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"Have" is one of the most frequent verbs in English. Hausa has no verb "have": it says "I am with" — ina da, yana da, tana da. English "have" does three different jobs, and Hausa uses a different tool for each:
- Possession: "I have a book." In Hausa: Ina da littafi (continuous pronoun + da, "with"). - The helper verb of the perfect: "We have finished." Hausa has no separate word here; the completive pronoun does the work: Mun gama. - Obligation: "You have to help your mother." Hausa uses dole ne + subjunctive: Dole ne ka taimaki mahaifiyarka.
The forms of the English verb are few: have (I, you, we, they), has (he, she, it), had (all persons, past). In speech they are often shortened: I've, she's, we'd.
What does "have" mean in Hausa? Ina da, kana da, kina da, yana da, tana da, muna da, kuna da, suna da ("I am with…", "you are with…").
Key Takeaways:
- "Have" for possession = pronoun + da: I have = ina da; she has = tana da; we have = muna da. - "Has" is used only with he, she, it and singular nouns: "She has", never "She have". - "Have" + past participle is a tense, not possession: "I have eaten" = Na ci abinci. - "Have to" = must: "We have to go" = Dole ne mu tafi. - English says "I am hungry", not "I have hunger", although Hausa says ina da yunwa.
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have — strong form /hæv/; weak form /həv/ or /əv/ (I've /aɪv/, we've /wiːv/, they've /ðeɪv/)
has — strong form /hæz/; weak form /həz/ or /əz/ (she's /ʃiːz/, it's /ɪts/)
had — strong form /hæd/; weak form /həd/ or /əd/ (I'd /aɪd/, we'd /wiːd/)
Two sounds in "have" need care. The vowel /æ/ is not one of the Hausa vowels (a, e, i, o, u): open the mouth as for Hausa a, but push the tongue forward towards e. The consonant /v/ does not exist in Hausa, so learners often say "haf" or "hab". For /v/, touch the upper teeth to the lower lip, as for f, and let the voice sound through it. Close the word on the consonant — /hæv/, /hæz/ — with no vowel after it ("havu" or "hasi" is wrong).
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11.1 I ina have da a book littafi
11.2 She tana has da a goat akuya
11.3 We muna have da water ruwa
11.4 Do you kana have da money kuɗi?
11.5 I do not ba ni have da time lokaci
11.6 They suna have da three uku children yara
11.7 My father mahaifina has yana da many da yawa cows shanu
11.8 The teacher malamin has yana da many da yawa books littattafai
11.9 Have you kin eaten ci lunch abincin rana?
11.10 We mun have finished gama the work aikin
11.11 They do not ba su have da shoes takalma
11.12 Our town garinmu has yana da a good mai kyau school makaranta
11.13 Long ago a da we muna had da a farm gona near kusa da the river kogi
11.14 You have to dole ne ka help taimaki your mother mahaifiyarka
11.15 Tomorrow gobe we will have za mu yi visitors baƙi from daga Kano Kano
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11.1 I have a book. Ina da littafi.
11.2 She has a goat. Tana da akuya.
11.3 We have water. Muna da ruwa.
11.4 Do you have money? Kana da kuɗi?
11.5 I do not have time. Ba ni da lokaci.
11.6 They have three children. Suna da yara uku.
11.7 My father has many cows. Mahaifina yana da shanu da yawa.
11.8 The teacher has many books. Malamin yana da littattafai da yawa.
11.9 Have you eaten lunch? Kin ci abincin rana?
11.10 We have finished the work. Mun gama aikin.
11.11 They do not have shoes. Ba su da takalma.
11.12 Our town has a good school. Garinmu yana da makaranta mai kyau.
11.13 Long ago we had a farm near the river. A da muna da gona kusa da kogi.
11.14 You have to help your mother. Dole ne ka taimaki mahaifiyarka.
11.15 Tomorrow we will have visitors from Kano. Gobe za mu yi baƙi daga Kano.
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11.1 I have a book.
11.2 She has a goat.
11.3 We have water.
11.4 Do you have money?
11.5 I do not have time.
11.6 They have three children.
11.7 My father has many cows.
11.8 The teacher has many books.
11.9 Have you eaten lunch?
11.10 We have finished the work.
11.11 They do not have shoes.
11.12 Our town has a good school.
11.13 Long ago we had a farm near the river.
11.14 You have to help your mother.
11.15 Tomorrow we will have visitors from Kano.
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These are the grammar rules for "have" in English:
1. The forms. In Hausa the pronoun changes for every person and for gender; in English only "has" is different:
- I have — ina da - you have — kana da (a man); kina da (a woman); kuna da (several people) - he has — yana da - she has — tana da - it has — yana da or tana da, by the gender of the Hausa noun - we have — muna da - they have — suna da - past, every person: had — I had, she had, they had - future, every person: will have — I will have, we will have
2. "Has" with he, she, it. Only the third person singular takes "has": "She has a goat" (11.2), "The teacher has many books" (11.8), "Our town has a good school" (11.12). In Hausa a noun is masculine or feminine (gari yana da, kasuwa tana da), but in English every thing is "it", and every singular noun takes "has".
