Hausa yanke is a high-frequency Grade 4 verb whose physical core is “cut through, sever, cut off.” It also occurs in crucial abstract collocations: yanke shawara “make a decision,” yanke hukunci “deliver a judgment,” and yanke kuɗi/farashi “fix an amount/price.” These are not random dictionary senses: each presents an issue, connection, or range of possibilities as being brought to a definite boundary.
The related Grade 1 yanka also means “cut,” often without the same through-cutting or endpoint profile. The distinction is lexical, not an automatic perfective contrast, and real usage overlaps. Learn yanke with its own objects and collocations rather than changing yanka to yanke whenever English says cut completely.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko does not mark tone or vowel length.
Compact form and environment table
Grade 4 yanke follows the regular A/B/C/D pattern. The spelling is constant, but in the regular (academic/pedagogical) pronunciation pattern A, B, and D have a long final -e, while C before a noun-like direct object has short -e. See Grade 4 Core Form Pattern for the full analysis.
| Environment | Form in ordinary boko | Model |
|---|---|---|
| A: no following object | yanke | Na yanke. “I cut it off/decided.” |
| B: direct-object pronoun | yanke shi/ta/su | Na yanke ta. “I cut it.” |
| C: noun-like direct object | yanke igiya | Na yanke igiyar. “I severed the rope.” |
| D: indirect/affected object | yanke mana wuta | “cut off our electricity” |
| weak verbal noun, no local object | yankewa | Yana yankewa. “He is cutting through it.” |
| continuative + object | yana yanke igiya / yana yanke ta | -wa is absent before the object |
Ma’aikacin ya yanke igiyar da ta tare ƙofar.
The worker severed the rope that was blocking the entrance. (completive; noun object)
Igiyar ta makale a injin, don haka sai muka yanke ta.
The rope got caught in the machine, so we had to cut it. (direct-object pronoun)
Wannan reshen ne za mu yanke kafin damina.
This is the branch we will cut before the rainy season. (future; fronted object leaves A environment)
Kamfanin lantarki ya yanke mana wuta saboda bashin da ba namu ba ne.
The electricity company cut off our power because of a debt that was not ours. (affected indirect object mana)
Physical cutting and separation
Physical yanke readily describes severing a rope, branch, wire, body part, or connection. It can also describe interruption of a supply or route: yanke wuta “cut the electricity,” yanke ruwa “cut the water supply,” and yanke hanya in suitable contexts “cut off/block a route.” Add context when English cut could instead mean slice, trim, carve, reduce, or wound; Hausa has more specific verbs and grade relatives for many of those actions.
Likita ya ce kada a yanke bandejin har sai raunin ya fara warkewa.
The doctor said the bandage should not be cut until the wound begins to heal.
Ana yanke rassan da suka bushe domin kada su faɗo kan rufin.
The dry branches are being cut off so that they do not fall on the roof. (impersonal continuative)
Related yanka is often used for ordinary cutting, slicing, or butchering. Yanke is especially well established where separation, disconnection, or an endpoint is foregrounded. This tendency is useful, but it is not a license to invent grade contrasts without lexical evidence.
Mai girki ta yanka albasa, sannan ta yanke igiyar da aka ɗaure buhun.
The cook sliced an onion, then severed the string tied around the sack. (a natural contextual contrast)
Yanke shawara: reach a decision
The normal collocation yanke shawara means “make/reach a decision.” Here shawara does not simply mean the English count noun a decision in every context; independently it can mean advice, consultation, or a proposal. The whole predicate supplies the decision meaning.
Bayan mun saurari kowa, mun yanke shawarar ɗage taron zuwa Litinin.
After listening to everyone, we decided to postpone the meeting until Monday.
Ba ta yanke shawara ba tukuna; tana son ta ga sakamakon gwajin.
She has not decided yet; she wants to see the test result. (negative completive)
The linked form shawarar can introduce the content of the decision, often followed by a clause with its own subject marker: shawarar mu tafi “the decision that we leave.” Cewa is also possible when a fuller proposition is presented.
Kwamitin zai yanke shawara cewa a ci gaba da aikin bayan bincike.
The committee will decide that the work should continue after an investigation. (formal deliberative context)
English also uses bare decide to + verb. Hausa normally builds a complete subordinate event: na yanke shawarar in tafi, where in is the first-person singular subjunctive subject marker. It is not an infinitive particle.
Na yanke shawarar in zauna gida yau domin in huta.
I decided to stay home today so that I could rest.
