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How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Tongan & Common Responses

In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Tongan. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Tonga or if you’re travelling there. 

Tongan is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch. It is spoken predominantly in Tonga, where it is a national language. There are approximately 187,000 speakers of Tongan.

How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Tongan

There are a few different ways to ask ‘how are you?’. Here are the most common:

EnglishTongan
How are you? (to 1 person)Fefe hake?
How are you? (to 2 people)Mo fefe hake?
How are you? (to 3+ people)Mou fefe hake?
Are you ok?Sai pe?

How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Tongan

There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.

EnglishTongan
Thank youMalo
I’m fineSai pe
Very goodSai ‘aupito
I’m tired‘Oku ou hela’ia
I’m hungry‘Oku ou fie kai’a
I’m happy‘Oku ou fiefia
I’m sleepy‘Oku ou fiemohea

It’s also useful to know how to say ‘and you?’ or ‘what about you?’ to find out how someone else is if they ask you.

EnglishTongan
And you?Fefe koe?

Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of these phrases by a native speaker:

Example Conversation:

Person 1: Fefe hake? (How are you?)

Person 2: Sai pe, malo. Fefe koe? (I’m fine, thanks. And you?)

Person 1: Sai pe. (I’m fine)


Thanks for reading this post. 

You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Tongan and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked! 

You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases. 

Increase your vocabulary further by learning how to wish someone a happy birthday in Tongan.

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