This original narrative recounts a trip made by the first-person narrator and his or her sister Safiya from Zaria to Kano. The narrator’s gender is not grammatically specified, but every third-person participant is tracked consistently: Safiya and Amina take feminine singular forms, the driver takes masculine forms, and the travelers take first-person plural forms. The (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa) passage shows how narrative muka/suka, background continuatives, linked place phrases, and a few compact ellipses create a coherent journey rather than a list of disconnected sentences. The full system appears on Clause Chaining in Narrative and Completive in Narrative Sequences.
Complete original Hausa text
Attribution: original instructional narrative written for this guide.
Ranar Asabar, ni da ’yar’uwata Safiya muka tashi daga Zariya da sassafe domin mu je Kano. Kafin mu bar gida, mun tabbatar da tikitocinmu da kayan da muke buƙata. Muka ɗauki adaidaita sahu zuwa tashar mota, muka sayi ruwa, sannan muka shiga wata motar bas. Motar ta tashi wajen ƙarfe bakwai. A farkon tafiyar, ruwa yana sauka kaɗan, don haka direban yana tuƙi a hankali. A tsakiyar hanya, motar ta tsaya a wani gari domin direban ya duba wata taya. Wasu fasinjoji suka sauka suka sayi abinci, amma mu muka zauna a cikinta saboda ruwan ya ƙara ƙarfi. Bayan minti ashirin, muka ci gaba da tafiya. Da muka kusanci Kano, zirga-zirgar motoci ta yi yawa. Safiya ta kira kawarmu Amina ta gaya mata cewa za mu iso ba da jimawa ba. A ƙarshe muka isa tashar da misalin ƙarfe goma sha ɗaya. Amina tana jiranmu a wajen ƙofar tashar. Da ta gan mu, sai ta yi murmushi ta ce, “Sannu da zuwa.” Mun gaji, amma mun yi farin cikin isa lafiya. Daga tashar muka tafi gidanta, muka ci tuwo, muka huta.
Natural English translation
On Saturday, my sister Safiya and I set out from Zaria early in the morning to go to Kano. Before leaving home, we checked our tickets and the things we needed. We took a tricycle taxi to the motor park, bought water, and then boarded a bus. The bus left at around seven. At the beginning of the journey, light rain was falling, so the driver was driving carefully. Halfway there, the bus stopped in a town so that the driver could inspect a tire. Some passengers got off and bought food, but we stayed inside because the rain became heavier. After twenty minutes, we continued the journey. As we approached Kano, the traffic became heavy. Safiya called our friend Amina and told her that we would arrive soon. Finally, we reached the motor park at about eleven. Amina was waiting for us outside the entrance. When she saw us, she smiled and said, “Welcome.” We were tired, but happy to have arrived safely. From the park we went to her house, ate tuwo, and rested.
Natural English often collapses repeated Hausa subject–TAM markers into one coordinated verb phrase: muka tafi gidanta, muka ci tuwo, muka huta becomes “we went..., ate..., and rested.” The markers are not redundant in Hausa; each keeps a foreground event finite and advances the story.
Sentences 1–2: departure frame and prior preparation
Ranar Asabar, ni da ’yar’uwata Safiya muka tashi daga Zariya da sassafe domin mu je Kano.
On Saturday, my sister Safiya and I set out from Zaria early in the morning to go to Kano.
Ranar Asabar is linked “day-of Saturday,” and da sassafe gives the early-morning setting. The coordinated subject ni da ’yar’uwata Safiya is plural, so narrative muka follows it; an overt noun phrase does not license dropping subject–TAM marking. Daga Zariya identifies the source, while bare goal Kano follows motion je. Purpose domin mu je uses plural subjunctive mu.
Kafin mu bar gida, mun tabbatar da tikitocinmu da kayan da muke buƙata.
Before leaving home, we checked our tickets and the things we needed.
Kafin licenses mu bar. Main mun tabbatar is the general completive: the narrator steps back to mention preparation completed before the foreground journey chain. Tikitocinmu and kayan da muke buƙata are definite through possession and relative modification. In the latter, muke buƙata is relative continuative because da heads the relative clause.
The contrast between mun tabbatar and later narrative muka is not simply English present perfect versus past. It organizes discourse: preparation is supporting information; departure and travel actions form the advancing event line.
Sentence 3: a finite foreground chain
Muka ɗauki adaidaita sahu zuwa tashar mota, muka sayi ruwa, sannan muka shiga wata motar bas.
