Choose plain ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, ana when the ongoing event, habit, or state is the main neutral assertion. Choose relative nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, ake in the open clause of canonical fronted focus, a constituent question, or an identifying relative clause. Time does not make the choice: both series can occur in past, present, or future settings.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). The labels plain and relative describe information structure; they do not mean informal versus formal speech. Ordinary boko writes the contrast clearly, so yana and yake should never be treated as spelling variants.
For the complete person sets and their pronunciation, use the dedicated relative-continuative paradigm; this page concentrates on the choice between constructions.
A practical choice diagnostic
- Are you simply reporting what is happening, usually happens, or holds true? Use plain continuative.
- Are you asking yes/no about the whole open situation? Keep plain continuative.
- Are you fronting who, what, where, when, or how while the rest means “subject is doing _”? Use relative continuative.
- Are you selecting one focused value from alternatives? Use relative continuative in the background clause, even if ne/ce is absent.
- Does an identifying relative clause give an ongoing, habitual, or state-like property of a noun? Use relative continuative.
The core minimal contrast is visible in every person:
A wannan lokacin Musa yana gyaran famfon bayan gida.
At this moment Musa is repairing the backyard tap. (plain neutral assertion)
Famfon ne Musa yake gyarawa yanzu.
It is the tap that Musa is repairing now. (relative continuative after object focus)
Both describe the same ongoing repair. The first announces the situation as a whole; the second identifies the object within the open background “Musa is repairing x.”
Plain continuative: neutral event, habit, or state
The continuative is broader than English be + -ing. A plain clause can report an event in progress, a recurring habit, or a state-like relation.
Hauwa tana shirya abincin rana a kicin.
Hauwa is preparing lunch in the kitchen. (ongoing event)
Direbobin suna wucewa ta nan kowace safiya.
The drivers pass this way every morning. (habit)
Ina son shayi ba tare da sukari ba.
I like tea without sugar. (state-like preference)
Ana sayar da sabbin littattafai a kasuwar Sabon Gari.
New books are sold at Sabon Gari market. (impersonal general activity)
A time expression locates the situation without changing plain to relative:
Jiya da ƙarfe biyu muna jiran likitan a waje.
Yesterday at two, we were waiting for the doctor outside.
Gobe da wannan lokaci za mu kasance muna tafiya zuwa Kaduna.
Tomorrow at this time, we will be travelling to Kaduna.
The second sentence embeds plain muna under future za mu kasance. Nothing about future time automatically selects muke.
Plain continuative also appears in a polar question:
Kuna sauraron labaran rediyo yanzu?
Are you all listening to the radio news now?
The question tests the entire proposition. A question mark is not a relative-continuative trigger.
Constituent questions need the relative open clause
Fronted question words request one value while treating the rest as an open background. This construction selects nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, ake.
Me Amina take rubutawa a cikin littafin?
What is Amina writing in the notebook?
Wa kake jira a gaban asibiti?
Whom are you waiting for in front of the hospital? (to one male)
Ina kuke kwana idan kuka je ƙauyen?
Where do you all stay when you go to the village?
Yaushe suke rufe shagon a ranar Asabar?
When do they close the shop on Saturday?
Ta yaya ake yin wannan miyar?
How is this soup made?
English changes word order or places a wh-word first, but its progressive auxiliary does not have a dedicated “relative” form. Hausa marks the information packaging inside the subject–TAM complex as well.
The relative continuative does not assert that the speaker already knows the answer. It presents the open proposition for the purpose of the question. An answer can reject its assumption:
A: Wa yake gyaran injin? B: Babu wanda yake gyara shi; an rufe bitar.
A: Who is repairing the engine? B: Nobody is repairing it; the workshop is closed.
The question remains grammatical even though the respondent denies that any repair is underway.
Focus identifies a value against alternatives
Canonical focus fronts the selected constituent and uses the relative continuative in the remainder.
Maryam ce take kula da baƙi yau.
Maryam is the one looking after the guests today.
Wannan rahoton ne muke dubawa, ba tsohon ba.
It is this report that we are examining, not the old one.
A ƙarƙashin bishiyar suke jiran motar.
It is under the tree that they are waiting for the vehicle. (particleless place focus)
The last example matters: ne/ce is not required in every focus strategy. A particleless fronted phrase can carry the contrast, while suke identifies the relative environment. It would be wrong to replace suke with plain suna merely because no copula is written.
Subject focus has the same background logic:
Musa da Hauwa ne suke tsara jadawalin taron.
Musa and Hauwa are the ones planning the meeting schedule.
The open proposition is “x are planning the schedule.” The focused pair fills that subject slot.
Relative clauses use an open property to identify a noun
An identifying relative clause turns an ongoing event, habit, or state into a property of a noun.
Na san matar da take sayar da kayan miya a nan.
I know the woman who sells cooking ingredients here.
Ka kawo fayil ɗin da muke nema tun jiya.
Bring the file that we have been looking for since yesterday. (to one male)
Motocin da suke zuwa Zariya suna tsayawa can.
The vehicles that go to Zaria stop over there.
In the first example, take sayarwa gives an identifying habitual property of matar. In the second, muke nema identifies which file. The noun's gender does not control the marker in an object relative: mu is the subject of looking, so the marker is muke.
Compare independent and relative uses:
Ma’aikatan suna neman wata takarda.
The employees are looking for a document. (plain main assertion)
Takardar da ma’aikatan suke nema tana wurin shugaba.