3. No gender in "you". Kana da and kina da are both "you have" in English. The same is true of "Have you eaten?" (11.9): kin ci or ka ci, the English does not change.
4. Questions and negatives use "do". In Hausa a question is the statement with a rising voice: Kana da kuɗi? English adds "do" in front: "Do you have money?" (11.4). The negative also uses "do": "I do not have time" (11.5) = Ba ni da lokaci. With he or she: "Does she have a goat?", "She does not have a goat" — after "does", the verb goes back to "have", never "Does she has".
5. "Have" as a helper (the present perfect). Have/has + past participle makes a tense: "Have you eaten lunch?" (11.9), "We have finished the work" (11.10). Here "have" means nothing about possession; Hausa puts this meaning in the completive pronoun: kin ci, mun gama.
6. Time in "have". Hausa ina da does not show time; words like a da (long ago) or gobe (tomorrow) do that (11.13, 11.15). English changes the verb: "we had" for the past, "we will have" for the future.
7. "Have to" = must. "You have to help your mother" (11.14) = Dole ne ka taimaki mahaifiyarka. "Have to" and "must" are close; "have to" is more usual in speech.
Common Mistakes:
- "She have a car." Correct: She has a car. - "Does she has a car?" Correct: Does she have a car? - "I am with a car" (from ina da mota). Correct: I have a car. - "I am having three children." Correct: I have three children. Possession does not take -ing. - "I have hunger" (from ina da yunwa). Correct: I am hungry. Likewise: I am thirsty, I am afraid. - "I have finished it yesterday." With a finished time (yesterday, last year) English uses the simple past: I finished it yesterday. - "I have a car before." Correct: I had a car before. The verb itself must show the past. - Saying "haf" or "hab". Say /hæv/, with a voiced v.
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"Have" is among the ten most frequent words of English, mostly because of its work as a helper verb in the perfect tenses ("I have seen", "she has gone").
Qualities. Hausa often uses da with a noun where English uses an adjective: tana da kyau (she has beauty) = "she is beautiful"; wuƙa tana da kaifi = "the knife is sharp". In English these are said with "is" and an adjective, not with "have".
Health and greetings. Hausa asks yana da lafiya? ("does he have health?"). English asks "Is he well?" or "How is he?", not "Does he have health?". But English does use "have" in partings: "Have a good day!", "Have a safe journey!"
British and American English. In Britain people also say "I have got a book" or "I've got a book"; in America "I have a book" is more usual, and "Have you got…?" sounds British. Both are correct. In this course we use the plain form "have", which is understood everywhere, including in Nigerian English.
Idioms with "have":
- have a good day — a greeting on parting - have breakfast / lunch / dinner — to eat a meal - have a look — to look quickly at something - have a rest — to rest for a while
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Acts 3:6, the words of Peter to the lame man at the temple gate. English: King James Version (1611). Hausa: Littafi Mai Tsarki (Bible Society of Nigeria, 1979).
"Silver and gold kuɗi kam have I none ba ni da su; but amma such as abin da I have nake da shi give I thee shi zan ba ka" - Acts 3:6 (KJV)
"Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee." "Kuɗi kam, ba ni da su, amma abin da nake da shi, shi zan ba ka." (Ayyukan Manzanni 3:6, Littafi Mai Tsarki 1979)
The sentence turns on one verb used twice: what Peter does not have (money) and what he does have (the power to heal, given in the next words of the verse). The Hausa translation does the same with ba ni da su and nake da shi, the negative and the relative forms of the same da construction. It also translates the meaning rather than the words: "silver and gold" becomes kuɗi, money.
- "Have I none" is old English word order. Today we say: "I have no silver and gold" or "I do not have any silver or gold." - "Such as I have" means "what I have" = abin da nake da shi. Note that Hausa needs shi after da ("what I am with it"); English "what I have" has no "it". - "Give I thee" is old order for "I give you"; "thee" is the old object form of "you". - Compare the negative: ba ni da = "I do not have", the same form as in 11.5.
