A feminine singular Hausa noun selects the r-series before most short possessive pronouns: motarka “your car” to one male, motarki to one female, motarsa “his car,” motarta “her car,” and motarmu “our car.” First-person singular is the important exception: “my car” is motata, with -ta, not motara.
All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). They are written as one word in careful prose and everyday messaging alike. Ordinary boko leaves tone and vowel length unmarked.
The feminine-head paradigm
The owner controls the person ending, but the feminine possessed noun supplies the r that appears before every owner except first-person singular.
| Owner | With mota “car” | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | motata | my car |
| 2nd masculine singular | motarka | your car (one male) |
| 2nd feminine singular | motarki | your car (one female) |
| 3rd masculine singular | motarsa | his car |
| 3rd feminine singular | motarta | her car |
| 1st plural | motarmu | our car |
| 2nd plural | motarku | your car |
| 3rd plural | motarsu | their car |
Motata tana wajen gyara.
My car is at the repair shop.
Na ajiye jakarka a kan kujera.
I put your bag on the chair. (one male owner)
Takardarki tana kan teburin manaja.
Your document is on the manager’s desk. (one female owner)
Ƙofarsa tana buɗe; mu shiga.
His door is open; let us go in.
Uwarta tana zaune a Kano.
Her mother lives in Kano.
Motarmu ba ta da mai, don haka za mu hau bas.
Our car has no fuel, so we will take the bus.
The owner’s gender matters in -rka/-rki and -rsa/-rta, but it does not decide whether the linker is r. A man’s mota is motarsa; a woman’s is motarta. Both begin from the feminine head mota.
Compare the n-series after masculine and plural nouns, where the owner endings attach to a different head-controlled linker.
Feminine nouns and their joined forms
Many feminine nouns end in -a, but gender must still be learned lexically. Once a noun is known to be feminine singular, its full possessor form provides a dependable base: motar Musa, jakar Amina, takardar ofis, ƙofar gida.
| Bare noun | With full possessor | With short possessor |
|---|---|---|
| mota “car” | motar Musa | motarsa “his car” |
| jaka “bag” | jakar Amina | jakarta “her bag” |
| takarda “document” | takardar ofis | takardarku “your document” |
| ƙofa “door” | ƙofar gida | ƙofarsu “their door” |
| uwa “mother” | uwar Ali | uwarsa “his mother” |
Jakarta ta yi nauyi saboda littattafan ciki.
Her bag became heavy because of the books inside.
Takardarku ta isa ofishinmu da safe.
Your document arrived at our office this morning. (plural or respectful owner)
An kulle ƙofarsu tun da daddare.
Their door has been locked since last night.
Ali ya kira uwarsa bayan ya sauka.
Ali called his mother after he arrived.
Notice the feminine clause agreement ta/tana after these possessed nouns. Motarmu ba ta da mai retains feminine agreement because adding a possessor does not change the head noun’s gender.
First-person singular is genuinely irregular
The first-person form is -ta: motata, jakata, takardata, ƙofata, uwata. There is no productive rule that lets a learner predict motara and then repair it casually. The standard form must be learned as part of the paradigm.
Na manta jakata a mota.
I forgot my bag in the car.
Takardata ta ɓace kafin taron.
My document disappeared before the meeting.
Uwata za ta zo ziyara mako mai zuwa.
My mother will come to visit next week.
English my is invariant, so this alternation has no direct English parallel. Hausa makes “my” agree with the possessed head: masculine gidana, plural takarduna, but feminine motata.
Singular feminine versus plural n-series
When a feminine noun becomes plural, its possessive switches to the n-series. The owner has not changed; the possessed head has.
| Singular feminine | Plural | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| motarta | motocinta | her car / her cars |
| jakarsa | jakunkunansa | his bag / his bags |
| takardarmu | takardunmu | our document / our documents |
| ƙofarsu | ƙofofinsu | their door / their doors |
Motarsa tana waje, motocinsa kuma suna gareji.
His car is outside, while his cars are in the garage.
Takardarmu ta samu hatimi, amma takardunmu biyu ba su samu hatimi ba.
Our document received a stamp, but our two documents did not.
This change proves why “feminine owner” is the wrong analysis. In motocinta, the owner is still a woman, yet plural motoci requires n.
The special possession stem of mace
The noun mace “woman” has a special possession pattern that must not be flattened into the ordinary definite form. Phrase-final macen means “the woman,” and macen Audu can mean “Audu’s woman.” When the relationship is specifically “wife,” Hausa uses the stem matar-: matar Audu “Audu’s wife,” matarsa “his wife,” matata “my wife.”
Matarsa tana aiki a asibiti.
His wife works at a hospital.
Na je taron tare da matata.
I went to the event with my wife.
This is a lexical irregularity, not permission to replace every macen with matar. The special stem carries the spousal relation.
Different pronoun series in one sentence
Ita ta ba shi takardarta.
She gave him her document.
Ita is independent, ta is the completive subject marker, shi is the recipient form exceptionally selected by ba “give,” and -rta in takardarta is the possessor after a feminine head. An overt noun also retains its preverbal marker:
Amina ta ba Musa takardarta.
Amina gave Musa her document.
The finite clause would be incomplete in neutral Hausa without ta after Amina.
Practice Exercises
Form the requested feminine possessive.
mota + your (one female) → motarki
your car
jaka + his → jakarsa
his bag
ƙofa + our → ƙofarmu
our door
takarda + my → takardata
my document
Common Mistakes
1. Using n after a feminine singular head
❌ motansa
Incorrect for ‘his car’—singular mota is feminine.
✅ motarsa
his car
2. Using regular r with first-person singular
❌ motara
Incorrect in Nigerian Standard Hausa for ‘my car.’
✅ motata
my car
3. Choosing r because the owner is female
❌ littafirta
Incorrect—littafi is masculine even though the owner is female.
✅ littafinta
her book
4. Keeping feminine r when the head is plural
❌ takardarsu
Incorrect for ‘their documents’—that form has a singular feminine head.
✅ takardunsu
their documents
5. Separating the short pronoun
❌ motar su
Incorrect standard spelling for ‘their car.’
✅ motarsu
their car
Key Takeaways
- Feminine singular heads take -rka, -rki, -rsa, -rta, -rmu, -rku, -rsu.
- First-person singular is the special -ta form: motata, not motara.
- The possessed head selects the linker; the owner selects the remaining person ending.
- A feminine singular switches to the n-series when plural: motarta → motocinta.
- Short possessives are joined to the noun, and the possessed noun keeps its own clause-agreement gender.
Related Topics
- Possessive Pronouns after Masculine and Plural NounsB1 — Build joined Hausa possessives such as gidanka, littafinta, motocinmu, and takardunsu with the n-series selected by masculine and plural heads.
- First Person Possessives -na and -taB1 — Choose Hausa -na after masculine and plural heads and irregular -ta after feminine singular heads to express first-person singular possession.
- Independent Possessives nawa, taka, and nasuB1 — Use Hausa nawa/tawa, naka/taka, and the full independent possessive paradigm with agreement for both the possessed item and its owner.
- Linking before PossessorsA2 — Build Hausa possessive noun phrases with a head-controlled n/r linker before names, noun phrases, and bound possessive pronouns.
- The Feminine Genitive Linker -rA2 — Use joined -r after the appropriate a-final feminine singular head, while recognizing its phonological limits and possessive allomorphs.
- Recognizing Common Feminine Nouns in -aA1 — Learn when final -a is a useful clue to feminine gender, how agreement confirms it, and why each noun must be learned with its plural and linked forms.