In a subject relative clause, the noun being described is also understood as the subject of the modifying clause: mutumin da ya zo “the man who came,” matar da take magana “the woman who is speaking,” yaran da suke wasa “the children who are playing.” Hausa does not insert a separate word equivalent to English who. It uses a linked noun head, invariant da, and a relative subject–TAM marker that agrees with the head.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko keeps ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ’y but leaves tone and vowel length unmarked. Compare this pattern directly with object relative clauses, where an internal subject controls agreement.
The head is the understood subject
The core pattern is:
linked head + da + agreeing relative subject–TAM + predicate
Mutumin da ya buga ƙofa yana jira a waje.
The man who knocked on the door is waiting outside.
The phrase mutumin is the head of the whole noun phrase and the understood knocker inside da ya buga ƙofa. Hausa still realizes ya, because the subject–TAM complex carries masculine agreement and completive viewpoint. It does not repeat a strong independent pronoun shi before the verb.
Matar da ta buɗe ofishin da safe kawata ce.
The woman who opened the office this morning is my friend.
Yaran da suka dawo jiya suna hutawa.
The children who returned yesterday are resting.
The three examples show the core agreement: masculine singular ya, feminine singular ta, plural suka. Meanwhile the head itself is linked as mutumin, matar, yaran.
Completed events: relative completive
When the relative property is viewed as a completed whole, use the relative-completive series. The visible A2 anchors are muka, kuka, suka rather than plain mun, kun, sun.
| Head | Relative phrase | Why |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | direban da ya iso | ya agrees with the driver |
| feminine singular | yarinyar da ta kira | ta agrees with the girl |
| plural | baƙin da suka tafi | suka agrees with the guests |
Direban da ya kawo mu nan ya san hanyar sosai.
The driver who brought us here knows the route well.
Yarinyar da ta sami lambar yabo tana makarantar nan.
The girl who won the award attends this school.
Baƙin da suka tashi da wuri sun isa Kano da rana.
The guests who left early reached Kano in the afternoon.
Written singular ya/ta resembles the plain completive forms. Plural forms expose the system most clearly:
Baƙi sun tashi da wuri.
The guests left early. (independent clause; plain completive)
Baƙin da suka tashi da wuri sun isa Kano.
The guests who left early reached Kano. (relative clause; relative completive)
The time can remain the same; sun/suka distinguishes neutral assertion from the canonical relative environment.
Ongoing actions, habits, and states: relative continuative
Use yake, take, suke when the identifying property is ongoing, habitual, or state-like. English may translate these with is -ing, simple present, or another form.
Mutumin da yake gyaran fanfo yana son ya yi magana da ke.
The man who is repairing the pump wants to speak with you. (addressing one female)
Matar da take sayar da kayan miya ta san mahaifiyata.
The woman who sells cooking ingredients knows my mother.
Ma’aikatan da suke karɓar baƙi suna gaban ofishin.
The employees who receive visitors are in front of the office.
Masculine mutumin controls yake, feminine matar controls take, and plural ma’aikatan controls suke. The marker agrees with the semantic subject and also selects an open viewpoint.
Compare the neutral assertion:
Ma’aikata suna karɓar baƙi a nan.
Employees receive visitors here. (independent clause; plain continuative)
Ma’aikatan da suke karɓar baƙi sun zo da wuri.
The employees who receive visitors arrived early. (relative clause; relative continuative)
How subject and object relatives differ
A subject relative has no separate lexical subject inside the da clause:
Na kira likitan da ya duba yaron.
I called the doctor who examined the boy. (doctor = subject of examined)
An object relative normally contains a separate subject and leaves the head’s object position empty:
Na kira likitan da yaron ya gani.
I called the doctor whom the boy saw. (boy = subject; doctor = object)
In the first sentence, likitan controls ya because the doctor examined someone. In the second, yaron controls ya because the boy saw someone. Masculine agreement happens to look the same, so test the meanings with a feminine or plural subject:
Na kira likitan da yaran suka gani.
I called the doctor whom the children saw.
Now plural yaran forces suka. The head likitan remains singular masculine because head linking and internal subject agreement are separate.
Gaps, subject indexing, and resumption
It is useful to say that the subject head corresponds to a “gap,” but Hausa also indexes it with the weak subject–TAM marker. Thus matar da ta zo has no second full noun meaning “the woman” inside the clause, yet feminine ta remains obligatory. Do not add a strong pronoun unless discourse independently calls for a contrastive pronoun.
Possessor relatives work differently because the relation is expressed inside a noun phrase:
Mutumin da ’yarsa take karatu a Zariya maƙwabcinmu ne.
The man whose daughter studies in Zaria is our neighbor.
The head mutumin is not the subject of take karatu; ’yarsa “his daughter” is. Possessive -sa resumes the male possessor, and feminine ’yarsa controls take. This contrast helps you avoid treating every noun before da as the clause’s subject.
Identifying versus discourse-continuing information
The compact linked noun + da construction typically identifies a subset:
A kira ma’aikatan da suke aikin dare.
Call the employees who work the night shift. (identifies which employees)
If a unique person is already identified and the relative only adds parenthetical information, agreeing wanda/wadda/waɗanda is natural (careful speech and writing):
Hauwa, wadda take aikin dare, za ta huta gobe.
Hauwa, who works the night shift, will rest tomorrow. (careful speech or writing)
English uses who in both contexts, but Hausa does not reduce the choice to punctuation. Learn the restrictive da pattern first; advanced discourse pages treat variation in appositive continuations and TAM.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting the linked form of the head
❌ mutum da ya zo
Incorrect in the basic compact pattern.
✅ mutumin da ya zo
The man who came.
2. Replacing the TAM marker with an English-style relative pronoun
❌ matar da zo jiya
Incorrect — da does not carry feminine agreement or completive aspect.
✅ matar da ta zo jiya
The woman who came yesterday.
3. Using a plain plural form
❌ yaran da sun dawo
Incorrect — sun is plain completive.
✅ yaran da suka dawo
The children who returned.
4. Using plain continuative after da
❌ matar da tana aiki a asibiti
Incorrect in the canonical relative construction.
✅ matar da take aiki a asibiti
The woman who works at the hospital.
5. Adding a strong resumptive subject
❌ mutumin da shi ya buɗe ƙofar
Incorrect for the intended neutral subject relative; shi adds independent contrastive force.
✅ mutumin da ya buɗe ƙofar
The man who opened the door.
Key Takeaways
- In a subject relative, the linked head is understood as the clause’s subject.
- Keep the weak agreeing subject–TAM marker: ya, ta, suka or yake, take, suke.
- Canonical completed relatives use relative completive; ongoing, habitual, and state-like relatives use relative continuative.
- Do not repeat the head as a full strong pronoun in the neutral pattern.
- An internal possessed noun such as ’yarsa can instead be the subject; find the actual subject before choosing agreement.
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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.
- 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.
- Object Relative ClausesA2 — Build Hausa relatives whose linked noun head is understood as the missing object 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.
- 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.