Hausa ɗauka covers “take, pick up, lift, carry,” and in extended uses “hold/contain, last/take time, assume, regard.” It belongs with Grade 2 transitive verbs but has an exceptional citation form: learn ɗauka with no following object, ɗauke shi before a direct-object pronoun, and ɗauki akwati before a noun-like direct object. Its strong verbal noun is also written ɗauka, but it is feminine: ɗaukar kaya, ɗaukarsa, ɗaukarta.
The related Grade 6 verb ɗauko adds direction toward a deictic center: “fetch, take and bring here/to the relevant destination.” It is not the pronoun form of ɗauka. The general system is explained in The Three Object Environments; this page gives the lexical facts for this one root family.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko keeps ɗ but omits tone and vowel length. Do not write dauka in Standard Hausa and do not invent tone marks from the spelling.
Compact form and environment table
| Environment | Form | Model |
|---|---|---|
| A: no following direct object | ɗauka | Na riga na ɗauka. “I have already taken it.” |
| B: direct-object pronoun | ɗauke | Na ɗauke shi. “I took/carried it.” |
| C: noun-like direct object | ɗauki | Na ɗauki akwati. “I took a box.” |
| D: beneficiary before a theme | ɗauka + ma-series/wa | Ya ɗauka wa Amina kaya. “He carried goods for Amina.” |
| strong verbal noun | ɗauka (feminine) | ɗaukar kaya; ɗaukarsa “carrying goods; carrying it” |
| direction toward center | ɗauko (Grade 6) | Ka ɗauko ruwa. “Fetch/bring water.” |
| beneficiary with ɗauko | ɗauko + ma-series/wa | ɗauko mini ruwa “fetch me water” |
The A/B/C vowel choice is not tense. Compare completive ya ɗauki kayan, future zai ɗauki kayan, and subjunctive ya ɗauki kayan: the noun object calls for ɗauki in each environment.
Direban kamfanin ya ɗauki Amina daga tashar da ƙarfe shida.
The company driver picked Amina up from the station at six. (C-form before a name)
Akwatin ya yi nauyi, amma Musa ya ɗauke shi shi kaɗai.
The box was heavy, but Musa carried it by himself. (B-form before shi)
Mun riga mun ɗauka; babu abin da ya rage a ɗakin.
We have already taken it all; nothing remains in the room. (A-form; object understood)
Wace jaka kuka ɗauka daga mota?
Which bag did you take from the car? (fronted object, so no object follows the verb)
The core physical meanings
With a movable object, ɗauka can describe lifting it, taking possession of it, carrying it, or transporting it away. The surrounding source, path, destination, and manner phrases make the intended scene clear. English divides these meanings among pick up, take, lift, and carry; Hausa need not change verbs whenever English does.
Ku ɗauki kujerun zuwa cikin zaure kafin baƙi su iso.
Take the chairs into the hall before the guests arrive. (plural instruction; noun object)
Ba zan iya ɗauke ta ni kaɗai ba; jakar ta yi nauyi sosai.
I cannot carry it by myself; the bag is very heavy. (feminine object pronoun ta)
With a person, context distinguishes physically picking someone up, collecting someone in a vehicle, or carrying a child. Direba ya ɗauki Amina daga tashar normally suggests collection/transport; uwa ta ɗauki jaririn can mean that the mother picked up the baby.
The conventional phrase ɗauki mataki means “take action.” Other common extensions include ɗauki hoto “take a photograph,” ɗauki nauyi “assume responsibility/a burden,” and ɗauka a matsayin “regard as.” These are established collocations, not proof that every English use of take maps to ɗauka.
Bayan korafe-korafen, hukumar ta ɗauki mataki domin hana sake aukuwar matsalar.
After the complaints, the authority took action to prevent the problem from recurring. (formal collocation)
Muna ɗaukar wannan shawara a matsayin mafita ta wucin gadi.
We regard this proposal as a temporary solution. (formal evaluative frame)
The strong feminine verbal noun
The continuative requires the strong verbal noun ɗauka, not finite ɗauki. Because this verbal noun is grammatically feminine, it takes linker -r before a noun dependent: ɗaukar kaya, ɗaukar hoto, ɗaukar lokaci. With a pronominal object it takes possessive-type endings: ɗaukarsa, ɗaukarta, ɗaukarsu.
Ma’aikatan suna ɗaukar kwalaye daga sito zuwa mota.
The workers are carrying boxes from the warehouse to the vehicle. (continuative; ɗauka + feminine linker r)
Tana ɗaukarsa a hankali saboda gilashi ne a ciki.
She is carrying it carefully because there is glass inside. (strong verbal noun plus masculine pronominal ending)
Ɗaukar kayan nan za ta buƙaci mutane huɗu.
Carrying these goods will require four people. (feminine verbal-noun phrase as subject)
This is genuinely lexical information. Grade 2 predicts a strong verbal noun but does not predict its exact shape or gender. Store ɗauka—ɗaukar kaya—ɗaukarsa as a set. English is carrying does not license finite yana ɗauki kaya, and a direct pronoun after the verbal noun is not left separate as tana ɗauka shi.
Extended meanings: capacity and duration
An object that can contain a quantity may be said to ɗauki/ɗaukar it. A process can also “take” an amount of time. In both cases the syntax follows the same object-conditioned pattern.
Wannan tankin yana ɗaukar lita dubu biyu na ruwa.
This tank holds two thousand liters of water. (general capacity)
Gyaran gadar ya ɗauki watanni shida saboda damina.
