Many English adjectives correspond to Hausa quality nouns: ƙarfi “strength,” kaifi “sharpness,” kyau “beauty/goodness,” and wayo “cleverness.” Hausa commonly predicates such a quality with a “have” construction: Jaki yana da ƙarfi literally says “the donkey is with strength,” naturally “the donkey is strong.”
The subject marker agrees with the subject: yana da for masculine singular, tana da for feminine singular, and suna da for plural. This is not an optional stylistic substitute for adjective agreement; it is the regular grammar of a different lexical class. Unless labeled otherwise, the constructions are neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa in (informal) conversation and (formal) prose.
The agreement belongs to the subject marker
The quality noun itself does not change for the subject's gender or number.
| Subject class | Frame | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | yana da
| Jaki yana da ƙarfi. |
| feminine singular | tana da
| Saniya tana da ƙarfi. |
| plural | suna da
| Shanu suna da ƙarfi. |
Mutumin yana da hankali; zai saurare mu kafin ya yanke shawara.
The man is sensible; he will listen to us before making a decision.
Macen tana da hankali kuma tana kula da kuɗinta.
The woman is sensible and manages her money carefully.
Yaran suna da wayo; sun gano amsar da kansu.
The children are clever; they found the answer themselves.
Wuƙar tana da kaifi, don haka ka riƙe ta da hankali.
The knife is sharp, so hold it carefully.
The feminine marker in Wuƙar tana da kaifi is selected by feminine wuƙa “knife,” not by the English word sharp and not by kaifi. Plural yara selects suna, regardless of whether the individuals are male, female, or mixed.
Why Hausa says “have” where English says “be”
English groups strong, sharp, beautiful, clever, and expensive together as adjectives. Hausa lexicalizes their underlying concepts as nouns and presents the subject as possessing them.
| Quality noun | Literal idea | Natural English predicate |
|---|---|---|
| ƙarfi | strength | be strong |
| kaifi | sharpness | be sharp |
| kyau | beauty; goodness | be beautiful/good |
| wayo | cleverness | be clever |
| tsada | expensiveness | be expensive |
| nauyi | weight; heaviness | be heavy/important |
Sabuwar rigar tana da kyau, amma tana da tsada.
The new gown is beautiful, but it is expensive.
Akwatin yana da nauyi; mu ɗauke shi tare.
The box is heavy; let's lift it together.
Wannan maganin yana da ƙarfi; ka bi umarnin likita.
This medicine is strong; follow the doctor's instructions.
Amsar tana da sauƙi idan ka fahimci dokar.
The answer is easy once you understand the rule.
The literal translation is a learning aid, not an instruction to produce awkward English. Translate tana da kyau naturally as “it/she is beautiful/good,” while remembering that the Hausa grammar is built from da “with” plus a noun.
A noun subject does not replace the subject marker
Hausa normally retains the continuative agreement marker even when the subject is overt. English speakers sometimes omit it because the noun already identifies the subject, but the resulting phrase lacks the required predicate frame.
Musa yana da haƙuri idan yana koyar da yara.
Musa is patient when he teaches children.
Aisha tana da kirki ga maƙwabtanta.
Aisha is kind to her neighbors.
Musa da Aisha suna da basira a aikinsu.
Musa and Aisha are talented in their work.
With a coordinated subject, plural suna da is expected. The singular gender of either member no longer controls the predicate.
In natural speech, a noun subject can occur with a reduced continuative marker na da in contexts where the person/number component is recoverable: Musa na da haƙuri. This is common (informal and journalistic) usage, but learners should first master the fully agreeing Musa yana da haƙuri, which displays the structure transparently.
Contrast with adjective + ne/ce
True adjectives use a different predicate. Compare two ways of expressing tallness:
Haruna dogo ne.
Haruna is tall (true adjective construction).
Haruna yana da tsawo.
Haruna has height; Haruna is tall (quality-noun construction).
In the first sentence, dogo agrees with masculine Haruna and is followed by ne. In the second, tsawo is the noun “height,” so the masculine subject selects yana da. Do not combine them as Haruna yana da dogo or Haruna tsawo ne for the intended ordinary meaning.
Zainab doguwa ce, kuma tana da ƙarfi.
Zainab is tall, and she is strong.
This single sentence shows the split neatly: true adjective doguwa takes feminine ce; quality noun ƙarfi takes feminine tana da. English uses “is” for both.
Contrast with yi plus a quality noun
The same quality noun can occur with yi, but the viewpoint is different. The continuative possessive construction attributes a quality that holds: rigar tana da kyau “the gown is beautiful.” A completive form of yi commonly evaluates a result or presents a change: rigar ta yi kyau “the gown turned out well/now looks good.” Unlike tana da, ta yi is a verbal subject–TAM form.
Sabuwar rigar tana da kyau a jikin Aisha.
The new gown looks beautiful on Aisha.
An gyara rigar, yanzu ta yi kyau.
The gown was altered, and now it looks good.
Likewise, akwatin yana da nauyi describes the box as heavy, whereas akwatin ya yi nauyi naturally presents it as having become heavy in the situation. The choice is therefore not free word substitution: use ...na da for possession-of-quality, and use an appropriate form of yi when a result, development, or contextual evaluation is intended.
From predicate to noun modifier: mai and masu
The predicate construction has an attributive counterpart. Singular mai means “one having” and works with masculine or feminine heads; plural masu means “ones having.”
| Predicate | Attributive noun phrase |
|---|---|
| Mutumin yana da ƙarfi. | mutum mai ƙarfi “a strong person” |
| Macen tana da ƙarfi. | mace mai ƙarfi “a strong woman” |
| Mutanen suna da ƙarfi. | mutane masu ƙarfi “strong people” |
Muna buƙatar igiya mai ƙarfi domin ɗaure kayan.
