English "would" is one small word with many jobs. It says what used to happen (he would come every morning), what did not happen but might have (if I had known, I would have come), what someone said they would do (she said she would go), a polite wish (I would like tea) and a polite request (would you help me?). Hausa has no single word for any of this. It spreads the work over five tools, and this lesson teaches each in turn:
- -kan, the habitual, for what happens regularly or used to happen: Yakan zo da safe. "He usually comes in the morning." Literally: he-usually come in morning. - da … da, the unreal condition, for what did not happen: Da na sani, da na zo. "If I had known, I would have come." Literally: if I-knew, then I-came. - ce plus the future marker, for "would" in reported speech: Ya ce zai zo. "He said he would come." Literally: he said he-will come. - ina son, for "would like": Ina son shayi. "I would like tea." Literally: I-am wanting tea. - za ka iya, for "would you …?": Za ka iya ba ni ruwa? "Would you give me water?" Literally: will you able give me water.
The headword of this lesson is kan, because it is the one piece of Hausa that is a true counterpart of the English "would" in its sense of "used to". The University of California (UCLA) online grammar describes the Habitual as formed with high-tone short pronouns plus a low-tone kan (nakan, kakan, yakan, takan, mukan, kukan, sukan), and says that when the event belongs to the past the English translation is "used to" or "would". The unreal condition da … da is taught beside it, since English uses "would" for that as well.
kan does not stand alone. It is joined to the person marker and the verb follows it in its plain form: yakan zo "he usually comes", sukan tafi "they usually go". The marker carries the person (na-, ka-, ya-, ta-, mu-, ku-, su-, a-) and -kan carries the habit. The time is given by a word such as a da "formerly" if it is the past, or by nothing at all if it is general.
The habitual is the least frequent of the Hausa verb forms, and even speakers who use it often choose the continuative (yana zuwa) where the habitual would also be right. It is worth learning because you will meet it in proverbs, stories and older writing.
FAQ: How do you say "would" in Hausa? There is no single word. For "used to / would always" use -kan (yakan zo); for "would have, if …" use da … da (Da na sani, da na zo); for "he said he would" use ya ce zai …; for "I would like" use ina son; for "would you …?" use za ka iya.
- -kan is the habitual: person marker + kan + plain verb. Yakan zo, takan dafa, sukan tafi, akan ci. - da … da is the unreal condition. Both clauses begin with da: Da na sani, da na zo. "If I had known, I would have come." - In reported speech Hausa keeps the future: Ya ce zai zo "He said he would come". There is no separate "would" form. - "Would like" is ina son (a noun, or in / ka / ya … and a verb); "would you …?" is za ka iya …? (Lesson 36). - Do not confuse the habitual akan "one usually" with the preposition a kan "on", or da "if" with da "with".
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kan is /kan/: a plain k as in can, a short a, and a clear n. It is joined to the pronoun in one word: yakan /jakan/ (YAH-kan), takan /takan/, sukan /sukan/. The pronoun carries a high tone and -kan a low tone, which spelling does not show; hear it in native speech (BBC Hausa, VOA Hausa).
As in the earlier lessons, line b of every example gives a segmental IPA guide: consonants and vowel qualities, without tone or vowel length. Words written with an initial vowel begin with a light glottal catch, shown as /ʔ/.
