Many Hausa verbs have a continuative verbal noun ending in -wa when no direct object follows: rubutawa “writing,” karantawa “reading,” gyarawa “repairing,” wankewa “washing.” Put an ordinary direct-object noun immediately after such a predicate, and the -wa is absent: rubuta saƙo, karanta littafi, gyara mota, wanke tufafi.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). This alternation belongs to the continuative predicate, not to the person marker. It is best understood as a choice between a no-local-object form and a form used with a locally expressed direct object—not as casual sound deletion.
Strong verbal nouns use a different object strategy, explained on continuative with non--wa verbal nouns.
The core alternation
| No following direct object | Direct object follows | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| rubutawa | rubuta saƙo | write / write a message |
| karantawa | karanta littafi | read / read a book |
| gyarawa | gyara mota | repair / repair a car |
| wankewa | wanke tufafi | wash / wash clothes |
| dafawa | dafa abinci | cook / cook food |
| buɗewa | buɗe ƙofa | open / open a door |
Amina tana rubutawa a ɗakinta.
Amina is writing in her room.
Amina tana rubuta saƙo ga ƙanwarta.
Amina is writing a message to her younger sister.
Bello yana wankewa a bayan gida.
Bello is washing things in the yard.
Bello yana wanke tufafin yara a bayan gida.
Bello is washing the children’s clothes in the yard.
The form without -wa is not an unfinished spelling. It is the form selected when the direct object is realized locally after the predicate.
Every person shows the same object effect
The complete plain continuative paradigm changes the subject–TAM marker but leaves the predicate alternation intact.
| Person | No object stated | With a noun object |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ina karantawa | ina karanta littafi |
| 2nd masculine singular | kana karantawa | kana karanta littafi |
| 2nd feminine singular | kina karantawa | kina karanta littafi |
| 3rd masculine singular | yana karantawa | yana karanta littafi |
| 3rd feminine singular | tana karantawa | tana karanta littafi |
| 1st plural | muna karantawa | muna karanta littafi |
| 2nd plural | kuna karantawa | kuna karanta littafi |
| 3rd plural | suna karantawa | suna karanta littafi |
| impersonal | ana karantawa | ana karanta littafi |
Ina gyara rediyon yanzu.
I am repairing the radio now.
Ma’aikata suna gyara hanyar da dare.
The workers repair the road at night.
Ana buɗe ofishin da ƙarfe takwas.
The office is opened at eight.
In the last example, ofishin is the direct object of impersonal ana buɗe even though English naturally uses a passive. Hausa therefore uses the object-following form buɗe, not no-object buɗewa.
-wa returns when the object is not local
A question word, focused object, or relative-clause head may represent the object outside the position immediately after the predicate. In that environment, there is no local post-predicate object, so the -wa form appears.
Me kike rubutawa?
What are you writing? (to one female)
Wane littafi yake karantawa?
Which book is he reading?
Wannan saƙon ne take rubutawa.
This message is what she is writing.
Na ga motar da suke gyarawa.
I saw the car that they are repairing.
These clauses also use the relative continuative forms kike, yake, take, suke because constituent questions, focus, and relative clauses select that paradigm. The return of -wa and the change from plain to relative subject–TAM marking have different causes, even though both happen in the same examples.
Compare a neutral object-in-place clause:
Tana rubuta wannan saƙon.
She is writing this message. (neutral; local object)
Wannan wasiƙar ce take rubutawa.
This letter is what she is writing. (focused object; no local object)
Do not analyze take as a past tense. Both clauses can describe the same present event; focus changes the clause type, and object placement changes the predicate form.
Plain, relative, and negative markers
Plain affirmative markers are ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, ana. Relative forms are nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, ake. The ordinary negative continuative uses ba na, ba ka, ba kya, ba ya, ba ta, ba mu, ba ku, ba su, ba a, normally with no closing ba.
The object alternation operates inside all three frames:
Yana dafawa yanzu.
He is cooking now. (no object stated)
Yana dafa tuwo yanzu.
He is cooking tuwo now. (local object)
Me yake dafawa yanzu?
What is he cooking now? (questioned object)
Ba ya dafa nama a gidansa.
He does not cook meat at home.
Ba ya dafawa idan ya gaji.
He does not cook when he is tired.
The negative form ba ya carries subject, polarity, and continuative aspect. The choice dafa nama versus dafawa still depends on whether a direct object follows.
