Grade 7 presents its subject as undergoing, sustaining, or realizing the event named by the verb. It frequently adds a thorough result or a capacity to undergo the event: nama ya soyu “the meat fried well/became thoroughly fried,” kayan sun sayu “the goods sold,” and motar ta gyaru “the car became repaired/got better.” Patient-oriented members are often called lexical passives in linguistic descriptions, but Grade 7 is an intransitive lexical derivation, not a freely productive clause-level passive and not a completive tense.
The grade foundations explain why a grade simultaneously constrains form, valency, and lexical meaning.
All unlabelled examples are (neutral Nigerian Standard Hausa). Ordinary boko shows neither tone nor vowel length. In a technical description (academic/pedagogical), Grade 7 ends in short -u and has low tone on preceding syllables followed by high tone on the last syllable.
The formal and semantic core
A basic or related verb may have an established Grade 7 member. The formation normally replaces the final vowel with short -u and assigns the low…high melody. Monosyllabic bases can show an intervening glide, as in yi → yiwu “be possible.” Formation predicts a candidate shape; the lexicon determines whether the verb exists and what it means.
| Basic or related verb | Grade 7 | Typical Grade 7 meaning |
|---|---|---|
| soya “fry” | soyu | become/be thoroughly fried; fry well |
| saya “buy” | sayu | be bought; sell successfully |
| gyara “repair, improve” | gyaru | become repaired; improve |
| tara “collect” | taru | assemble, come together |
| raba “divide, separate” | rabu | part, become separated |
| yi “do” | yiwu | be possible |
Mai dafa abincin ya soya naman a hankali.
The cook fried the meat slowly. (transitive basic verb; the cook is the subject)
Naman ya soyu sosai duk da cewa wutar ba ta da ƙarfi.
The meat fried very well even though the heat was not strong. (Grade 7; the affected meat is the subject)
Kamfanin ya sayi kayan da safe.
The company bought the goods in the morning. (Grade 2 saya)
Kayan sun sayu kafin azahar saboda farashin ya yi sauƙi.
The goods sold before noon because the price was affordable. (Grade 7 sayu)
The change is not merely active-to-passive syntax. Sayu describes the goods’ successful disposition in the market; it can sound like English sell in “these goods sell quickly.”
Grade 7 is always intransitive
A Grade 7 subject is the entity affected, changed, assembled, separated, or evaluated for capacity. No noun or direct-object pronoun can follow as its direct object. This is why Grade 7 has an A-form but no B- or C-form in the traditional object-environment paradigm. Some fuller traditional paradigms also list a special D-form before an indirect object for Grades 2, 3, and 7; that pre-dative/applicative formation is separate from the missing direct-object B- and C-forms and does not create a Grade 7 direct object.
Kwamfutar ta gyaru bayan an sabunta manhajar.
The computer started working properly after the software was updated.
Duk ma’aikatan sun taru a babban ɗaki.
All the employees assembled in the main room.
Ma’auratan sun rabu bayan shekaru goma.
The married couple separated after ten years.
A following phrase can still be a selected prepositional complement. Rabu da means “part/separate from,” and gamu da means “meet/encounter.” The noun after da is not a Grade 7 direct object.
Mun gamu da tsohon malaminmu a tashar jirgi.
We met our former teacher at the airport.
Bayan taron, muka rabu da baƙinmu a ƙofar otal.
After the meeting, we parted from our guests at the hotel entrance.
The four object tests expose the grade contrast
The generic four-frame test must be interpreted carefully here: a single Grade 7 verb cannot fill all four transitive environments. The raba/rabu family shows exactly where the grade boundary falls.
| Environment | Natural form | Why |
|---|---|---|
| no following object | Sun rabu. | Grade 7: “They parted.” |
| noun direct object | Sun raba aikin. | Transitive base raba, not Grade 7: “They divided the work.” |
| direct-object pronoun | Sun raba shi. | Transitive base raba: “They divided it.” |
| indirect object | Sun raba mana aikin. | Transitive raba with beneficiary mana. |
Ma’aikatan sun rabu gida biyu bayan an kammala taron.
The employees split into two groups after the meeting ended. (Grade 7, no object)
Shugabar ta raba mana aikin gida biyu.