Sounds in this lesson that need attention:
- c /tʃ/ — as in church: ce (said), ci (eat), cewa (that), kowace (every) - j /dʒ/ — as in jam: jiya (yesterday), jira (wait), je (go), ji (hear), jarabawa (exam). This is not the y of English; the Hausa y is /j/, as in yakan. - sh /ʃ/ — as in shoe: shayi (tea), shi (him), tashi (get up), shirya (prepare) - ɗ /ɗ/ — implosive d, made with a small inward pull of air: ɗan'uwana (my brother, Section F) - ky /kʲ/ — a k with a y glide, as in kyau (goodness)
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37.1a Yakan he-usually zo come da in safe morning
37.1b Yakan /jakan/ 3SG.M.HAB zo /zo/ come da /da/ in.PREP safe /safe/ morning
37.2a Nakan I-usually tashi get-up da with wuri place
37.2b Nakan /nakan/ 1SG.HAB tashi /taʃi/ get-up da /da/ with.PREP wuri /wuri/ place (da wuri = early)
37.3a Takan she-usually dafa cook abinci food
37.3b Takan /takan/ 3SG.F.HAB dafa /dafa/ cook abinci /ʔabintʃi/ food.M
37.4a Ya he ce said zai he-will zo come
37.4b Ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say zai /zai/ 3SG.M.FUT zo /zo/ come
37.5a Ina I-am son wanting shayi tea
37.5b Ina /ʔina/ 1SG.CONT son /son/ want.VN shayi /ʃaji/ tea
37.6a Sukan they-usually tafi go kasuwa market kowace every rana day
37.6b Sukan /sukan/ 3PL.HAB tafi /tafi/ go kasuwa /kasuwa/ market.F kowace /kowatʃe/ every.F rana /rana/ day.F
37.7a Akan one-usually ci eat tuwo porridge da with miya soup
37.7b Akan /ʔakan/ IMPERS.HAB ci /tʃi/ eat tuwo /tuwo/ porridge da /da/ with.PREP miya /mija/ soup
37.8a Ta she ce said za will ta she tafi go makaranta school
37.8b Ta /ta/ 3SG.F.PERF ce /tʃe/ say za /za/ FUT ta /ta/ 3SG.F tafi /tafi/ go makaranta /makaranta/ school.F
37.9a Za will ka you iya able ba give ni me ruwa water
37.9b Za /za/ FUT ka /ka/ 2SG.M iya /ʔija/ be-able ba /ba/ give ni /ni/ 1SG.IO ruwa /ruwa/ water
37.10a Ina I-am son wanting in that-I tafi go gida home yanzu now
37.10b Ina /ʔina/ 1SG.CONT son /son/ want.VN in /ʔin/ 1SG.SUBJ tafi /tafi/ go gida /ɡida/ home.M yanzu /janzu/ now.ADV
37.11a A in da the-past mahaifina my-father yakan he-usually tafi go gona farm da in safe morning
37.11b A /ʔa/ in.PREP da /da/ past.N mahaifina /mahaifina/ father.M-1SG.POSS yakan /jakan/ 3SG.M.HAB tafi /tafi/ go gona /ɡona/ farm da /da/ in.PREP safe /safe/ morning
37.12a Da if na I sani knew da then na I zo came
37.12b Da /da/ COND na /na/ 1SG.PERF sani /sani/ know da /da/ COND.RES na /na/ 1SG.PERF zo /zo/ come
37.13a Da if ka you zo came jiya yesterday da then ka you gan saw shi him
37.13b Da /da/ COND ka /ka/ 2SG.M.PERF zo /zo/ come jiya /dʒija/ yesterday da /da/ COND.RES ka /ka/ 2SG.M.PERF gan /ɡan/ see shi /ʃi/ 3SG.M.DO
37.14a Da if ta she yi did karatu study da then ta she ci passed jarabawa exam
37.14b Da /da/ COND ta /ta/ 3SG.F.PERF yi /ji/ do karatu /karatu/ study da /da/ COND.RES ta /ta/ 3SG.F.PERF ci /tʃi/ pass jarabawa /dʒarabawa/ exam
37.15a Da if na I sani knew cewa that jarabawa exam za will ta it yi do wuya difficulty da then na I shirya prepared da with wuri place
37.15b Da /da/ COND na /na/ 1SG.PERF sani /sani/ know cewa /tʃewa/ COMP jarabawa /dʒarabawa/ exam za /za/ FUT ta /ta/ 3SG.F yi /ji/ do wuya /wuja/ difficulty da /da/ COND.RES na /na/ 1SG.PERF shirya /ʃirja/ prepare da /da/ with.PREP wuri /wuri/ place (da wuri = early)
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37.1 Yakan zo da safe. → "He usually comes in the morning."