The document that the employees are looking for is with the manager. (relative property)
The first updates the listener about a search. The second uses that search to identify takardar while asserting where it is.
A substitution test for the whole construction
Take the neutral clause Aisha tana karanta rahoto “Aisha is reading a report.” Do not choose one word in isolation; transform the construction.
- Ask for the object: Me Aisha take karantawa?
- Focus the object: Rahoton ne Aisha take karantawa.
- Make the event identify a noun: rahoton da Aisha take karantawa.
- Ask yes/no about the whole event: Aisha tana karanta rahoto?
Aisha tana karanta rahoton bincike a ɗakin karatu.
Aisha is reading the research report in the library. (neutral assertion)
Wane rahoto Aisha take karantawa a ɗakin karatu?
Which report is Aisha reading in the library? (constituent question)
The transformation shows the actual trigger. “Important” information does not mechanically take -ke; the focus/wh/relative syntax does.
Both choices, different discourse effects
At a market, the same habitual activity can be reported or contrasted:
Bello yana sayar da takalma a wannan kasuwar.
Bello sells shoes in this market. (neutral statement about Bello's activity)
Takalma Bello yake sayarwa a wannan kasuwar, ba riguna ba.
It is shoes that Bello sells in this market, not clothes. (particleless object focus)
Plain yana answers “What does Bello do?” as a whole proposition. Relative yake follows the fronted contrast and answers “What does Bello sell?”
Mini-dialogue:
A: Me ke faruwa a harabar? B: Yara suna wasan ƙwallo a can.
A: What is happening in the courtyard? B: Children are playing football there. (whole situation asserted)
A: Wane wasa yaran suke yi? B: Wasan ƙwallo suke yi, ba tsere ba.
A: What game are the children playing? B: They are playing football, not racing. (relative open clause)
Using plain suna in the second answer would not package wasan ƙwallo as the answer to the open slot as directly.
Negation neutralizes the affirmative contrast
Negative continuative uses ba na, ba ka, ba kya, ba ya, ba ta, ba ma, ba kwa, ba sa, ba a, normally without final ba. There is no negative opposition ba yana versus ba yake.
Musa ba ya aiki a ofis ranar Lahadi.
Musa does not work at the office on Sundays.
Musa ne ba ya aiki a ofis ranar Lahadi.
Musa is the one who does not work at the office on Sundays.
Focus remains visible in the second sentence, but negative ba ya replaces the affirmative plain-relative choice. This is an important boundary on the beginner rule.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping plain tana after canonical object focus
❌ Sabuwar kasidar ce Zainab tana dubawa.
Incorrect in canonical affirmative focus — use relative take.
✅ Sabuwar kasidar ce Zainab take dubawa.
It is the new article that Zainab is examining.
2. Using plain kuna in a fronted constituent question
❌ Ina kuna ajiye motocinku da dare?
Incorrect canonical where-question — use relative kuke.
✅ Ina kuke ajiye motocinku da dare?
Where do you all park your vehicles at night?
3. Using relative yake in a neutral polar question
❌ Musa yake zuwa aiki da ƙafa?
Incorrect as a neutral yes/no question with no licensing focus.
✅ Musa yana zuwa aiki da ƙafa?
Does Musa walk to work?
4. Treating yake as a past marker
❌ Gobe wane aiki Ado yana yi da safe?
Incorrect canonical fronted question; future time does not license plain yana.
✅ Gobe wane aiki Ado yake yi da safe?
Tomorrow, what work will Ado be doing in the morning?
5. Dropping relative TAM because focus lacks ne/ce
❌ A nan suna gudanar da taron, ba babban zaure ba.
Incorrect for the intended particleless place focus — the open clause needs suke.
✅ A nan suke gudanar da taron, ba babban zaure ba.
It is here that they are holding the meeting, not in the main hall.
6. Combining negative ba with affirmative take
❌ Hauwa ce ba take zuwa kasuwa ranar Lahadi.
Incorrect negative-continuative morphology.
✅ Hauwa ce ba ta zuwa kasuwa ranar Lahadi.
Hauwa is the one who does not go to the market on Sundays.
Key Takeaways
- Plain continuative presents an ongoing event, habit, or state as the main neutral proposition.
- Relative continuative marks the open background in canonical fronted wh, focus, and identifying relative clauses.
- Past, present, and future time do not choose -na versus -ke; discourse syntax does.
- A polar question normally retains plain continuative; a fronted constituent question selects relative continuative.
- Particleless fronted focus can still require nake/kake/yake/muke/suke; ne/ce is not universally obligatory.
- Negative continuative has its own paradigm and neutralizes the affirmative plain-relative opposition.
Related Topics
- Continuative PronounsA2 — Use ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, and ana for ongoing, habitual, and state-like situations in neutral Hausa clauses.
- Relative Continuative PronounsA2 — Use nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, and ake for ongoing or habitual situations in focus, questions, and relative clauses.
- Plain versus Relative Continuative: PresuppositionB2 — Understand how plain continuative asserts an open proposition while relative continuative places that proposition in the background of focus, wh-questions, and relative clauses.
- Focus and Relative ContinuativeB1 — Use nake, kake, yake, muke, suke, and the rest of the relative-continuative series after fronted Hausa focus.
- Relative Continuative after Object Wh-WordsB2 — Use Hausa nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, and ake when a fronted wh-expression asks for an object in an ongoing, habitual, or state-like clause.
- Relative Continuative inside Relative ClausesB1 — Use the relative-continuative series in Hausa relative clauses that express ongoing actions, habits, and state-like properties.