Hausa commonly presents several requested actions as one chain: Ka ɗauki fom ɗin, ka cika shi, ka kawo shi gobe “Take the form, fill it in, and bring it tomorrow.” Each step has its own agreeing subjunctive marker; the fuller sequential-subjunctive pattern also appears in plans and procedures. English can put one understood you in front of a list of bare verbs, but Hausa normally rebuilds the subject–mood link before every finite step.
All unlabelled examples below are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not show the subjunctive tones. This page teaches the visible sequence and its discourse meaning; grade-specific imperative stems and their tones belong to Verb Morphology.
Repeat the marker before every step
For commands directed at listeners, the core chain is:
ka/ki/ku + verb, ka/ki/ku + verb, ka/ki/ku + verb
| Addressee | Marker | Three-step chain |
|---|---|---|
| one man | ka | ka shiga, ka zauna, ka jira |
| one woman | ki | ki shiga, ki zauna, ki jira |
| group | ku | ku shiga, ku zauna, ku jira |
Ka ɗauki fom ɗin, ka cika shi, ka kawo shi gobe.
Take the form, fill it in, and bring it tomorrow. (to one man)
Ki buɗe saƙon, ki karanta shi, ki ba ni amsa yau.
Open the message, read it, and give me an answer today. (to one woman)
Ku shiga ɗakin, ku zauna a gaba, ku jira malamin.
Enter the room, sit at the front, and wait for the teacher. (to a group)
The repeated ka, ki, ku are not optional independent pronouns. Each one marks the subject and subjunctive mood of its verb. Time words such as gobe “tomorrow” and yau “today” locate the chain without turning the short markers into past or future tense forms.
A bare singular imperative can start the chain
The first action addressed to one person may use a special bare imperative. Later steps normally use ka or ki, and those later markers can make the addressee's gender explicit.
Shigo ka ajiye jakarka, ka zauna a nan.
Come in, put down your bag, and sit here. (to one man)
Shigo ki ajiye jakarki, ki zauna a nan.
Come in, put down your bag, and sit here. (to one woman)
Buɗe akwatin, ka ɗauki littafin, ka rufe akwatin.
Open the box, take the book, and close the box. (to one man)
Bare shigo and buɗe do not themselves distinguish a male from a female addressee. In the first pair, following ka or ki supplies that information. Do not invent a feminine bare imperative ending.
It is also natural to mark the first action with the subjunctive from the start:
Ki shigo, ki ajiye jakarki, ki zauna a nan.
Come in, put down your bag, and sit here. (to one woman)
The versions with bare Shigo and with Ki shigo are both command chains. The choice does not mechanically mean rude versus polite.
The full sequential marker set
Command chains addressed to listeners use ka, ki, ku, but the sequential subjunctive extends to plans, exhortations, reported instructions, and impersonal procedures.
| Actor | Marker | Possible linked step |
|---|---|---|
| I | in | in kira likita |
| you, one man | ka | ka kira likita |
| you, one woman | ki | ki kira likita |
| he | ya | ya kira likita |
| she | ta | ta kira likita |
| we | mu | mu kira likita |
| you all | ku | ku kira likita |
| they | su | su kira likita |
| unspecified person | a | a kira likita |
Mu gama abincin, mu wanke kwanukan, mu huta kaɗan.
Let's finish the food, wash the dishes, and rest a little.
Ka ce wa Musa ya kira direban, ya tabbatar da lokaci, ya sanar da mu.
Tell Musa to call the driver, confirm the time, and inform us. (to one man)
The marker agrees with the actor of its own action. In the second example, addressed ka belongs to “tell,” while ya…ya…ya follows masculine singular Musa through his three assigned steps.
Overt subjects and changes of actor
A named subject does not license a bare verb. The noun is followed by a matching subjunctive marker, and that marker repeats while the same actor continues.
Malam ya ce Bilkisu ta tattara takardun, ta ƙirga su, ta kawo su ofis.
The teacher said Bilkisu should collect the papers, count them, and bring them to the office.
The overt feminine subject is Bilkisu; ta introduces each of her actions. English Bilkisu should collect, count, and bring permits one auxiliary to cover three verbs. Hausa normally repeats ta.
When the actor changes, change both the noun subject and the agreeing marker:
Ku gama rubutun, sai shugabar ƙungiya ta tattara takardun, ta ajiye su.
Finish the writing; then the group leader should collect the papers and put them away.
The listeners perform ku gama. Feminine singular shugabar ƙungiya performs ta tattara, ta ajiye. Sai marks the next stage; it does not replace subject agreement.
Sai and sannan: making the order explicit
Punctuation alone can signal a simple series. Sai “then/next” and sannan “then, after that” make the order more explicit. The following verb still needs its marker.
Ka dafa ruwan, sannan ka zuba shi a cikin kofin.
Boil the water, then pour it into the cup. (to one man)
Ki duba sunan da kyau, sai ki sa hannu a ƙasa.
Check the name carefully, then sign at the bottom. (to one woman)
Ku jira fitilar ta koma kore, sannan ku tsallaka.
Wait for the light to turn green, then cross. (to a group)
The events are presented as projected steps, not as facts already completed. Sannan ka zuba does not mean “then you poured”; its place in a command chain gives it directive force.
Impersonal chains in recipes and procedures
Recipes, manuals, and public instructions often leave the actor unnamed and repeat impersonal subjunctive a. This is common in (neutral/formal procedural register).
A wanke tumatir, a yanka shi, a zuba shi a tukunya.