37.2 Nakan tashi da wuri. → "I usually get up early."
37.3 Takan dafa abinci. → "She usually cooks."
37.4 Ya ce zai zo. → "He said he would come."
37.5 Ina son shayi. → "I would like tea."
37.6 Sukan tafi kasuwa kowace rana. → "They usually go to the market every day."
37.7 Akan ci tuwo da miya. → "One usually eats tuwo with soup."
37.8 Ta ce za ta tafi makaranta. → "She said she would go to school."
37.9 Za ka iya ba ni ruwa? → "Would you give me water?"
37.10 Ina son in tafi gida yanzu. → "I would like to go home now."
37.11 A da, mahaifina yakan tafi gona da safe. → "In the past, my father would go to the farm in the morning."
37.12 Da na sani, da na zo. → "If I had known, I would have come."
37.13 Da ka zo jiya, da ka gan shi. → "If you had come yesterday, you would have seen him."
37.14 Da ta yi karatu, da ta ci jarabawa. → "If she had studied, she would have passed the exam."
37.15 Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri. → "If I had known that the exam would be hard, I would have prepared early."
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37.1 Yakan zo da safe.
37.2 Nakan tashi da wuri.
37.3 Takan dafa abinci.
37.4 Ya ce zai zo.
37.5 Ina son shayi.
37.6 Sukan tafi kasuwa kowace rana.
37.7 Akan ci tuwo da miya.
37.8 Ta ce za ta tafi makaranta.
37.9 Za ka iya ba ni ruwa?
37.10 Ina son in tafi gida yanzu.
37.11 A da, mahaifina yakan tafi gona da safe.
37.12 Da na sani, da na zo.
37.13 Da ka zo jiya, da ka gan shi.
37.14 Da ta yi karatu, da ta ci jarabawa.
37.15 Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri.
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These are the grammar rules for kan (and the Hausa ways of saying "would") in Hausa:
1. The habitual: person marker + kan + plain verb. The marker is a short pronoun, and -kan is added to it in one word.
- nakan (I), kakan (you, to a man), kikan (you, to a woman), yakan (he), takan (she) - mukan (we), kukan (you, plural), sukan (they), akan (one, people)
The verb that follows is in its plain form, as in the earlier lessons' tafi, zo and ci: yakan zo (37.1), nakan tashi (37.2), takan dafa abinci (37.3), sukan tafi kasuwa (37.6), akan ci tuwo (37.7). It is not a verbal noun: not yakan zuwa. The habitual is the least common verb form; where it would be right, the continuative (yana zuwa da safe) is often used instead. This lesson teaches only the affirmative.
2. "Used to" and "would" in the past: add a time word. The verb form does not change for the past. Hausa says when with a word such as a da "formerly, in the past" (37.11: A da, mahaifina yakan tafi gona da safe). The same sentence without a da describes a present habit.
3. "Would have … if": da … da. For what did not happen, both clauses begin with da, and the verb in each is usually the completive, the "did" form (na, ka, ya, ta, mun, kun, sun): Da na sani, da na zo (37.12); Da ka zo jiya, da ka gan shi (37.13); Da ta yi karatu, da ta ci jarabawa (37.14). The first da opens the condition and the second da opens the result. The result clause must have its own da: without it the sentence reads as a plain sequence of events and loses its "would have" sense. A longer condition may contain a quotation or a subordinate clause, as in 37.15 (… cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya …). In writing about Hausa, linguists mark the tone: low dà for the unreal condition and falling dâ for "formerly, in the past". The ordinary spelling marks neither.
The negative result uses the negative completive with a closing ba: Da na sani, da ban tafi ba "If I had known, I would not have gone" (a pedagogical example, built on 37.12 and the negative completive ban … ba).
4. "Would" in reported speech: keep the future. After ce "say" Hausa leaves the future marker as it is: Ya ce zai zo "He said he would come" (37.4), Ta ce za ta tafi makaranta "She said she would go to school" (37.8). The marker (zai, za ta) names the person who will act. English shifts "will" to "would"; Hausa does not.