We took a tricycle taxi to the motor park, bought water, and then boarded a bus.
Three clauses each have muka. The first clause has the goal zuwa tashar mota, the second introduces nonspecific ruwa, and the third introduces wata motar bas “a certain/one bus.” Sannan makes the final boarding step explicitly subsequent, but it does not replace muka.
Structure-sensitively the end is “then we-entered a bus-vehicle.” English normally says boarded a bus. Translating shiga only as enter would be literal but stylistically poor here.
Motar ta tashi wajen ƙarfe bakwai.
The bus left at around seven.
Now that the bus is established, definite motar and feminine ta resume it. Wajen ƙarfe bakwai gives an approximate time; the story does not claim an exact timetable departure.
Sentences 5–6: background weather and a temporary stop
A farkon tafiyar, ruwa yana sauka kaɗan, don haka direban yana tuƙi a hankali.
At the beginning of the journey, light rain was falling, so the driver was driving carefully.
The past travel frame lets continuatives yana sauka and yana tuƙi receive past-progressive translations. They do not advance the event line; they describe weather and manner around it. A farkon tafiyar contains masculine linker -n on farko and feminine -r on tafiya.
A tsakiyar hanya, motar ta tsaya a wani gari domin direban ya duba wata taya.
Halfway there, the bus stopped in a town so that the driver could inspect a tire.
A tsakiyar hanya literally locates the stop “in the middle of the road/journey.” A wani gari introduces an unspecified town as the event setting; it is not the route’s goal. Purpose domin direban ya duba keeps the overt masculine subject direban and still requires subjunctive ya. Wata taya is feminine nonspecific “a tire.”
Sentences 7–9: split participants and resuming motion
Wasu fasinjoji suka sauka suka sayi abinci, amma mu muka zauna a cikinta saboda ruwan ya ƙara ƙarfi.
Some passengers got off and bought food, but we stayed inside because the rain became heavier.
Plural narrative suka tracks the newly introduced passengers across two foreground clauses. Contrastive mu muka then selects the narrator and Safiya: “we were the ones who stayed.” Feminine suffix -ta in a cikinta resumes the bus, literally “in its interior.” The noun ruwan is recoverable as the rain already described; masculine ya agrees with it in ya ƙara ƙarfi.
Bayan minti ashirin, muka ci gaba da tafiya.
After twenty minutes, we continued the journey.
The elapsed-time phrase sets a new boundary, and muka resumes the main travelers’ foreground line after the passengers’ side action. Ci gaba da tafiya is an established “continue traveling” construction; a literal rendering such as eat front with journey would be nonsense. This passage contains no proverb, and ordinary idioms should not be misclassified as proverbs.
Da muka kusanci Kano, zirga-zirgar motoci ta yi yawa.
As we approached Kano, the traffic became heavy.
Da muka kusanci creates a temporal boundary with plural muka. The hyphenated lexical noun zirga-zirga takes feminine linker -r before motoci, and feminine ta agrees with the whole subject. English says “traffic became heavy”; Hausa expresses that it “became much/many.”
Sentences 10–13: projected arrival and the welcoming scene
Safiya ta kira kawarmu Amina ta gaya mata cewa za mu iso ba da jimawa ba.
Safiya called our friend Amina and told her that we would arrive soon.
Both instances of subject ta refer to Safiya. Benefactive mata refers to Amina, the recipient of the information. Za mu iso shifts to the travelers’ projected arrival inside the reported message. Ba da jimawa ba is the full negative-shaped idiom “not with delay,” naturally “soon.”
A ƙarshe muka isa tashar da misalin ƙarfe goma sha ɗaya.
Finally, we reached the motor park at about eleven.
A ƙarshe closes the travel phase. The destination tashar is now definite because the relevant Kano motor park is recoverable. Da misalin marks approximation, much like English at about.
Amina tana jiranmu a wajen ƙofar tashar.
Amina was waiting for us outside the entrance to the motor park.
The narrative’s past frame gives tana jiranmu a past-progressive reading. Object suffix -mu refers to both travelers. A wajen ƙofar tashar builds a precise linked landmark: the area outside/around “entrance-of station.” English compresses the two relational layers.
Da ta gan mu, sai ta yi murmushi ta ce, ‘Sannu da zuwa.’
When she saw us, she smiled and said, ‘Welcome.’