Wash the tomato, cut it, and put it in a pot. (impersonal procedure)
Da farko a danna maɓallin kore, sannan a jira hasken ya bayyana.
First press the green button, then wait for the light to appear. (impersonal instruction)
English recipes use bare verbs and an understood “you.” Hausa a overtly marks an unspecified human actor. It is not the third-person feminine marker ta with its first consonant removed.
A negative step inside the chain
To prohibit one step, use kada/kar + matching subjunctive marker. Do not use ordinary ba…ba.
Ku kashe injin, amma kada ku taɓa wayoyin da hannunku a jike.
Turn off the machine, but do not touch the wires with wet hands.
Ki karanta umarnin, ki fara aikin, amma kar ki yi sauri.
Read the instructions, begin the task, but don't rush. (to one woman; conversational negative)
The negative step remains part of the directive sequence, but kada/kar adds prohibition. Full kada is neutral; kar is especially conversational (informal).
Command chain versus completed narrative
Events occurring in order do not automatically require sequential subjunctives. Use them when later actions depend on a command, plan, or procedural frame. Use completive forms when reporting facts as completed.
Yanzu ka shiga ofis, ka miƙa takardun, ka karɓi rasit.
Now go into the office, submit the documents, and collect a receipt. (command chain to one man)
Jiya ka shiga ofis, ka miƙa takardun, ka karɓi rasit.
Yesterday you went into the office, submitted the documents, and collected a receipt. (completed report to one man)
The written ka appears in both sentences, but the constructions are not the same in speech: the first uses subjunctive markers in a directive, while the second uses plain completive forms in a report. Ordinary boko does not write the tonal difference. Context, spoken tone, and the time phrase distinguish them; ka cannot be assigned one English tense in isolation.
A future plan can establish its time once and continue with sequential subjunctives:
Gobe za ku je banki, ku cika fom, ku buɗe asusu.
Tomorrow you will go to the bank, fill out a form, and open an account.
Only za ku je carries the future marker. The later ku cika, ku buɗe are dependent planned steps. Repeating za ku would present separate future assertions rather than one compact chain.
Plain and relative forms
The sequential subjunctive does not have a separate relative series. A question may contain relative TAM in its own clause while the answer uses an instruction chain:
Yaya ake buɗe akwatin? A danna maɓallin, a ɗaga murfin, a cire kayan.
How is the box opened? Press the button, lift the lid, and remove the contents.
Question-clause ake is relative continuative after yaya. The answer uses impersonal subjunctive a. Relative marking is not a past tense and should not be copied onto each command step.
Practice
Build complete chains. (1) To one woman, “Take the key, open the door, and wait”: Ki ɗauki mabuɗin, ki buɗe ƙofar, ki jira. (2) To a group, “Read the page, write the answers, and submit them”: Ku karanta shafin, ku rubuta amsoshin, ku miƙa su. (3) Impersonal recipe, “Add water, stir, and wait”: A ƙara ruwa, a juya, a jira. (4) Change actor: “Finish the forms; then Amina should collect them”: Ku gama fom ɗin, sai Amina ta tattara su.
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving later verbs bare
❌ Ku buɗe littattafanku, karanta shafi na biyar, rubuta amsoshin.
Incorrect — the later finite steps have lost plural ku.
✅ Ku buɗe littattafanku, ku karanta shafi na biyar, ku rubuta amsoshin.
Open your books, read page five, and write the answers. (to a group)
2. Treating the bare first command as male
❌ Shigo ki zauna.
Incorrect analysis if shigo is called masculine; following ki shows that the addressee is one woman.
✅ Shigo ki zauna.
Come in and sit down. (to one woman)
3. Dropping agreement after a named actor
❌ Malam ya ce Bilkisu tattara takardun.
Incorrect — Bilkisu requires feminine singular ta.
✅ Malam ya ce Bilkisu ta tattara takardun.
The teacher said Bilkisu should collect the papers.
4. Using a directive chain for completed facts
❌ Jiya mu shiga, mu sayi abinci, mu dawo.
Incorrect for an ordinary report of completed events.
✅ Jiya mun shiga, mun sayi abinci, mun dawo.
Yesterday we went in, bought food, and returned.
5. Letting sai replace the subject marker
❌ Ki karanta saƙon, sai amsa.
Incorrect — the next finite action still needs ki.
✅ Ki karanta saƙon, sai ki ba da amsa.
Read the message, then reply. (to one woman)
Key Takeaways
- Repeat an agreeing subjunctive marker before every linked command step.
- A bare singular imperative may begin the chain; later ka or ki can identify the addressee's gender.
- Change the marker when the actor changes, and retain agreement after an overt noun subject.
- Sai and sannan clarify sequence but never replace subject–mood marking.
- Impersonal procedures repeat a before each step.
- Use completive forms for a report of completed events; sequential order alone does not make a command chain.
Related Topics
- Sequential Subjunctive in InstructionsB1 — Link the steps of Hausa instructions with repeated subjunctive subject markers instead of leaving later verbs bare or repeating the first TAM frame.
- Subjunctive after Commands and RequestsB1 — Use the Hausa subjunctive for direct exhortations and for the reported content of commands and requests.
- Subjunctive: Complete Person ParadigmA2 — Learn all nine Hausa subjunctive subject markers and use them in requests, purposes, obligations, proposals, and negative clauses.
- Subjunctive versus ImperativeB1 — Distinguish Hausa's subject-marked subjunctive commands from the special bare imperative available only for affirmative commands to one person.
- Completive in Narrative SequencesA2 — Build Hausa event chains with narrative completive forms while separating foreground storyline, neutral reporting, background description, and negation.