The Hausa relative continuative combines an ongoing, habitual, or state-like viewpoint with a syntactic environment such as focus, a constituent question, or a relative clause. Its forms are nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, and impersonal ake. They contrast with the neutral continuative paradigm: ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, and ana.
All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). English has no special “relative progressive pronouns,” so it often translates both Hausa series with the same words. The Hausa choice is grammatical, not an optional stylistic flourish.
The compact paradigm
| Person | Relative continuative | Neutral continuative | Focused example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | nake | ina | ni ne nake aiki |
| 2nd masculine singular | kake | kana | kai ne kake aiki |
| 2nd feminine singular | kike | kina | ke ce kike aiki |
| 3rd masculine singular | yake | yana | shi ne yake aiki |
| 3rd feminine singular | take | tana | ita ce take aiki |
| 1st plural | muke | muna | mu ne muke aiki |
| 2nd plural | kuke | kuna | ku ne kuke aiki |
| 3rd plural | suke | suna | su ne suke aiki |
| impersonal | ake | ana | abin da ake yi |
Second-person singular gender remains visible: kake addresses a male, kike a female. Third-person singular distinguishes yake and take. The ending -ke is a practical cue for this relative continuative series, but learners should memorize the full forms rather than construct them through guesswork.
Subject focus
In a focus construction, an independent pronoun or noun phrase identifies the participant under contrast. The relative continuative marker still appears before the verbal expression.
Ni ne nake kula da shagon yau.
I am the one looking after the shop today.
Kai ne kake jiran manajan?
Are you the one waiting for the manager? (to a male)
Ke ce kike koyar da ajin nan?
Are you the one teaching this class? (to a female)
Su ne suke gyara hanyar.
They are the ones repairing the road.
The independent pronouns ni, kai, ke, and su carry focus; nake, kake, kike, and suke provide subject agreement plus continuative aspect. English I am the one… does not show a comparable change of subject series.
Compare neutral clauses:
Ina kula da shagon yau.
I am looking after the shop today. (neutral)
Suna gyara hanyar.
They are repairing the road. (neutral)
The contrast ina/nake and suna/suke is licensed by syntax, not by formality.
Focused names and noun phrases retain agreement
An overt noun does not replace the subject–TAM marker.
Amina ce take shirya taron.
Amina is the one organizing the meeting.
Bello ne yake tuƙa motar.
Bello is the one driving the car.
Ma’aikatan ne suke ɗaukar kayan.
The employees are the ones carrying the goods.
Feminine Amina controls take, masculine Bello controls yake, and plural ma’aikatan controls suke. A bare verb after the focused noun would leave the finite clause without its required marker.
Constituent questions
When a question asks who, what, where, how, or another constituent, the question phrase is focused and the relative continuative normally follows.
Me kake yi yanzu?
What are you doing now? (to a male)
Wa kike jira a bakin ƙofa?
Who are you waiting for at the doorway? (to a female)
Ina suke zama a Kano?
Where do they live in Kano?
A ina ake sayar da tikiti?
Where are tickets sold?
The first word ina in Ina suke zama? is the interrogative “where,” not the first-person neutral continuative ina. Position and the following suke prevent confusion.
A polar question does not focus one constituent and can retain the neutral set:
Kuna jiran mota?
Are you all waiting for a vehicle?
Do not change kuna/tana to kuke/take merely because a question mark is present. The relevant distinction is constituent focus versus a yes/no question about the proposition.
Relative clauses after da
A clause introduced by da can identify a person or thing through an ongoing, habitual, or state-like property. The embedded clause uses the relative continuative.
Mutumin da yake magana da manaja ɗan’uwana ne.
The man who is speaking with the manager is my brother.
Matar da take zaune kusa da ƙofa likita ce.
The woman who is sitting near the door is a doctor.
Yaran da suke wasa a waje za su dawo yanzu.
The children who are playing outside will come back now.
Wannan shi ne abin da muke nema.
This is what we are looking for.
Ka ɗauki littafin da kake so.
Take the book that you want. (to a male)
If an overt noun is the subject inside the relative clause, the marker remains:
Na ga motar da Aisha take tuƙawa.
I saw the car that Aisha is driving.
The internal subject Aisha requires feminine relative continuative take. English has no overt equivalent after the name, which makes omission tempting for English speakers.
Ongoing, habitual, and state-like meanings remain
Relative syntax changes the pronoun set, not the basic continuative viewpoint. Time expressions and predicate meaning still decide the English translation.
Shi ne yake cin abinci yanzu.
He is the one eating now. (ongoing)
Ita ce take buɗe shagon kowace safiya.
She is the one who opens the shop every morning. (habitual)
Wa yake son ƙarin shayi?
