Hausa bari brings together “leave behind, stop/quit, allow/let,” plus the very frequent proposal form Bari in... “Let me...” Its finite shape is irregular: bari appears when no object follows, but the final -i drops before a noun or direct-object pronoun: bar littafin, bar shi. The strong verbal noun is again written bari, seen with masculine linker -n in barin yara su yi wasa.
English leave and let disguise the shared Hausa lexeme, while English let + bare verb encourages a second mistake: Hausa permissive complements retain their own subject marking. Za ta bar mu mu tafi contains object mu after bar and another mu as the subject of “go.” The full syntax is treated on bari Permissive Constructions.
All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko omits tone and vowel length, so this page gives reliable spellings and environments rather than inferred pronunciation marks.
Compact form and environment table
| Environment | Form | Model |
|---|---|---|
| no following object | bari | Na ce masa ya bari. “I told him to stop/leave it.” |
| noun object | bar | bar jakar a gida “leave the bag at home” |
| direct-object pronoun | bar | bar shi a nan “leave it/him here” |
| beneficiary/recipient | bar + ma-series / wa | bar mata saƙo “leave her a message” |
| strong verbal noun | bari (masculine) | barin aiki; barinsa “leaving work; leaving him/it” |
| full permission | bar + participant + lower clause | bar Amina ta shiga |
| proposal/announced action | Bari + subjunctive | Bari in duba. “Let me look.” |
| negative exhortation | kada + subjunctive | Kada mu fara. “Let’s not begin.” |
Na bar makullin mota a kan teburin kicin.
I left the car key on the kitchen table. (bar before noun object)
Kar ka motsa akwatin; ka bar shi inda yake.
Do not move the box; leave it where it is. (bar before shi)
Na roƙe shi ya daina gardama, amma ya ƙi ya bari.
I asked him to stop arguing, but he refused to stop. (bari with no following object)
Waɗanne takardu kuka bari a ofis jiya?
Which documents did you leave at the office yesterday? (fronted object; no object follows bari)
Leaving something, someone, or a place
The physical sense normally has a theme and often a location: bar littafi a gida, bar yaro a makaranta. Depending on context, it can mean leave something behind, leave someone at a location, or cease accompanying someone. It does not itself specify whether the separation was accidental or deliberate.
Direban zai bar mu a ƙofar asibiti kafin ya kai sauran fasinjoji.
The driver will drop us at the hospital gate before taking the other passengers on. (future + pronominal object)
Kada ki bar jaririn shi kaɗai ko da minti biyar ne.
Do not leave the baby alone even for five minutes. (to one female; noun object)
The same verb extends to abandoning or stopping an activity: bar aiki can mean “leave/quit the job,” bar shan taba “stop smoking,” and bar magana “drop the subject/stop talking.” Context and the complement determine which English verb sounds natural.
Bayan likita ta yi masa bayani, ya bar shan taba gaba ɗaya.
After the doctor explained it to him, he stopped smoking completely. (cessation frame)
The verb also licenses the ordinary beneficiary series when something remains for someone: bar mini, bar maka, bar miki, bar masa, bar mata, bar mana, bar muku, bar musu, or bar wa + noun. Here the ma form is appropriate, unlike the exceptional recipient pattern of ba “give.”
Da na kira ban same ta ba, sai na bar mata saƙo a wajen liyafar.
When I called and did not reach her, I left her a message at reception. (beneficiary/recipient mata followed by theme)
Do not confuse “leave” with motion away. Ya bar jakarsa a gida says that the bag remained there; ya tafi says that he went away. A single real-world episode may contain both, but the predicates contribute different information.
The strong verbal noun bari
The continuative and nominal uses select strong verbal noun bari. Before a noun dependent it takes masculine linker -n: barin aiki, barin yara, barin gida. With a pronominal object it takes a possessive-type suffix: barinsa, barinta, barinsu.
Tana barin motarta a ofis idan ruwan sama ya yi ƙarfi.
She leaves her car at the office when the rain is heavy. (habitual continuative + noun object)
Barin yaran su yi wasa a titi da dare ba shi da kyau.
Allowing children to play in the street at night is not good. (verbal-noun phrase as subject)
Ba na son barinsa shi kaɗai bayan tiyata.
I do not want to leave him alone after surgery. (strong verbal noun with pronominal ending)
The spelling resemblance between citation bari and verbal noun bari does not make Hausa aspectless. Finite ta bar yara and continuative tana barin yara have different structures. English infinitival to leave does not supply a safe invariant Hausa form.
Permission: bar participant + lower clause
In the full permissive construction, bar takes the permitted participant and then a clause describing the permitted action. Non-completed permission commonly uses the subjunctive in that lower clause:
Shugabar za ta bar mu mu tafi da wuri idan mun gama rahoton.
The manager will let us leave early if we finish the report. (mu object + mu lower subject)
Ku bar Amina ta yi bayani kafin ku yanke hukunci.
