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Essential Hawaiian Greetings – How To Say ‘Hello’ + More

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…

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:

EnglishHawaiian
HelloAloha

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?’:

EnglishHawaiian
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:

EnglishHawaiian
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”:

EnglishHawaiian
Good afternoonAloha ‘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”:

EnglishHawaiian
Good eveningAloha 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”:

EnglishHawaiian
Good nightAloha 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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