Hausa sayar means “sell.” It belongs to Grade 5 and is historically and morphologically related to saya “buy,” but modern learners should treat it as a lexical verb with its own construction. The dependable direct-object frame is sayar da abu “sell something.” With a buyer or beneficiary before the thing sold, use sayar masa da abu or sayar wa Aisha da abu. The general Grade 5 object-frame guide compares this pattern with other causatives.
English places the thing sold directly after sell and often adds the buyer later with to. Hausa Grade 5 instead uses da before the direct theme and puts an indirect participant immediately after sayar. All unlabelled forms below are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not mark the all-high tone pattern of the Grade 5 stem.
Core form and object table
The long -ar form is available in every central environment. It can stand alone when the thing sold is understood. When a noun or pronoun theme follows, da introduces it. After da, second-person and feminine forms reveal that Hausa uses independent pronouns: da kai, da ke, da ita, not direct-object ka, ki, ta.
| Environment | Form | Example meaning |
|---|---|---|
| thing sold understood | ya sayar | he sold it |
| noun theme | ya sayar da mota; also ya sai da mota | he sold a car |
| pronoun theme | ya sayar da ita; also ya saishe ta | he sold it (feminine) |
| buyer/beneficiary pronoun | ya sayar mata da mota | he sold her a car / sold a car for her |
| buyer/beneficiary noun | ya sayar wa Aisha da mota | he sold Aisha a car |
| continuative, no object | yana sayarwa | he is selling |
| continuative + object | yana sayar da motoci | he sells cars |
| negative completive | bai sayar ba | he did not sell it |
Mai shagon ya sayar, amma bai gaya mana farashin ba.
The shopkeeper sold it, but he did not tell us the price. (theme understood)
Mahaifina ya sayar da tsohuwar motarsa bayan ya sayi wata.
My father sold his old car after buying another one. (noun theme)
Mun gyara injin ɗin kafin mu sayar da shi.
We repaired the machine before we sold it. (masculine independent pronoun after da; subjunctive after kafin)
Rigar ba ta yi mata ba, don haka ta sayar da ita.
The gown did not fit her, so she sold it. (feminine independent pronoun ita)
Why da belongs in the direct-object frame
The da in sayar da mota is part of the Grade 5 object construction. It should not be translated mechanically as “with,” and it does not mean that every Hausa verb introduces its object with da. Compare Grade 2 ta sayi mota “she bought a car” with Grade 5 ta sayar da mota “she sold a car.”
Kamfanin zai sayar da motocin da ba ya amfani da su.
The company will sell the vehicles that it does not use. (future)
Dillalin yakan sayar da hatsi ga ƙananan ’yan kasuwa.
The dealer usually sells grain to small traders. (habitual; buyer expressed with ga)
After da, use the independent pronoun where its form differs visibly: sayar da kai “sell you, one male,” sayar da ke “sell you, one female,” sayar da ita “sell her/it.” Such human-object examples are semantically restricted and can describe enslavement or trafficking, so they require an appropriate serious context. For ordinary goods, grammatical gender chooses shi or ita.
An hana sayar da ita har sai an tabbatar da mai ita.
Its sale was prohibited until its owner was verified. (feminine item understood; formal/legal register)
Standard Hausa also has conventional short Grade 5 allomorphs specific to this verb: sai da mota beside sayar da mota, and pre-pronoun saishe ta beside sayar da ita. In the short pre-pronoun construction, ta is the direct-object form; the independent form ita belongs after da. These alternatives are established lexical forms, not a pattern learners can freely manufacture for every Grade 5 verb. The long sayar da construction remains productive, transparent, and a dependable default.
Mun saishe ta bayan mun gyara injinta.
We sold it after repairing its engine. (established short Grade 5 form before feminine ta)
Buyer, beneficiary, and thing sold
When the buyer or beneficiary is integrated as an indirect object, it immediately follows long sayar. Pronominal forms are mini, maka, miki, masa, mata, mana, muku, musu. A full noun uses wa. The thing sold then follows da.
Maƙwabcinmu ya sayar mana da janareton a farashi mai sauƙi.
Our neighbor sold us the generator at an affordable price. (buyer mana)
Ta sayar wa Amina da kekuna biyu domin kasuwancinta.
She sold Amina two bicycles for her business. (noun buyer with wa)
Wane ne ya sayar miki da wannan wayar?
Who sold you this phone? (buyer miki; question to one female)
Depending on context, an indirect participant can be the purchaser or a person on whose behalf the seller acts. If the distinction matters, add explicit context: Amina ta biya kuɗin identifies Amina as buyer; a madadinta means “on her behalf.” Hausa does not guarantee that a bare indirect form resolves every real-world commercial role.
The buyer can also appear in a separate ga phrase, especially after the thing sold: ya sayar da motar ga wani dillali “he sold the car to a dealer.” This keeps the Grade 5 direct-object frame intact. Do not use da to introduce the buyer merely because English uses to.
Gwamnati ta sayar da tsoffin gine-ginen ga kamfanoni ta hanyar gwanjo.
The government sold the old buildings to companies by auction. (formal news/administrative register)
TAM, negation, and the verbal noun sayarwa
The stem sayar remains while the preverbal complex marks completive, future, habitual, or subjunctive meaning. The Grade 5 object construction persists across TAM categories.
’Yan kasuwar sun sayar da yawancin kayan kafin kasuwa ta rufe.
The traders sold most of the goods before the market closed. (completive)
Za mu sayar muku da kayan a tsohon farashin idan kuka biya yau.
We will sell you the goods at the old price if you pay today. (future plus buyer muku)
With no overt object in a continuative or nominal environment, Grade 5 uses the weak verbal noun sayarwa. Before an overt direct object, -wa drops and the object construction surfaces as sayar da.
