This original dialogue follows Musa buying tomatoes and onions from Zainab at a market. Both adults use respectful plural address to one person: Musa calls Zainab Hajiya and uses ku, while she calls him Malam and also uses ku. The quantities and arithmetic stay exact: two kilos of tomatoes at ₦1,200 per kilo cost ₦2,400; onions worth ₦500 bring the total to ₦2,900.
Attribution: original Hausa teaching text written for this guide; not adapted from a published dialogue.
Complete original Hausa text
- Musa: Assalamu alaikum, Hajiya. Kuna da tumatir?
- Zainab: Wa alaikumus salam. I, ga shi nan. Malam, kilo nawa kuke so?
- Musa: Kilo biyu. Nawa ne kuɗin kilo ɗaya?
- Zainab: Naira dubu ɗaya da ɗari biyu ne.
- Musa: Ba za a rage kaɗan ba?
- Zainab: Na riga na rage farashin yau, Malam.
- Musa: To, ku auna mini kilo biyu. Kuna da albasa ma?
- Zainab: I, muna da ita.
- Musa: A ba ni albasa ta naira ɗari biyar.
- Zainab: To. Ga tumatir, ga albasa. Jimilla naira dubu biyu da ɗari tara ce.
- Musa: Ga kuɗin. Don Allah, ku sa tumatir a wata leda, albasar kuma a wata.
- Zainab: To, ga su nan. Na gode.
- Musa: Ni ma na gode. Sai an jima.
Natural English translation
- Musa: Peace be upon you, madam. Do you have tomatoes?
- Zainab: And peace be upon you. Yes, here they are. Sir, how many kilos would you like?
- Musa: Two kilos. How much is one kilo?
- Zainab: It’s one thousand two hundred naira.
- Musa: Can’t you reduce it a little?
- Zainab: I’ve already reduced today’s price, sir.
- Musa: All right, weigh two kilos for me. Do you also have onions?
- Zainab: Yes, we do.
- Musa: Give me five hundred naira’s worth of onions.
- Zainab: All right. Here are the tomatoes, and here are the onions. The total is two thousand nine hundred naira.
- Musa: Here is the money. Please put the tomatoes in one bag and the onions in another.
- Zainab: All right, here they are. Thank you.
- Musa: Thank you too. See you later.
The English translation uses plural commodity words naturally. Hausa ga shi nan in line 2 grammatically presents tumatir with masculine shi, even though the English translation uses “them.” This is grammatical agreement, not a claim that only one tomato is available.
Selected structure-sensitive translations
Malam, kilo nawa kuke so?
Sir, kilos how-many do-you.RESPECTFUL want? The wh phrase triggers relative continuative kuke.
Nawa ne kuɗin kilo ɗaya?
How-much is-it, the money-of one kilo? This full frame asks for the price of a specified quantity.
Ba za a rage kaɗan ba?
Will it not be reduced a little? An indirect bargaining request with negative future and impersonal a.
Ku auna mini kilo biyu.
Weigh for-me two kilos. Ku respectfully addresses one seller; mini is the beneficiary form selected by auna here.
A ba ni albasa ta naira ɗari biyar.
Let one give me onions of five hundred naira’s value. Ba ‘give’ selects recipient ni, not mini.
Line-by-line annotation
1–2. Greeting, availability, and presentation
kuna da combines respectful kuna with da to express possession/availability: “do you have?” Zainab’s ga shi nan presents the visible commodity. The pronoun shi agrees with grammatically masculine tumatir. Address titles and reciprocal ku establish respect without creating a special honorific verb system.
Hajiya, kuna da tumatir? —I, ga shi nan.
Madam, do you have tomatoes? —Yes, here they are. (respectful singular address; masculine grammatical reference)
Zainab then asks kilo nawa kuke so? The information requested is the quantity, so kilo nawa comes first. kuke is the respectful/plural relative continuative form used in this wh-focus environment. The ordinary continuative kuna so belongs in a neutral statement, not as a mechanical replacement here.
3–4. Quantity and unit price
kilo biyu states a measured quantity; food such as tomatoes can be construed as a mass measured by weight. kuɗin kilo ɗaya links kuɗi “money/price” to “one kilo.” Zainab’s amount dubu ɗaya da ɗari biyu is 1,000 + 200, and amount predicates conventionally take ne here.
Kilo biyu. Nawa ne kuɗin kilo ɗaya?
Two kilos. How much is one kilo? (quantity answer followed by full price question)
Naira dubu ɗaya da ɗari biyu ne.
It is one thousand two hundred naira. (₦1,200)
For the broader system, review Prices and Currency Amounts and Weights, Distance, and Capacity.
5–6. Bargaining without confrontation
Ba za a rage kaɗan ba? does not directly order Zainab to reduce the price. Negative future plus impersonal a asks whether a small reduction is possible. Zainab declines by presenting the current price as an already reduced result: na riga na rage. Her final Malam preserves respectful address even while refusing.
—Ba za a rage kaɗan ba? —Na riga na rage farashin yau, Malam.
—Can’t you reduce it a little? —I’ve already reduced today’s price, sir. (request and respectful refusal)
This is one possible exchange, not a rule that every market purchase must involve bargaining. Market type, displayed prices, relationship, and local practice matter; see Market Bargaining Frames.
7–9. Weighing, a second commodity, and ba “give”
Musa accepts with to and issues a respectful request ku auna. mini marks him as the beneficiary of the weighing. His next kuna da keeps the same respectful address and adds ma “also.” Zainab answers muna da ita; feminine ita resumes albasa.
Kuna da albasa ma? —I, muna da ita.
Do you have onions too? —Yes, we do. (ita resumes feminine albasa)
The next request illustrates an important lexical fact. With ba “give,” the recipient is ni: a ba ni. The fused indirect form mini used after auna is not allowed merely because English uses “for me” in both contexts. albasa ta naira ɗari biyar specifies onions to the value of ₦500.