Let Amina explain before you decide. (plural addressees; feminine subjunctive ta)
Malamin yana barin ɗalibai su yi tambaya bayan darasi.
The teacher allows students to ask questions after the lesson. (habitual permission)
The permitted participant does not replace subject agreement in the lower clause: Amina ta, ɗalibai su, ni in, shi ya. English says let Amina explain with a bare verb; Hausa explicitly connects Amina to the lower predicate.
A completed lower clause can present the permission and result as realized: Mai gadi ya bar baƙin sun shiga “the guard allowed the visitors to enter.” The choice of lower TAM reflects whether the result is projected or asserted, not a different meaning of bar.
Mai gadin ya bar baƙin sun shiga bayan ya duba katunansu.
The guard allowed the visitors to enter after checking their cards. (completed permission and realized entry)
Matrix negation denies permission and takes the normal closing ba:
Ba za su bar ka ka shiga ba tare da katin shaida ba.
They will not let you enter without an identity card. (male addressee; ka object + ka subjunctive)
Bari in..., Bari mu...
Sentence-initial Bari introduces a proposal, self-announced action, or permission-oriented request. The following subjunctive identifies the person who will act: Bari in... “let me...,” Bari mu... “let us...,” Bari ya... “let him...”.
Bari in duba jadawalin kafin in ba ka amsa.
Let me check the schedule before I give you an answer. (common conversational self-initiation)
Bari mu fara taron yanzu, domin lokaci yana tafiya.
Let’s begin the meeting now, because time is passing. (joint proposal)
Bari ta gama magana, sannan ku tambaye ta.
Let her finish speaking, then ask her. (proposal concerning a female participant)
Bare Bari in... is common and can be mildly assertive: the speaker announces that they will handle something. Ko zan iya...? more explicitly asks a gatekeeper for permission. Standalone Bari! can mean “Stop it!” or “Leave it!”; the following subjunctive creates the proposal reading.
For a negative joint proposal, use Kada mu..., not a copied English don’t let’s structure.
Kada mu fara tattaunawar sai dukkan baƙi sun zauna.
Let’s not begin the discussion until all the guests are seated. (negative subjunctive; no final ba)
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping final -i before an overt object
❌ Na bari jakata a cikin motar.
Incorrect finite form before the noun object jakata.
✅ Na bar jakata a cikin motar.
I left my bag in the vehicle.
2. Omitting the lower subject marker in permission
❌ Shugabar za ta bar mu tafi da wuri.
Incorrect—first-person plural mu is missing before the lower verb.
✅ Shugabar za ta bar mu mu tafi da wuri bayan mun kammala aikin.
The manager will let us leave early after we finish the work.
3. Treating an overt noun as enough lower-clause marking
❌ Malamin yana barin ɗalibai yi tambaya.
Incorrect—the lower predicate needs plural su.
✅ Malamin yana barin ɗalibai su yi tambaya.
The teacher lets students ask questions.
4. Omitting the person after proposal bari
❌ Bari fara aiki yanzu.
Incorrect for ‘Let’s start work now’—the proposed actor is unmarked.
✅ Bari mu fara aiki yanzu.
Let’s start work now.
5. Adding final ba to a negative exhortation
❌ Kada mu bar wurin yanzu ba.
Incorrect negative subjunctive frame—kada does not take closing ba.
✅ Kada mu bar wurin yanzu.
Let’s not leave the place now.
Key Takeaways
- Use bari with no following object but bar before a noun or core direct-object pronoun.
- Strong verbal noun bari is masculine: barin aiki, barinsa, barinta, barinsu.
- “Let/allow” uses bar + participant + lower clause, and that lower clause retains its own subject marker.
- Bari in/mu/ya... introduces a proposed or announced action; standalone Bari! has a different pragmatic use.
- Use kada + subjunctive for negative exhortations, without final ba.
Related Topics
- bari Permissive ConstructionsB1 — Use lexical bari for permission and imperative bari for proposals, while marking the permitted event with its own subject.
- Subjunctive: Complete Person ParadigmA2 — Learn all nine Hausa subjunctive subject markers and use them in requests, purposes, obligations, proposals, and negative clauses.
- Subjunctive versus ImperativeB1 — Distinguish Hausa's subject-marked subjunctive commands from the special bare imperative available only for affirmative commands to one person.
- Asking PermissionA1 — Ask, grant, and refuse permission in Hausa with zan iya, ko, don Allah, bari in, and formal izini frames.
- Direct-Object Pronouns: Core ParadigmA2 — Learn Hausa ni, ka, ki, shi, ta, mu, ku, and su as direct objects and keep them distinct from independent, subject–TAM, indirect-object, and possessive forms.
- Object Omission and RecoverabilityA2 — Omit a direct object only when context or lexical meaning makes it recoverable, and distinguish omission from focus fronting.