Relative Clauses with da: Overview | Hausa Grammar

A basic Hausa relative clause lets you say “the man who called,” “the bag that you bought,” or “the room where we work.” Its most useful (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa) pattern is linked head noun + da + relative clause: mutumin da ya kira, jakar da kika saya, ɗakin da muke aiki. English learners often notice only da, but Hausa signals the construction in three places: on the head noun, in the clause-linking word da, and in the special subject–TAM form before the verb.

All unlabelled examples on this page are neutral standard usage. Ordinary boko uses ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ’y where required but does not normally write tone or vowel length. The head-linker page gives the noun forms in greater detail.

The four-part frame

Start by finding four pieces:

Piece	Example	Job
head noun	mutum “person”	names the kind of referent
joined linker	mutumin	marks the identifiable head
relativizer	da	opens the modifying clause
relative subject–TAM + predicate	ya kira	says what identifies the referent

Na ga mutumin da ya kira ki da safe.

I saw the man who called you this morning. (addressing one female)

Jakar da kika saya tana cikin mota.

The bag that you bought is in the car. (addressing one female)

In mutumin da ya kira, the man is understood as the caller. In jakar da kika saya, “you” is the buyer and the bag is understood as the missing direct object of saya. The same surface frame therefore supports both subject and object relatives.

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Do not translate one English word at a time. Learn the whole Hausa frame: mutumin + da + ya kira. The joined -n, invariant da, and relative ya cooperate.

Link the head noun before da

Masculine singular heads normally use their -n linked form, feminine singular heads in -a normally use -r, and plural heads use -n. These letters are joined directly to the noun in ordinary spelling.

Head type	Relative phrase	Meaning
masculine singular	littafin da...	the book that...
feminine singular	motar da...	the car that...
plural	motocin da...	the cars that...

Littafin da na aro ya ɓace.

The book that I borrowed is missing.

Motar da ta tsaya a ƙofar tamu ce.

The car that stopped at the gate is ours.

Motocin da suka iso daga Kaduna suna waje.

The cars that arrived from Kaduna are outside.

The head determines -n/-r. It does not change the following da: da is the same after masculine, feminine, and plural heads. Hausa does have agreeing forms wanda, wadda, waɗanda, especially in free and appositive relatives, but those are a separate pattern; do not manufacture agreement on the compact noun + da construction.

Choose relative TAM inside the clause

Canonical affirmative relatives use the relative completive for a bounded or established situation and the relative continuative for an ongoing, habitual, or state-like situation.

Viewpoint	Useful visible contrasts	Relative example
completed whole	plain mun/kun/sun → relative muka/kuka/suka	takardun da muka aika
ongoing/habitual/state-like	plain muna/kuna/suna → relative muke/kuke/suke	takardun da muke dubawa

Mun aika takardun jiya.

We sent the documents yesterday. (independent clause; plain completive)

Ga takardun da muka aika jiya.

Here are the documents that we sent yesterday. (relative clause; relative completive)

Muna duba takardun yanzu.

We are reviewing the documents now. (independent clause; plain continuative)

Ga takardun da muke dubawa yanzu.

Here are the documents that we are reviewing now. (relative clause; relative continuative)

The lexical verbs aika and dubawa do not become “relative verbs.” The crucial choice sits in the subject–TAM complex: mun → muka and muna → muke. Some singular pairs, such as written ya/ya and ta/ta in the completive, look identical in ordinary boko; the construction still selects the relative paradigm.

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Use plural forms as your diagnostic. If you would say independent sun zo, the basic completed relative is mutanen da suka zo, not mutanen da sun zo.

Subject, object, place, and possessor roles

Da does not tell you what role the head has inside the relative clause. Syntax does.

Matar da take karɓar baƙi ’yar’uwata ce.

The woman who is receiving the guests is my sister. (subject relative)

Wasiƙar da matar take karantawa daga asibiti ce.

The letter that the woman is reading is from the hospital. (object relative)

For a subject relative, the head controls the subject–TAM marker: feminine matar corresponds to take. For a direct-object relative, the head normally leaves a gap: wasiƙar da matar take karantawa, with no object pronoun after karantawa. The internal subject matar controls take.

Other roles often need a locative or possessive element inside the clause:

Na san mutumin da motarsa ta lalace a hanya.

I know the man whose car broke down on the road.

Here -sa in motarsa points back to the male head mutumin. This is resumption: Hausa expresses the possessor role inside the relative clause instead of leaving a bare possessor gap like English whose. Direct objects usually use a gap in the core pattern, while possessors and many oblique roles commonly retain an agreeing element.

Identifying and discourse-continuing readings

The central A2 use is restrictive: the relative clause identifies which person or thing is intended.

Ka kira direban da ya kawo kayan.

Call the driver who brought the goods. (identifies which driver; addressing one male)

Context can also make the head already identifiable and let the clause add background information that continues the discourse:

Direbanmu, wanda ya kawo kayan da safe, zai dawo gobe.

Our driver, who brought the goods this morning, will return tomorrow. (careful speech or writing; appositive continuation)

The second example uses agreeing wanda, which is natural when an already identified masculine referent receives a parenthetical comment (careful speech and writing). Simple linked noun + da is the foundation for a tightly identifying relative. Appositive continuations, speaker variation in plain versus relative TAM, and punctuation belong to more advanced study; English commas alone do not tell you which Hausa construction to choose.

Common Mistakes

1. Omitting the head noun’s joined linker

❌ malami da ya kira ni

Incorrect in the basic linked-head pattern.

✅ malamin da ya kira ni

The teacher who called me.

2. Keeping plain completive in the relative clause

❌ mutanen da sun zo jiya

Incorrect — sun is plain completive.

✅ mutanen da suka zo jiya

The people who came yesterday.

3. Keeping plain continuative in the relative clause

❌ yaran da suna wasa a waje

Incorrect — suna is plain continuative.

✅ yaran da suke wasa a waje

The children who are playing outside.

4. Making da agree like English who/which

❌ motar dar muka saya

Incorrect — compact relative da is invariant.

✅ motar da muka saya

The car that we bought.

5. Repeating an ordinary direct object

❌ littafin da muka karanta shi

Incorrect in the basic direct-object relative — shi repeats the extracted object.

✅ littafin da muka karanta

The book that we read.

Key Takeaways

Build the core construction as linked head + da + relative clause.
Join -n/-r to the noun: mutumin, motar, mutanen.
Da stays invariant; subject agreement appears in the subject–TAM marker.
Use relative muka/kuka/suka and muke/kuke/suke in canonical affirmative relatives, not the plain plural series.
Subject heads control the marker; direct-object heads normally leave a gap; possessors and many obliques use resumptive material.
The linked da pattern is primarily identifying; appositive discourse continuations require their own attention.

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