Don Allah, a ba ni albasa ta naira ɗari biyar.
Please give me five hundred naira’s worth of onions. (impersonal polite request; exact value)
10. Presentation and an exact total
Repeated ga presents each measured commodity. jimilla “total” is feminine, so the amount predicate ends in ce, not ne. The arithmetic is transparent:
| Item | Calculation | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tumatir | kilo biyu × naira dubu ɗaya da ɗari biyu | ₦2,400 |
| Albasa | ta naira ɗari biyar | ₦500 |
| Jimilla | ₦2,400 + ₦500 | ₦2,900 |
Jimilla naira dubu biyu da ɗari tara ce.
The total is two thousand nine hundred naira. (₦2,900; feminine ce agrees with jimilla)
11–13. Payment, packaging, and closing
Ga kuɗin presents the payment. Musa’s ku sa remains respectful singular. wata ... wata means “one ... another” with feminine leda, while kuma contrastively separates the onion packaging. albasar identifies the onions already purchased. Zainab’s plural su in ga su nan now refers to the two packaged commodities together, not to a new participant.
Ku sa tumatir a wata leda, albasar kuma a wata.
Put the tomatoes in one bag and the onions in another. (parallel packaging instruction)
In the second half, albasar kuma a wata leaves the repeated predicate ku sa and the second occurrence of leda recoverable from the first half: “and [put] the onions in another [bag].”
—Ga su nan. Na gode. —Ni ma na gode. Sai an jima.
—Here they are. Thank you. —Thank you too. See you later. (presentation, reciprocal thanks, closing)
How reference and information structure cooperate
The dialogue introduces tumatir, tracks it with shi, then introduces feminine albasa and tracks it with ita. After both are packaged, plural su groups them. The wh phrases kilo nawa and nawa occupy the information-seeking position; the answers begin with the requested quantity or amount. Titles frame the bargaining turn so that disagreement over price does not erase respect.
English speakers must resist two shortcuts. First, Hausa preverbal forms such as kuke, na, kuna, muna are not dispensable pronouns; they organize person and TAM. Second, English plural meaning does not decide Hausa pronoun agreement by itself: mass tumatir can be resumed by masculine shi.
Reusable patterns
Kilo nawa kuke so? —Kilo biyu.
How many kilos would you like? —Two kilos. (respectful address)
Nawa ne kuɗin kilo biyu?
How much are two kilos?
Ko za a rage kaɗan?
Could the price be reduced a little? (indirect bargaining request)
A ba ni ____ ta naira ____.
Give me ____ worth ____ naira. (with a feminine commodity such as albasa)
Common Mistakes
1. Using plain continuative after a focused quantity question
❌ Kilo nawa kuna so?
Nonstandard for the focus construction taught here; the object wh phrase selects relative kuke.
✅ Kilo nawa kuke so?
How many kilos would you like?
2. Using mini after ba “give”
❌ A ba mini albasa ta naira ɗari biyar.
Incorrect—ba ‘give’ exceptionally selects the recipient form ni.
✅ A ba ni albasa ta naira ɗari biyar, don Allah.
Give me five hundred naira’s worth of onions, please.
3. Losing feminine reference to albasa
❌ Kuna da albasa? —Muna da shi.
Incorrect agreement in Standard Hausa—albasa is feminine.
✅ Kuna da albasa? —Muna da ita.
Do you have onions? —Yes, we do.
4. Giving a total that does not match the quantities
❌ Kilo biyu a ₦1,200 da albasa ta ₦500: jimilla ₦2,500 ce.
Incorrect arithmetic—the stated total does not match the order.
✅ Kilo biyu a ₦1,200 da albasa ta ₦500: jimilla ₦2,900 ce.
Two kilos at ₦1,200 plus ₦500 of onions: the total is ₦2,900.
5. Switching from respectful ku to familiar singular mid-transaction
❌ Hajiya, kuna da tumatir? Ka auna mini kilo biyu.
Inconsistent address to one female seller: respectful kuna shifts to masculine familiar ka.
✅ Hajiya, kuna da tumatir? Ku auna mini kilo biyu.
Madam, do you have tomatoes? Weigh two kilos for me. (consistent respectful address)
Key Takeaways
- Quantity questions use kilo nawa, while a full unit-price frame is nawa ne kuɗin kilo ɗaya?
- Keep the arithmetic and units internally consistent; this order totals ₦2,900.
- Respectful ku may address one seller or customer, with titles helping establish the relationship.
- Reference changes with the noun: masculine tumatir → shi, feminine albasa → ita, and the two purchases together → su.
- Learn lexical recipient patterns: auna mini “weigh for me,” but ba ni “give me.”
Related Topics
- Market Bargaining FramesA2 — Ask prices, make and answer offers, request a discount, and close a Hausa market exchange without calquing English bargaining language.
- Prices and Currency AmountsA2 — Build Hausa prices with naira and kobo, ask nawa, distinguish value from counted notes, and handle change and written amounts.
- Weights, Distance, and CapacityA2 — Express metric and everyday measurements with noun-before-number order, linked container phrases, and explicit units.
- Mass Nouns and Count ReadingsA2 — Understand how Hausa talks about substances and abstract quantities, then shifts to portions, kinds, tasks, or suggestions when counting is needed.
- Deference without a Grammatical Honorific SystemA2 — Build deference in Hausa through address, plural agreement, greeting routines, request design, and tone rather than a dedicated honorific paradigm.
- Verb Reference: ba — giveB1 — Use the highly irregular verb ba with its recipient-first frame, exceptional recipient pronouns, theme-only ba da construction, and verbal noun bayarwa.