Hausa commands are sensitive to a verb’s grade, especially to the grade’s final vowel and tone pattern and to the type of object that follows. That is why one Grade 2 verb appears as saya, sayi, and saye in Ka saya, Ka sayi riga, and Ka saye ta. These changes do not mark past, present, or future, and they do not agree with the addressee. They are lexical-morphological shapes licensed by the verb class and its syntactic environment.
All unlabelled forms below are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not mark tone or vowel length, so some genuine grade and imperative contrasts are invisible in writing. The tables therefore give dependable ordinary spellings, not an invented accent system. Full tone-and-length paradigms and dictionary treatment of individual verbs belong in Verb Morphology and Verb Reference.
Two layers: directive marking and verb shape
A subject-marked command combines two choices:
- choose the preverbal subjunctive marker for the actor;
- choose the lexical verb form required by its grade and following complement.
| Directed actor | Subjunctive marker | With buɗe ƙofa “open a door” |
|---|---|---|
| I | in | in buɗe ƙofa |
| you, one man | ka | ka buɗe ƙofa |
| you, one woman | ki | ki buɗe ƙofa |
| he | ya | ya buɗe ƙofa |
| she | ta | ta buɗe ƙofa |
| we | mu | mu buɗe ƙofa |
| you all | ku | ku buɗe ƙofa |
| they | su | su buɗe ƙofa |
| unspecified actor | a | a buɗe ƙofa |
The marker changes with the actor; buɗe does not. If buɗe has a spoken form conditioned by its object or imperative environment, that is a property of the verb, not a replacement for ka/ki/ku.
Ki buɗe tagar yanzu domin iska ta shiga.
Open the window now so that air can come in. (to one woman)
A buɗe dukkan akwatunan kafin a ƙirga kayan.
Have all the boxes opened before the goods are counted. (impersonal instruction)
The bare singular imperative removes the preverbal subject marker—Buɗe tagar—but it does not remove the grade-specific shape of the verb.
A practical high-frequency map
The Hausa grade system is larger than one beginner page. The useful A2 goal is to recognize that commands cannot all be generated from one English-style “base form.”
| Representative type | High-frequency verbs | Stable command model | Main caution |
|---|---|---|---|
| short basic verbs | ci “eat,” sha “drink” | Ci abincin. Sha ruwan. | short verbs have their own spoken imperative behavior |
| common a-final verbs | rubuta “write,” karanta “read” | Rubuta sunan. Karanta saƙon. | object-sensitive tone may be unwritten |
| Grade 2 variable-vowel verbs | saya “buy,” ɗauka “take,” nema “seek” | sayi riga / ɗauke ta / nemi likita | the following object controls a visible vowel alternation |
| common e-final verbs | buɗe “open,” rufe “close,” goge “wipe” | Buɗe ƙofar. Rufe ta. | ordinary spelling can hide tone and length differences |
| directional o-final verbs | kawo “bring,” shigo “come in,” ɗauko “fetch” | Kawo ruwa. Shigo ciki. | the directional meaning belongs to the lexical grade |
Ci tuwon kafin ya huce.
Eat the tuwo before it gets cold. (to one person)
Sha maganin bayan ka ci abinci.
Take the medicine after eating. (literally ‘drink’; to one man)
Rubuta lambar wayarka a bayan fom ɗin.
Write your phone number on the back of the form. (to one person)
Shigo ciki; ana jiranka a falo.
Come inside; they are waiting for you in the sitting room. (to one man)
Grade labels are not instructions to replace a final vowel mechanically. They describe bundles of form, tone, transitivity, object conditioning, and sometimes direction or result. Learn representative frames, then extend them only to verbs whose grade is known.
The special bare imperative has its own form
The subjectless singular imperative is not always identical to the lexical form used after subjunctive ka/ki. In the basic no-object pattern, the spoken imperative carries its own low-to-high melody, which ordinary boko leaves unmarked. Variable-vowel verbs add a visible complication: the standard teaching form without a following object commonly ends in -i.
| Verb | Subject-marked singular command | Special bare singular command |
|---|---|---|
| saya “buy” | Ka saya. | Sayi! |
| tambaya “ask” | Ki tambaya. | Tambayi! |
| nema “seek” | Ka nema. | Nemi! |
Sayi yanzu idan ka amince da farashin.
