Use muna when the speaker is part of a plural subject and presents its action, routine, or state as ongoing: Muna aiki can mean “We are working” or “We work.” English separates we from an auxiliary; Hausa muna packages first-person plural agreement and continuative aspect together.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not show tone or vowel length. The predicate after muna belongs to the continuative verbal-noun construction, so it cannot always be copied unchanged from a completive clause.
The relative continuative paradigm gives the full -ke series used alongside plain muna.
Muna in the complete paradigm
| Person | Plain continuative | With zuwa “coming/going” |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ina | ina zuwa |
| 2nd masculine singular | kana | kana zuwa |
| 2nd feminine singular | kina | kina zuwa |
| 3rd masculine singular | yana | yana zuwa |
| 3rd feminine singular | tana | tana zuwa |
| 1st plural | muna | muna zuwa |
| 2nd plural | kuna | kuna zuwa |
| 3rd plural | suna | suna zuwa |
| impersonal | ana | ana zuwa |
Muna shirya ɗakin taro yanzu.
We are preparing the meeting room now.
Muna jiran likita a waje.
We are waiting for the doctor outside.
Muna magana da maƙwabtanmu ne?
Are we speaking with our neighbors?
Muna already identifies the subject as “we.” Independent mu is unnecessary in a neutral sentence, though it can add contrast or establish a topic.
Ongoing action and habitual activity
An immediate context gives muna an event-in-progress reading.
Muna ɗora kaya a mota yanzu.
We are loading goods into the vehicle now.
Muna rubuta amsar tare.
We are writing the answer together.
A frequency expression or stable setting produces a habitual translation.
Muna zuwa kasuwa kowace Laraba.
We go to the market every Wednesday.
Muna cin abincin rana a nan a ranakun aiki.
We eat lunch here on workdays.
The marker is unchanged. English chooses are …-ing for an unfolding action and simple present for a routine; Hausa uses contextual expressions to guide that interpretation.
State-like meanings are also possible
Some predicates are continuative in Hausa but translate naturally as English simple-present states.
Muna son mu zauna kusa da taga.
We want to sit near the window.
Muna buƙatar ƙarin kujeru biyu.
We need two more chairs.
Muna jinki sosai.
We can hear you clearly. (to one female)
Do not imitate the Hausa form with awkward we are wanting. Also do not assume every English state uses muna: established-state mun sani normally means “we know,” not muna sani in the basic production pattern taught here.
Muna is not restricted to the present
An explicit reference time can locate the same continuative form in past, present, or future time.
Jiya da ƙarfe biyar muna dawowa daga aiki.
Yesterday at five we were returning from work.
Yanzu muna tattauna sabon tsarin.
We are discussing the new plan now.
Gobe da wannan lokaci muna tafiya zuwa Kano.
At this time tomorrow we will be travelling to Kano.
Jiya, yanzu, and gobe provide the temporal frame. Muna contributes first-person plural agreement and a viewpoint inside the situation.
The continuative uses a verbal noun
Compare completive mun zo “we came” with continuative muna zuwa “we are coming/we come.”
Mun zo da wuri jiya.
We came early yesterday. (completive)
Muna zuwa da wuri idan muna da taro.
We come early when we have a meeting. (continuative)
Muna shan ruwa sosai a lokacin zafi.
We drink plenty of water in hot weather.
Muna sayen kayan lambu daga manoman yankin.
We buy vegetables from local farmers.
Zuwa, shan, and sayen show different verbal-noun shapes. The -n in shan ruwa and sayen kaya links the verbal noun to a following noun object. There is no universal suffix that corresponds to English -ing, and changing mun to muna can require more than inserting one vowel.
Overt plural subjects and independent mu
If a coordinated subject includes the speaker, first-person plural muna is appropriate.
Ni da Amina muna kula da wannan ofishin.
Amina and I look after this office.
Ni da ’yan’uwana muna zama a Kaduna.
My siblings and I live in Kaduna.
The overt phrases identify who belongs to “we”; muna remains the finite subject–TAM marker. By contrast, a third-person group that excludes the speaker takes suna: Amina da ’yan’uwanta suna zama a Kaduna.
Independent mu is used for contrast, not as a replacement for muna:
Mu muna aikin safe, su kuma suna aikin dare.
We work the morning shift, while they work the night shift.