5. "Would like": ina son. ina son + noun (37.5: ina son shayi) or ina son + the subjunctive of a verb (37.10: ina son in tafi gida). The subjunctive markers are in (I), ka (you, to a man), ki (you, to a woman), ya (he), ta (she), mu (we), ku (you, plural), su (they): ina son ka zo "I would like you to come". The same sentence also means "I want …"; politeness is added with don Allah "please".
6. "Would you …?": za ka iya …? The request for help is the future of iya from Lesson 36 with a rising voice: Za ka iya ba ni ruwa? (37.9). Literally it asks "will you be able to give me water?".
7. A condition that is still open: idan + future. When the English "would" is about something that may still happen, Hausa uses idan "if" with the future: Idan ina da kuɗi, zan sayi mota "If I have money, I will (would) buy a car" (a pedagogical sentence). This is the pattern of Lesson 36 (Idan kana iya magana da Hausa, za ka samu abokai da yawa). Use da … da only for what is over and did not happen.
8. da "early": da wuri. wuri is "place", and da wuri (literally with place) is "early, in good time" (37.2, 37.15). It is a set phrase.
Mistake 1: using zai or zan to mean "would have". Zan zo is "I will come". "I would have come" needs the unreal condition: Da na sani, da na zo.
Mistake 2: only one da. Da na sani, na zo does not say "I would have come". The result clause needs its own da.
Mistake 3: a second marker or a verbal noun after kan. Yakan zo, not yana kan zo and not yakan zuwa. The marker and kan are one word; the plain verb comes next.
Mistake 4: akan and a kan. The habitual akan "one usually" is one word. The preposition a kan "on", taught in an earlier lesson, is two. Akan ci tuwo da miya is not "on eating tuwo".
Mistake 5: reporting speech with the completive. Ya ce ya zo means "he said he came"; for "he said he would come" use the future: Ya ce zai zo.
Mistake 6: forgetting the closing ba. The negative completive is a pair: bai zo ba "he did not come" (37.18 in the Genre Section), ban tafi ba "I did not go". Without the closing ba the sentence is incomplete.
Mistake 7: da "with" and da "if". The spelling is the same. The conditional da opens a clause and is followed by a subject marker (da na, da ka, da ta); da "with" joins two words (tuwo da miya, 37.7).
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Frequency and register. The habitual -kan is the least common of the Hausa verb forms (UCLA online grammar), and in everyday speech the continuative often takes its place. It is more likely in proverbs, stories and the careful speech of older people. The proverb collections show it: Inda yaro ya tsinci wuri, nan yakan fi saurin tunawa ("Where a child finds a cowrie, there he is quickest to remember"), cited in the UCLA grammar as an example of the habitual.
Regret. Da na sani … "If I had known …" is the regular way of voicing regret in Hausa. A Hausa learner's lexicon gives Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri (37.15) as its model of the past unreal condition. The sentence is about something finished: it says what was not done, and it cannot be undone.
Request and politeness. Ina son … is plain and direct. A request is gentler when it asks about ability (Za ka iya …?), and don Allah "please" may be added. Hausa speakers mention the future with idan Allah ya yarda "if God agrees", as the last line of the Genre Section does.
Ajami. The examples in this lesson are given in Boko only.
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John 11:21 (Yohanna 11:21), Littafi Mai Tsarki, the Hausa Bible (text as published online in the Hausa Standard Reading Bible, HauSRK).
When Lazarus has died, his sister Martha meets Jesus and says: Ubangiji, ai, da kana nan da ɗan'uwana bai mutu ba. This is the plainest form of the unreal condition that Hausa has: da opens the condition (da kana nan, "if you were here"), and da opens the result (da ɗan'uwana bai mutu ba, "my brother would not have died"). The verb of the condition is the continuative kana; the verb of the result is the negative completive bai mutu ba. The published text writes the verse without a comma between the two clauses.