Mai shagon yana sayarwa tun safe, amma bai sami kwastomomi da yawa ba.
The shopkeeper has been selling since morning, but has not had many customers. (no overt object)
Bala yana sayar da lemu a ƙofar makaranta.
Bala sells oranges at the school gate. (continuative with noun theme)
Wannan gidan na sayarwa ne, amma wancan na haya ne.
This house is for sale, but that one is for rent. (nominal/predicative use)
Do not write yana sayarwa da lemu. The weak -wa is the objectless verbal-noun ending; it disappears when the da + object frame follows.
Negation surrounds the relevant clause. Completed bai sayar da motar ba means “he did not sell the car”; negative future is ba zai sayar da ita ba. A prohibition uses kada with no final ba.
Ba za mu sayar da gonar ba, ko da an ƙara farashin.
We will not sell the farm, even if the offer is increased. (negative future)
Kada ku sayar da kayan kafin mai su ya ba da izini.
Do not sell the goods before their owner gives permission. (prohibition to a group)
Relationship to saya: related, not interchangeable
Grade 5 often has a causative interpretation, and sayar is historically understandable as causing something to be bought. In actual use, however, it is simply the ordinary verb “sell.” The grammatical subject is the seller; with saya, the grammatical subject is the buyer.
Hauwa ta sayi agogon daga wurin Musa; Musa ne ya sayar mata da shi.
Hauwa bought the watch from Musa; Musa was the one who sold it to her.
The contrast also explains why the forms cannot be swapped according to the presence of an object. Sayi mota means “buy a car”; sayar da mota means “sell a car.” Sayar is not merely the pronoun or noun-object form of saya.
Other relatives include sayo “buy and bring” and sayu “be bought/sell successfully.” Learn each as a lexical member of a family. Grade theory predicts a structural relationship, not a complete interchangeable paradigm.
Price and payment expressions
The price can be introduced with a kan or stated in a fuller clause with farashi. The act of receiving or making payment uses biya, not another object form of sayar.
Ya sayar da babur ɗin a kan naira dubu ɗari uku.
He sold the motorcycle for three hundred thousand naira.
Sun sayar mana da kayan a farashin da muka amince da shi.
They sold us the goods at the price we agreed on.
An English sentence such as “I sold it for him” is ambiguous: it can mean “on his behalf” or “in exchange for him.” Hausa should state the intended commercial relationship. Use a madadinsa for “on his behalf,” not a bare indirect object when ambiguity would be dangerous.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting da before the thing sold
❌ Ta sayar motarta jiya.
Incorrect neutral long Grade 5 direct-object frame.
✅ Ta sayar da motarta jiya.
She sold her car yesterday.
2. Using a direct-object pronoun after da
❌ Mun sayar da ta bayan mun gyara injinta.
Incorrect — after da, use independent ita, not direct-object ta.
✅ Mun sayar da ita bayan mun maye gurbin tayoyinta.
We sold it after replacing its tires.
3. Putting the buyer after da as though it were the theme
❌ Ya sayar da Amina motar.
Incorrect for ‘he sold Amina the car’ — Amina is the buyer, not the thing sold.
✅ Ya sayar wa Amina da motar.
He sold Amina the car.
4. Keeping -wa before an overt object
❌ Mai shagon yana sayarwa da takalma.
Incorrect weak-verbal-noun frame before an overt direct object.
✅ Mai shagon yana sayar da takalma.
The shopkeeper sells shoes.
5. Treating sayar as an A/B/C form of saya
❌ Jimlar “na sayar da riga” tana nufin na sayi riga saboda saya da sayar suna da tushe ɗaya.
Incorrect — sayar means sell and makes the subject the seller.
✅ Na sayi riga, daga baya kuma na sayar da ita.
I bought a gown, and later I sold it.
Key Takeaways
- Sayar is the ordinary Grade 5 verb “sell”; its dependable direct-object frame is sayar da abu.
- An object pronoun after da is independent: da shi, da ita, da su, and visibly da kai/ke. The established short alternative instead uses saishe + direct-object pronoun, as in saishe ta.
- A buyer or beneficiary immediately follows the verb: sayar masa da abu, sayar wa Aisha da abu; context may need to distinguish buyer from beneficiary.
- Use sayarwa with no overt object, but drop -wa before the direct-object frame: yana sayarwa / yana sayar da kaya.
- Saya makes the subject the buyer; sayar makes the subject the seller. Their relationship does not make them interchangeable forms.
- Use biya for the payment itself and state price or agency explicitly when an English for phrase is ambiguous.
Related Topics
- Grade 5 Causatives: OverviewB2 — Understand Grade 5 as an all-high transitive extension with causative, transfer, and outward-result meanings—not a universal translation of English make.
- Grade 5 Object FramesB2 — Choose among long -ar da, restricted short forms, pre-pronoun -she forms, and the Grade 5 indirect-object frame.
- Grade 5 Verbal NounsB2 — Use weak -wa verbal nouns with established Grade 5 verbs while preserving their causative or efferential meaning and da object frame.
- Independent Pronouns: Full ParadigmA1 — Learn the eight free personal-pronoun forms and distinguish them from Hausa subject–TAM, object, indirect-object, and possessive forms.
- wa: To and For a Noun RecipientA1 — Mark a noun recipient or beneficiary with wa, and replace the whole wa phrase with the fused ma- series when that participant is a pronoun.
- Verb Reference: saya — buyB1 — Choose saya, saye, or sayi by object environment, use saya with beneficiaries, and form the strong verbal noun correctly.