Overt noun subjects still require a marker
Ladi tana karanta jarida kowace safiya.
Ladi reads a newspaper every morning.
Daliban suna rubuta amsoshinsu yanzu.
The students are writing their answers now.
The overt subjects Ladi and daliban do not make tana and suna redundant. Standard Hausa needs a subject–TAM marker. A licensed reduced na can occur after certain overt third-person noun subjects, but even that pattern retains an aspect marker: Ladi na karanta jarida. A bare sequence such as Ladi karanta jarida does not express the standard continuative.
Aspect and time are separate from -wa
Dropping -wa says that a local object follows; it does not make the event completed. Compare:
Ladi ta rubuta wasiƙar da safe.
Ladi wrote the letter in the morning. (completive)
Ladi tana rubuta wasiƙar yanzu.
Ladi is writing the letter now. (continuative)
Jiya da ƙarfe huɗu Ladi tana rubuta wasiƙar.
Yesterday at four Ladi was writing the letter.
Both continuative examples have rubuta, but tana supplies the inside view and the time phrases locate it. Active predicates like rubuta naturally yield ongoing-event or habitual readings. State-like meanings depend on the lexical predicate; English tense names do not determine whether Hausa shows -wa.
Practice
Choose the correct predicate form: (1) Ina _ yanzu “I am reading now” (karantawa/karanta); (2) Ina _ littafi “I am reading a book” (karantawa/karanta); (3) Me kake _? “What are you reading?”; (4) Ba ta _ tufafi yau “She is not washing clothes today” (wankewa/wanke). Answers: karantawa, karanta, karantawa, wanke. Explain where the direct object appears in each clause.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping -wa before an ordinary local direct object.
❌ Tana rubutawa saƙo yanzu.
Incorrect — a direct-object noun follows.
✅ Tana rubuta saƙo yanzu.
She is writing a message now.
2. Deleting -wa when no object follows.
❌ Yana karanta a ɗakinsa.
Incorrect for ‘He is reading in his room’ with no stated object.
✅ Yana karantawa a ɗakinsa.
He is reading in his room.
3. Deleting -wa after moving the object to focus.
❌ Wannan littafin ne yake karanta.
Incorrect — the focused object is not local after the predicate.
✅ Wannan littafin ne yake karantawa.
This book is what he is reading.
4. Changing only the lexical predicate to express completion.
❌ Tana rubuta wasiƙar jiya.
Wrong for a completed ‘She wrote the letter yesterday’ unless an ongoing past frame is intended.
✅ Ta rubuta wasiƙar jiya.
She wrote the letter yesterday.
5. Dropping the subject–TAM marker after a name.
❌ Musa gyara motar yanzu.
Incorrect — the continuative marker is missing.
✅ Musa yana gyara motar yanzu.
Musa is repairing the car now.
Key Takeaways
- A weak -wa verbal noun uses -wa when no direct object follows: rubutawa, karantawa, gyarawa.
- Before a local direct object, -wa is absent: rubuta saƙo, karanta littafi, gyara mota.
- When the object is questioned, focused, or relativized away from the local object position, -wa returns.
- Plain/relative subject–TAM choice and -wa alternation are separate parts of the grammar.
- Dropping -wa does not mark completion; aspect remains in the preverbal subject–TAM complex.
Related Topics
- Continuative with -wa Verbal NounsA2 — Form the Hausa continuative with weak -wa verbal nouns and remove -wa when a direct object follows.
- Continuative with Non--wa Verbal NounsA2 — Build the Hausa continuative with strong verbal nouns such as gani, ci, sha, saye, and tambaya, including their noun- and pronoun-object patterns.
- Genitive Linking before Noun ObjectsA2 — Attach -n or -r to a strong continuative verbal noun before its local noun object, choosing the linker from the verbal noun’s gender.
- Continuative PronounsA2 — Use ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, and ana for ongoing, habitual, and state-like situations in neutral Hausa clauses.
- Plain and Relative TAM FormsA1 — Choose plain Hausa completive and continuative forms for neutral clauses, and relative forms for focus, constituent questions, and relative clauses.
- Verbal Nouns and Grade MembershipA2 — Use Hausa verb grades to anticipate verbal-noun patterns while learning the strong, weak, and sometimes multiple forms each lexical verb actually permits.