In an object relative clause, the noun being described is understood as an object inside the modifying clause: littafin da muka karanta “the book that we read,” motar da Amina take gyarawa “the car that Amina is repairing.” The actor inside the relative clause controls the subject–TAM form; the head object normally leaves a gap instead of being repeated by an object pronoun.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko preserves ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ’y and leaves tone and vowel length unmarked. Review subject relative clauses to see why the actor changes between the two patterns.
The basic object-relative frame
The core pattern is:
linked object head + da + subject + relative subject–TAM + predicate + gap
Na karanta littafin da Amina ta rubuta.
I read the book that Amina wrote.
The head is masculine littafin. Inside da Amina ta rubuta, Amina is the writer, so feminine ta agrees with Amina. The book is understood after rubuta, but no shi is added there.
Mun sayi motar da Musa ya gani a kasuwa.
We bought the car that Musa saw at the market.
Ga takardun da yaran suka kawo.
Here are the documents that the children brought.
These examples supply masculine, feminine, and plural heads: littafin, motar, takardun. Their gender and number choose the joined head form, but Amina, Musa, and the children independently choose ta, ya, suka.
Completed object relatives use relative completive
If the action is presented as a completed whole, use the relative-completive series. The clearest visible contrasts with a neutral independent clause occur in the plural.
Yara sun kawo takardun.
The children brought the documents. (independent clause; plain completive)
Takardun da yaran suka kawo suna kan tebur.
The documents that the children brought are on the table. (relative clause; relative completive)
Plain sun changes to relative suka. The lexical verb kawo remains the same. With first-person or second-person plural subjects, choose muka or kuka:
Wannan shi ne abincin da muka dafa domin baƙi.
This is the food that we cooked for the guests.
Na sami saƙon da kuka aika jiya.
I received the message that you all sent yesterday.
The relative completive does not itself mean “past.” A time phrase or the discourse locates the event. Some state-like verbs can receive an English present translation even under completive morphology.
Open object relatives use relative continuative
For ongoing actions, repeated practices, and many states, use the relative continuative nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, ake.
Motar da Amina take gyarawa tana gaban gida.
The car that Amina is repairing is in front of the house.
Na san shagon da kuke buɗewa kowace safiya.
I know the shop that you all open every morning.
Wannan shi ne tsarin da muke bi yanzu.
This is the procedure that we are following now.
Compare a neutral assertion with an object relative:
Ma’aikatan suna duba sabon rahoton yanzu.
The employees are reviewing the new report now. (independent clause; plain continuative)
Sabon rahoton da ma’aikatan suke dubawa yana kan kwamfuta.
The new report that the employees are reviewing is on the computer. (relative clause; relative continuative)
Plural ma’aikatan controls suke, not masculine rahoton. Hausa thereby marks the relative dependency in the TAM complex even though English merely changes the position of that.
Why some predicates show -wa
Many Hausa continuative predicates are verbal nouns whose shape depends on whether a direct object follows locally. Compare suna gyara mota “they are repairing a car” with motar da suke gyarawa “the car that they are repairing.” Once the object is extracted as the head, no direct object follows the predicate, and gyarawa appears.
Ga takardun da Hauwa take shiryawa domin taron.
Here are the documents that Hauwa is preparing for the meeting.
There is no universal rule “add -wa in every relative clause.” Hausa verb grades and verbal-noun classes differ. Learn common continuative predicates with both a following-object frame and a gap/no-local-object frame. The relative syntax creates the environment; the lexical verb class determines the exact shape.
Direct objects normally leave a gap
The head already supplies the identity of the direct object, so the basic pattern does not repeat it with shi, ta, su.
Na mayar da littafin da kika ba ni.
I returned the book that you gave me. (addressing one female)
The understood object of ba is littafin. The overt ni means “me,” the recipient licensed by ba “give”; it does not resume the book. Adding final shi would fill the direct-object role a second time in this core pattern.
This differs from possessor and many oblique relatives, where a pronoun or possessive suffix commonly remains:
Na haɗu da mutumin da muka sayi motarsa.
I met the man whose car we bought.
The man is not the direct object of sayi. Feminine motarsa “his car” is, and masculine possessive -sa links that car back to mutumin. Relative muka agrees with “we.” A later page treats resumption in depth; at A2, remember direct object = usually a gap; possessor/oblique = often an overt referring element.
Contrast with subject relatives
Word order and meaning tell you whether the head is subject or object.
Na ga matar da ta kira likita.
I saw the woman who called a doctor. (woman = subject)
Na ga matar da likita ya kira.
I saw the woman whom a doctor called. (doctor = subject; woman = object)
In the subject relative, the head woman controls ta. In the object relative, overt masculine likita controls ya, while matar is understood as the missing object. English uses who/whom or simply that; Hausa relies on its internal clause structure rather than changing invariant da.
Identifying and discourse-continuing readings
The compact linked-head construction usually restricts a set:
Ka kawo kujerun da muka gyara.
Bring the chairs that we repaired. (identifies which chairs; addressing one male)
An already unique referent can instead receive an appositive continuation with an agreeing relative pronoun (careful speech and writing):
Amina, wadda muka gayyata jiya, ta iso da wuri.
Amina, whom we invited yesterday, arrived early. (careful speech or writing)
The agreeing wadda is not the same item as invariant da. Do not turn da into masculine, feminine, or plural forms inside the compact noun-head construction. Advanced discourse pages explain when appositive continuation and plain-TAM variants are available.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting the linker on the head
❌ mota da muka saya
Incorrect in the basic linked-head construction.
✅ motar da muka saya
The car that we bought.
2. Making the object head control the marker
❌ motar da Musa ta saya
Incorrect — masculine Musa is the subject.
✅ motar da Musa ya saya
The car that Musa bought.
3. Keeping a plain plural completive
❌ takardun da mun aika
Incorrect — mun is plain completive.
✅ takardun da muka aika
The documents that we sent.
4. Keeping a plain continuative
❌ motar da suna gyara
Incorrect in the canonical affirmative relative.
✅ motar da suke gyarawa
The car that they are repairing.
5. Repeating the extracted direct object
❌ littafin da na karanta shi
Incorrect in the basic object-relative pattern — shi repeats the head.
✅ littafin da na karanta
The book that I read.
Key Takeaways
- The head of an object relative is understood as an object inside the da clause.
- The actor inside that clause—not the object head—controls the relative subject–TAM marker.
- Completed relatives use the relative-completive series; open, habitual, and state-like relatives use the relative continuative.
- A direct-object head normally leaves a gap, while possessor and many oblique roles commonly use resumption.
- Some continuative predicates change shape when extraction leaves no following direct object; learn those forms lexically.
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.
- The Head Noun's -n/-r LinkerA2 — Choose and spell the joined -n/-r form that a Hausa noun head takes before a basic da-relative clause.
- Subject Relative ClausesA2 — Form Hausa relatives in which the linked noun head is understood as the subject of the modifying clause.
- Relative Completive in Relative ClausesB2 — Build completed Hausa relative clauses with the agreeing relative-completive paradigm and understand its restrictive, negative, and stative uses.
- Relative Continuative in Relative ClausesB2 — Use Hausa relative-continuative forms in clauses that identify a person, thing, place, or time through an open, habitual, or state-like property.
- 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.