Grade 6 normally forms a weak verbal noun by adding -wa to its -o stem: sayo → sayowa, ɗauko → ɗaukowa, fito → fitowa, shigo → shigowa, kawo → kawowa. The full -wa form appears when no local object follows. Before a direct or indirect object inside the verbal construction, -wa is omitted and the form ends again in -o.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). In (academic) phonological description, the Grade 6 stem has an all-high melody and long -o, while weak verbal-noun formation changes the final stem tone before -wa. Ordinary boko does not display those tone or length distinctions, so this page uses standard unmarked spelling. See verbal nouns and grade membership for the cross-grade foundation.
The basic weak pattern
The formation is unusually regular.
| Grade 6 stem | Weak verbal noun | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sayo | sayowa | buying and bringing back |
| ɗauko | ɗaukowa | fetching, bringing from elsewhere |
| fito | fitowa | coming out |
| shigo | shigowa | coming in |
| kawo | kawowa | bringing |
Sayowa daga wannan kasuwa tana da tsada.
Buying things and bringing them from this market is expensive.
Fitowarsu daga ɗakin ta ba kowa mamaki.
Their coming out of the room surprised everyone.
Mun ji labarin shigowar sabon manaja tun jiya.
We heard about the new manager's arrival as early as yesterday.
Verbal nouns behave partly like nouns. They can serve as a subject, as sayowa does above, or take possessive/definite linkers, as in fitowarsu “their coming out” and shigowar sabon manaja “the new manager's coming in.” Those linked nominal phrases are not the same configuration as a local direct object after a continuative verb.
The continuative selects the verbal noun
Finite non-continuative clauses use the Grade 6 stem after the appropriate TAM subject complex. The continuative uses its verbal noun.
Amina ta sayo kayan miya jiya.
Amina bought and brought cooking ingredients yesterday. (completive)
Amina tana sayowa kusan kowace rana.
Amina buys things and brings them back almost every day. (continuative, no object)
Baƙin sun shigo bayan azahar.
The guests came in after noon. (completive)
Baƙin suna shigowa ɗaya bayan ɗaya.
The guests are coming in one after another. (continuative)
The contrast is not a conjugation of the verb for person. Ta/tana mark feminine singular subject and TAM; sayo/sayowa contrast the finite grade form with the weak verbal noun selected by the construction.
English often uses be + -ing, but that resemblance is incomplete. Hausa says literally something closer to “she-is-at buying-and-bringing,” which is why the verbal noun matters.
A local direct object triggers omission of -wa
When this construction immediately takes a direct object, weak -wa is absent. The clause still belongs to the continuative because the preverbal complex selects it.
Amina tana sayo kayan miya a kasuwar kusa.
Amina is buying and bringing cooking ingredients at the nearby market.
Musa yana ɗauko akwatunan daga mota.
Musa is fetching the boxes from the car.
Suna kawo ruwa daga rijiyar makaranta.
They are bringing water from the school well.
Compare tana sayowa with tana sayo kayan miya. It is wrong to explain the second as a present-tense inflection: the construction is continuative because of tana, and the local object conditions the short form without -wa.
A direct-object pronoun creates the same environment.
Kayan sun yi arha, shi ya sa take sayo su da yawa.
The goods are cheap, which is why she buys and brings many of them.
Takardun suna can; Ali yana ɗauko su yanzu.
The documents are over there; Ali is fetching them now.
The pronouns su do not cause a special Grade 6 vowel change. They merely stand in the local object position before which weak -wa is absent.
An indirect object also triggers the object-conditioned form
Before a recipient, beneficiary, or affected participant, Grade 6 likewise appears without -wa. Pronominal indirect objects use the fused ma series.
Amina tana sayo mana abinci duk ranar Lahadi.
Amina buys and brings us food every Sunday.
Direban yana ɗauko musu kaya daga tashar jirgi.
The driver is fetching luggage for them from the airport.
Yana kawo wa maƙwabcinsa magani idan ya je gari.
He brings medicine for his neighbor whenever he goes into town.
This yields the useful four-way comparison:
| Environment in the continuative | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| no following object | sayowa | tana sayowa |
| noun direct object | sayo | tana sayo littafi |
| pronoun direct object | sayo | tana sayo shi |
| indirect object | sayo | tana sayo masa littafi |
Nominal linkers are not local object omission
Once a verbal noun is used as a fuller noun phrase, it can take the definite/possessive linker: fitowarsa “his coming out,” shigowar baƙi “the guests' coming in,” kawowarsu “their bringing/arrival with it.” The -wa material remains inside the nominal base and combines with the linker.