All three feminine ta markers refer to Amina. Object mu after gani remains separate in gan mu. Sai presents her smile as the salient response to seeing the travelers, but it does not replace the following subject marker. The welcome is an established arrival expression, not a literal comment on the physical act of coming.
Sentences 14–15: evaluation and coda
Mun gaji, amma mun yi farin cikin isa lafiya.
We were tired, but happy to have arrived safely.
General completive mun evaluates the outcome rather than continuing the chain of route events. Yi farin ciki is an idiomatic expression “be glad,” and isa lafiya names safe arrival. The contrast balances physical fatigue against a successful journey.
Daga tashar muka tafi gidanta, muka ci tuwo, muka huta.
From the park we went to her house, ate tuwo, and rested.
The final chain returns to narrative muka. Daga tashar supplies the new source, gidanta is “her house” with feminine possessor suffix referring to Amina, and the final two clauses omit repeated lexical subjects but not their TAM markers. This coda moves the travelers from public transport space into their host’s home.
Reusable patterns
Muka tashi daga Kaduna da safe domin mu je Abuja.
We left Kaduna in the morning to go to Abuja.
Muka shiga mota, sannan muka kama hanya.
We got into a vehicle and then set off.
Ruwa yana sauka, don haka direban yana tuƙi a hankali.
Rain was falling, so the driver was driving carefully.
Bayan minti goma, muka ci gaba da tafiya.
After ten minutes, we continued traveling.
Da muka isa, tana jiranmu a bakin ƙofa.
When we arrived, she was waiting for us at the entrance.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping markers in the event chain
❌ Muka shiga mota, sayi ruwa, tashi.
Incorrect: the later foreground events are not finite.
✅ Muka shiga mota, muka sayi ruwa, muka tashi.
We got into a vehicle, bought water, and left.
2. Treating every continuative as present time
❌ Amina tana jiranmu = only ‘Amina is waiting for us now.’
Incorrect in this narrative: the established past frame supports ‘was waiting.’
✅ Da muka isa, Amina tana jiranmu.
When we arrived, Amina was waiting for us.
3. Losing agreement after an overt subject
❌ Direban duba taya.
Incorrect: the purpose clause still needs subject–mood marking.
✅ Motar ta tsaya domin direban ya duba taya.
The vehicle stopped so that the driver could inspect a tire.
4. Confusing location and direction
❌ Muka tashi a Kano.
This says that the departure happened in Kano, not that Kano was the destination.
✅ Muka tashi daga Zariya domin mu je Kano.
We left Zaria to go to Kano.
5. Assigning every feminine form to Safiya
❌ Da ta gan mu = ‘When Safiya saw us.’
Wrong at this point: Amina is the active feminine subject who was waiting.
✅ Amina tana jiranmu; da ta gan mu, sai ta yi murmushi.
Amina was waiting for us; when she saw us, she smiled.
Key Takeaways
- Narrative muka/suka advances successive foreground events; general mun can supply preparation or evaluation.
- Continuatives such as ruwa yana sauka and Amina tana jiranmu create background scenes within a past narrative.
- Source, route setting, and goal remain distinct: daga Zariya, a wani gari, zuwa tashar, je Kano.
- Reference develops from nonspecific wata motar bas to definite motar and pronominal a cikinta.
- Gender and number identify the current actor: Safiya and Amina take ta, the driver ya, passengers suka, and travelers muka/mun.
- Hausa clause chains may omit repeated lexical subjects, but each finite foreground event keeps its own subject–TAM marker.
Related Topics
- Completive in Narrative SequencesA2 — Build Hausa event chains with narrative completive forms while separating foreground storyline, neutral reporting, background description, and negation.
- Clause Chaining in NarrativeB1 — Build Hausa storylines with repeated subject–TAM markers, narrative completives, background clauses, and controlled changes of reference.
- Switching Reference across Clause ChainsC1 — Keep track of changing actors in Hausa clause chains through repeated subject–TAM marking, overt noun phrases, pronouns, and discourse.
- a: At, In, and OnA1 — Use Hausa a to place events and entities in a spatial, temporal, or abstract domain, adding relational nouns when exact geometry matters.
- Motion Goals versus Direct ObjectsA2 — Distinguish bare destinations after Hausa motion verbs from the patients and themes selected by transitive verbs.
- Safe-Journey and Arrival ExpressionsA2 — Send travelers off and receive them in Hausa with established journey wishes, arrival checks, welcomes, and responses.