Grade 2 All-High -ar Forms | Hausa Grammar

Some Grade 2 verbs have a special form in front of a recipient, beneficiary, or other indirect object: the verb takes -ar, carries high tone throughout, and may surface with -am before an m-initial indirect-object marker. Thus nema “look for” has ordinary direct-object forms neme ta and nemi mota, but one established indirect-object frame is nemar wa yaro mota “look for a car for the boy.” This is the traditional D-form or pre-dative pattern—not a fourth direct-object vowel and not automatically a new causative verb. Review the broader three object environments before treating this D-form as a separate fourth context.

All unlabelled forms are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko below preserves ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ’y but does not mark tone or vowel length. “All-high” is therefore a pronunciation description; it is not visible through accents in the target examples.

The form belongs to the indirect-object environment

The familiar Grade 2 A/B/C alternation is selected by what immediately follows the verb: no direct object, a direct-object pronoun, or a noun-like direct object. The all-high -ar form appears in a different environment, when an indirect object immediately follows.

Environment	Form of nema	Illustration
A: no following object	nema	ya nema
B: direct-object pronoun	neme	ya neme ta
C: noun direct object	nemi	ya nemi mota
D: indirect object	nemar / nemam	ya nemar wa yaro mota; ya nemam masa mota

Ya nema ko’ina, amma bai samu ba.

He searched everywhere, but he did not find it. (A-form; no object follows)

Ya neme ta a ofis da gida.

He looked for her at the office and at home. (B-form before direct-object ta)

Ya nemi mota mai arha domin tafiyar.

He looked for an affordable car for the trip. (C-form before noun object mota)

Ya nemar wa ɗansa mota mai kyau.

He looked for a good car for his son. (all-high -ar D-form before wa + noun)

The last sentence contains two participants after the verb. Ɗansa is the beneficiary, while mota is the thing sought. Hausa places the beneficiary directly after the verb, before the theme. English for his son normally comes later and does not change the verb, so English speakers often overlook both the Hausa word order and the special D-form.

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The diagnostic is syntactic, not semantic guesswork: if wa + noun or a fused ma-series pronoun immediately follows an attested Grade 2 verb, check that verb’s D-form.

-ar and -am are two phonological shapes of the pre-dative suffix

Before wa + noun, the suffix is straightforwardly seen as -ar: nemar wa yaro. Before an m-initial indirect-object form, the final r can assimilate to the following m, producing -am. The fused indirect-object series is mini, maka, miki, masa, mata, mana, muku, musu.

Na nemam masa ɗaki kusa da asibiti.

I looked for a room near the hospital for him. (-am before masa)

Mun nemam muku kujera a gaba.

We looked for seats at the front for you all. (-am before muku)

Sun nemar wa baƙin wuri mai inuwa.

They looked for a shaded place for the visitors. (-ar before wa + noun)

Analyses differ in how narrowly they represent the assimilation and how consistently writers reflect it. The important production contrast is between the -ar shape before wa and the assimilated spoken -am sequence before m. This is ordinary connected-speech morphology, not an ending chosen by past, present, or future time.

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Store the phrase, not only the suffix: nemar wa yaro and nemam masa preserve the trigger, word order, and assimilation together.

Not every Grade 2 verb selects this pattern

Grade 2 D-forms are genuinely lexical. One set uses the all-high pre-dative -ar/-am form; another switches to a high-initial pattern resembling Grades 1 and 4; some verbs permit more than one D-pattern. Common saya “buy,” for example, normally has saya mata littafi, not a mechanically manufactured sayar mata littafi.

Na saya mata kundin da ta nema jiya.

I bought her the notebook she asked for yesterday. (established D-form of saya)

Sun saya wa matansu kuɓewa a kasuwa.

They bought okra for their wives at the market. (saya before wa + noun)

Tambaya “ask” is recorded with more than one pre-indirect-object pattern. That variation does not make every imaginable form interchangeable for every speaker. A learner should imitate an attested local norm rather than extend -ar to the whole grade.

Zan tambaya masa ko yana da lokaci.

I will ask on his behalf whether he has time. (one established D-pattern of tambaya)

Zan tambayar masa ko yana da lokaci.

I will ask on his behalf whether he has time. (all-high -ar D-pattern, accepted for speakers who use it)

These are (neutral to regionally variable Nigerian Hausa) alternatives. Their distribution is lexical and speaker-sensitive. It is honest to memorize the verb together with its preferred D-frame; there is no dependable spelling rule that predicts the choice.