Buy it now if you accept the price. (object understood; to one person)
Tambayi kafin ka yanke hukunci.
Ask before you make a decision. (to one person)
An -a no-object imperative occurs for some variable-vowel verbs with some speakers (regional or speaker-specific). This is genuine variation, not permission to switch endings freely. Record a verb’s attested bare command separately from its subject-marked and object-conditioned frames.
With an overt object, the object frame remains decisive: Sayi rigar! before a noun, Saye ta! before a pronoun. Spoken imperative tone interacts with grade and object type even where the ordinary spelling matches a non-imperative form.
Grade 2: the visible three-way alternation
Grade 2 gives the clearest written evidence that syntax shapes the verb. In the common Standard pattern, use -a when no object immediately follows, -i before a noun direct object, and -e before a pronoun direct object.
| Verb | No following object | Noun direct object | Pronoun direct object |
|---|---|---|---|
| saya “buy” | Ka saya. | Ka sayi riga. | Ka saye ta. |
| ɗauka “take” | Ki ɗauka. | Ki ɗauki jaka. | Ki ɗauke ta. |
| nema “seek” | Ku nema. | Ku nemi likita. | Ku neme shi. |
Ka sayi fitila kafin dare ya yi.
Buy a lamp before nightfall. (noun object; to one man)
Ka saye ta idan ka tabbatar tana aiki.
Buy it if you confirm that it works. (feminine pronoun object; to one man)
Ki ɗauki laimar saboda haɗari yana zuwa.
Take the umbrella because a storm is coming. (noun object; to one woman)
Ki ɗauke ta daga bayan ƙofar.
Take it from behind the door. (feminine pronoun object; to one woman)
The three forms do not mean “buy now,” “bought,” and “will buy.” Compare Jiya ka sayi fitila “Yesterday you bought a lamp” with directive Yanzu ka sayi fitila “Buy a lamp now.” In ordinary boko, ka sayi can look identical while spoken prosody and clause context distinguish completive statement from subjunctive command.
Indirect objects select another grade environment
An indirect object creates the traditional D-form environment. With Grade 2 saya, the ordinary written form is saya before wa + noun or a fused ma-pronoun.
Ka saya wa ƙanwarka littafin rubutu gobe.
Buy your younger sister an exercise book tomorrow. (to one man)
Ku saya mana kayan miya a kasuwar unguwa.
Buy us soup ingredients at the neighborhood market. (to a group)
This is why a four-frame note is better than one headword: saya with no object, sayi littafi, saye shi, saya masa littafi. The recipient series and the exceptional behavior of ba “give” are explained in the approved indirect-object pronoun guide.
Overt subjects and grade-sensitive reported directives
If a third person is directed to act, an overt noun subject is followed by the agreeing subjunctive marker. The lexical verb must still take the form required by its object.
Malam ya ce Amina ta nemi ma’aikaciyar gobe da safe.
The teacher said Amina should look for the female employee tomorrow morning.
Shugabar ta ce yaran su ɗauke su daga hanya.
The supervisor said the children should move them out of the road.
In Amina ta nemi, ta is the required subject–mood marker and nemi is Grade 2 before the noun object. In yaran su ɗauke su, su before the verb is the plural subject marker, while postverbal su is the plural direct object; ɗauke is the pronoun-object form.
English can say Amina to look for… without an overt finite marker. Hausa cannot simply place the named actor beside the lexical verb.
Negative commands and state-directed readings
Negative commands use kada/kar + subjunctive marker. Grade-sensitive object selection remains inside that frame.
Kada ki ɗauki wannan takardar; ba taki ba ce.
Do not take this document; it is not yours. (to one woman)
Kar ku saye su kafin ku gwada su.
Don’t buy them before testing them. (to a group; conversational)
A directive can target an action or a state. Ka fahimci sharadin kafin ka amince asks the addressee to reach understanding; Ka kasance a shirye asks him to maintain readiness. This difference comes from the predicate’s aktionsart and meaning, not from a separate imperative grade or English tense.
