Hausa normally expresses “without” with the full frame ba tare da ... ba. The material between da and the closing ba names what is absent: ba tare da izini ba “without permission,” ba tare da ita ba “without her,” ba tare da mun jira ba “without our waiting.” Learning the whole frame matters because neither English not with nor a bare negative word reproduces its structure.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko writes the four framing words separately and leaves tone and vowel length unmarked.
The complete frame surrounds its complement
The simplest pattern is ba tare da + noun phrase + ba. Tare da expresses accompaniment or association, while the outer negative frame denies that accompanying circumstance. The core page on da develops the affirmative comitative system.
Direban ya tashi ba tare da fasinjojin ƙarshe ba.
The driver left without the last passengers.
Yaron ya shiga ɗaki ba tare da takalmi ba.
The boy entered the room without a shoe on.
Mun sha shayin ba tare da sukari ba.
We drank the tea without sugar.
In the physical scene, the boy enters the room and a normally accompanying item is absent. Ba tare da does not itself mark the destination. The motion verb takes ɗaki directly here, so inserting an extra equivalent of English into or in is unnecessary.
The closing ba belongs to the construction. It is not optional punctuation and it does not negate the main verb. Thus ya shiga remains affirmative: the entry happened, but it occurred under a negative accompaniment condition.
Tare da versus ba tare da
Affirmative tare da presents accompaniment; adding the complete negative frame reverses that relation.
Amina ta zo tare da ƙanwarta.
Amina came with her younger sister.
Amina ta zo ba tare da ƙanwarta ba.
Amina came without her younger sister.
This minimal pair changes only the accompaniment relation. It does not claim that Amina lacks a sister in general. The phrase describes how she came on this occasion.
English without can also describe an ingredient, tool, document, or authorization rather than a human companion:
Ba za a buɗe asusun ba tare da katin shaida ba.
The account will not be opened without an identity card. (formal)
Here the identity card is a required accompanying condition. This abstract extension grows naturally from the core idea “not together with X.”
Personal pronouns remain free after da
When X is a person, use the ordinary independent pronouns after da: ni, kai, ke, shi, ita, mu, ku, su. These are the same kinds of forms selected by ordinary comitative da, not the fused indirect-object series.
| Person absent | Without phrase |
|---|---|
| me | ba tare da ni ba |
| you, one male | ba tare da kai ba |
| you, one female | ba tare da ke ba |
| him / her | ba tare da shi / ita ba |
| us / you all / them | ba tare da mu / ku / su ba |
Kada ku fara taron ba tare da ni ba; ina hanya.
Do not start the meeting without me; I am on my way. (addressing several people)
Ta ce ba za ta sa hannu ba tare da shi ba.
She said she would not sign without him.
Do not substitute mini, masa, mata, musu. Those fused ma- forms mark indirect objects, while the pronoun here is the complement of comitative da. Likewise, do not use relational gare shi after da.
A clause can name the missing circumstance
Very often English without is followed by an -ing form: “without asking,” “without telling me,” “without the door being opened.” Hausa instead places a clause after da. That clause needs its own subject–TAM material.
Musa ya fita ba tare da ya rufe ƙofar ba.
Musa went out without closing the door.
Ta ɗauki takardar ba tare da ta tambayi kowa ba.
She took the document without asking anyone.
Baƙin sun shiga ba tare da an duba katunansu ba.
The visitors entered without their cards being checked. (impersonal)
The same subject is repeated in Hausa: matrix Musa ya fita, embedded ya rufe; matrix ta ɗauki, embedded ta tambayi. English suppresses the repeated subject before closing/asking, but Hausa does not use an English infinitive in its place. In the third example, impersonal completive an avoids naming the checker.
This construction describes an event that failed to accompany another event. It is not a negative purpose clause. Compare:
Ta fita ba tare da ta tada jaririn ba.
She left without waking the baby. (the waking did not occur)
Ta fita a hankali don kada ta tada jaririn.
She left quietly so that she would not wake the baby. (prevention was her purpose)
The first reports absence of a companion event; the second gives an intention. That is why the purpose construction uses don kada, not ba tare da ... ba alone.
Absence with babu versus manner with ba tare da
Babu asserts nonexistence or absence in a place or situation. Ba tare da X ba says that some independently asserted event or participant occurs lacking X.
Babu wuta a unguwarmu tun safe.
There has been no electricity in our neighborhood since morning.
