The Hausa indefinite future, also called the potential, has a complete nine-member person paradigm. Its subject markers project an outcome while qualifying the speaker's commitment: “probably,” “surely under the circumstances,” “if all goes well,” or simply a restrained future promise. Person, mood, and prospective meaning are concentrated in the subject–TAM complex before the lexical predicate; the verb itself does not receive an English-style future ending.
All ordinary examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Since normal boko writes neither tone nor vowel length, several potential forms look identical to completive or subjunctive markers. This page therefore gives one explicitly labelled pronunciation table, then returns to ordinary spelling everywhere else.
All nine affirmative forms
In the marked pronunciation column only, a circumflex represents falling tone and a doubled vowel represents length. These pedagogical marks are not ordinary Hausa spelling.
| Person | Ordinary boko | Marked pronunciation (pedagogical) | With dawo “return” |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | na | nâa | na dawo |
| 2nd masculine singular | ka | kâa | ka dawo |
| 2nd feminine singular | kya | kyâa | kya dawo |
| 3rd masculine singular | ya | yâa | ya dawo |
| 3rd feminine singular | ta | tâa | ta dawo |
| 1st plural | ma | mâa | ma dawo |
| 2nd plural | kwa | kwâa | kwa dawo |
| 3rd plural | sa | sâa | sa dawo |
| impersonal | a | âa | a dawo |
The second-person feminine and plural forms deserve special attention. Potential kya is not subjunctive ki, and potential kwa is not subjunctive ku. Likewise, first- and third-person plural ma, sa contrast with subjunctive mu, su.
Wataƙila na dawo ranar Litinin.
Perhaps I will return on Monday. (indefinite future)
Kya sami saƙon kafin yamma.
You will probably receive the message before evening. (to one female)
Da yardar Allah, ma kammala aikin gobe.
God willing, we will finish the work tomorrow.
Ina tsammani sa iso kafin ƙarfe takwas.
I think they will probably arrive before eight.
A complete high-frequency working paradigm
The marker changes with the subject; the same lexical predicate follows it. The table uses an active motion predicate, a transitive event, and a state-like predicate.
| Person | tafi “go” | sami dama “get a chance” | san gaskiya “know the truth” |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | na tafi | na sami dama | na san gaskiya |
| 2nd masculine singular | ka tafi | ka sami dama | ka san gaskiya |
| 2nd feminine singular | kya tafi | kya sami dama | kya san gaskiya |
| 3rd masculine singular | ya tafi | ya sami dama | ya san gaskiya |
| 3rd feminine singular | ta tafi | ta sami dama | ta san gaskiya |
| 1st plural | ma tafi | ma sami dama | ma san gaskiya |
| 2nd plural | kwa tafi | kwa sami dama | kwa san gaskiya |
| 3rd plural | sa tafi | sa sami dama | sa san gaskiya |
| impersonal | a tafi | a sami dama | a san gaskiya |
The future-like meaning is not encoded by changing tafi, sami, or san. Potential ya san gaskiya gobe can describe a future state of knowledge; potential ya tafi gobe describes a future event. English chooses different aspectual wording, but Hausa keeps one preverbal paradigm.
Bayan ya karanta rahoton, ya san gaskiyar lamarin.
After he reads the report, he will probably know the truth of the matter. (projected state)
Idan aka gyara motar, ya tafi Kano washegari.
If the car is repaired, he will probably go to Kano the next day. (projected action)
Do not interpret ya san automatically as present “he knows” or ya tafi automatically as past “he went.” Spoken prosody and the future context select the potential reading.
Overt noun subjects still require agreement
The noun phrase names the subject; the potential marker makes its clause finite and agrees with that subject.
Malam Bello ya iso gobe da safe, in Allah ya yarda.
Malam Bello will probably arrive tomorrow morning, God willing.
Aisha ta gama rahoton kafin Juma’a.
Aisha will probably finish the report before Friday.
Baƙin sa isa da yamma idan jirginsu bai makara ba.
The guests will probably arrive in the evening if their flight is not delayed.
The necessary frames are Malam Bello ya, Aisha ta, and baƙin sa. English places future meaning on will after the noun, but its auxiliary does not show Hausa-style gender and number agreement. A bare sequence such as Aisha gama is not a finite potential clause.
In the conditional examples, the setup and result use different TAM constructions. Idan … does not force every verb in the sentence into the potential. The indefinite future belongs specifically to the projected outcome.
The complete negative paradigm
Negative indefinite future places ba before the potential marker and a second ba after the predicate and its complements. The potential marker retains its long falling pronunciation, even though normal spelling hides it.
| Person | Negative indefinite future with zuwa “come” |
|---|---|
| 1st singular | ba na zo ba |
| 2nd masculine singular | ba ka zo ba |
| 2nd feminine singular | ba kya zo ba |
| 3rd masculine singular | ba ya zo ba |
| 3rd feminine singular | ba ta zo ba |
| 1st plural | ba ma zo ba |
| 2nd plural | ba kwa zo ba |
| 3rd plural | ba sa zo ba |
| impersonal | ba a zo ba |
Ba ma manta da alƙawarin ba.
