The ordinary future form for a third-person plural subject is za su. It projects what “they” will do or what will happen to them: Za su dawo gobe “They will return tomorrow.” A preceding plural noun phrase identifies who “they” are, but it does not replace za su.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Standard boko writes za su as two words and leaves tone and vowel length unmarked in ordinary sentences.
Za su in the complete future paradigm
| Subject | Future form | With dawo “return” |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | zan | zan dawo |
| 2nd masculine singular | za ka | za ka dawo |
| 2nd feminine singular | za ki | za ki dawo |
| 3rd masculine singular | zai | zai dawo |
| 3rd feminine singular | za ta | za ta dawo |
| 1st plural | za mu | za mu dawo |
| 2nd plural | za ku | za ku dawo |
| 3rd plural | za su | za su dawo |
| impersonal | za a | za a dawo |
Za su dawo bayan sallar la’asar.
They will return after the afternoon prayer.
Za su fara aiki ranar Litinin.
They will start work on Monday.
Za su ba mu amsa kafin ƙarshen mako.
They will give us an answer before the end of the week.
In the last example, su inside za su identifies the plural subject, while mu after ba is the recipient “us.” The verb ba “give” takes this direct recipient series; za su ba mana amsa is not the neutral equivalent intended here.
An overt plural subject still needs za su
Hausa plural nouns and third-person coordinations are followed by za su in a finite future clause.
Baƙin za su iso da ƙarfe goma.
The guests will arrive at ten.
Ma’aikatan jinya za su duba marasa lafiya da safe.
The nurses will examine patients in the morning.
Amina da Musa za su jagoranci taron tare.
Amina and Musa will chair the meeting together.
The coordination is plural even though each name is singular. It is third person because neither the speaker nor addressee belongs to the subject. If the speaker joins the group, agreement changes to za mu; if the addressee joins and the speaker does not, it changes to za ku.
Ni da Musa za mu zo, amma Amina da Ali za su jira a gida.
Musa and I will come, but Amina and Ali will wait at home.
Za su, independent su, and impersonal za a
An independent su can add contrast before za su.
Su za su kawo abinci, mu kuma za mu kawo ruwa.
They will bring food, while we will bring water.
The first su means contrastive “they”; the second belongs to the finite future complex. In a neutral context, Za su kawo abinci is complete by itself.
Do not confuse a known plural group with the impersonal form za a, which deliberately leaves the actor unspecified.
Ma’aikatan za su rufe ƙofar da ƙarfe shida.
The workers will close the gate at six. (specified plural actors)
Za a rufe ƙofar da ƙarfe shida.
The gate will be closed at six. (actor unspecified)
English often translates impersonal za a with a passive. Za su instead points to a contextually identified plural subject, whether or not that noun phrase is repeated in the sentence. The wider future-pronoun paradigm shows how this subject distinction is encoded for every person.
Plans, predictions, and future from a past viewpoint
From the present, za su can express a plan, prediction, expectation, promise, or likely result.
Gobe za su tafi Kano domin su halarci taro.
Tomorrow they will go to Kano to attend a meeting.
Idan an buɗe hanya, motocin za su wuce cikin sauƙi.
If the road is opened, the vehicles will pass easily.
Kada ka damu; za su gyara matsalar yau.
Don’t worry; they will fix the problem today. (addressing one male)
A past report can move the reference point back, prompting English would.
Sun ce za su dawo washegari.
They said that they would return the next day.
The return remains later than the reported statement. Za su is not morphologically past; English sequence-of-tense conventions account for the translation.
Active predicates and projected states
With active predicates, za su presents future events or actions.
Manoman za su shuka masara bayan ruwan farko.
The farmers will plant maize after the first rain.
’Yan kasuwa za su buɗe shaguna da sassafe.
The traders will open their shops very early in the morning.
With stative predicates, it projects knowledge, ability, need, or preference.
Bayan an yi musu bayani, za su san inda za su je.
After it is explained to them, they will know where they should go.
