Relative clauses are stacked when one noun receives more than one relative property or when one relative clause contains a noun phrase with its own relative clause. Hausa permits both structures, but it does not flatten them into a string of English-style that clauses. Every layer must have a recoverable head, the correct joined -n/-r linker where an overt common noun heads a compact restriction, appropriate da or agreeing relative form, and the TAM and gap or resumptive relation required inside that layer.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Long examples are punctuated to show structure, not to add grammatical relations that the words themselves lack.
This page builds on the gap and agreement diagnostics in object relative clauses.
One head with coordinated relative predicates
When two properties have the same head and the same understood subject, the most economical pattern has one relative introducer followed by coordinated predicates. Repeat the subject–TAM marker where each conjunct is a full predicate.
Ina neman shagon da yake buɗe da dare kuma yake sayar da magani.
I am looking for the shop that is open at night and sells medicine.
Masculine shagon is the understood subject of both yake buɗe and yake sayar da magani. The conjunction kuma coordinates the two relative predicates; a second linked head is unnecessary.
Mun zaɓi macen da ta kammala horon kuma take da gogewar aiki.
We selected the woman who completed the training and has work experience.
The two predicates deliberately use different viewpoints: relative completive ta kammala presents a completed qualification, while relative continuative take da presents a current property. Stacking does not force all predicates into one TAM.
An kira ma’aikatan da suka kawo takardunsu kuma suka sa hannu a rajista.
The employees who brought their documents and signed the register were called.
Plural ma’aikatan controls suka in both completed conjuncts. The interpretation can be intersective: the called employees satisfy both conditions.
Separate restrictions can have different scopes
Writers sometimes need to distinguish “satisfies both properties” from “first identify a group, then add a comment.” A single coordinated restrictive clause normally builds one combined selection:
A aika wa direbobin da suka isa da wuri kuma suka duba motocinsu saƙo.
Send a message to the drivers who arrived early and checked their vehicles.
An appositive continuation instead comments on an already selected group:
Direbobin da suka isa da wuri, waɗanda kuma suka duba motocinsu, sun fara tafiya.
The drivers who arrived early, who also checked their vehicles, began the journey. (careful writing)
The inner restrictive da suka isa da wuri selects the drivers. Appositive waɗanda kuma... then adds information about that established subset. This construction is useful in (formal) exposition, but repeated parentheticals are heavy in conversation.
English punctuation can make the two patterns look deceptively similar. In Hausa, the contrast also involves linked direbobin da versus agreeing appositive waɗanda and the information status of the group.
Nested relatives have different heads
In a nested structure, a noun phrase inside one relative clause has its own relative. Parse from the innermost linked head outward:
Na karanta littafin da ɗalibin da muka zaɓa ya rubuta.
I read the book that the student whom we selected wrote.
The inner unit is ɗalibin da muka zaɓa “the student whom we selected.” It serves as the subject of the outer relative littafin da ... ya rubuta. Masculine ɗalibin controls outer ya; “we” controls inner relative muka; littafin is the outer direct-object gap.
Macen da take kula da yaran da suka zo daga Katsina malama ce.
The woman who looks after the children who came from Katsina is a teacher.
The outer head macen is the subject of take kula da.... The object of that expression contains inner plural yaran da suka zo.... Feminine take and plural suka belong to different relative layers.
Ma’aikatan da suka gyara bututun da ya fashe sun karɓi albashinsu.
The workers who repaired the pipe that burst received their pay.
Outer plural ma’aikatan controls suka gyara. Inner masculine bututun controls ya fashe. Choosing every marker from the first noun would erase the nesting.
Nested object relatives and agreement
An embedded relative noun phrase may itself be the subject of an outer object relative:
Motar da makanikin da Audu ya kira ya gyara tana aiki yanzu.
The car that the mechanic whom Audu called repaired is working now.
Parse makanikin da Audu ya kira first. That whole phrase is the subject whose masculine features control the following outer ya gyara. Motar is feminine, but it is the missing object of gyara, so it does not control that marker.
With very long subjects, Hausa remains grammatical but processing becomes harder. A speaker may split the information into two sentences: Audu ya kira wani makaniki. Makanikin ya gyara motar. “Audu called a mechanic. The mechanic repaired the car.” C1 control includes knowing when not to stack.
Locative and possessive relations inside a stack
Each layer independently chooses a gap or a resumptive. A locative outer head can be resumed even while its clause contains another relative:
Mun koma gidan da mutumin da muka kira yake zaune a cikinsa.
We returned to the house in which the man whom we called lives.
Outer masculine gidan is resumed by -sa in a cikinsa. The embedded direct-object relative mutumin da muka kira contains a gap after kira. One sentence therefore illustrates both strategies without contradiction.
