Hausa talks about time and patience through several reusable frames: nan da nan “immediately,” sannu a hankali “slowly, gradually,” daga baya “later,” lokaci-lokaci “from time to time,” ɗauki lokaci “take time,” ɓata lokaci “waste time,” and yi haƙuri “be patient; forgive.” Some are transparent collocations and some are partly lexicalized. None licenses word-for-word reconstruction from an English idiom.
All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko preserves ɓ, ɗ, ƙ and apostrophes but does not mark tone or vowel length. The expressions below are attested; the page teaches their stable wording, productive slots, and social force rather than manufacturing proverb-like metaphors.
A practical map: how soon, how steadily, and how often?
The safest first diagnostic is to ask what relation to time you mean.
| Meaning | Established frame | What remains productive |
|---|---|---|
| immediately | nan da nan | clause position |
| slowly / gradually | a hankali; sannu a hankali | the event being modified |
| later / afterward | daga baya | reference point from context |
| from time to time | lokaci-lokaci; daga lokaci zuwa lokaci | the recurring event |
| require time | ɗauki lokaci | subject and amount of time |
| waste time | ɓata lokaci | subject, TAM, and optional activity |
| be patient / forgive | yi haƙuri | person, TAM, and complement |
These are constructional frames. Subject agreement, polarity, time reference, and surrounding arguments can change, while the central lexical partnership stays recognizable.
—Yaushe za a gyara wutar? —Ma’aikatan sun ce za su zo nan da nan.
—When will the electricity be fixed? —The workers said they would come immediately. (everyday dialogue)
Kada ka yi sauri da fom ɗin; ka karanta kowace tambaya sannu a hankali.
Do not rush the form; read each question slowly and carefully. (to one man)
Za mu tattauna kuɗin daga baya, bayan mun tabbatar da adadin kayan.
We will discuss the money later, after confirming the quantity of the goods.
The whole expressions nan da nan and daga baya act adverbially. Do not insert an English-shaped preposition inside them. Sannu a hankali combines two established manner expressions and can describe gradual progress as well as careful pace.
Nan da nan: an immediate transition
Nan da nan means immediately, at once, or straightaway. The reduplicated wording is fixed: it is not the ordinary demonstrative contrast between “here” and “there.” It can follow the verb phrase or frame the next event.
Da na ji ƙararrawar, na fita daga ɗakin nan da nan.
When I heard the alarm, I left the room immediately.
Likita ya duba sakamakon, nan da nan ya kira ma’aikaciyar jinya.
The doctor examined the result and immediately called the nurse.
A turo mana da rahoton nan da nan.
Send us the report immediately. (formal directive)
The last example is grammatically ordinary but pragmatically strong. Nan da nan in an order leaves no room for delay. With a senior, client, or distressed person, state the reason or deadline instead of intensifying casually.
Don Allah, ku turo mana da rahoton kafin ƙarfe huɗu domin mu kammala lissafin.
Please send us the report before four so that we can complete the calculation. (formal, reason and deadline explicit)
That explicit deadline is often better than translating emphatic English right this second. Hausa has no need for a novel body or clock metaphor when ordinary temporal wording is clearer.
A hankali and sannu a hankali
A hankali means slowly, gently, carefully, or calmly according to the action. Sannu a hankali reinforces gradual, measured progress. The exact English adverb changes because the shared core is controlled pace, not one mechanically fixed gloss.
Ki buɗe akwatin a hankali; gilashi ne a ciki.
Open the box carefully; there is glass inside. (to one woman)
Motar tana tafiya a hankali saboda ruwan sama.
The vehicle is moving slowly because of the rain.
Sannu a hankali, kasuwancin ya fara farfaɗowa bayan matsalar.
Gradually, the business began to recover after the problem.
Yaron yana koyon karatu sannu a hankali, amma yana samun ci gaba.
The child is learning to read gradually, but he is making progress.
The permitted substitution is between the shorter a hankali and fuller sannu a hankali when controlled pace is intended. They are not identical in every discourse: the fuller frame more readily profiles a gradual process; the shorter one is natural for a careful physical instruction.
English take it easy can mean “do not worry,” “work less,” “goodbye,” or “move carefully.” Do not assign all four senses to a hankali. Choose an explicit Hausa paraphrase: kada ka damu “do not worry,” ka huta “rest,” or ka yi aikin a hankali “do the work carefully.”