F-A: Interlinear Construed Text
F.1a Ubangiji Lord ai indeed da if kana you-are nan here
F.1b Ubangiji /ʔubanɡidʒi/ Lord ai /ʔai/ indeed.PTCL da /da/ COND kana /kana/ 2SG.M.CONT nan /nan/ here.ADV
F.2a da then ɗan'uwana my-brother bai he-not mutu die ba not
F.2b da /da/ COND.RES ɗan'uwana /ɗanʔuwana/ brother-1SG.POSS bai /bai/ 3SG.M.NEG.PERF mutu /mutu/ die ba /ba/ NEG
F-B: Original → Translation
Ubangiji, ai, da kana nan da ɗan'uwana bai mutu ba.
→ "Lord, indeed, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
F-C: Original Only
Ubangiji, ai, da kana nan da ɗan'uwana bai mutu ba.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
- da kana nan "if you were (had been) here": the conditional da and the continuative kana with the place word nan. The condition does not need a completive verb; it only needs to be unreal (Section D, rule 3). - da ɗan'uwana bai mutu ba "my brother would not have died": the second da, then the subject ɗan'uwana (with the possessive -na, as in Lessons 34 and 35), and the negative completive bai … ba (Mistake 6). - ai is a particle of emphasis, "indeed, surely"; I gloss it as a particle and the English translation renders it with "indeed". It is not essential to the grammar. - The word ɗan'uwa "brother" is written with an apostrophe, which some editions print as a typographic apostrophe; the apostrophe stands for the glottal catch /ʔ/. - The same verse in English has "if" and "would": two English words for one Hausa word, da, said twice. The sense of loss is in the pairing.
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Bala usually comes to the narrator's house on Saturdays, and one week he does not come. A short story lets all five ways of saying "would" appear in order: the habitual (37.16, 37.17), the reported future (37.18, 37.26, 37.30), "would like" (37.25), the unreal condition (37.21, 37.24) and the polite suggestion (37.28); 37.22 repeats the ability of Lesson 36. The story is pedagogical; the people in it are invented.
37.16a Bala Bala yakan he-usually zo come gidanmu our-house ranar day-of asabar Saturday
37.16b Bala /bala/ Bala.NAME yakan /jakan/ 3SG.M.HAB zo /zo/ come gidanmu /ɡidanmu/ house.M-1PL.POSS ranar /ranar/ day.F-of asabar /ʔasabar/ Saturday
37.17a Mukan we-usually ci eat abinci food tare together
37.17b Mukan /mukan/ 1PL.HAB ci /tʃi/ eat abinci /ʔabintʃi/ food.M tare /tare/ together.ADV
37.18a Wata a-certain rana day ya he ce said zai he-will zo come amma but bai he-not zo come ba not
37.18b Wata /wata/ certain.F rana /rana/ day.F ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say zai /zai/ 3SG.M.FUT zo /zo/ come amma /ʔamma/ but.CONJ bai /bai/ 3SG.M.NEG.PERF zo /zo/ come ba /ba/ NEG
37.19a Mun we jira waited-for shi him har until yamma evening
37.19b Mun /mun/ 1PL.PERF jira /dʒira/ wait-for shi /ʃi/ 3SG.M.DO har /har/ until.PREP yamma /jamma/ evening
37.20a Na I ji heard cewa that yana he-is asibiti hospital
37.20b Na /na/ 1SG.PERF ji /dʒi/ hear cewa /tʃewa/ COMP yana /jana/ 3SG.M.CONT asibiti /ʔasibiti/ hospital
37.21a Na I ce said Da if na I sani knew da then na I je went asibiti hospital jiya yesterday