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11.16 Halima Halima has tana da a shop shago in a Zaria Zariya
11.17 The shop shagon has yana da bread burodi sugar sukari and da salt gishiri
11.18 Halima Halima has tana da two biyu children yara
11.19 Her son ɗanta has yana da a bicycle keke
11.20 Her daughter 'yarta has tana da a good mai kyau teacher malama
11.21 Today yau the shop shagon has no ba shi da sugar sukari
11.22 Halima Halima has to dole ne ta go je to the market kasuwa
11.23 She does not ba ta have da a car mota
11.24 Her neighbour maƙwabcinta has yana da a car mota
11.25 Halima Halima said ta ce do you kana have da time lokaci today yau?
11.26 The neighbour maƙwabcin said ya ce yes eh I ina have da time lokaci
11.27 At the market a kasuwa they suna had da a lot of da yawa work aiki
11.28 Now yanzu the shop shagon has yana da sugar sukari
11.29 Halima Halima said ta ce to her children wa yaranta we muna have da good nagari neighbours maƙwabta
11.30 The children yaran have learned sun koyi to help taimakon other wasu people mutane
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11.16 Halima has a shop in Zaria. Halima tana da shago a Zariya.
11.17 The shop has bread, sugar and salt. Shagon yana da burodi, sukari da gishiri.
11.18 Halima has two children. Halima tana da yara biyu.
11.19 Her son has a bicycle. Ɗanta yana da keke.
11.20 Her daughter has a good teacher. 'Yarta tana da malama mai kyau.
11.21 Today the shop has no sugar. Yau shagon ba shi da sukari.
11.22 Halima has to go to the market. Dole ne Halima ta je kasuwa.
11.23 She does not have a car. Ba ta da mota.
11.24 Her neighbour has a car. Maƙwabcinta yana da mota.
11.25 Halima said, "Do you have time today?" Halima ta ce, "Kana da lokaci yau?"
11.26 The neighbour said, "Yes, I have time." Maƙwabcin ya ce, "Eh, ina da lokaci."
11.27 At the market they had a lot of work. A kasuwa suna da aiki da yawa.
11.28 Now the shop has sugar. Yanzu shagon yana da sukari.
11.29 Halima said to her children, "We have good neighbours." Halima ta ce wa yaranta, "Muna da maƙwabta nagari."
11.30 The children have learned to help other people. Yaran sun koyi taimakon wasu mutane.
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11.16 Halima has a shop in Zaria.
11.17 The shop has bread, sugar and salt.
11.18 Halima has two children.
11.19 Her son has a bicycle.
11.20 Her daughter has a good teacher.
11.21 Today the shop has no sugar.
11.22 Halima has to go to the market.
11.23 She does not have a car.
11.24 Her neighbour has a car.
11.25 Halima said, "Do you have time today?"
11.26 The neighbour said, "Yes, I have time."
11.27 At the market they had a lot of work.
11.28 Now the shop has sugar.
11.29 Halima said to her children, "We have good neighbours."
11.30 The children have learned to help other people.
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The story uses all three jobs of "have":
- Possession, present: "Halima has a shop" (11.16), "The shop has bread" (11.17), "We have good neighbours" (11.29). - Possession, past: "At the market they had a lot of work" (11.27). Hausa keeps suna da; English must change to "had". "Had" serves every person: I had, she had, they had. - Possession, negative: "the shop has no sugar" (11.21) and "She does not have a car" (11.23) mean the same thing. "Has no" + noun is shorter; "does not have" is more usual in speech. - Obligation: "Halima has to go to the market" (11.22) = Dole ne Halima ta je kasuwa. - Perfect: "The children have learned" (11.30) — the learning is finished, and its result is still true now (yaran sun koyi).
"It" for things. Hausa says shagon yana da (masculine) and kasuwa tana da (feminine). In English the shop, the market and the car are all "it": "The shop has sugar. It has bread too."
Telling a story with "have": a story in the past normally uses "had" ("Halima had a shop"); here the story is told in the present, so it uses "has". Choose one time and keep it through the story.
Reported speech. In 11.25, 11.26 and 11.29 the exact words are put in quotation marks after "said". Hausa does the same with ta ce, ya ce.
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- Weak forms: in "Do you have time?" the "have" is strong /hæv/; in "We have finished" it is weak: /wiː həv ˈfɪnɪʃt/, or short: "We've finished" /wiːv/. - "Has to" and "have to" are pronounced /ˈhæs tə/ and /ˈhæf tə/: the v becomes f before "to". This is the one place where an f sound in "have" is correct. - The contraction 's can mean "is" or "has": "She's a teacher" (is), "She's got a car" (has). The words after it tell you which. - Spelling: have, has, had, having (the e is dropped before -ing). English has no hooked letters like ɓ, ɗ, ƙ: write "had", not "haɗ".
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