"This is a smart man."

Translation: He kāne akamai kēia.

[DanielKulkamp]

I can't get the pattern for word order...

[jdmcowan]

It's very complicated since a single word might be able to act like a verb, a noun, an adjective, or an adverb depending on where it is in the sentence. And for a "to be" sentence ("this is that") there's not really a verb at all. Perhaps the following breakdown will help you understand the pattern in this sentence:
He kāne "A man"
He kāne kēia. "This is a man."
He kāne akamai "A smart man"
He kāne akamai kēia. "This is a smart man."

[JuanHerrrera]

Mahalo!

[Nngpi]

As I understand it, Hawaiian word order is somewhat like Yoda-speak to us: "A man smart (is) he".

[NoeLani103212]

Exactly

[JosephGard19]

Can someone help me, what is the grammar pattern in Hawaiian, like adjective,then noun... Please send help

[jdmcowan]

There are a couple different word orders, but the main sentence pattern is:
(tense) Verb (adverb) (directional) Determiner Subject (adjective) (preposition+object) (adjective) (preposition+locative)

[john555186]

i can't seem to grasp hawaiian word order, you have a site that taught you? would really appreciate it

[CassieColl12]

Order Na Kai Ewalu V1

[Nicola521262]

I don't understand why is incorrect to say "Akamai keia kane" :(

[jdmcowan]

Because that means "This man is smart" which is a different sentence from "This is a smart man."

[Nicola521262]

Thank you for your reply.
I understand now :)