A hortative urges or proposes an action involving the speaker: “let me…,” “let us…,” or “let’s….” Hausa expresses the first-person plural type with subjunctive mu: Mu tafi yanzu “Let’s leave now.” The common introductory form bari mu… makes the “let us” relation especially explicit, but bare mu… is already a complete hortative in a suitable context.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not show the short low tone of subjunctive mu. Its position and directive meaning distinguish it from an object pronoun or from the first part of another TAM form.
The subjunctive paradigm and the place of mu
Hortatives belong to the same subjunctive paradigm used for commands, wishes, purpose, and dependent sequences. The first-person forms are in “let me / that I” and mu “let us / that we.”
| Person | Subjunctive marker | Directive or projected reading with tafi |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | in | bari in tafi — let me go |
| 2nd masculine singular | ka | ka tafi — go / you should go |
| 2nd feminine singular | ki | ki tafi — go / you should go |
| 3rd masculine singular | ya | ya tafi — let him go |
| 3rd feminine singular | ta | ta tafi — let her go |
| 1st plural | mu | mu tafi — let us go |
| 2nd plural | ku | ku tafi — go, all of you |
| 3rd plural | su | su tafi — let them go |
| impersonal | a | a tafi — let people go / one should go |
Mu tafi yanzu kafin ruwan sama ya fara.
Let’s leave now before the rain starts.
Mu haɗu a bakin ƙofa da ƙarfe tara na safe.
Let’s meet at the entrance at nine in the morning.
Mu gama wannan aikin yau, sai mu huta gobe.
Let’s finish this work today, then we can rest tomorrow.
The time phrases yanzu, da ƙarfe tara na safe, yau, gobe locate the proposed events. Subjunctive mu itself is not a present or future tense. A proposal normally points forward from the moment of proposing, but the surrounding context supplies the actual time.
Bare mu and bari mu
Both patterns can introduce a proposal:
Mu zauna a nan mu jira su.
Let’s sit here and wait for them.
Bari mu zauna a nan mu jira su.
Let’s sit here and wait for them.
Bari is historically and grammatically an imperative of bar “leave, allow.” In this construction it functions like “let.” It can help mark a turn as a suggestion or request for room to act. Bare mu is also ordinary and need not be rude. Intonation, relationship, particles, and the situation carry much of the interpersonal force; the presence or absence of bari is not a mechanical polite-versus-impolite contrast.
First-person singular normally uses bari in:
Bari in duba lissafin kafin mu biya.
Let me check the bill before we pay.
The shift from in to mu tracks who is to act. In duba assigns checking to the speaker alone; mu biya includes a plural group.
Inclusive meaning comes from context
Hausa mu does not grammatically distinguish inclusive “you and I/we” from exclusive “I and others, not you.” In a direct proposal, Mu tafi is naturally understood as including the addressee when the speaker and listener are about to leave together. Context can instead identify a group that excludes the listener.
Ni da Amina mu fara yanzu; sauran su biyo mu daga baya.
Amina and I should start now; the others can follow us later.
The overt coordinated subject Ni da Amina is followed by plural subjunctive mu. Naming the participants does not remove the marker. This is the same agreement principle found throughout Hausa finite verbal predication.
Ni da sauran ’yan kwamitin mu duba takardun yau; ku baƙi ku dawo gobe.
The other committee members and I should examine the documents today; you visitors should return tomorrow.
The coordinated subject Ni da sauran ’yan kwamitin is plural and therefore takes mu. The second contrasted group takes ku. A noun phrase still needs a preverbal subject–TAM marker even when it fully identifies the participants.
A hortative can launch a sequence
Once mu establishes the proposal, every closely linked next verb also takes subjunctive mu:
Mu shiga, mu gaishe su, mu tambayi abin da ya faru.
Let’s go in, greet them, and ask what happened.
Bari mu rubuta jerin kayan, mu duba farashinsu, mu zaɓi mafi araha.
Let’s write a list of the items, check their prices, and choose the cheapest.
English coordinates bare verbs after one let’s. Hausa repeats the subject–mood marker. Omitting later mu would strip those verbs of the finite preverbal complex they require.
Hortative mu versus mun, muna, and za mu
Small changes before the verb create different clause types:
| Form | Construction | Typical interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| mu tafi | subjunctive hortative | let’s leave |
| mun tafi | plain completive | we left / have left |
| muna tafiya | plain continuative | we are leaving / traveling |
| za mu tafi | future | we will leave |
Mun tafi da wuri jiya.
