Use kana when addressing one male and viewing his action, habit, or state as ongoing: Kana aiki “You are working/you work.” English you hides both gender and number, but Hausa requires masculine singular kana, feminine singular kina, or plural kuna.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not mark tone or vowel length. The expression after kana belongs to the continuative verbal-noun construction; it cannot always be copied unchanged from a completive clause.
Kana in the continuative 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 |
Kana gyara kwamfutar yanzu.
You are repairing the computer now. (to one male)
Kana jiran wani a bakin ƙofa?
Are you waiting for someone at the doorway? (to one male)
Kana magana da ni ne?
Are you speaking to me? (to one male)
The marker kana already contains subject agreement. Do not add independent kai unless the addressee is being contrasted or established as a topic.
Ongoing action and regular habit use the same marker
With yanzu or an obvious immediate setting, kana commonly corresponds to English are …-ing.
Kana dafa abincin dare yanzu.
You are cooking dinner now. (to one male)
Kana rubuta saƙo yayin da muke magana.
You are writing a message while we are talking. (to one male)
With a frequency expression, the same Hausa marker can describe a routine and English normally uses a simple present.
Kana zuwa masallaci da wuri kowace Juma’a.
You go to the mosque early every Friday. (to one male)
Kana cin abincin rana a ofis a ranakun aiki.
You eat lunch at the office on workdays. (to one male)
Kana buga ƙwallo da abokanka a ƙarshen mako.
You play football with your friends on weekends. (to one male)
The viewpoint is open or characteristic rather than packaged as a completed whole. Time and frequency phrases decide which English tense is natural.
State-like predicates are not English progressives
Hausa also uses kana with several predicates that English translates as simple-present states.
Kana son miya mai yaji?
Do you like spicy soup? (to one male)
Kana buƙatar ƙarin lokaci?
Do you need more time? (to one male)
Kana jin abin da nake faɗa?
Can you hear what I am saying? (to one male)
It would be unnatural to force Are you liking…? or Are you needing…? into English. Hausa and English divide aspect differently. Other Hausa states favor a completive form: Ka san amsar is ordinarily “You know the answer.” There is no fully automatic rule based on the English verb; common predicate patterns must be learned.
Kana is not restricted to present time
An explicit reference time can give kana a past- or future-progressive translation.
Jiya da ƙarfe shida kana tuƙi zuwa gida.
Yesterday at six you were driving home. (to one male)
Yanzu kana sauraron labarai a rediyo.
You are listening to the news on the radio now. (to one male)
Gobe da ƙarfe goma kana ganawa da shugaban sashen.
Tomorrow at ten you will be meeting the head of the department. (to one male)
The form kana does not change. The time phrase locates the reference point, and English supplies were, are, or will be.
The following predicate has verbal-noun syntax
The completive uses Ka zo da wuri “You came early,” while the continuative uses Kana zuwa da wuri “You come/are coming early.” Zo and zuwa belong to the same lexical family, but their constructional forms differ.
Kana zuwa nan da keke ko da mota?
Do you come here by bicycle or by car? (to one male)
Kana shan ruwa sosai a lokacin zafi.
You drink plenty of water in hot weather. (to one male)
Kana sayen burodi daga wane shago?
Which shop do you buy bread from? (to one male)
Zuwa, shan, and sayen show that Hausa has more than one verbal-noun pattern. The -n before a noun object in shan ruwa and sayen burodi is a genitive linker associated with the verbal noun. Other verbs can use -wa verbal nouns, and that final material may behave differently before a direct object. These patterns belong to Hausa morphology, not to person agreement: changing kana to ina does not create a new predicate form.
Kana versus ka and za ka
The material before the predicate carries the central TAM contrast.
Ka karanta wasiƙar da safe.
You read the letter in the morning. (one male; completive)
Kana karanta wasiƙar yanzu.
You are reading the letter now. (one male; continuative)
Za ka karanta wasiƙar gobe.
You will read the letter tomorrow. (one male; future)
English keeps the subject you unchanged and modifies auxiliaries or the verb. Hausa chooses ka, kana, za ka before the predicate. Do not attempt to preserve kana and change only the lexical verb to express completion or futurity.