Daga baya and recurring time
Daga baya locates something after a contextually understood point: later, afterward, or subsequently. It need not name an exact clock time.
Na fara kiran Musa, daga baya kuma na aika masa da saƙo.
I first called Musa, and later I sent him a message.
Ba zan iya magana yanzu ba; zan kira ki daga baya.
I cannot talk now; I will call you later. (to one woman)
For intermittent recurrence, Hausa has lexicalized lokaci-lokaci and the transparent frame daga lokaci zuwa lokaci. Both mean “from time to time,” though the fuller frame can sound more deliberate in careful prose.
Muna duba tsoffin bayanan lokaci-lokaci domin kada a rasa su.
We check the old records from time to time so that they are not lost.
Kwamitin yana sake nazarin ƙa’idar daga lokaci zuwa lokaci.
The committee reviews the rule from time to time. (careful/formal)
Lokaci-lokaci is an established lexical reduplication. It does not prove that any time noun can be doubled freely. See Emphasis through Repetition for the difference between productive repetition and lexicalized forms.
Ɗauki lokaci and ɓata lokaci
When a process requires a stretch of time, ɗauki lokaci means “take time.” The event or task is the subject; person/TAM marking still follows ordinary grammar.
Gyaran wannan injin zai ɗauki lokaci saboda babu kayan musanya a nan.
Repairing this engine will take time because replacement parts are not available here.
Koyon sabon tsarin ya ɗauki lokaci, amma yanzu kowa yana amfani da shi.
Learning the new system took time, but now everyone uses it.
An amount may specify the duration:
Tafiyar daga nan zuwa ƙauyen tana ɗaukar kusan awa biyu a lokacin damina.
The journey from here to the village takes about two hours in the rainy season.
Ɗaukar appears under the continuative because the predicate is open or characteristic. The collocation is stable, but TAM remains productive: ya ɗauki lokaci, yana ɗaukar lokaci, zai ɗauki lokaci.
By contrast, ɓata lokaci evaluates time as used without adequate result: waste time, delay needlessly, or keep someone waiting.
Kada mu ɓata lokaci da gardamar da ba za ta warware matsalar ba.
Let us not waste time on an argument that will not solve the problem.
Sun ɓata mini lokaci suna neman takardar da ya kamata ta kasance a fayil.
They wasted my time looking for a document that should have been in the file.
The idiom is not English kill time translated as kashe lokaci. If the intended meaning is simply filling an idle period pleasantly, say what happened: Na karanta jarida ina jiran motar “I read a newspaper while waiting for the bus.” Ɓata lokaci normally carries negative evaluation.
Yi haƙuri: patience, forgiveness, and interaction
Yi haƙuri is a high-frequency fixed partnership of yi and the noun haƙuri. Depending on context it asks someone to be patient, bear an inconvenience, or forgive the speaker. Its grammar is productive: na yi haƙuri, ka yi haƙuri, ku yi haƙuri, yana haƙuri da.... Its social interpretation comes from the surrounding turn.
Yi haƙuri, motar ba ta iso ba tukuna; muna sa ran za ta zo cikin minti goma.
Please be patient, the bus has not arrived yet; we expect it within ten minutes.
Na yi haƙuri da jinkirin sau biyu, amma yanzu ina buƙatar tabbatacciyar rana.
I tolerated the delay twice, but now I need a definite date.
Ku yi haƙuri da mu saboda kuskuren da aka samu a lissafin.
Please forgive us for the error in the calculation. (formal/respectful or plural)
Bare imperative yi haƙuri does not overtly mark the gender of one addressee. Explicit ka yi, ki yi, and ku yi can identify one man, one woman, and a plural or contextually respectful addressee.
—Ki yi haƙuri kaɗan, zan gama biyan kuɗin yanzu. —To, zan jira a nan.
—Please wait a little; I will finish paying now. —All right, I will wait here. (one female addressee)
Patience sayings are quoted, not freely rebuilt
The attested saying Mai haƙuri yakan dafa dutse ya sha romonsa uses an impossible literal image—“a patient person can cook a stone and drink its broth”—to praise extraordinary perseverance. It is a proverb, not a productive template in which any hard object may replace dutse.
