The usual productive verbal noun of a Grade 1 verb is a weak verbal noun in -wa: karanta → karantawa “read → reading,” kama → kamawa “catch/hold → catching/holding.” This is the regular option after a continuative marker when no direct object follows, although an individual verb may also have a strong lexical alternative. The apparent simplicity hides an important fact: before an overt object, weak -wa disappears and the Grade 1 object-conditioned form returns. The broader continuative guide to -wa verbal nouns develops the TAM construction.
All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko writes ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ’y but not lexical tone or vowel length. Tone and length below appear only in explicitly technical descriptions.
The regular Grade 1 pattern
Grade 1 finite verbs normally end in -a and have a high-initial melody. In technical terms, the common base pattern is H-L(-H) with a long final vowel in the no-object, pronoun-object, and indirect-object environments. Before a noun direct object, the final vowel is short; a polysyllabic verb also ends low there. Ordinary boko writes all of these as karanta.
The weak verbal noun adds -wa only in the no-following-object environment:
| Environment | Finite Grade 1 | Continuative predicate |
|---|---|---|
| no following direct object | ta karanta | tana karantawa |
| noun direct object | ta karanta littafi | tana karanta littafi |
| direct-object pronoun | ta karanta shi | tana karanta shi |
| indirect object | ta karanta mini labari | tana karanta mini labari |
Amina tana karantawa a falo.
Amina is reading in the sitting room. (no object follows)
Amina tana karanta littafin da aka ba ta.
Amina is reading the book that she was given. (noun object)
Na aika mata rahoton, kuma tana karanta shi yanzu.
I sent her the report, and she is reading it now. (direct-object pronoun)
Kakata tana karanta mana labari kafin mu kwanta.
Our grandmother reads us a story before we go to bed. (indirect object)
These are not four tenses. Tana supplies the continuative viewpoint in every row. The change between karantawa and karanta follows the material after the predicate.
Why -wa disappears before an object
The weak verbal noun marks the no-object environment overtly. Once an object immediately follows, Hausa uses the corresponding object-conditioned Grade 1 form instead. With a noun object, spoken Hausa shortens the final -a, although ordinary spelling does not show the shortening.
Yara suna rubutawa cikin natsuwa.
The children are writing quietly. (object not expressed)
Yara suna rubuta amsoshinsu cikin natsuwa.
The children are writing their answers quietly. (noun object)
Malamar tana gyara su kafin a tashi.
The teacher is correcting them before school lets out. (pronoun object)
English encourages the learner to look for one invariant -ing form. Hausa instead makes the weak verbal noun part of an object-sensitive paradigm. Karantawa littafi is therefore not the Hausa equivalent of English reading a book.
The same local rule applies when an object is fronted or omitted. A fronted question word leaves no direct object after the predicate, so -wa remains:
Me kake karantawa a yanzu?
What are you reading now? (addressing one male; the object is fronted)
Ga rahoton da take karantawa.
Here is the report that she is reading. (the relativized object is not postverbal)
Weak verbal nouns can occur outside the continuative
A verbal noun names an activity and can occupy noun-like positions. Its exact interpretation comes from its construction, not from -wa alone.
Karantawa a kai a kai yana ƙara ƙwarewar rubutu.
Reading regularly improves writing skill.
Bayan karantawa, ta rubuta muhimman bayanai a littafinta.
After reading, she wrote the important points in her notebook.
The same form after tana is part of a continuative predicate; after bayan it names the activity. English often uses -ing in both places, but that similarity does not make Hausa -wa a tense ending.
Grade membership predicts the default, not every lexical noun
Most Grade 1 verbs can form the productive weak verbal noun, but some also have an established strong or lexicalized noun. The core example karanta itself has the very common strong noun karatu “reading, study.” The weak form remains productive, while karatu is especially well established for reading or study as an activity.
Amina tana karatu a ɗakin karatu.
Amina is studying in the library. (common strong verbal noun)
Amina tana karatun Hausa a jami’a.
Amina is studying Hausa at university. (strong verbal noun with the masculine linker -n)
This strong construction is not the weak form with -wa removed. Compare tana karanta littafi “she is reading a book,” where a following direct object selects the object-conditioned Grade 1 form, with tana karatun Hausa, where strong noun karatu links to its complement with -n.
Ɗinka “sew” similarly has productive ɗinkawa and the strong noun ɗinki “sewing.” The two forms do not have to be interchangeable in every construction or collocation.
Tana ɗinkawa a ɗakin baya.
She is sewing in the back room.
Tana ɗinkin rigar amarya.
