A Hausa relative clause can identify someone or something by an event that did not happen: mutanen da ba su zo ba “the people who did not come,” takardar da Amina ba ta karanta ba “the document that Amina did not read.” The relative linker da introduces the modifier, but it does not itself carry polarity. The clause after it must contain the correct negative subject–TAM construction; the noun before it follows the separate linking-before-relative-clauses pattern.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not mark tone or vowel length. Affirmative completive and continuative relatives have special relative forms, but ordinary negative clauses largely neutralize those positive contrasts: use bai/ba ta/ba su ... ba for the negative completive and ba ya/ba ta/ba sa ... for the negative continuative, not a generic ba before an affirmative relative form.
The relative boundary and the negative boundary
A restrictive relative noun phrase has the broad shape:
linked head noun + da + negative clause
Na kira mutanen da suka halarci taron jiya.
I called the people who attended yesterday's meeting. (affirmative relative completive)
Na kira mutanen da ba su halarci taron jiya ba.
I called the people who did not attend yesterday's meeting. (negative relative completive)
The plural head mutanen is followed by relative linker da. Inside the modifier, affirmative relative suka changes to negative-completive ba su ... ba. The final ba closes the embedded negative before the larger noun phrase ends.
Ga ma’aikatan da suke aiki da dare.
Here are the employees who work at night. (affirmative relative continuative)
Ga ma’aikatan da ba sa aiki da dare.
Here are the employees who do not work at night. (negative relative continuative)
Continuative relative suke changes to negative ba sa, which normally has no final ba. Being inside a relative clause does not turn it into a ba ... ba completive.
Subject relatives: the head controls agreement
In a subject relative, the head noun is understood as the subject of the modifying clause. Its gender and number therefore determine the negative marker.
| Head | Negative relative clause | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mutumin | da bai zo ba | the man who did not come |
| matar | da ba ta zo ba | the woman who did not come |
| mutanen | da ba su zo ba | the people who did not come |
| yarinyar | da ba ta zuwa | the girl who does not come |
Likitan ya duba mutumin da bai iya barci ba.
The doctor examined the man who could not sleep.
Na san matar da ba ta cin nama.
I know the woman who does not eat meat.
Masculine singular mutumin selects bai in the completed/state-like denial. Feminine singular matar selects negative-continuative ba ta because the relative describes a standing dietary practice. English who does not does not encode this Hausa gender-and-aspect choice.
The special possessed form matar Musa means “Musa’s wife,” while macen Musa can mean “Musa’s woman.” That noun distinction remains independent of relative negation:
Matar Musa da ba ta cin nama ta zaɓi shinkafa.
Musa’s wife, who does not eat meat, chose rice.
The commas in English suggest a nonrestrictive reading supplied by context; ordinary Hausa spelling need not mark a special relative morphology for it.
Object relatives: the embedded subject controls agreement
In an object relative, the head is understood as the missing object. The subject inside the relative clause—not the head—controls the subject–TAM form.
Na dawo da littafin da Musa bai karanta ba.
I returned the book that Musa did not read.
Ga takardun da Amina ba ta aika ba.
Here are the documents that Amina did not send.
Littafi is masculine, but bai agrees with embedded subject Musa. Plural takardun does not trigger ba su because feminine singular Amina is the reader inside the relative clause and selects ba ta.
Mun gyara injunan da ma’aikatan ba sa amfani da su.
We repaired the machines that the employees do not use.
The plural resumptive object su refers back to injunan in this naturally expressed oblique/use construction, while ba sa agrees with plural ma’aikatan. Agreement and reference must not be collapsed into one decision.
Future negative relatives retain za
The future has no special affirmative relative paradigm. Its negative likewise keeps za and both parts of the negative frame.
Mun ware kuɗin aikin da ba za mu kammala wannan watan ba.
We set aside money for the project that we will not complete this month.
Ta kira baƙin da ba za su iya zuwa bikin ba.
She called the guests who will not be able to come to the celebration.
The relative linker does not license removal of future za. The forms are ba za mu ... ba and ba za su ... ba, exactly as required by their subjects.
An indefinite or polarity item may remain inside the relative negative:
Na tattara rahotannin da ba su ambaci komai game da kuɗin ba.
I collected the reports that did not mention anything about the money.
Joined komai receives its any/no reading from embedded negative-completive ba su ... ba.
The main clause and relative clause have independent polarity
Moving negation across da changes the claim.
Na gai da mutanen da ba su zo taron ba.
I greeted the people who did not come to the meeting. (the greeting happened)
Ban gai da mutanen da suka zo taron ba.
I did not greet the people who came to the meeting. (their coming is affirmative; my greeting is denied)
In the first sentence, only the relative event is negative. In the second, relative suka zo is affirmative and matrix ban gai ... ba is negative. One pair of ba cannot stretch from the matrix clause into a relative clause or vice versa.