Kai, vocative names, and noun subjects
Independent masculine singular kai adds contrast but does not replace kana.
Kai kana aikin dare, ni kuma ina aikin safe.
You work the night shift, while I work the morning shift. (to one male)
Narrow subject focus uses kai ne plus relative continuative kake:
Kai ne kake rufe shagon da yamma.
You are the one who closes the shop in the evening. (one male)
A name can be a vocative naming the male being addressed:
Musa, kana zuwa taron tare da mu?
Musa, are you coming to the meeting with us?
The comma reflects the difference between address and third-person reference. When speaking about Musa, use Musa yana zuwa taron. The licensed reduced noun-subject construction Musa na zuwa taron still has a continuative marker na; it does not license Musa kana… in a third-person report.
Plain kana and relative kake
Neutral statements and yes/no questions use kana. Constituent questions, focus, and relative clauses use kake.
Kana neman manajan?
Are you looking for the manager? (yes/no question to one male)
Me kake nema a ofishin?
What are you looking for in the office? (to one male)
Wannan shi ne aikin da kake yi kullum.
This is the work that you do every day. (to one male)
The -ke form does not mean past tense. The question word me and relative clause introduced by da select relative-continuative syntax. See the relative continuative paradigm.
Negative masculine singular is ba ka
Negative continuative ba ka + verbal noun normally has no final ba.
Ba ka zuwa kasuwa ranar Lahadi.
You do not go to the market on Sunday. (to one male)
Ba ka kallon talabijin yanzu.
You are not watching television now. (to one male)
Ba ka son wannan shawarar?
Don’t you like this suggestion? (to one male)
Compare negative completive Ba ka je kasuwa jiya ba “You did not go to the market yesterday.” Ordinary spelling gives both constructions ba ka, but the completive takes a finite predicate and closing ba; the continuative takes verbal-noun syntax and no closing ba.
Practice
Choose kana, kake, or ba ka: (1) “You are working now,” _ aiki yanzu; (2) “What are you reading?” Me _ karantawa?; (3) “You do not work here,” _ aiki a nan; (4) “You are the one driving,” Kai ne _ tuƙi. Answers: kana, kake, ba ka, kake. Every answer addresses one male; change them to kina, kike, ba kya, kike for one female.
Common Mistakes
1. Using masculine kana for a female addressee.
❌ Kana karatu yanzu?
Incorrect when addressing one woman; kana is masculine singular.
✅ Kina karatu yanzu?
Are you studying now? (to one female)
2. Replacing kana with independent kai.
❌ Kai jiran motar?
Incorrect — kai does not make a finite continuative question.
✅ Kana jiran motar?
Are you waiting for the vehicle? (to one male)
3. Using finite zo after kana.
❌ Kana zo nan kowace rana.
Incorrect in the standard continuative pattern.
✅ Kana zuwa nan kowace rana.
You come here every day. (to one male)
4. Building the negative from unchanged affirmative kana.
❌ Ba kana aiki yau ba.
Incorrect for the ordinary negative continuative.
✅ Ba ka aiki yau.
You are not working today. (to one male)
5. Keeping plain kana in a constituent question.
❌ Me kana saye a kasuwa?
Incorrect in the standard constituent-question pattern.
✅ Me kake saye a kasuwa?
What are you buying at the market? (to one male)
Key Takeaways
- Kana is the plain continuative for one male addressee; kina is feminine singular and kuna is plural.
- It covers actions in progress, habits, and certain state-like predicates, with time supplied by context.
- The continuative requires verbal-noun syntax: compare ka zo with kana zuwa.
- Independent kai adds contrast; focused kai ne selects relative kake.
- A name before kana is normally a vocative; a name discussed in the third person takes yana or licensed reduced na.
- Negative continuative is ba ka + verbal noun without final ba; negative completive uses ba ka + finite predicate + ba.
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Start learning Hausa →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 Feminine Singular (kina)A2 — Address one female with continuative kina and use its verbal-noun predicate, relative kike, and negative ba kya forms accurately.
- 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.
- 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.