A possessor can similarly be resumed within a nested structure:
Na san mutumin da ɗansa yake aiki a asibitin da aka buɗe bara.
I know the man whose son works at the hospital that was opened last year.
Masculine -sa in ɗansa resumes outer mutumin. The son controls yake. Inner asibitin is the object of the unspecified-subject completed relative da aka buɗe bara.
Relative TAM at every layer
Compare a chain of independent assertions with a nested relative:
Mun zaɓi ɗalibin. Ya rubuta wasiƙar.
We selected the student. He wrote the letter. (two independent assertions)
Wasiƙar da ɗalibin da muka zaɓa ya rubuta tana kan tebur.
The letter that the student whom we selected wrote is on the table.
Plain mun in the first example becomes relative muka inside the inner restriction. Singular ya is ambiguous in ordinary boko, but its embedded environment is relative. A long sentence does not suspend the plain-versus-relative contrast.
Negative and future layers choose their own forms too:
Za mu kira mutanen da ba su karɓi saƙon da za a aika yau ba.
We will call the people who did not receive the message that will be sent today.
Outer negative ba su karɓi ... ba surrounds its predicate; inner da za a aika yau has an ordinary future with unspecified subject. Do not let the final ba drift into the inner future clause.
Register and readability
Two-layer nesting is normal in careful conversation and prose when the referents are clear. Three or more center-embedded layers are possible but burdensome; edited (formal) prose usually recasts them, and (informal) speech favors short clauses or afterthoughts. Legal and academic writing may tolerate longer noun phrases, but grammatical possibility is not the same as good style.
Do not remove linked morphology merely to shorten the sequence. If restructuring is needed, make a new sentence or an appositive continuation rather than leaving bare nouns before da.
Common Mistakes
1. Using one TAM marker for two full predicates
❌ shagon da yake buɗe da dare kuma sayar da magani
Incorrect—the second full predicate lacks its subject–TAM marker.
✅ shagon da yake buɗe da dare kuma yake sayar da magani
The shop that is open at night and sells medicine.
2. Keeping plain TAM in an inner restriction
❌ littafin da ɗalibin da mun zaɓa ya rubuta
Incorrect inner canonical relative—mun is plain completive.
✅ littafin da ɗalibin da muka zaɓa ya rubuta
The book that the student whom we selected wrote.
3. Agreeing with the wrong head
❌ motar da makanikin da muka kira ta gyara
Incorrect—makanikin is the subject of gyara and controls masculine ya.
✅ motar da makanikin da muka kira ya gyara
The car that the mechanic whom we called repaired.
4. Using the wrong gender in an explicit locative resumptive
❌ gidan da mutumin da muka tambaya yake zaune a cikinta
Incorrect—the explicit resumptive must agree with masculine gidan.
✅ gidan da mutumin da muka tambaya yake zaune a cikinsa
The house in which the man whom we asked lives.
The explicit pattern chosen here requires masculine -sa. A compact locative relative can omit the overt resumptive where the lexical frame licenses it, so the error is gender mismatch, not the mere absence of -sa.
5. Leaving either nested head unlinked
❌ mota da makaniki da Audu ya zaɓa ya gyara
Incorrect compact restrictions—both common-noun heads lack their joined linkers.
✅ motar da makanikin da Audu ya zaɓa ya gyara
The car that the mechanic whom Audu selected repaired.
Key Takeaways
- One head can take coordinated relative predicates; each full predicate retains an appropriate subject–TAM marker.
- Nested relatives have different heads. Parse the innermost linked head + da unit before assigning outer agreement.
- Every layer independently chooses relative TAM and either a gap or the resumptive required by its grammatical role.
- Restrictive coordination and an appositive wanda/wadda/waɗanda continuation have different information structures.
- Long stacks may be grammatical but difficult to process; careful writers often split them while preserving every relation.
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Start learning Hausa →Related Topics
- Relative Clauses with da: OverviewA2 — Build basic Hausa relative clauses with a linked noun head, invariant da, and the appropriate relative TAM form.
- Subject Relative ClausesA2 — Form Hausa relatives in which the linked noun head is understood as the subject of the modifying clause.
- Object Relative ClausesA2 — Build Hausa relatives whose linked noun head is understood as the missing object of the modifying clause.
- Resumptive Pronouns in RelativesB1 — Know when a Hausa relative leaves a gap and when a pronoun or possessive suffix must preserve the head noun's grammatical relation.
- Restrictive and Nonrestrictive InterpretationsC1 — Distinguish Hausa relatives that identify a referent from parenthetical relatives that add a discourse comment.
- Extraposed and Heavy Relative ClausesC1 — Manage long Hausa relative clauses, preserve clear attachment, and distinguish adjacent restrictions from delayed discourse continuations.