Hausa can identify a referent without copying the English contrast between a separate article such as “the” and a demonstrative such as “this.” A bare noun may be understood from context, an attached -n/-r form can resume a recoverable referent, and a demonstrative can locate or contrast it more explicitly. The important question is therefore not “Which Hausa word means the?” but “What does the listener already know, and am I also pointing out one member of a contrast?”
The discourse conditions behind retrieval are developed on definiteness as previous or recoverable reference. This page concentrates on the extra contrast or deixis contributed by a demonstrative.
All ordinary examples here are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Boko normally leaves tone and vowel length unmarked, so visually identical nan forms can carry distinctions that speech and context make clearer.
The core contrast
A phrase such as motar normally asks the listener to recover the car from prior mention or the shared situation. Motar nan adds a demonstrative: it can select the car at hand or the contextually salient car. Motar can selects a more distant one. Hausa also has demonstratives before a bare noun, as in wannan mota “this car.”
| Reference | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain / context-dependent | gida | mota | motoci |
| Recoverable definite | gidan | motar | motocin |
| Post-nominal demonstrative | gidan nan | motar nan | motocin nan |
| Pre-nominal demonstrative | wannan gida | wannan mota | waɗannan motoci |
| Distant demonstrative | gidan can / wancan gida | motar can / waccan mota | motocin can / waɗancan motoci |
The singular noun's lexical gender chooses its linked form: masculine gida gives gidan, while feminine mota gives motar. Plurals use the -n series, so motoci gives motocin. This is why a useful lexical entry is mota (f.), motoci, motar, not simply mota = car. Plural formation itself is lexical; -n does not create the plural.
Gidan ya yi shiru tun da kowa ya fita.
The house has been quiet since everyone left.
Gidan nan ya fi wancan girma.
This house is bigger than that one.
Motocin can na kamfanin ne.
Those cars over there belong to the company.
Definite reference retrieves; a demonstrative selects
The attached definite form is especially natural when a referent has just been introduced. The first mention may be bare or contain wani/wata/wasu; the later mention can use -n/-r because the listener can now identify it.
Wani yaro ya kawo wasiƙa. Wasiƙar tana kan tebur yanzu.
A boy brought a letter. The letter is on the table now.
The first wasiƙa introduces a letter. Wasiƙar then retrieves that same letter. Nothing is being pointed at, so a demonstrative would add information rather than merely reproduce the English article.
Na sayi jaka jiya. Jakar tana cikin motata.
I bought a bag yesterday. The bag is in my car.
Ba littafin nan nake nufi ba; wancan nake nufi.
I do not mean this book; I mean that one.
In the second example, littafin nan selects one book in contrast with another. English often uses stress to do this—“not this book”—whereas Hausa can make the contrast explicit with a demonstrative.
Recoverability can also come from the immediate situation rather than an earlier sentence. At a room's only obvious exit, ƙofar may mean “the door.” Adding nan becomes useful when several doors are available or the speaker is directing attention to one of them.
Don Allah, rufe ƙofar kafin ka fita.
Please close the door before you leave.
Rufe ƙofar nan; ka bar ɗayar a buɗe.
Close this door; leave the other one open.
Two demonstrative positions
Hausa offers two common noun-phrase patterns. A full demonstrative can precede a plain noun: wannan gida, wannan mota, waɗannan motoci. Alternatively, the short demonstrative follows a linked noun: gidan nan, motar nan, motocin nan. Both patterns are (neutral) and common in conversation and writing.
Wannan mota ta yi tsada sosai.
This car is very expensive.
Motar nan ta yi tsada sosai.
This car is very expensive.
The translations overlap, but the two constructions are not built by the same syntax. Do not take wannan mota and mechanically add the linked ending to make wannan motar as the beginner default. The post-nominal construction is the one whose short demonstrative directly requires motar nan. More complex noun phrases can contain additional marking, but that belongs with the relevant modifier or relative-clause rule.
The far pre-nominal forms display agreement more visibly: wancan gida is masculine singular, waccan mota is feminine singular, and waɗancan motoci is plural. Post-nominal can itself stays the same; agreement appears on gidan/motar/motocin.