Asibitin yana aiki ba tare da wutar lantarki ba yau.
The hospital is operating without electricity today.
The first sentence directly denies electricity’s availability. The second affirms the hospital’s operation and describes the deprived condition under which it operates. English without may tempt learners to use the second construction even when a simple babu statement is clearer.
Scope when another negative is present
A sentence can contain a negative main clause and the fixed “without” frame. Each negative has its own job.
Ma’aikatan ba sa buɗe ƙofar ba tare da katin shiga ba.
The employees do not open the door without an entry card.
Here ba sa buɗe is a negative continuative main clause; it does not take a clause-final ba. The final ba specifically closes ba tare da katin shiga ba. A clearer affirmative statement of necessity can use sai da:
Ba sa buɗe ƙofar sai da katin shiga.
They do not open the door except with an entry card.
At A1, the practical rule is not to count every ba as belonging to a single negation. Identify the main-clause frame and the internal ba tare da ... ba separately.
Register and compact noun phrases
The construction is normal in conversation, notices, journalism, and formal rules. Formal writing often gives it a compact abstract noun complement.
Ba a yarda a shiga ɗakin gwaje-gwaje ba tare da kariya ba.
Entry into the laboratory without protective equipment is not permitted. (formal notice)
In speech, speakers may spell out the practical scene more fully. The grammar does not become more formal merely because ba tare da appears; register comes from the surrounding vocabulary and context.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping the closing ba
❌ Sun bar ofishin ba tare da izini.
Incomplete in the standard ‘without’ frame—the closing ba is missing.
✅ Sun bar ofishin ba tare da izinin shugaba ba.
They left the office without the director’s permission.
2. Using a fused recipient pronoun
❌ Kada ku yanke shawara ba tare da mini ba.
Incorrect—mini is an indirect-object form, not the complement of da.
✅ Kada ku yanke shawara ba tare da ni ba.
Do not make a decision without me. (addressing several people)
3. Omitting subject–TAM marking in a clausal complement
❌ Ya tafi ba tare da rufe tagar ba.
Incorrect in the intended full clause—the embedded action lacks its subject–TAM marker.
✅ Ya tafi ba tare da ya rufe tagar ba.
He left without closing the window.
4. Using ba tare da when simple nonexistence is meant
❌ Ba tare da ruwa ba a cikin tankin.
Incorrect as a complete neutral assertion that the tank contains no water.
✅ Babu ruwa a cikin tankin tun jiya.
There has been no water in the tank since yesterday.
5. Adding an English-shaped locative preposition after shiga
❌ Yaron ya shiga a cikin ɗaki ba tare da ya ƙwanƙwasa ba.
Overbuilt for the intended neutral goal construction—the motion verb can take ɗaki directly.
✅ Yaron ya shiga ɗaki ba tare da ya ƙwanƙwasa ƙofa ba.
The boy entered the room without knocking on the door.
Key Takeaways
- The standard frame is ba tare da X ba; retain both the opening and closing negative material.
- X may be a noun phrase, a free personal pronoun, or a clause with its own subject–TAM marking.
- Say ba tare da ni/kai/ke/shi/ita/mu/ku/su ba, not a fused ma- recipient form.
- Tare da affirms accompaniment; ba tare da ... ba denies it for the event at hand.
- Babu directly asserts absence, whereas ba tare da describes how another event happens without something.
- Ba tare da clause ba reports a missing companion event; don kada clause presents prevention as a purpose.
Now practice Hausa
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hausa →Related Topics
- da: With, By, and HavingA1 — Use Hausa da for accompaniment, instruments, means, manner, and possession without copying the many unrelated uses of English with and by.
- don and saboda: For and Because OfA1 — Use don to frame a purpose, intended use, or goal, and saboda to present an existing cause or reason, while recognizing their limited overlap.
- Negative Concord and Multiple NegativesB2 — Understand how one Hausa negative licenses several any-words without creating cancelling logical negatives.
- Negative Subjunctive with kadaA2 — Use kada or conversational kar with an agreeing subjunctive to express prevention, negative wishes, and should-not meanings.
- Same-Subject Event SequencesB1 — Link several actions by one actor while choosing the Hausa subject–TAM frame appropriate to narrative, report, plan, or instruction.
- Purpose SequencesB1 — Link an action to one or more intended results with domin or don plus fully marked Hausa subjunctive clauses.