Hausa so covers “want,” “like,” and “love.” Its object may be a person or thing, but a wanted event is expressed by a following subjunctive clause: ina so ka zo “I want you to come.” Although the verb denotes an attitude or state, its neutral present frame normally uses the continuative ina so / ina son...; the completive na so ordinarily receives a bounded or past reading from context.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko writes no tone or vowel length. In (academic) description, so is a High-toned monosyllabic verb with a long vowel; its strong verbal noun has a distinct prosodic pattern that normal boko does not show. It is commonly assigned to Grade 0 or an irregular residual class.
Forms by complement type
Finite so is visibly stable across its main frames. In a continuative construction, however, the strong verbal noun receives a linker before a nominal object.
| Environment | Form | Natural frame |
|---|---|---|
| No overt object | so | Na so. “I wanted/liked it.” / Ina so. “I want/like it.” |
| Finite + noun object | so | Na so wannan. “I wanted/liked this.” |
| Finite + direct pronoun | so + pronoun | Na so shi. “I wanted/liked/loved him or it.” |
| Continuative verbal noun + noun | son + noun | Ina son shayi. “I like/want tea.” |
| Continuative verbal noun + pronoun | sona; son ka/ki/shi/ta/mu/ku/su | Ina son ta. “I love/want her or it.” |
| Wanted event | so + subjunctive clause | Ina so ta zo. “I want her to come.” |
In contemporary Standard Hausa, the high-frequency pronominal pattern is commonly written son ka, son ki, son shi, son ta, son mu, son ku, son su, with a space before the ordinary object pronoun. The first-person object has the conventional form sona “love/want me.” Older works and some editions also show fused spellings such as sonka or sonsa; this page follows the separated modern convention. In ina so ta zo, by contrast, there is no linker -n: ta is the subject of a new subjunctive clause.
Da farko na so wannan ra’ayin, amma daga baya na ga matsalarsa.
At first I liked this idea, but later I saw its problem. (bounded past attitude)
Ina son sabon shirin da kuka gabatar.
I like the new plan that you all presented. (continuative verbal noun + noun object)
Mun san Hauwa sosai, kuma muna son ta.
We know Hauwa well, and we love her. (pronominal object)
Completive and continuative readings
Present desire, preference, and affection normally use the continuative ina so / ina son.... The completive na so instead favors a bounded or past desire, liking, or intention. This lexical preference is important: so is semantically state-like, but it does not pattern like sani, whose completive routinely expresses present “know.”
Tun farko na so a warware matsalar cikin lumana.
From the outset I wanted the problem to be resolved peacefully. (past frame from tun farko)
Yanzu ina so mu tattauna batun kuɗin haya.
Now I want us to discuss the rent issue. (current desire)
Aisha tana son aikin, amma albashin ya yi ƙasa.
Aisha likes the job, but the salary is low. (current attitude)
Za ka so sabon tsarin idan ka gwada shi.
You will like the new system when you try it. (one male; future state)
Context can still refine the kind and duration of the attitude, but na so is not the dependable neutral form for current “I want/like.” Use ina so / ina son... for that purpose; use na so when a past or bounded frame is intended.
Wanted events require a subjunctive subject
When the desired object is an event, Hausa does not use an unchanged infinitive. It supplies a subject marker for the desired event: in, ka, ki, ya, ta, mu, ku, su, a.
| Wanted-event subject | Frame | English |
|---|---|---|
| same speaker | ina so in tafi | I want to leave |
| one male addressee | ina so ka tafi | I want you to leave |
| one female addressee | ina so ki tafi | I want you to leave |
| named masculine subject | ina so Musa ya tafi | I want Musa to leave |
| impersonal | ina so a gyara | I want it repaired |
Ina so in gama rahoton kafin ƙarfe huɗu.
I want to finish the report before four o’clock.
Muna so Amina ta jagoranci taron gobe.
We want Amina to chair tomorrow’s meeting.
Suna so a gyara hanyar kafin damina.
They want the road repaired before the rainy season.
English hides the repeated subject in I want to leave. Hausa marks both clauses: ina belongs to so, and in belongs to tafi. A future form after so would assert a prospect rather than simply make it the content of desire. See Subjunctive after Verbs of Wanting.