Waccan mota ta Amina ce, amma motar nan ta Musa ce.
That car is Amina's, but this car is Musa's.
Waɗannan kujeru sun karye; ku kawo kujerun can.
These chairs are broken; bring those chairs over there.
Why nan does not always equal English this
In spoken Hausa, the NAN series makes finer deictic and discourse distinctions than ordinary boko reveals. Depending on tone and context, a post-nominal nan phrase may be translated as “this,” “that near you,” or “that one already salient.” Can normally places the referent farther from both participants, with an especially remote interpretation available in speech. These are not differences that ordinary spelling reliably displays.
At A2, the safe productive contrast is linked noun + nan for a near or immediately salient referent and linked noun + can for a distant one. It is genuinely impossible to recover every spoken distinction from an unmarked written nan alone; context is part of the grammar.
Ka ga shagon nan? A nan za mu haɗu da Hauwa.
Do you see that shop there? That is where we will meet Hauwa.
Kada ka shiga gidan can da dare.
Do not enter that house over there at night.
Definite and linked forms can look identical
Gidan at the end of a noun phrase can mark “the house.” Before a possessor in gidan Musa, the same visible sequence contains a genitive linker. Before nan in gidan nan, it links the noun to a demonstrative. Syntax tells you which function is present:
| Form | What follows | Function |
|---|---|---|
| gidan | noun phrase ends | recoverable definite “the house” |
| gidan Musa | nominal possessor | genitive-linked “Musa's house” |
| gidan nan | short demonstrative | demonstrative-linked “this/that house” |
This homophony is systematic. Do not assume that every final written n means an English article, or that every -n means English “of.”
Common Mistakes
1. Adding a demonstrative after an unlinked noun.
❌ gida nan
Incorrect in the standard post-nominal demonstrative pattern — the noun needs its linked form.
✅ gidan nan
This or that contextually salient house.
2. Using the feminine singular linker on a plural noun.
❌ motocir nan
Incorrect — plural motoci uses the -n series.
✅ motocin nan
These cars.
3. Treating every English “the” as a command to add -n or -r.
❌ Na tafi gidan.
Incorrect for the intended idiom ‘I went home’ — an English article cannot be copied as a Hausa suffix.
✅ Na tafi gida.
I went home.
4. Putting a full pre-nominal demonstrative after the noun.
❌ mota wannan
Incorrect — full wannan precedes the noun in the basic pre-nominal frame.
✅ wannan mota
This car.
5. Guessing the linked form from English meaning.
❌ gidar nan
Incorrect — gida is lexically masculine despite ending in -a.
✅ gidan nan
This house.
Key Takeaways
- A bare noun can be definite or indefinite by context; Hausa does not mechanically mirror English articles.
- A phrase-final -n/-r form typically retrieves a discourse-given or otherwise recoverable referent.
- Demonstratives add deixis, salience, or contrast: wannan mota and motar nan are two different syntactic patterns.
- Post-nominal nan/can requires the linked noun form, selected by the head noun's gender and number.
- The same visible gidan is definite phrase-finally, genitive-linked before a possessor, and demonstrative-linked before nan/can.
Related Topics
- Definite Suffixes -n and -r: OverviewA2 — How Hausa uses joined -n and -r forms for recoverable reference and noun linking, with the crucial gender, number, and sound-pattern asymmetries.
- Definiteness as Previous or Recoverable ReferenceA2 — Choose Hausa definite forms by whether the listener can retrieve a referent from prior discourse, shared context, or an inferable relationship.
- Linking before DemonstrativesA2 — Form Hausa post-nominal demonstratives with a linked noun before nan or can, and contrast them with full demonstratives before a bare noun.
- Near Demonstratives: wannan and waɗannanA1 — Use wannan with a nearby singular referent and waɗannan with nearby plurals, both before nouns and as standalone demonstratives.
- Far Demonstratives: wancan and waɗancanA1 — Use wancan, waccan, and waɗancan for distant or discourse-remote masculine, feminine, and plural referents.
- Plain Noun or Definite -n/-r Form?B1 — Choose a plain Hausa noun for new, generic, predicative, or conventional reference and a joined -n/-r form for active recoverable reference, while recognizing construct linking.