Why this is not simply Grade 5

The all-high -ar form is phonologically identical to the long form of many Grade 5 verbs, and grammarians have debated whether the two formations should be unified historically or synchronically. For practical grammar, their functions must remain distinct.

The pre-dative nemar is licensed by an immediately following indirect object and retains the Grade 2 meaning “look for.” Grade 5 sayar is the independent established lexeme “sell,” related to Grade 2 saya “buy.” It can occur without a following beneficiary and normally introduces a direct semantic object with da in its long construction.

Form	Function	Meaning and frame
nemar wa yaro mota	Grade 2 pre-dative D-form	look for a car for the boy
saya wa yaro mota	lexical D-form of Grade 2 saya	buy a car for the boy
sayar da mota	Grade 5 lexeme	sell the car
sayo mota	Grade 6 lexeme	buy and bring a car

Amina ta sayar da tsohuwar motarta.

Amina sold her old car. (Grade 5 sayar, not a D-form of saya)

Amina ta saya wa ɗanta sabuwar keke.

Amina bought her son a new bicycle. (Grade 2 D-frame)

Amina ta sayo wa ɗanta sabuwar keke daga Kano.

Amina bought and brought her son a new bicycle from Kano. (derived Grade 6 sayo)

The contrast shows why a grade is simultaneously morphological, syntactic, and lexical. Morphology supplies recurring shapes; syntax selects an object environment; the lexicon decides which frames and derived meanings a particular root actually has.

Tense does not select -ar

The preverbal subject–TAM marker carries the ordinary tense/aspect information. The same pre-dative form can occur after completive, future, habitual, and subjunctive markers if the lexical frame is appropriate.

Jiya ya nemar wa yayarsa magani.

Yesterday he looked for medicine for his older sister. (past time)

Gobe zai nemar wa yayarsa magani.

Tomorrow he will look for medicine for his older sister. (future time)

Ka nemar wa yayarka magani tun da wuri.

Look for medicine for your older sister early. (subject-marked directive)

English changes neither look nor buy merely because for him follows. Hausa can change the verb because the immediate indirect-object environment is grammatically encoded. Conversely, seeing -ar does not tell you when the event happened.

Exercises

Classify the bold form. (1) neme in Sun neme shi is B before a direct-object pronoun. (2) nemi in Sun nemi likita is C before a noun direct object. (3) nemar in Sun nemar wa yaron likita is the all-high D-form before wa + noun. (4) nemam in Sun nemam masa likita is the assimilated D-form before masa. (5) sayar in Sun sayar da mota is Grade 5 “sell,” not the D-form of saya. Finally, reorder mota / wa yaro / ya nemar as Ya nemar wa yaro mota.

Common Mistakes

1. Extending -ar to every Grade 2 verb.

❌ Na sayar mata littafi.

Incorrect for ‘I bought her a book’—sayar is the established verb ‘sell.’

✅ Na saya mata littafi.

I bought her a book.

2. Using the B-form because the indirect object is pronominal.

❌ Ya neme masa mota.

Incorrect in the all-high D-pattern—masa is an indirect object, not direct-object shi.

✅ Ya nemam masa mota.

He looked for a car for him.

3. Putting the beneficiary after the theme in English order.

❌ Ya nemi mota wa yaro.

Incorrect neutral order for the intended internal indirect-object construction.

✅ Ya nemar wa yaro mota.

He looked for a car for the boy.

4. Treating -ar as a past-tense ending.

❌ Nemar yana nuna abin da ya wuce.

Incorrect claim—the preverbal TAM marker locates the event in time.

✅ Gobe za mu nemar wa Aisha ɗaki.

Tomorrow we will look for a room for Aisha.

5. Confusing a D-form with a freely productive derived meaning.

❌ Duk fi’ilin aji na biyu yana zama sabon fi’ili idan an ƙara ar.

Incorrect—the pre-dative pattern and lexical Grade 5 derivation are not freely interchangeable.

✅ A koya tsarin D tare da kowane fi’ili da yake karɓarsa.

The D-frame should be learned with each verb that licenses it.

Key Takeaways

The all-high -ar/-am formation is a selected Grade 2 D-form before an indirect object, not an A/B/C direct-object form.
-ar occurs before wa + noun; r can assimilate before an m-initial indirect-object form, giving -am.
Grade 2 D-forms are lexical: some verbs use this pattern, some switch to a Grade 1/4-like pattern, and some allow alternatives.
Pre-dative -ar and Grade 5 -ar overlap in sound but must be distinguished by construction and meaning.
Object environment chooses the form; tense does not.

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