We left early yesterday. (completed report)
Za mu tafi da wuri gobe.
We will leave early tomorrow. (future assertion)
Mu tafi da wuri gobe.
Let’s leave early tomorrow. (proposal)
The lexical verb tafi does not change across these three examples. Mun, za mu, mu and the time adverbs determine how the event is presented. Do not map English past, future, or let’s onto the lexical verb alone.
The dedicated first-person plural completive page gives the full contrast between completed mun and the shorter forms learners often confuse with it.
Subjunctive mu also has no relative partner. Focused or questioned clauses may use relative completive or continuative forms, but a hortative remains in the one subjunctive series.
Negative hortatives: kada mu and kar mu
“Let’s not…” uses the negative subjunctive: kada mu + verb. Contracted kar mu is very common (informal/conversational). Full kada mu is neutral in speech and clear in careful writing. Neither takes final ba.
Kada mu yi saurin yanke hukunci.
Let’s not rush to judgment.
Kar mu manta da makullin mota.
Let’s not forget the car key. (conversational)
This is not ordinary factual negation. Ba mu manta ba would deny a completed event, “we did not forget”; kada mu manta urges the group to avoid forgetting.
Active actions and desired states
A hortative may propose a concrete action or urge a state and attitude:
Mu ɗaga akwatin tare.
Let’s lift the box together.
Mu kasance masu haƙuri yayin da muke jira.
Let’s be patient while we wait.
Ɗaga is an active event. Kasance masu haƙuri describes a desired state. Both use mu because mood and agreement are encoded before the predicate; aktionsart affects the interpretation, not the identity of the marker.
Practice
Choose in, mu, mun, or za mu.
- “Let me call the driver”: Bari in kira direban.
- “Let’s call the driver now”: Mu kira direban yanzu.
- “We called the driver yesterday”: Mun kira direban jiya.
- “We will call the driver tomorrow”: Za mu kira direban gobe.
- Turn “Let’s cook, eat, and clean the kitchen” into a chain: Mu dafa abinci, mu ci, mu gyara ɗakin girki.
Common Mistakes
1. Using completive mun for a proposal
❌ Mun tafi yanzu!
Incorrect for ‘Let’s leave now’ — mun presents leaving as complete.
✅ Mu tafi yanzu!
Let’s leave now!
2. Adding English-style let to a bare verb but losing mu
❌ Bari tafi tare.
Incorrect for ‘Let’s go together’ — the first-person plural marker is missing.
✅ Bari mu tafi tare.
Let’s go together.
3. Leaving later verbs without markers
❌ Mu shiga, gaishe su, zauna.
Incorrect — each finite step needs its own mu.
✅ Mu shiga, mu gaishe su, mu zauna.
Let’s go in, greet them, and sit down.
4. Dropping mu after an overt plural subject
❌ Ni da Bello fara aikin.
Incorrect — the coordinated subject does not fill the subject–TAM slot.
✅ Ni da Bello mu fara aikin.
Bello and I should start the work.
5. Closing a negative hortative with ba
❌ Kada mu yi hayaniya ba.
Incorrect — negative subjunctive kada does not take final ba.
✅ Kada mu yi hayaniya.
Let’s not make noise.
Key Takeaways
- Mu + verb expresses a first-person plural hortative: “let us / let’s….”
- Bari mu… is frequent and explicit, but bare mu… can also make a normal proposal.
- Hausa mu has no grammatical inclusive–exclusive contrast; context identifies the group.
- Repeat mu before every verb in a close hortative sequence.
- Contrast mu with completive mun, continuative muna, and future za mu.
- “Let’s not…” is kada mu… or conversational kar mu…, with no final ba.
Related Topics
- Subjunctive PronounsA2 — Use the low-tone Hausa subjunctive series in commands, wishes, purpose clauses, necessity expressions, and dependent event sequences.
- 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.
- Active and Stative Verb InterpretationsA1 — See how a verb's action or state meaning changes the time interpretation of Hausa completive and continuative constructions.
- Plain Completive: First Person Plural (mun)A2 — Use mun for a first-person plural subject in neutral completive clauses and distinguish it from mu, muka, muna, and possessive -mu.
- Negative Subject Pronoun SetsA2 — Distinguish Hausa negative completive, continuative, future, potential, and subjunctive subject patterns instead of applying one universal ba rule.