Both clauses can be negative at once:
Ban kira mutanen da ba su miƙa rahotonsu ba.
I did not call the people who did not submit their reports.
Matrix ban kira ... ba and embedded ba su miƙa ... ba are two separate negative completives. Their meanings do not cancel; the sentence denies my calling a negatively defined group.
Relative negation versus correction of the head
Compare a negative property with a corrected identity:
Wannan ne direban da bai zo ba.
This is the driver who did not come. (the relative predicate is negative)
Wannan ba direban da ya zo ba ne; wancan ne.
This is not the driver who came; it is that one. (the identified person is corrected)
The first affirms the identity and describes the driver through a negative relative clause. The second rejects wannan as the right driver while retaining affirmative relative ya zo. English stress can obscure this structural contrast.
Negative directives inside reported descriptions follow their own construction. Kada/kar does not take final ba:
Na karanta sanarwar da ta ce kada ma’aikata su shiga ɗakin.
I read the notice that said the employees should not enter the room.
Here the relative clause da ta ce ... is affirmative; the quoted directive contains neutral kada + subjunctive su. It would be incorrect to add a closing ba after shiga ɗakin.
Dialogue correction
—Ka kira mutanen da suka rasa aiki? —A’a, na kira mutanen da ba su sami saƙon ba; wannan bai shafi aikinsu ba.
—Did you call the people who lost their jobs? —No, I called the people who did not receive the message; this had nothing to do with their jobs. (addressing one male)
The reply does not deny calling. It replaces the affirmative relative description da suka rasa aikin with negative relative da ba su sami saƙon ba. Plural agreement stays inside the new relative clause.
Practice: locate the negative clause
- Mutumin da bai biya ba ya dawo. The man’s paying is denied; his return is affirmed.
- Mutumin da ya biya bai dawo ba. His paying is affirmed; his return is denied.
- Mutumin da bai biya ba bai dawo ba. Both events are denied in separate clauses.
- Matar da ba ta zuwa ofis tana aiki daga gida. A standing office-going habit is denied; no final ba follows negative continuative ba ta zuwa.
- Ba matar da ta zo ba ce shugabar. The relevant woman is corrected; the relative coming remains affirmative.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping affirmative relative TAM after generic ba.
❌ Mutanen da ba suka zo ba suna jira.
Incorrect—negative completive requires plural ba su, not ba plus relative suka.
✅ Mutanen da ba su shiga ɗakin ba suna jira a waje.
The people who did not enter the room are waiting outside.
2. Adding final ba to a negative continuative relative.
❌ Ma’aikatan da ba sa aiki ranar Lahadi ba sun tafi.
Incorrect for the ordinary negative continuative intended here.
✅ Ma’aikatan da ba sa aiki ranar Lahadi sun tafi.
The employees who do not work on Sundays have left.
3. Making the head control an object-relative subject marker.
❌ Takardun da Amina ba su karanta ba suna nan.
Incorrect—Amina is the feminine singular subject inside the relative clause.
✅ Takardun da Amina ba ta karanta ba suna nan.
The documents that Amina did not read are here.
4. Letting one closing ba serve two clauses.
❌ Ban kira mutanen da su zo ba.
Incorrect for ‘I did not call the people who did not come’; the embedded negative is missing.
✅ Ban kira mutanen da ba su zo ba.
I did not call the people who did not come.
5. Adding ba to kada inside a relative clause.
❌ Na ga dokar da ta ce kada a shiga ba.
Incorrect—the negative directive has no final ba.
✅ Na ga dokar da ta ce kada a shiga.
I saw the rule saying that no one should enter.
Key Takeaways
- Da introduces the relative modifier; polarity belongs to the clause after it.
- Negative completive relatives use forms such as bai ... ba, ba ta ... ba, ba su ... ba.
- Negative continuative relatives use ba ya, ba ta, ba sa, and normally no final ba.
- A subject-relative head controls agreement; in an object relative, the embedded subject controls it.
- Matrix and relative clauses can carry independent polarity and independently complete their negative frames.
- Future relatives retain ba za ... ba, while directives retain kada/kar + subjunctive without final ba.
Related Topics
- Linking before Relative ClausesA2 — How a Hausa head noun takes its joined n/r form before a restrictive relative clause introduced by da.
- Relative Completive PronounsA2 — Use na, ka, kika, ya, ta, muka, kuka, suka, and aka for completed events in Hausa focus, question, and relative environments.
- 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.
- Negative CompletiveA2 — Use Hausa's person-marked ba ... ba completive paradigm to deny a completed event or realized state.
- Negative ContinuativeA2 — Use the ba na, ba ka, ba kya series to deny ongoing actions, open states, locations, and regular activities without final ba.
- Negative Future FormsB1 — Build the Hausa negative future with ba around the full za person frame and understand its scope and viewpoint.