people.
‘Good Afternoon’ In Hawaiian
To say ‘good afternoon’ in Hawaiian, you can say “aloha ‘auinala”:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
Good afternoon | Aloha ‘auinala |
You would use this phrase from 2PM until 6PM.
‘Good Evening’ In Hawaiian
To say ‘good evening’ in Hawaiian, you can say “aloha ahiahi”:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
Good evening | Aloha ahiahi |
You would use this phrase from 6PM until 10PM.
‘Good Night’ In Hawaiian
To say ‘good night’ in Hawaiian, you can say “aloha po”:
English | Hawaiian |
---|---|
Good night | Aloha po |
Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of ‘good morning’, ‘good noontime’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good evening’ by a native Hawaiian speaker:
Greet With The Shaka Sign 🤙🏼
Another common way to greet someone in Hawaii is using the Shaka sign.
This friendly gesture is often used to mean ‘what’s up?’ or ‘how’s it going?’ in Hawaii.
All you need to do is extend your thumb and little finger and curl the other 3 fingers into your palm.
Check out the video below to see the Shaka sign in action.
Drivers in Hawaii often use the Shaka sign to show both greetings and gratitude to other drivers.
Thanks for reading this post on how to greet someone in Hawaiian.
Hopefully you now know how to say ‘hello’ in Hawaiian and also how to say ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’ in Hawaiian.
You can find out more about the Hawaiian language here.
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