37.21b Na /na/ 1SG.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Da /da/ COND na /na/ 1SG.PERF sani /sani/ know da /da/ COND.RES na /na/ 1SG.PERF je /dʒe/ go asibiti /ʔasibiti/ hospital jiya /dʒija/ yesterday
37.22a Mahaifina my-father ya he ce said Za will ka you iya able zuwa going yau today
37.22b Mahaifina /mahaifina/ father.M-1SG.POSS ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Za /za/ FUT ka /ka/ 2SG.M iya /ʔija/ be-able zuwa /zuwa/ go.VN yau /jau/ today.ADV
37.23a Mun we tafi went asibiti hospital tare together
37.23b Mun /mun/ 1PL.PERF tafi /tafi/ go asibiti /ʔasibiti/ hospital tare /tare/ together.ADV
37.24a Bala Bala ya he ce said Da if na I kira called ka you da then ka you zo came da with wuri place
37.24b Bala /bala/ Bala.NAME ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Da /da/ COND na /na/ 1SG.PERF kira /kira/ call ka /ka/ 2SG.M.DO da /da/ COND.RES ka /ka/ 2SG.M.PERF zo /zo/ come da /da/ with.PREP wuri /wuri/ place (da wuri = early)
37.25a Ya he ce said Ina I-am son wanting in that-I koma return gida home
37.25b Ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Ina /ʔina/ 1SG.CONT son /son/ want.VN in /ʔin/ 1SG.SUBJ koma /koma/ return gida /ɡida/ home.M
37.26a Likita doctor ya he ce said Bala Bala zai he-will koma return gida home gobe tomorrow
37.26b Likita /likita/ doctor ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Bala /bala/ Bala.NAME zai /zai/ 3SG.M.FUT koma /koma/ return gida /ɡida/ home.M gobe /ɡobe/ tomorrow.ADV
37.27a Mun we yi did murna joy sosai very-much
37.27b Mun /mun/ 1PL.PERF yi /ji/ do murna /murna/ joy.F sosai /sosai/ very.ADV
37.28a Na I ce said Zai it-will fi surpass kyau goodness ka you kira call mu us a by waya phone
37.28b Na /na/ 1SG.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Zai /zai/ 3SG.M.FUT fi /fi/ surpass kyau /kʲau/ goodness ka /ka/ 2SG.M.SUBJ kira /kira/ call mu /mu/ 1PL.DO a /ʔa/ at.PREP waya /waja/ phone
37.29a Bala Bala ya he ce said Zan I-will kira call ku you-all
37.29b Bala /bala/ Bala.NAME ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF ce /tʃe/ say Zan /zan/ 1SG.FUT kira /kira/ call ku /ku/ 2PL.DO
37.30a Ya he kuma also ce said zai he-will zo come gidanmu our-house ranar day-of asabar Saturday idan if Allah God ya he-has yarda agreed
37.30b Ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF kuma /kuma/ also.ADV ce /tʃe/ say zai /zai/ 3SG.M.FUT zo /zo/ come gidanmu /ɡidanmu/ house.M-1PL.POSS ranar /ranar/ day.F-of asabar /ʔasabar/ Saturday idan /ʔidan/ if.CONJ Allah /ʔallah/ God ya /ja/ 3SG.M.PERF yarda /jarda/ agree
37.16 Bala yakan zo gidanmu ranar asabar. → "Bala usually comes to our house on Saturday."
37.17 Mukan ci abinci tare. → "We usually eat together."
37.18 Wata rana ya ce zai zo, amma bai zo ba. → "One day he said he would come, but he did not come."
37.19 Mun jira shi har yamma. → "We waited for him until evening."
37.20 Na ji cewa yana asibiti. → "I heard that he is in hospital."
37.21 Na ce, "Da na sani, da na je asibiti jiya." → "I said, "If I had known, I would have gone to the hospital yesterday.""