Judgment, rulings, prices, and deductions
Yanke hukunci means deliver a judgment or make an authoritative determination. It is common in legal and administrative language (formal), while ordinary speakers also use it for judging a matter. A court is often expressed impersonally with an yanke hukunci when the institution or judge need not be foregrounded.
Kotun ta yanke hukunci bayan ta saurari shaidu daga ɓangarorin biyu.
The court delivered judgment after hearing witnesses from both sides. (formal legal register)
Kada ka yanke hukunci a kan mutum kafin ka ji abin da ya faru.
Do not judge a person before you hear what happened. (to one male)
With kuɗi or farashi, yanke can set, assess, reduce, or deduct an amount; the exact reading depends on the commercial or administrative setting. A dative identifies the person against or for whom the amount is assessed. State the transaction clearly because an yanke masa kuɗi can mean that an amount was fixed for him or deducted from what was due to him.
Masu aikin sun yanke farashin gyaran rufin a kan naira dubu ɗari uku.
The workers set the price for repairing the roof at three hundred thousand naira.
An yanke masa kuɗin kwana biyu saboda bai zo aiki ba.
Two days’ pay was deducted from him because he did not come to work. (formal workplace context)
Yankewa and the continuative
The weak verbal noun is yankewa. Use it when a continuative has no local object or when the action itself is nominalized. Before a noun, direct pronoun, or indirect object, the -wa portion is absent.
Injin yana yankewa a hankali saboda wuƙarsa ta dushe.
The machine is cutting slowly because its blade has become blunt. (object understood)
Ma’aikatan suna yanke bututun zuwa tsawon mita biyu-biyu.
The workers are cutting the pipe into two-metre lengths. (continuative; noun object)
Yankewar wutar ta sa aka dakatar da aikin na awa ɗaya.
The power cut caused the work to be stopped for an hour. (nominalized event)
Common Mistakes
1. Treating yanke as a past-tense form of yanka
❌ Yanke shi ne lokacin da ya wuce na yanka.
Incorrect claim—yanke is Grade 4, not an English-style past form of yanka.
✅ Za su yanke igiyar gobe idan an kawo kayan aiki.
They will sever the rope tomorrow if the tools are brought.
2. Keeping -wa before a local object
❌ Suna yankewa igiyar yanzu.
Incorrect weak-verbal-noun frame—-wa is absent before the direct object.
✅ Suna yanke igiyar yanzu domin ta makale a injin.
They are cutting the rope now because it is caught in the machine.
3. Translating “decide to” without a Hausa subject marker
❌ Na yanke shawara tafiya gobe.
Incorrect for ‘I decided to leave’; the embedded event needs a licensed construction.
✅ Na yanke shawarar in tafi gobe da safe.
I decided to leave tomorrow morning.
4. Omitting the recipient/affected-person morphology
❌ Kamfanin ya yanke mu wuta jiya.
Incorrect—affected ‘us’ uses mana, not the core direct-object form mu.
✅ Kamfanin ya yanke mana wuta jiya da yamma.
The company cut off our electricity yesterday evening.
Key Takeaways
- Yanke is Grade 4: physically sever/cut off and abstractly decide, judge, or fix an amount.
- Its spelling is constant across A/B/C/D, but the regular C-form before a noun object has a short final vowel in speech.
- The weak verbal noun is yankewa; before a local object use yanke igiya, yanke ta, yanke mana wuta.
- Learn yanke shawara and yanke hukunci as complete collocations.
- Related yanka overlaps in “cut” meanings, but yanke especially profiles separation or an endpoint; neither is a tense form of the other.
Related Topics
- Grade 4: Core Form PatternB1 — Recognize Grade 4's e-final form, its hidden A/B/C/D contrasts, and its frequent totality or result meaning.
- Grade 4 Semantics and Completive ForceB1 — Interpret Grade 4's endpoint, totality, and separation tendencies without confusing lexical meaning with completive TAM.
- Grade 4 Verbal NounsB1 — Build regular Grade 4 verbal nouns with -wa and drop -wa correctly before direct and indirect objects.
- Grade 1 before Noun ObjectsB1 — Use the short-final Grade 1 C-form before noun-like direct objects while preserving standard boko spelling and distinguishing other complements.
- Indirect Objects with wa and ma-A2 — Mark noun recipients with wa, use the fused ma- series for pronominal recipients, and keep the recipient next to the verb before the theme.
- Continuative with -wa Verbal NounsA2 — Form the Hausa continuative with weak -wa verbal nouns and remove -wa when a direct object follows.