We need a strong rope to tie the load.
Ta zaɓi wuƙa mai kaifi domin yanka naman.
She chose a sharp knife to cut the meat.
Kamfanin yana neman ma’aikata masu basira.
The company is looking for talented workers.
This alternation confirms that the construction is possessive rather than adjectival agreement in disguise. Singular mai remains the same before masculine mutum and feminine mace, but plural heads require masu.
Negative qualities: ba shi da, ba ta da, ba su da
The negative does not use ba ... ba around yana da. Instead, Hausa has a negative continuative series followed by da: ba shi da for masculine singular, ba ta da for feminine singular, and ba su da for plural. In connected everyday writing, contractions such as bai da are not the standard pattern taught here.
Wannan igiyar ba ta da ƙarfi; kada mu ɗaure kayan da ita.
This rope is not strong; let's not tie the load with it.
Tsohuwar wuƙar ba ta da kaifi yanzu.
The old knife is not sharp now.
Waɗannan fitilun ba su da haske sosai.
These lamps are not very bright.
The separate page on Negative Property Predication compares these negatives with ba ... ba ne/ce in adjective predicates.
Properties, possession, and context
The same frame can express literal possession or an abstract quality. Context determines whether the noun after da is a possessed object or a property.
Malam yana da mota, kuma motar tana da kyau.
The teacher has a car, and the car is beautiful.
The first yana da introduces a concrete possession, mota. The second introduces quality noun kyau. Hausa does not need two different verbs because both are conceptually “being with” something.
The construction itself does not claim that a property is permanent. Akwatin yana da nauyi may describe the box generally or only now because it is full. Add context when the distinction matters.
Akwatin yana da nauyi yau domin an cika shi da littattafai.
The box is heavy today because it has been filled with books.
The construction does not encode permanence by itself
Because the marker is historically and structurally continuative, learners sometimes assume that yana da ƙarfi must mean a temporary state. In actual use, the construction can describe an enduring disposition, an ordinary characteristic, or a situation that holds only now. Time expressions and causes supply the difference.
Gadar tana da ƙarfi domin an gina ta da ƙarfe.
The bridge is strong because it was built with steel.
Shayin yana da zaƙi yau domin an sa sukari da yawa.
The tea is sweet today because too much sugar was added.
The bridge example presents a stable design property; yau and the cause in the tea example make a current condition explicit. English may choose is strong or tastes sweet, but Hausa can use the same possession-of-quality frame.
The construction also allows several qualities to be coordinated without repeating the subject noun. Repeating the agreeing marker can make each assessment clear.
Ɗakin yana da faɗi, yana da haske, kuma yana da sanyi.
The room is spacious, bright, and cool.
This sequence is natural (neutral) description. It does not mean that faɗi, haske, and sanyi have become English-style adjectives; each remains the complement of da.
Practice
- Feminine mota
- kyau: Motar tana da kyau.
- Feminine wuƙa
- kaifi: Wuƙar tana da kaifi is correct because wuƙa is grammatically feminine despite its final shape.
- Plural yara
- wayo: Yaran suna da wayo.
- Attributive plural “clever children”: yara masu wayo.
A ganina, wannan shawarar tana da amfani ga kowa.
In my view, this proposal is useful to everyone.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting the subject marker after an overt noun
❌ Jaki da ƙarfi.
Incorrect as the neutral sentence 'The donkey is strong' — the predicate frame is missing.
✅ Jaki yana da ƙarfi.
The donkey is strong.
2. Choosing agreement from the English adjective
❌ Wuƙar yana da kaifi.
Incorrect — wuƙa is feminine, so use tana.
✅ Wuƙar tana da kaifi.
The knife is sharp.
3. Putting ne or ce after a quality noun
❌ Yarinyar wayo ce.
Incorrect for the intended neutral meaning 'The girl is clever' — wayo is a quality noun.
✅ Yarinyar tana da wayo.
The girl is clever.
4. Using the positive marker in a negative clause
❌ Igiya ba tana da ƙarfi ba.
Incorrect — use the negative continuative form.
✅ Igiya ba ta da ƙarfi.
A rope is not strong.
Key Takeaways
- Quality nouns such as ƙarfi, kaifi, kyau, and wayo normally take an agreeing ...na da predicate.
- Agreement is on yana/tana/suna, while the quality noun stays unchanged.
- An overt noun subject does not normally remove the subject marker.
- True adjectives take adjective agreement plus ne/ce; do not build hybrid predicates.
- The attributive counterpart is singular mai and plural masu; the negative uses ba shi/ta/su da.
Related Topics
- How Hausa Expresses PropertiesA1 — Choose among true adjectives, mai or masu phrases, quality nouns, and verbal expressions when describing people and things in Hausa.
- Good and Bad: kyau and muni ConstructionsA1 — How Hausa builds judgments with the quality nouns kyau and muni, mai/masu phrases, and derived adjectives.
- Predicative Quality with ne and ceA2 — How agreeing Hausa adjectives form present-time quality predicates with clause-final ne and ce.
- Quality Nouns as PredicatesA2 — Choose possessive, resultative, or nominal predicate frames when Hausa expresses an English adjective with a noun.
- Negative Property PredicationA2 — Negate Hausa properties with the frame required by a true adjective, a quality noun, or a resulting-state construction.