The ordinary future form for a second-person plural subject is za ku: Za ku dawo gobe means “You all will return tomorrow.” It normally addresses two or more people regardless of gender. It can also address one person respectfully, especially an elder or someone treated with social deference.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Standard boko writes za ku as two words and does not mark tone or vowel length in ordinary prose.
Za ku in the complete future paradigm
| Subject | Future form | With samu “get/obtain” |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | zan | zan samu |
| 2nd masculine singular | za ka | za ka samu |
| 2nd feminine singular | za ki | za ki samu |
| 3rd masculine singular | zai | zai samu |
| 3rd feminine singular | za ta | za ta samu |
| 1st plural | za mu | za mu samu |
| 2nd plural | za ku | za ku samu |
| 3rd plural | za su | za su samu |
| impersonal | za a | za a samu |
Za ku samu amsa kafin ƙarshen mako.
You all will receive an answer before the end of the week.
Za ku jira mu a ƙofar asibiti?
Will you all wait for us at the hospital entrance?
Za ku kawo takardunku ranar Litinin.
You all will bring your documents on Monday.
The future form encodes the addressee group before the predicate. English you does not distinguish singular from plural, but Hausa requires a choice among masculine singular za ka, feminine singular za ki, and plural za ku.
Plural address and respectful singular address
The basic meaning of ku is plural address.
Ku ɗalibai za ku rubuta jarabawa gobe.
You students will take an examination tomorrow.
Kai da Amina za ku gabatar da rahoton tare.
You and Amina will present the report together. (addressing one male)
Ke da Hauwa za ku shirya abincin dare.
You and Hauwa will prepare dinner. (addressing one female)
In each coordination, the whole subject includes the addressee but not the speaker, so second-person plural za ku is required. A full subject is still followed by the finite future form.
Hausa also uses second-person plural forms for respectful singular address. This is (respectful) rather than a claim that one person is grammatically multiple.
Malam, za ku zo taron gobe?
Sir/Teacher, will you come to the meeting tomorrow? (respectful singular)
Hajiya, za ku zauna a nan?
Madam, will you sit here? (respectful singular)
Social practice varies with relationship and setting, so singular za ka/za ki is not inherently rude among peers. Respectful za ku presents the addressee with plural agreement throughout the clause.
Plans, predictions, offers, and instructions about the future
Za ku can ask about plans, predict an outcome, promise what the addressees will receive, or state the next step in instructions.
Yaushe za ku tashi zuwa Kaduna?
When will you all leave for Kaduna?
Idan kun bi wannan hanya, za ku isa da wuri.
If you all take this route, you will arrive early.
Bayan kun cika fom ɗin, za ku kai shi ɗaki na uku.
After you have filled in the form, you will take it to room three.
A past reporting frame shifts the reference point and often produces English would.
Kun ce za ku dawo washegari.
You all said that you would return the next day.
The Hausa future form stays za ku because the return was projected after the earlier statement. Translating za ku as English will in every context would hide this relative-time logic.
Active actions and projected states
With an active predicate, za ku projects an action or event.
Za ku gyara kujerun kafin baƙi su iso.
You all will repair the chairs before the guests arrive.
Za ku ɗauki kayan zuwa sito da safe.
You all will take the goods to the storeroom in the morning.
With a stative predicate, it projects knowledge, ability, need, or preference rather than an ongoing activity.
Bayan darasin, za ku san yadda tsarin yake aiki.
After the lesson, you all will know how the system works.
Da sabuwar na’urar, za ku iya kammala aikin da wuri.
With the new machine, you all will be able to finish the work early.
English uses will know and will be able, not progressive forms. The future comes from za ku, while the predicate’s lexical meaning determines whether the projected situation is dynamic or stative. This separation follows the general Hausa subject–TAM pattern.
Plain and relative environments
The same za ku occurs in neutral statements, questions, focus, and relative clauses. A relative environment does not convert it into a past form.
Za ku yi taron a babban ɗaki.
You all will hold the meeting in the large room. (plain statement)
Ina za ku yi taron?
Where will you all hold the meeting?
Ku ne za ku yi taron a babban ɗaki.
You are the ones who will hold the meeting in the large room.