Mu ne muke buɗe shagon kowace safiya.
We are the ones who open the shop every morning.
The second sentence has subject focus, so it selects relative muke rather than plain muna.
Plain muna and relative muke
Use muna for neutral statements and yes/no questions. Constituent questions, focus, and relative clauses select muke.
Muna jiran wani?
Are we waiting for someone? (neutral yes/no question)
Wa muke jira a bakin ƙofa?
Whom are we waiting for at the doorway?
Wannan shi ne rahoton da muke gyarawa yanzu.
This is the report that we are correcting now.
A nan ne muke ajiye kayan.
This is where we keep the goods.
Relative muke does not mean “we were.” It is continuative like muna, but its syntactic environment is marked. Completive mun presents the event as a whole:
Mun duba rahoton; yanzu muna gyara kurakuran.
We reviewed the report; now we are correcting the errors.
Negative first person plural is ba ma
The standard negative continuative uses ba ma + verbal noun, normally without closing ba.
Ba ma aiki ranar Lahadi.
We do not work on Sunday.
Ba ma jiran kowa yanzu.
We are not waiting for anyone now.
Ba ma son mu makara wajen taron.
We do not want to be late for the meeting.
Negative completive is different: ba mu + finite predicate + ba.
Ba mu kammala aikin jiya ba.
We did not finish the work yesterday.
Thus ba ma zuwa means “we do not come/are not coming,” whereas ba mu zo ba means “we did not come.” The opposition is structural, not optional pronunciation.
Practice
Choose muna, muke, ba ma, or mun: (1) _ aiki yanzu “We are working now”; (2) Me _ yi? “What are we doing?”; (3) _ zuwa nan ranar Lahadi “We do not come here on Sunday”; (4) _ gama aikin jiya “We finished the work yesterday.” Answers: muna, muke, ba ma, mun.
Common Mistakes
1. Replacing muna with independent mu.
❌ Mu aiki a gida yau.
Incorrect — mu does not make the continuative predicate finite.
✅ Muna aiki a gida yau.
We are working at home today.
2. Using completive mun for an unfolding event.
❌ Mun jiran bas yanzu.
Incorrect for ‘we are waiting’; the continuative needs muna and verbal-noun syntax.
✅ Muna jiran bas yanzu.
We are waiting for a bus now.
3. Using finite zo after muna.
❌ Muna zo nan kowace rana.
Incorrect in the standard continuative construction.
✅ Muna zuwa nan kowace rana.
We come here every day.
4. Keeping muna after focus.
❌ Mu ne muna gyara hanyar.
Incorrect in the standard subject-focus construction.
✅ Mu ne muke gyara hanyar.
We are the ones repairing the road.
5. Using ba mu as the negative continuative.
❌ Ba mu aiki yau.
Incorrect for the intended standard negative continuative.
✅ Ba ma aiki yau.
We are not working today.
Key Takeaways
- Muna is the first-person plural plain continuative subject–TAM marker.
- It can express an unfolding event, routine, or state-like meaning in a past, present, or future frame.
- Coordinated subjects that include the speaker retain muna: Ni da Amina muna….
- The following predicate has verbal-noun syntax; compare mun zo with muna zuwa.
- Focus and constituent questions use muke; negative continuative uses ba ma without final ba.
Related Topics
- Continuative: First Person Singular (ina)A2 — Use first-person singular ina for actions, habits, and states viewed as ongoing, with the correct verbal-noun, relative, and negative patterns.
- Continuative: Second Person Plural (kuna)A2 — Address a group with continuative kuna and distinguish it from singular kana/kina, relative kuke, negative ba kwa, and completive kun.
- Continuative: Third Person Plural (suna)A2 — Use third-person plural suna for ongoing actions, routines, and open states, together with relative suke and negative ba sa.
- Continuative PronounsA2 — Use ina, kana, kina, yana, tana, muna, kuna, suna, and ana for ongoing, habitual, and state-like situations in neutral Hausa clauses.
- Relative Continuative PronounsA2 — Use nake, kake, kike, yake, take, muke, kuke, suke, and ake for ongoing or habitual situations in focus, questions, and relative clauses.
- Negative Subject Pronoun SetsA2 — Distinguish Hausa negative completive, continuative, future, potential, and subjunctive subject patterns instead of applying one universal ba rule.