37.22 Mahaifina ya ce, "Za ka iya zuwa yau." → "My father said, "You can go today.""
37.23 Mun tafi asibiti tare. → "We went to the hospital together."
37.24 Bala ya ce, "Da na kira ka, da ka zo da wuri." → "Bala said, "If I had called you, you would have come early.""
37.25 Ya ce, "Ina son in koma gida." → "He said, "I would like to go back home.""
37.26 Likita ya ce Bala zai koma gida gobe. → "The doctor said Bala would go home tomorrow."
37.27 Mun yi murna sosai. → "We were very happy."
37.28 Na ce, "Zai fi kyau ka kira mu a waya." → "I said, "It would be better if you called us by phone.""
37.29 Bala ya ce, "Zan kira ku." → "Bala said, "I will call you.""
37.30 Ya kuma ce zai zo gidanmu ranar asabar, idan Allah ya yarda. → "He also said he would come to our house on Saturday, God willing."
37.16 Bala yakan zo gidanmu ranar asabar.
37.17 Mukan ci abinci tare.
37.18 Wata rana ya ce zai zo, amma bai zo ba.
37.19 Mun jira shi har yamma.
37.20 Na ji cewa yana asibiti.
37.21 Na ce, "Da na sani, da na je asibiti jiya."
37.22 Mahaifina ya ce, "Za ka iya zuwa yau."
37.23 Mun tafi asibiti tare.
37.24 Bala ya ce, "Da na kira ka, da ka zo da wuri."
37.25 Ya ce, "Ina son in koma gida."
37.26 Likita ya ce Bala zai koma gida gobe.
37.27 Mun yi murna sosai.
37.28 Na ce, "Zai fi kyau ka kira mu a waya."
37.29 Bala ya ce, "Zan kira ku."
37.30 Ya kuma ce zai zo gidanmu ranar asabar, idan Allah ya yarda.
- The habit, then the break. The story opens with the habitual (yakan zo, 37.16; mukan ci, 37.17) and breaks the habit with the negative completive (bai zo ba, 37.18). The contrast between what Bala usually does and what he did on that day is the point of the narrative. - Reported "would". Ya ce zai zo (37.18), Likita ya ce Bala zai koma gida gobe (37.26) and Ya kuma ce zai zo (37.30) keep the future marker after ce (Section D, rule 4). In 37.26 the name Bala comes before zai to show who is meant, so that the sentence is not read as the doctor's own plan. - Unreal conditions. Da na sani, da na je (37.21) and Da na kira ka, da ka zo da wuri (37.24) both repeat da in the answering clause. In 37.24 the object ka "you" in the condition (na kira ka) is a different word from the subject marker ka in the result (da ka zo); both are spelled alike. - A polite suggestion. Zai fi kyau ka kira mu a waya (37.28) is literally "it will surpass goodness (that) you call us by phone", the Hausa way of saying "it would be better if …". The verb kira follows ka in the subjunctive. - Ability, from Lesson 36. Za ka iya zuwa yau (37.22) uses iya as in the last lesson; the father tells the narrator that he is free to go today. - Ina son in koma gida (37.25): the subjunctive marker in follows ina son (Section D, rule 5). koma "return" takes the place directly: koma gida "go back home". - gidanmu "our house" (37.16, 37.30): the possessive -mu "our" is added to gida "house", as -na and -ta in Lessons 34 and 35 gave "my" and "her". - har yamma "until evening" (37.19): har "until" before a time word. - Idan Allah ya yarda (37.30) closes the story with the set phrase of Lesson 36.
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- kan /kan/ is joined to the pronoun in one word: yakan, takan, nakan, sukan, mukan, akan. Never write ya kan; that would read as "he on". - da is written the same whether it means "with", "and", "if" or "formerly (a da)". Tone is not marked in ordinary spelling. - Hooked and implosive letters are separate letters and are always written: ɗ in ɗan'uwana, and ƙ in the words of Lesson 36.- The apostrophe in ɗan'uwana stands for the glottal catch /ʔ/; it is written with a straight or a typographic apostrophe in different editions. - j is /dʒ/ and y is /j/: jiya /dʒija/ "yesterday", yau /jau/ "today". sh is /ʃ/; c is /tʃ/. - Capitals. Names of people and languages take a capital (Bala, Hausa). Days and months do not (asabar), as in Lesson 36. - Quotation. Reported speech is introduced by a comma and written between quotation marks, as in the Genre Section.
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Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)