Ka fahimci abin da aka rubuta kafin ka sa hannu.
Understand what was written before you sign. (to one man)
Plain and relative distribution
The subject-marked command uses the subjunctive series, which has no plain-versus-relative pair. A neighboring clause may contain a relative form for focus or a constituent question, but that does not change the command verb’s grade.
Wace jaka kake nema? Ka ɗauki baƙar jakar da ke kusa da kujera.
Which bag are you looking for? Take the black bag beside the chair. (to one man)
Question kake nema uses relative continuative because wace jaka is fronted. Command ka ɗauki uses the subjunctive marker and the Grade 2 noun-object form. Relative morphology is not a past tense, and it does not spread from one clause to another.
Exercises
Choose the Grade 2 form. (1) no stated object: Ki nema. (2) noun object: Ki nemi likita. (3) pronoun object: Ki neme shi. (4) beneficiary with the established D-form of saya: Ki saya mata magani. Then supply person marking: (5) “Amina should buy the lamp”: Amina ta sayi fitilar. (6) “Do not buy it”: Kada ka saye shi. (7) Contrast a report and command: Jiya ka ɗauki jakar versus Yanzu ka ɗauki jakar.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating every dictionary ending as a command rule
❌ Ka saya rigar yanzu.
Incorrect before the noun object riga in the Standard Grade 2 frame.
✅ Ka sayi rigar yanzu.
Buy the dress now. (to one man)
2. Using the noun-object form before a pronoun
❌ Ki ɗauki ta daga tebur.
Incorrect—Grade 2 uses ɗauke before direct-object ta.
✅ Ki ɗauke ta daga tebur.
Take it from the table. (to one woman)
3. Assuming the final vowel marks tense
❌ Kalmar saye tana nuna abin da ya wuce, sayi kuma tana nuna yanzu.
Incorrect analysis—this claims that saye marks past and sayi marks present; the alternation follows object type, not English tense.
✅ Ka saye shi gobe idan farashin ya sauka.
Buy it tomorrow if the price falls. (pronoun-object form in future-time context)
4. Dropping the subject marker after a named actor
❌ Malam ya ce Hauwa nemi likita.
Incorrect—the overt feminine subject Hauwa requires ta.
✅ Malam ya ce Hauwa ta nemi likita.
The teacher said Hauwa should look for a doctor.
5. Copying a relative form into a command
❌ Wace riga kake so? Kake sayi wannan.
Incorrect—the answer is a directive, not another relative-continuative clause.
✅ Wace riga kake so? Ka sayi wannan.
Which dress do you want? Buy this one. (to one man)
Key Takeaways
- Hausa commands combine a directive marker or bare imperative with a grade-appropriate lexical form.
- Grade 2 visibly contrasts -a with no object, -i before a noun object, and -e before a pronoun direct object.
- An indirect object selects another environment: saya mata littafi.
- Ordinary boko hides tone and vowel length, so spelling alone cannot identify every imperative or TAM contrast.
- An overt noun actor still requires ya/ta/su/a or another matching subjunctive marker.
- Learn each verb in several frames; do not derive every command by changing only the last vowel or by mapping an English tense name onto the Hausa verb.
Related Topics
- Singular Imperatives: Basic FormationA2 — Form affirmative commands to one Hausa addressee with the special subjectless imperative while respecting its tonal and verb-class limits.
- Imperatives with Direct ObjectsA2 — Place noun and pronoun objects correctly in Hausa commands while preserving person marking and the Grade 2 object-conditioned verb forms.
- Indirect-Object Pronouns with ma-B1 — Use Hausa mini, maka, miki, masa, mata, mana, muku, and musu for recipients, beneficiaries, and other affected participants.
- Subjunctive versus ImperativeB1 — Distinguish Hausa's subject-marked subjunctive commands from the special bare imperative available only for affirmative commands to one person.
- The Lexical Verb versus the Preverbal MarkerA1 — Separate the Hausa word that names an event from the preverbal complex that expresses subject agreement and TAM.
- Tone in Grammar and TAM MarkersA2 — How tone and vowel length distinguish Hausa subject–TAM markers and other grammatical forms hidden by ordinary spelling.