Na shirya kayan da za ku yi amfani da su.
I prepared the materials that you will use.
The interrogative ina, focus frame ku ne, and relative linker da determine the syntax, while za ku retains second-person plural future reference. Hausa future morphology therefore differs from the relative/plain alternation found elsewhere in the TAM system.
Negative future: ba za ku … ba
The standard negative future puts ba before za ku and a second ba after the scope of negation.
Ba za ku jira dogon lokaci ba.
You all will not wait a long time.
Ba za ku buɗe shagon gobe ba.
You all will not open the shop tomorrow.
Malam, ba za ku biya kuɗin shiga ba.
Sir, you will not pay the entrance fee. (respectful singular)
Negative completive ba ku buɗe ba means “you did not open,” while negative continuative ba kwa buɗewa can mean “you do not open.” Future negation must retain za and final ba.
A minimal TAM contrast
Kun jira mu jiya.
You all waited for us yesterday. (completive)
Kuna jiranmu yanzu.
You all are waiting for us now. (continuative)
Za ku jira mu gobe.
You all will wait for us tomorrow. (future)
The subject stays second-person plural, but the preverbal complex changes. The continuative also selects jiranmu, whereas the future has jira mu. Hausa does more than attach an English tense name to an otherwise unchanged verb.
Practice
Choose za ka, za ki, za ku, or za su: (1) speaking to one man, _ zo gobe?; (2) speaking to one woman, _ zo gobe?; (3) speaking to three friends, _ zo gobe?; (4) speaking about three friends, _ zo gobe. Answers: za ka, za ki, za ku, za su. Negate item 3 as Ba za ku zo gobe ba? “Will you all not come tomorrow?”
Common Mistakes
1. Joining standard za ku.
❌ Zaku dawo gobe.
Incorrect standard word division — za ku is written as two words.
✅ Za ku dawo gobe.
You all will return tomorrow.
2. Using third-person za su for people being addressed.
❌ Ku ɗalibai za su fara jarabawa gobe.
Incorrect — the students are the addressees, so use second person.
✅ Ku ɗalibai za ku fara jarabawa gobe.
You students will begin the examination tomorrow.
3. Dropping the future complex after a coordination.
❌ Kai da Musa tafi gobe.
Incorrect — the coordinated subject still needs za ku.
✅ Kai da Musa za ku tafi gobe.
You and Musa will leave tomorrow. (addressing one male)
4. Building an incomplete negative.
❌ Ba za ku buɗe ofis gobe.
Incomplete standard negative-future frame — final ba is missing.
✅ Ba za ku buɗe ofis gobe ba.
You all will not open the office tomorrow.
5. Replacing future za ku with a completed relative form.
❌ Na shirya aikin da kuka yi gobe.
Incorrect for ‘the work you will do tomorrow’ — kuka presents it as completed.
✅ Na shirya aikin da za ku yi gobe.
I prepared the work that you all will do tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- Za ku is the ordinary second-person plural future form, written as two words.
- It addresses any mixed- or same-gender group and can also address one person (respectfully).
- A coordination containing the addressee but not the speaker takes za ku.
- The same form occurs in projected actions, future states, plain statements, questions, focus, and relative clauses.
- Negative future is ba za ku … ba.
- English you hides number and gender distinctions that Hausa requires before the predicate.
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Start learning Hausa →Related Topics
- Future Pronouns after zaA2 — Form the Hausa za future with zan, za ka, za ki, zai, za ta, za mu, za ku, za su, and impersonal za a.
- Negative Subject Pronoun SetsA2 — Distinguish Hausa negative completive, continuative, future, potential, and subjunctive subject patterns instead of applying one universal ba rule.
- The Hausa Subject–TAM ComplexA1 — Understand the preverbal Hausa forms that express subject agreement together with tense, aspect, mood, and polarity.
- Aspect Rather Than English TenseA1 — Interpret Hausa completive and continuative forms as viewpoints on events, using time words and predicate meaning instead of one-to-one English tense labels.
- 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.
- Active and Stative Verb InterpretationsA1 — See how a verb's action or state meaning changes the time interpretation of Hausa completive and continuative constructions.