She is sewing the bride’s dress. (strong verbal noun with the masculine linker -n)
Similarly, a lexical noun related to a verb may develop a concrete or specialized meaning. Raba “divide/distribute” regularly gives rabawa in the no-object continuative, while rabo commonly denotes a share or allotted portion. Do not replace one with the other merely because both belong to the same word family.
Suna rabawa tun safe, amma kayan ba su ƙare ba.
They have been distributing things since morning, but the supplies are not finished.
Kowa ya karɓi rabonsa.
Everyone received their share.
This is genuinely lexical information. Grade 1 makes -wa available; it does not tell you every additional action noun a verb has or which meaning each noun has acquired.
Base, extension, and verbal noun are separate choices
Start with Grade 1 tsaya “stop/stand.” Its regular weak verbal noun is tsayawa. A related Grade 5 form tsayar means “stop something / bring to a halt,” and its verbal noun belongs to that derived verb, not to the unextended Grade 1 base.
Direban yana tsayawa a nan kowace safiya.
The driver stops here every morning. (Grade 1 base)
’Yan sanda suna tsayar da motoci a mashigar gari.
The police are stopping vehicles at the entrance to town. (derived causative/efferential verb)
The first contrast selects a lexical grade and its valency; only then does the continuative select the appropriate verbal-noun construction. Adding -wa cannot by itself turn intransitive “stop” into transitive “stop something.”
Exercises
Complete each sentence with karantawa or karanta, then state why.
- Ba ta _ da dare. No object follows: Ba ta karantawa da dare.
- Tana _ jarida da safe. A noun object follows: Tana karanta jarida da safe.
- Tana _ ta kafin ta mayar da ita. A pronoun object follows: Tana karanta ta kafin ta mayar da ita.
- Wace jarida take _? The object is fronted: Wace jarida take karantawa?
- Tana _ wa yara labari. An indirect object follows the verb: Tana karanta wa yara labari.
Then classify tsayawa and tsayar da mota: the first is the weak verbal noun of Grade 1 tsaya; the second contains a different, derived verb with transitive valency.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping -wa before a noun object.
❌ Tana karantawa littafi a falo.
Incorrect — the weak Grade 1 verbal noun loses -wa before a following direct object.
✅ Tana karanta littafi a falo.
She is reading a book in the sitting room.
2. Treating the finite citation form as the no-object continuative.
❌ Yana karanta a ɗakin karatu yanzu.
Incorrect for the intended no-object continuative — no direct object follows.
✅ Yana karantawa a ɗakin karatu yanzu.
He is reading in the library now.
3. Removing -wa after a fronted object.
❌ Wane littafi kake karanta a yanzu?
Incorrect in the standard relative-continuative question — the object does not follow the predicate.
✅ Wane littafi kake karantawa a yanzu?
Which book are you reading now? (addressing one male)
4. Giving every Grade 1 verb only one possible action noun.
❌ Ɗinkawa ce kaɗai sunan aikin ɗinka.
Incorrect claim — ɗinka also has the established strong noun ɗinki.
✅ Tana ɗinkin sabuwar riga.
She is sewing a new dress.
5. Treating -wa as a tense suffix.
❌ Karantawa tana nufin lokacin yanzu koyaushe.
Incorrect claim — karantawa is a verbal noun; the construction supplies aspect and time reference.
✅ Jiya da dare tana karantawa a ɗakinta lokacin da wutar ta ɗauke.
Last night she was reading in her room when the electricity went out.
Key Takeaways
- Grade 1 normally forms a weak no-object verbal noun in -wa: karanta → karantawa.
- Before a noun or pronoun direct object, -wa is absent: karanta littafi, karanta shi.
- A fronted or omitted object leaves the no-following-object form in -wa.
- Some Grade 1 verbs also have strong or lexicalized nouns, such as ɗinki beside productive ɗinkawa.
- Base grade, derived extension, valency, and verbal-noun form are related but separate lexical and grammatical choices.
Related Topics
- Continuative with -wa Verbal NounsA2 — Form the Hausa continuative with weak -wa verbal nouns and remove -wa when a direct object follows.
- Continuative with Non--wa Verbal NounsA2 — Build the Hausa continuative with strong verbal nouns such as gani, ci, sha, saye, and tambaya, including their noun- and pronoun-object patterns.
- Action Nouns versus Verbal NounsB1 — Distinguish lexical action nouns such as aiki and magana from verb-linked verbal nouns such as tafiya and ci, and use each in aspectual and ordinary noun syntax.
- What a Hausa Verb Grade Is—and Is NotA2 — Understand Hausa verb grades as lexical morphophonological patterns shaped by meaning, valency, and the following object environment—not as tense conjugations.
- 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.