Negation and scope
To deny the desire, negate the matrix state: ba na so.... To desire a negative event, retain affirmative so and use kada in the subordinate clause. The practical outcomes can overlap, but the structures say different things.
Ba na son wannan maganin saboda yana sa ni barci.
I do not like this medicine because it makes me sleepy. (negative current attitude)
Ba na so ki bar gida yanzu.
I do not want you to leave home now. (to one female; desire denied)
Ina so kada ki tafi ke kaɗai da dare.
I want you not to go alone at night. (to one female; negative event desired)
Negative continuative uses ba na/ba ka/ba ta... without a clause-final ba. A bounded or established-state negative completive can use ban so ... ba, with its closing particle, when that is the intended viewpoint.
Ban so yadda aka rufe taron ba.
I did not like the way the meeting was closed.
Love, liking, preference, and desire
Context distinguishes “love,” “like,” and “want.” A human object and a durable relationship readily support “love”; food or an activity supports “like”; an available object supports “want.” More specific expressions remove ambiguity: fi so “prefer,” so sosai “love/like very much,” or an event clause for a desired action.
Na fi son shayi marar sukari da safe.
I prefer tea without sugar in the morning.
Tana son iyayenta sosai, kuma tana kiransu kowace rana.
She loves her parents very much and calls them every day.
So does not have a routine indirect-object/benefactive principal part. English “want something for someone” is normally unpacked according to meaning: ina so a ba shi dama “I want him to be given a chance,” or ina son kyauta domin Amina “I want a gift for Amina.” Do not manufacture so masa as a general equivalent of English want for him.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting the subjunctive subject
❌ Muna so fara taron yanzu.
Incorrect—the wanted event needs its own subject marker.
✅ Muna so mu fara taron yanzu.
We want to start the meeting now.
2. Using a future prediction as the ordinary desire complement
❌ Malam yana so za su dawo da wuri.
Incorrect for the intended ‘Malam wants them to return early.’
✅ Malam yana so su dawo da wuri.
Malam wants them to return early.
3. Confusing object ta with subjunctive ta
❌ Ina so ta.
Incorrect for ‘I love her’—a pronominal object follows linked son, while bare so introduces the separate subjunctive clause in ina so ta zo.
✅ Ina son ta, kuma ina so ta zo.
I love her, and I want her to come.
4. Adding final ba to negative continuative
❌ Ba na son wannan ba.
Noncanonical for the simple negative-continuative pattern taught here; the final ba is not required.
✅ Ba na son wannan.
I do not like/want this.
5. Inventing a benefactive object frame
❌ Ina so masa sabon aiki.
Incorrect transfer of English ‘want a new job for him.’
✅ Ina so a samo masa sabon aiki.
I want a new job to be found for him.
Key Takeaways
- So means “want, like, love”; its exact English rendering comes from object and context.
- Current desire or liking normally uses continuative ina so/ina son...; completive na so favors a bounded or past attitude.
- Nominal objects in the continuative show the verbal-noun linker: ina son shayi; the contemporary spelling used here has ina son ta/shi/su, with first-person object sona.
- Wanted events take an overt subjunctive subject: ina so in/ka/ki/ya/ta/mu/ku/su/a....
- Ba na so... negates the desire; ina so kada... makes a negative event the object of desire.
Related Topics
- Monosyllabic VerbsC1 — Master the small high-frequency class of one-syllable Hausa verbs without inventing object alternations, verbal nouns, or derived-grade paradigms.
- Verbal Nouns and Grade MembershipA2 — Use Hausa verb grades to anticipate verbal-noun patterns while learning the strong, weak, and sometimes multiple forms each lexical verb actually permits.
- Completive Meaning with Stative VerbsA2 — See why Hausa completive forms can express present knowledge, ability, perception, and comparison with stative predicates.
- Continuative with Stative PredicatesC1 — Use Hausa continuative forms for posture, residence, temporary condition, wanting, and experience while distinguishing state from ongoing action.
- Subjunctive after Verbs of WantingB1 — Use the Hausa subjunctive person series after so to express who is wanted to carry out a later event.