The direct everyday question “What time is it?” is Ƙarfe nawa ne? Hausa also distinguishes that clock-reading question from “At what time will something happen?” and the broader “When?” English uses what time across several contexts, but natural Hausa chooses the question frame according to whether the speaker wants the current reading, an appointment hour, or any temporal answer.
Unless marked otherwise, the questions here are neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa in (informal) speech and normal (formal) interaction. The words nawa, wane, yaushe, and shin provide grammatical question marking; phrase-level intonation can help manage the conversation, but Standard Hausa does not require one English-style final rise in every polar question.
Asking what the clock says
The basic pair is:
A: Ƙarfe nawa ne? B: Ƙarfe huɗu ne.
A: What time is it? B: It is four o’clock.
Nawa asks “how many?” inside the ƙarfe clock frame. The answer replaces it with the hour. Final ne identifies the clock-time expression as the answer; a short conversational answer may omit it once the exchange is clear.
A: Yanzu ƙarfe nawa ne? B: Ƙarfe bakwai da minti goma ne.
A: What time is it now? B: It is 7:10.
A: Don Allah, ƙarfe nawa ne? B: Tara da rabi.
A: Please, what time is it? B: Half past nine.
A: Ƙarfe nawa ne yanzu? B: Goma sha ɗaya saura kwata.
A: What time is it now? B: Quarter to eleven.
The short answers tara da rabi and goma sha ɗaya saura kwata omit recoverable ƙarfe and ne. That ellipsis is ordinary (informal) conversation, not a different way of calculating the time. In a careful announcement, keep the full frame.
An alternative question uses the masculine noun lokaci “time” with wane “which”:
Wane lokaci ne yanzu?
What time is it now?
This asks for the current time, while Ƙarfe nawa ne? more visibly asks for a clock reading. Both are established. Do not use feminine wace with masculine lokaci.
Asking the time of an event
To ask for an appointment hour, use ƙarfe nawa with the event clause. An explicit da “at” may introduce the whole clock phrase, but established Hausa also uses the bare frame:
(da) ƙarfe nawa + clause?
Ƙarfe nawa za ka zo?
At what time will you come?
Da ƙarfe nawa za a fara taron?
At what time will the meeting be started?
Da ƙarfe nawa motar za ta tashi?
At what time will the vehicle leave?
A: Da ƙarfe nawa za ki rufe shago? B: Da ƙarfe shida na yamma.
A: At what time will you close the shop? B: At six in the evening.
When da is present, it belongs before the complete time phrase in both question and answer. Bare ƙarfe nawa is not an error: clock phrases often function adverbially without an overt preposition, especially in ordinary speech. Thus Ƙarfe nawa za ka zo? and Da ƙarfe nawa za ka zo? are both established, while the latter makes “at” explicit.
Wane lokaci can also modify a question about an event:
Wane lokaci ne jirgin zai iso?
At what time will the train arrive?
This is somewhat less transparently numerical than ƙarfe nawa, but context can still invite a clock answer. In careful scheduling, ƙarfe nawa, with optional initial da, is the clearest request for an exact hour.
Yaushe asks “when,” not necessarily “what clock time”
Yaushe opens a larger answer space. The response may be a day, date, period, or exact time.
A: Yaushe za ku tafi? B: Gobe da safe.
A: When will you leave? B: Tomorrow morning.
A: Yaushe ne bikin? B: Ranar Asabar, da ƙarfe huɗu na yamma.
A: When is the celebration? B: On Saturday, at four in the afternoon.
A: Yaushe aka kawo saƙon? B: Jiya da daddare.
A: When was the message brought? B: Last night.
If an answer such as “Saturday” is too broad, follow up with a clock question.
A: Yaushe za a yi gwajin? B: Ranar Litinin. A: Da ƙarfe nawa? B: Da ƙarfe takwas da rabi na safe.
A: When will the test take place? B: On Monday. A: At what time? B: At 8:30 in the morning.
English when and what time overlap, but the Hausa contrast is useful: yaushe locates an event in time generally; ƙarfe nawa asks the clock value.
Giving exact and approximate answers
An exact answer uses the ordinary clock-time patterns from Telling Clock Time.
| Question | Full answer | Short answer |
|---|---|---|
| Ƙarfe nawa ne? | Ƙarfe biyu ne. | Biyu. |
| Ƙarfe nawa ne? | Ƙarfe biyar da rabi ne. | Biyar da rabi. |
| Da ƙarfe nawa? | Da ƙarfe tara na safe. | Tara na safe. |
For an approximate answer, put wajen or misalin before the clock phrase. Both can mean “around/about” in this use.
Zai dawo wajen ƙarfe bakwai.
He will return around seven o’clock.
An ce jirgin zai iso misalin ƙarfe goma.
They said the train would arrive at about ten.
A: Da ƙarfe nawa kuka isa? B: Wajen ƙarfe ɗaya da rabi.