Kakanmu ya ce, ‘Mai haƙuri yakan dafa dutse ya sha romonsa,’ sannan ya ƙarfafa mu mu ci gaba da aikin.
Our grandfather said, ‘A patient person can cook a stone and drink its broth,’ and then encouraged us to continue the work. (warm proverbial counsel)
Another attested patience saying is Sannu ba ta hana zuwa, sai dai a daɗe ba a je ba: going slowly does not prevent arrival, though it may delay it. Its inherited wording presents steady progress rather than promising a particular completion date.
Malam ya tunatar da ɗalibin cewa, ‘Sannu ba ta hana zuwa, sai dai a daɗe ba a je ba,’ amma ya kuma ba shi sabon tsarin karatu.
The teacher reminded the student, ‘Going slowly does not prevent arrival, though it may take longer,’ but also gave him a new study plan. (support plus practical help)
In urgent medical, financial, or safety contexts, an English paraphrase or direct Hausa instruction is preferable to a general proverb. Patience language can otherwise sound like an excuse for avoidable delay.
Za a biya ku ranar Juma’a; idan ba ku ga kuɗin ba, ku kira wannan lambar.
You will be paid on Friday; if you do not see the money, call this number. (accountable alternative to vague patience advice)
Common Mistakes
1. Translating English “kill time” word for word
❌ Na kashe lokaci ina jiran jirgi.
Not the established neutral way to say that an idle interval was filled; kashe lokaci is an English-shaped calque here.
✅ Na karanta littafi ina jiran jirgin.
I read a book while waiting for the bus.
2. Breaking the fixed immediate expression
❌ Ya zo nan kuma nan bayan kiran.
Incorrect substitution inside the fixed adverb nan da nan.
✅ Ya zo nan da nan bayan kiran.
He came immediately after the call.
3. Using ɗauki without agreeing TAM
❌ Gyaran injin ɗauki lokaci.
Incorrect finite clause—the task needs a subject–TAM marker.
✅ Gyaran injin zai ɗauki lokaci.
Repairing the engine will take time.
4. Treating ɓata lokaci as neutral leisure
❌ Mun ɓata lokaci muna hira, don haka mun ji daɗi sosai.
Pragmatically mismatched if the speaker means only that they pleasantly passed the time; ɓata evaluates the time negatively.
✅ Mun yi hira muna jiran a buɗe ƙofar, kuma mun ji daɗi sosai.
We chatted while waiting for the door to be opened, and we enjoyed ourselves.
5. Using patience as a substitute for an owed answer
❌ —Yaushe za ku dawo da kuɗina? —Yi haƙuri kawai.
Dismissive—the answer requests patience but withholds the date the listener is entitled to know.
✅ —Yaushe za ku dawo da kuɗina? —Ranar Litinin; ku yi haƙuri da jinkirin.
—When will you return my money? —On Monday; please forgive the delay.
Key Takeaways
- Use nan da nan for immediacy, a hankali / sannu a hankali for controlled or gradual pace, and daga baya for a later stage.
- Lokaci-lokaci and daga lokaci zuwa lokaci express intermittent recurrence; the first is lexicalized reduplication.
- Ɗauki lokaci means require time, while ɓata lokaci negatively evaluates time as wasted.
- Yi haƙuri has stable lexical wording but productive person, TAM, polarity, and complements.
- Do not translate English kill time, take it easy, or right this second piece by piece.
- Patience proverbs are inherited quotations, not free templates, and they should never replace a concrete answer in an urgent or accountable setting.
Related Topics
- Core Collocations with yiB1 — Learn a curated set of high-value Hausa yi collocations, their complement frames, conversational meanings, and limits.
- Time Adverbs and Clause PositionA2 — Place Hausa time words and phrases where they can anchor, schedule, or contrast an event without changing its aspect.
- Emphasis through RepetitionB2 — Use Hausa repetition to intensify, insist, distribute, pace action, and manage stance while distinguishing discourse repetition from lexical reduplication.
- Continuative in Past and Future FramesA2 — Use time expressions and discourse anchors to interpret one Hausa continuative paradigm as past-, present-, or future-time.
- Time Relations with kafin and bayanB1 — Order people, times, and events with kafin ‘before’ and bayan ‘after’ while keeping pronoun complements distinct from clause subjects.