Da ƙarin lokaci, za su iya kammala aikin.
With more time, they will be able to finish the work.
English does not use will be knowing. Hausa future reference comes from za su; the lexical predicate supplies the state. This is why a single English tense label cannot explain every Hausa TAM interpretation.
Plain and relative uses share za su
The future form remains za su in a neutral statement, constituent question, focus construction, and relative clause.
Za su gabatar da rahotonsu gobe.
They will present their report tomorrow. (plain statement)
Yaushe za su gabatar da rahotonsu?
When will they present their report?
Su ne za su gabatar da rahoton gobe.
They are the ones who will present the report tomorrow.
Na san mutanen da za su gabatar da rahoton.
I know the people who will present the report.
The question expression, focus frame su ne, and relative linker da determine the syntax. The marker does not become a relative past form. This differs from continuative plain suna versus relative suke, even though both pairs refer to third-person plural subjects.
Negative future: ba za su … ba
The standard negative future places ba before za su and another ba after the scope of negation.
Ba za su zo taron gobe ba.
They will not come to the meeting tomorrow.
Baƙin ba za su kwana a nan ba.
The guests will not spend the night here.
Ba za su iya gama aikin yau ba.
They will not be able to finish the work today.
Compare negative completive ba su zo ba “they did not come” and negative continuative ba sa zuwa “they do not come.” Future negation retains za. Dropping it changes the TAM construction rather than merely shortening the sentence.
A minimal TAM contrast
Sun jira mu jiya.
They waited for us yesterday. (completive)
Suna jiranmu yanzu.
They are waiting for us now. (continuative)
Za su jira mu gobe.
They will wait for us tomorrow. (future)
The subject is third-person plural in all three, but sun, suna, and za su change the temporal-aspectual viewpoint. The continuative predicate also follows its verbal-noun syntax, so forming Hausa TAM is not simply a matter of changing a lexical verb ending.
Practice
Choose za su, za ku, za mu, or za a: (1) Amina da Musa _ zo gobe; (2) Kai da Musa _ zo gobe; (3) Ni da Musa _ zo gobe; (4) _ rufe ofis da ƙarfe biyar when the closer is unspecified. Answers: za su, za ku, za mu, za a. Negate item 1: Amina da Musa ba za su zo gobe ba.
Common Mistakes
1. Joining standard za su.
❌ Zasu dawo gobe.
Incorrect standard word division — za su is written as two words.
✅ Za su dawo gobe.
They will return tomorrow.
2. Dropping za su after a plural noun.
❌ Baƙin shiga ɗakin taro da ƙarfe goma.
Incorrect — the plural noun does not replace the future complex.
✅ Baƙin za su shiga ɗakin taro da ƙarfe goma.
The guests will enter the meeting room at ten.
3. Using second-person za ku for people being discussed.
❌ Amina da Musa za ku tafi gobe.
Incorrect unless Amina and Musa are being directly addressed; as third persons they take za su.
✅ Amina da Musa za su tafi gobe.
Amina and Musa will leave tomorrow.
4. Omitting za in future negation.
❌ Ba su halarci taron gobe ba.
Incorrect for the intended future meaning; this is negative completive in form.
✅ Ba za su halarci taron gobe ba.
They will not attend the meeting tomorrow.
5. Replacing future za su with a completed relative form.
❌ Waɗannan su ne baƙin da suka kwana a nan gobe.
Incorrect for ‘the guests who will stay here tomorrow’ — suka presents the stay as completed.
✅ Waɗannan su ne baƙin da za su kwana a nan gobe.
These are the guests who will stay here tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- Za su is the ordinary future form for an identified third-person plural subject, written as two words.
- Keep it after overt plural nouns and third-person coordinations: baƙin za su…, Amina da Musa za su….
- Contrast specified za su with impersonal za a, which leaves the actor unnamed.
- Active predicates project events; stative predicates project states such as knowledge and ability.
- Plain statements and relative environments share za su.
- Negative future is ba za su … ba.
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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.