A: At what time did you arrive? B: At around half past one.
Do not present an approximate answer as exact merely because English often drops about in casual speech. Wajen ƙarfe bakwai deliberately leaves a margin; da ƙarfe bakwai daidai makes exactness explicit.
Ka zo da ƙarfe shida daidai, kada ka makara.
Come at exactly six; do not be late.
Checking and correcting a time
A polar question can confirm a proposed time. Shin is available, especially in (formal) speech and writing, but it is not obligatory in ordinary conversation.
Shin taron zai fara da ƙarfe tara?
Will the meeting start at nine? (formal/explicit question marking)
Taron zai fara da ƙarfe tara?
Will the meeting start at nine? (neutral conversational question)
A: Da ƙarfe uku ne? B: A’a, da ƙarfe uku da rabi ne.
A: Is it at three? B: No, it is at half past three.
The second question is grammatical because the clause and discourse mark it as a question; there is no rule that it must end in the same sharp rise used in English. The important grammar is the proposed time frame, with or without shin.
A useful way to ask whether an hour has already been reached is Uku ta yi? “Has it become three?” This idiomatic (informal) expression uses ta yi and normally appears when the hour is already obvious from context. Beginners should not build every time question on it; Ƙarfe nawa ne? remains the productive neutral question.
A: Uku ta yi? B: I, har ta wuce ma.
A: Is it three already? B: Yes, it has even passed three.
A complete service exchange
A: Nawa ne kuɗin tikitin Kano? B: Naira dubu goma sha biyu ne. A: Wace rana motar za ta tashi? B: Ranar Talata. A: Da ƙarfe nawa? B: Da ƙarfe shida saura minti goma na safe.
A: How much is the ticket to Kano? B: It is twelve thousand naira. A: On which day will the vehicle leave? B: On Tuesday. A: At what time? B: At ten minutes to six in the morning.
This dialogue shows three different interrogative jobs. Nawa ne kuɗin tikitin? asks a price; wace rana asks the day; da ƙarfe nawa asks the exact clock time. The same number vocabulary enters different grammatical measurement frames.
Practice: choose the right question
Ƙarfe nawa ne? — Ƙarfe goma da kwata ne.
What time is it? — It is quarter past ten.
Da ƙarfe nawa za ta kira? — Da ƙarfe biyu na rana.
At what time will she call? — At two in the afternoon.
Yaushe za su dawo? — Mako mai zuwa.
When will they return? — Next week.
Shin shagon yana buɗewa da ƙarfe takwas? — I, da ƙarfe takwas daidai.
Does the shop open at eight? — Yes, at exactly eight.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating da as obligatory or forbidden
Do not reject a bare clock phrase, and do not assume that explicit da is wrong. Both patterns occur.
✅ Ƙarfe nawa za ka zo? — Da ƙarfe shida.
At what time will you come? — At six o’clock.
2. Using feminine wace with lokaci
❌ Wace lokaci ne yanzu?
Incorrect — lokaci is masculine.
✅ Wane lokaci ne yanzu?
What time is it now?
3. Forcing yaushe to demand a clock number
Yaushe? does not force the answer to be a clock hour; a day, date, or broader period can answer it.
✅ Yaushe? — Gobe da safe.
When? — Tomorrow morning.
4. Copying obligatory English question intonation
Do not assume that a polar question is grammatical only when the voice rises sharply at the end. Hausa question grammar and context do not depend on one obligatory English-style final rise.
✅ Shin taron da ƙarfe tara ne?
Is the meeting at nine? The particle makes the polar question explicit.
Key Takeaways
- Ƙarfe nawa ne? asks for the current clock reading.
- (Da) ƙarfe nawa …? asks the clock time of an event; initial da is possible, not obligatory.
- Yaushe …? asks “when?” broadly; wane lokaci offers another “what time?” frame.
- Full answers use ƙarfe … ne; short conversational answers can omit recoverable ƙarfe and ne.
- Wajen/misalin ƙarfe … gives an approximate answer, while daidai emphasizes exactness.
Related Topics
- Telling Clock TimeA2 — Tell exact and approximate clock time with ƙarfe, da, rabi, kwata, saura, minutes, and day-period expressions.
- Days of the WeekA2 — Name the seven days, ask which day it is, and place events on recurring, previous, and coming days.
- Months and DatesA2 — Name Gregorian months and build spoken and written dates with ranar, ga watan, day–month–year order, and calendar-aware phrasing.
- Time Adverbs and Clause PositionA2 — Place Hausa time words and phrases where they can anchor, schedule, or contrast an event without changing its aspect.
- yaushe: Asking WhenA2 — Ask when an event happens with yaushe while choosing relative, future, and negative TAM forms from the clause's viewpoint.
- Question Particles ko and shinA1 — Use clause-initial ko, confirmation-seeking shin, and clause-final ko? without confusing them with disjunction, whether clauses, or joined ko-indefinites.