Who wants more tea? (state-like)
After the marker, Hausa uses the verbal expression appropriate to the continuative construction. Forms such as cin abinci, buɗe shago, and son shayi should be learned as natural predicate patterns; there is no single suffix equivalent to English -ing.
Free-choice and open relatives
Free-choice phrases often contain a relative restriction and therefore make the relative continuative especially visible.
Ka zaɓi kowane littafi da kake so.
Choose whichever book you like. (to a male)
Kowace hanya da take zuwa kasuwa za ta dace.
Any route that goes to the market will be suitable.
Kowa yake kula da ofishin, ya rufe tagogi kafin ya tafi.
Whoever is looking after the office should close the windows before leaving.
Komai kuke son sani, ku tambayi ma’aikacin bayanai.
Whatever you all want to know, ask the information officer.
Joined kowa, komai, and kowane/kowace do not change spelling in free-choice use. Relative yake, kuke, and the forms inside the da clauses reveal how syntax contributes the whoever/whatever/whichever interpretation.
Independent, object, recipient, and possessive forms
For third-person feminine singular, English she/her covers functions that Hausa keeps apart.
| Function | Hausa form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| independent focus | ita | ita ce … |
| relative continuative subject–TAM | take | take magana |
| direct object | ta | yana ganin ta |
| recipient/beneficiary | mata | ya kawo mata |
| possessive | -nta | takardarta |
Ita ce take magana da manajan; yana nuna mata takardarta.
She is the one speaking with the manager; he is showing her her document.
Ita carries focus, take builds the finite focused clause, mata marks the recipient, and takardarta marks possession. None is a longer or shorter stylistic version of the others.
Impersonal ake
Relative ake leaves the actor unspecified in a focused, questioned, or relative continuative environment.
Me ake yi a nan?
What is being done here? / What do people do here?
Wurin da ake gyara motoci yana can baya.
The place where cars are repaired is back there.
Neutral ana sayar da kayan is an ordinary report; time-focused da safe ne ake sayar da kayan selects relative ake.
Exercises
Choose the relative continuative form: (1) Mu ne _ aiki a nan; (2) Me _ yi? to one female; (3) mutanen da _ jiran mota; (4) A ina _ gyara takalma? with an unspecified agent. Answers: muke, kike, suke, ake. Explain why neutral muna, kina, suna, and ana do not fit these focused, questioned, or relative environments.
Common Mistakes
1. Using a neutral form after subject focus.
❌ Su ne suna gyara hanyar.
Incorrect in the standard focus construction — suna is neutral.
✅ Su ne suke gyara hanyar.
They are the ones repairing the road.
2. Overlooking a female addressee.
❌ Me kake yi?
Incorrect when addressing one female — kake is masculine singular.
✅ Me kike yi?
What are you doing? (to a female)
3. Dropping the marker after a noun inside a relative clause.
❌ motar da Aisha tuƙawa
Incorrect — Aisha does not replace the relative continuative marker.
✅ motar da Aisha take tuƙawa
The car that Aisha is driving.
4. Treating every question as a relative environment.
❌ Kuke jiran mota?
Incorrect as the neutral yes/no question ‘Are you all waiting for a vehicle?’
✅ Kuna jiran mota?
Are you all waiting for a vehicle?
5. Using independent ita as a neutral object.
❌ Mutumin da yake ganin ita yana waje.
Incorrect for neutral object ‘her’ — ita is independent/contrastive.
✅ Mutumin da yake ganin ta yana waje.
The man who sees her is outside.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, ake.
- Use the set in focus constructions, constituent questions, and continuative relative clauses.
- Contrast neutral ina/kana/kina/yana/tana/muna/kuna/suna/ana with relative -ke forms.
- Overt names and nouns retain the marker: Amina ce take…, motar da Aisha take….
- Choose independent, subject–TAM, object, recipient, and possessive forms by grammatical function, not by English translation.
Related Topics
- Continuative PronounsA2 — Use ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, and ana for ongoing, habitual, and state-like situations in neutral Hausa clauses.
- Relative Completive PronounsA2 — Use na, ka, kika, ya, ta, muka, kuka, suka, and aka for completed events in Hausa focus, question, and relative environments.
- Why Hausa Requires a Subject–TAM MarkerA2 — Understand the preverbal Hausa forms that jointly express subject agreement and tense, aspect, or mood, even when a full noun names the subject.
- Subject Marking after an Overt NounA2 — Keep the required Hausa subject–TAM marker after names and full noun phrases, and make it agree with gender, number, and person.
- Independent Pronouns for Contrastive FocusA1 — Use Hausa independent pronouns to identify, correct, or contrast the person responsible for an action without losing the required subject–TAM marker.
- Free-Choice Indefinites with koB1 — Use joined Hausa indefinites for free choice while distinguishing their universal, negative, and concessive readings from genuinely separate ko.