We surely will not forget the promise. (negative indefinite future)
Idan ruwan ya ci gaba, ba sa isa yau ba.
If the rain continues, they probably will not arrive today.
Compare the ordinary negative za future:
Ba za su isa yau ba.
They will not arrive today. (ordinary negative za future)
Potential ba sa isa ba presents a qualified prediction. Ba za su isa ba is the general future denial. The lexical predicate isa remains the same.
Boko ambiguity is a real grammatical challenge
For several persons, one written string can represent more than one spoken paradigm.
Ya zo jiya.
He came yesterday. (plain completive ya)
Ina so ya zo gobe.
I want him to come tomorrow. (subjunctive ya)
Wataƙila ya zo gobe.
Perhaps he will come tomorrow. (indefinite-future ya)
The time adverbs jiya/gobe, the licenser ina so, the adverb wataƙila, and spoken tone all guide interpretation. The same reasoning applies to na, ka, ta, a. This opacity is genuinely difficult; there is no honest spelling shortcut. Learners must associate each paradigm with its pronunciation and grammatical environment.
Plain and relative environments
The indefinite future has no separate plain-versus-relative pair. Standard Hausa generally uses the broad za future in wh-questions, focus constructions, and relative clauses, where the future event is presupposed.
Me za ta kawo gobe?
What will she bring tomorrow?
Takardun ne za ta kawo gobe.
It is the documents that she will bring tomorrow.
Na ga jakar da za ta kawo gobe.
I saw the bag that she will bring tomorrow.
Potential ta is not changed into a “relative potential.” Rather, it is normally not selected for these intended readings. The future za ta remains future in the question and relative environments; a relative environment is not another name for past tense.
Exercises
Supply the correct potential marker. (1) “Perhaps I will see”: Wataƙila na gani. (2) “You, female, will probably return”: Kya dawo. (3) “We will likely understand”: Ma fahimta. (4) “The children will probably arrive”: Yaran sa iso. (5) “One will probably find a solution”: A sami mafita. (6) Negate “they will probably come”: Ba sa zo ba. Then replace the potential with the ordinary future in item 4: Yaran za su iso.
Common Mistakes
1. Replacing potential plural forms with subjunctive forms
❌ Wataƙila mu dawo gobe.
Wrong form for the intended indefinite future; mu is subjunctive in this contrast.
✅ Wataƙila ma dawo gobe.
Perhaps we will return tomorrow.
2. Using ki instead of feminine potential kya
❌ Ina tsammani ki sami lokaci gobe.
Incorrect for the intended potential reading; ki is the feminine singular subjunctive marker.
✅ Ina tsammani kya sami lokaci gobe.
I think you will probably have time tomorrow. (to one female)
3. Dropping agreement after a noun
❌ Baƙin iso da yamma.
Incorrect — the plural noun still requires potential sa.
✅ Baƙin sa iso da yamma.
The guests will probably arrive in the evening.
4. Negating with only one ba
❌ Ba sa iso yau.
Incomplete standard negative indefinite-future frame.
✅ Ba sa iso yau ba.
They probably will not arrive today.
5. Using the potential in a wh-question
❌ Me kya kawo gobe?
Incorrect standard distribution for ‘What will you bring tomorrow?’
✅ Me za ki kawo gobe?
What will you bring tomorrow? (to one female)
Key Takeaways
- The complete potential series is na, ka, kya, ya, ta, ma, kwa, sa, a, pronounced with long falling vowels.
- The plural forms are ma, kwa, sa, not subjunctive mu, ku, su.
- A noun subject still takes its matching marker: Musa ya, Aisha ta, baƙin sa.
- Negative potential is ba + potential marker + predicate + ba.
- Active and state-like predicates share the paradigm; context shapes their English translation.
- There is no relative-potential series. Standard presuppositional questions, focus, and relative clauses normally use the za future.
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Start learning Hausa →Related Topics
- Indefinite Future PronounsA2 — Recognize the Hausa indefinite or potential future series na, ka, kya, ya, ta, ma, kwa, sa, and a, whose long falling vowels express a qualified prediction.
- Tone in Grammar and TAM MarkersA2 — How tone and vowel length distinguish Hausa subject–TAM markers and other grammatical forms hidden by ordinary spelling.
- The Hausa Subject–TAM ComplexA1 — Understand the preverbal Hausa forms that express subject agreement together with tense, aspect, mood, and polarity.
- 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.
- 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.
- Future with za: Core UsesB1 — Use the Hausa za future for intentions, predictions, commitments, and situations later than a contextually relevant time.