Jinkirin kawowarsu ya hana mu fara aikin da wuri.
The delay in their bringing it prevented us from starting the work early.
Fitowar shugaban ta sa kowa ya tashi tsaye.
The leader's coming out made everyone stand up.
Do not apply the continuative “drop -wa before an object” mnemonic blindly to every noun that follows a verbal noun. In fitowar shugaban, shugaban is linked as the understood subject/possessor of the nominal event; it is not a direct object of transitive fito. Hausa nominal linking and verbal object government are distinct structures.
Meaning remains Grade 6, but lexicalization still matters
Verbal-noun formation does not erase the grade's ventive meaning. Sayowa still involves buying with a result brought toward the center; fitowa still presents coming out; ɗaukowa still presents fetching. But individual items may be conventionalized.
Tunowa da sunansa ta ɗauke ni lokaci.
Remembering his name took me some time. (lexicalized tuno da)
Jawo matsala ba shi ne abin da muke so ba.
Causing trouble is not what we want. (lexicalized jawo)
Highly frequent kawowa is simply the verbal noun of ordinary kawo “bring.” Although kawo fits Grade 6 formally, learners gain little from trying to rederive every use from kai plus an imagined suffix. Store kawo/kawowa together with its actual frames.
There is also no license to attach -wa to an invented -o form. First verify that the Grade 6 lexeme and intended meaning are established; only then apply the regular weak verbal-noun pattern.
Practice
Turn ta sayo into a no-object continuative: tana sayowa. Add a noun object: tana sayo littafi. Replace it with a masculine pronoun: tana sayo shi. Add a male beneficiary and restore the noun: tana sayo masa littafi. Finally nominalize an intransitive event: fitowarsa daga ɗaki “his coming out of the room.” Explain why the last form keeps -wa material: -rsa is a nominal linker/possessive ending, not a direct object. Notice too that a standalone -wa verbal noun is feminine for agreement: sayowa tana..., not sayowa yana....
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting -wa when no object follows in the continuative.
❌ Amina tana sayo kusan kowace rana, ba tare da wani abu bayan fi'ilin ba.
Incorrect in the intended no-object continuative—the weak verbal noun needs -wa.
✅ Amina tana sayowa idan ta sami abin saye.
Amina buys things and brings them back when she finds something worth buying.
2. Keeping -wa before a local direct object.
❌ Musa yana ɗaukowa akwatunan daga mota.
Incorrect in the standard local-object construction.
✅ Yanzu Musa yana ɗauko akwatunan daga motar.
Musa is now fetching the boxes from the vehicle.
3. Treating object-conditioned sayo as a finite present form.
❌ A tana sayo littafi, sayo shi ne ke nuna lokacin yanzu.
Incorrect analysis—tana marks continuative TAM; sayo is the object-conditioned short form.
✅ Amina tana sayo littafi yanzu.
Amina is buying and bringing a book now.
4. Removing -wa before a nominal possessor.
❌ Fitar shugaban ta sa kowa ya tashi, da ma'anar zuwansa waje.
Incorrect for the intended Grade 6 nominal ‘the leader's coming out’; fitar belongs to a different form.
✅ Fitowar shugaban ta sa kowa ya tashi.
The leader's coming out made everyone stand up.
Key Takeaways
- Grade 6 normally forms weak verbal nouns in -wa: sayowa, ɗaukowa, fitowa, shigowa, kawowa.
- The continuative requires a verbal noun, while its subject/TAM complex marks person and aspect.
- Weak -wa appears with no following object but is absent before local noun, pronoun, and indirect objects.
- Tana sayo littafi contains the object-conditioned short form; -o is not a present-tense inflection.
- Nominal linker forms such as fitowarsa and shigowar baƙi retain the verbal-noun base.
- Regular form-building never replaces learning whether a Grade 6 lexeme and meaning are actually attested.
Related Topics
- Grade 6 Ventive: OverviewB2 — Use established all-high -o verbs for motion, action, or effects oriented toward a contextually chosen deictic center.
- Grade 6 with No Following ObjectB2 — Interpret an objectless Grade 6 verb by combining its invariant -o form with its lexical valency and the discourse context.
- Grade 6 Object FramesB2 — Use the same all-high -o form before no object, a direct-object pronoun, a noun object, or an indirect object.
- 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.
- Dropping -wa before a Direct ObjectA2 — Know when a continuative -wa verbal noun loses -wa before a local direct object and when -wa returns because no object follows it.
- Genitive Linking before Noun ObjectsA2 — Attach -n or -r to a strong continuative verbal noun before its local noun object, choosing the linker from the verbal noun’s gender.