Repairing the bridge took six months because of the rainy season. (completed duration)
These are not freely interchangeable with physical carrying in every context. A container “holds” its capacity, while an event “takes” a duration; the noun object determines the conventional reading.
ɗauko: fetching toward the relevant center
Ɗauko is a Grade 6 verb whose final -o remains stable before no object, a noun object, a direct pronoun, or a beneficiary. It normally presents an item as fetched or moved toward the speaker, addressee, home base, or another contextually adopted center. By contrast, basic ɗauka does not itself say that the object ends up at the center.
Ka ɗauko mini ruwa daga kicin idan za ka dawo.
Bring me some water from the kitchen when you come back. (to one male; ventive plus beneficiary mini)
Na manta makullin a gida, sai na koma na ɗauko shi.
I forgot the key at home, so I went back and fetched it. (Grade 6 stable before shi)
Ma’aikaciyar ta ɗauko wa baƙin jakarsu daga mota.
The employee fetched the guests’ bag from the car for them. (noun beneficiary with wa)
The beneficiary belongs to the ordinary indirect-object system: mini, maka, miki, masa, mata, mana, muku, musu, or wa + noun. It is not a required part of ɗauko. Nor should learners attach -o merely because English happens to say bring; use the attested Grade 6 lexeme and a genuine toward-center scene.
Aspect, future, and negation
Completive ɗauka often reports a bounded taking event; continuative ɗauka profiles carrying, repeated taking, capacity, or a process consuming time. Future and negation preserve the correct lexical environment.
Za su ɗauki kayan gobe, amma ba za su ɗauke su yau ba.
They will take the goods tomorrow, but they will not take them today. (future C-form versus B-form)
Ban ɗauki wayarka ba; tana nan a kan tebur.
I did not take your phone; it is still on the table. (negative completive + noun object)
Basic ɗauka also licenses the ordinary D-frame when a real beneficiary is expressed: ɗauka wa Amina kaya or ɗauka mata kaya. This does not mean that every English take something for someone needs a Hausa indirect object: a purpose phrase or context may express the relationship instead, and ɗauko is appropriate only when fetching toward a center is genuinely intended.
Musa ya ɗauka wa Hauwa kaya zuwa ɗakin ajiya.
Musa carried some goods to the storeroom for Hauwa. (D-form: noun beneficiary with wa)
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping the citation form before a noun object
❌ Direban ya ɗauka Amina daga tashar.
Incorrect standard Grade 2 form before a noun-like object.
✅ Direban ya ɗauki Amina daga tashar da safe.
The driver picked Amina up from the station in the morning.
2. Using ɗauki before a direct-object pronoun
❌ Akwatin ya yi nauyi, amma ya ɗauki shi.
Incorrect before a core direct-object pronoun.
✅ Akwatin ya yi nauyi, amma ya ɗauke shi.
The box was heavy, but he carried it.
3. Using a finite form in the continuative
❌ Suna ɗauki kujeru zuwa zaure yanzu.
Incorrect continuative—the finite C-form cannot replace the verbal noun.
✅ Suna ɗaukar kujeru zuwa zaure yanzu.
They are carrying chairs into the hall now.
4. Leaving a pronoun separate after the strong verbal noun
❌ Tana ɗauka shi a hankali saboda yana da nauyi.
Incorrect strong-verbal-noun construction.
✅ Saboda akwatin ya yi nauyi, tana ɗaukarsa a hankali.
Because the box is heavy, she is carrying it carefully.
5. Using ɗauko without a toward-center scene
❌ Motar ta ɗauko kayan daga Kano zuwa Legas, alhali mai magana yana Kano.
Pragmatically mismatched in the stated scene—the destination is away from the speaker’s center.
✅ Motar ta ɗauki kayan daga Kano zuwa Legas.
The vehicle took the goods from Kano to Lagos.
Key Takeaways
- The finite set is ɗauka with no following object, ɗauke before a direct pronoun, and ɗauki before a noun-like object.
- Strong verbal noun ɗauka is feminine: ɗaukar kaya, ɗaukarsa, ɗaukarta.
- Established senses include physical taking/carrying, ɗauki mataki, capacity, duration, and ɗauka a matsayin.
- Grade 6 ɗauko means fetch or bring toward the relevant center and remains ɗauko across object environments.
- Basic ɗauka licenses the ordinary D-frame ɗauka wa Amina kaya / ɗauka mata kaya; do not reshape the verb or use ɗauko unless direction warrants it.
Related Topics
- Grade 2 Lexical ExceptionsB1 — Handle the exceptional A-forms, stem alternations, D-forms, and strong verbal nouns that must be stored with individual Grade 2 lexemes.
- Grade 2 Verbal NounsB1 — Learn Grade 2 strong verbal nouns as lexical forms and use their genitive-style objects correctly in continuative and nominal constructions.
- The Three Object EnvironmentsA2 — Choose Hausa verb forms by whether no object, a noun direct object, or a direct-object pronoun immediately follows, while treating indirect objects separately.
- Grade 6 Ventive: OverviewB2 — Use established all-high -o verbs for motion, action, or effects oriented toward a contextually chosen deictic center.
- Grade 6 Object FramesB2 — Use the same all-high -o form before no object, a direct-object pronoun, a noun object, or an indirect object.
- Verb–Noun Lexical CompoundsB1 — Use Hausa lexical verb–noun predicates such as yi aiki and yanke shawara without treating their nouns as ordinary free objects.