The supervisor divided the work into two parts for us. (transitive raba, not Grade 7)
The honest conclusion is not that rabu has hidden noun- and pronoun-object forms. For the meanings tested in this table—including “divide the work for us”—the direct-object and beneficiary-plus-theme frames select transitive raba. That does not license attaching mana freely to every Grade 7 verb: the specialized D-form found with some intransitives is lexically and morphologically restricted and must be learned from attested usage.
Thorough result is common, not automatic
With verbs such as soyu and gyaru, Grade 7 often profiles a successful or well-realized result. But some members are conventionalized: faru means “happen,” taru means “assemble,” gamu da means “meet,” and yiwu means “be possible.” Their meanings belong in the dictionary even though they retain Grade 7 morphology and intransitivity.
Abin da muka ji ya faru ne a daren jiya.
What we heard happened last night.
Za mu canja shirin idan hakan zai yiwu.
We will change the plan if that will be possible.
Kuskuren ya gyaru bayan mun sake duba lissafin.
The error was corrected after we checked the calculation again.
Do not force “thoroughly” into every translation. Abin ya faru is simply “the thing happened,” not “the thing was thoroughly begun.” Lexicalization can obscure the relation with fara “begin.”
Grade 7 is not a general English-style passive
English passive promotes an object productively and can usually restore an agent with by: “The car was repaired by the mechanic.” Hausa Grade 7 is more restricted and often describes the affected subject’s state, disposition, or successful change. Some specialist analyses allow an optional agent/source phrase with ga for patient-oriented members, which helps explain the traditional label passive; this is not a general license to translate English by mechanically with da or to derive a Grade 7 form from any transitive clause.
Mai gyara ya gyara motar da safe.
The mechanic repaired the car in the morning. (agent-centered active clause)
An gyara motar da safe.
The car was repaired in the morning. (impersonal construction; repair event asserted, agent unexpressed)
Motar ta gyaru da safe.
The car got repaired/returned to working order in the morning. (Grade 7 result)
The impersonal an gyara motar is the closer structural choice when the communicative purpose is to suppress an agent while asserting a transitive repair event. Grade 7 ta gyaru chooses a different lexical perspective: what happened to the car and what state resulted.
Grade 7 is not completive TAM
Grade 7 combines with past-oriented completive, future, habitual, and continuative constructions. Its -u does not select time.
Motar ta gyaru jiya.
The car got repaired yesterday. (Grade 7 plus completive TAM)
Motar za ta gyaru da zarar kayan aikin sun iso.
The car will return to working order as soon as the parts arrive. (Grade 7 plus future)
Irin wannan matsala takan gyaru idan an sabunta manhajar.
This kind of problem usually gets resolved when the software is updated. (Grade 7 plus habitual)
The future example has the same Grade 7 verb but no completed result yet. TAM locates and presents the event; grade packages its affected-subject structure and lexical meaning.
The verbal noun and capacity reading
Grade 7 normally forms a weak verbal noun in -uwa: taruwa, rabuwa, soyuwa, gyaruwa. In continuative or generic contexts, the construction often develops a capacity reading: the subject is able or suitable to undergo the event.
Wannan naman yana soyuwa da sauri idan man ya yi zafi.
This meat fries well/quickly when the oil is hot. (generic capacity)
Wannan matsalar tana gyaruwa ba tare da an sake saka manhajar ba.
This problem can be fixed without reinstalling the software. (capacity reading)
Capacity is a recurring Grade 7 interpretation, not a mechanical English suffix. The lexical verb and context decide whether the verbal noun describes an unfolding event, a general disposition, or possibility.
Practice
For each pair, identify who controls the event and who is affected: mai dafa abinci ya soya nama / nama ya soyu; mai gyara ya gyara mota / mota ta gyaru; shugaba ya tara ma’aikata / ma’aikata sun taru. Then put gyaru under three TAM frames: ta gyaru jiya, za ta gyaru gobe, takan gyaru idan…. Finally explain why an gyara motar and motar ta gyaru are related but not structurally identical.
Common Mistakes
1. Giving a Grade 7 verb a direct object.
❌ Sun taru ma’aikatan a babban ɗaki.
Incorrect—taru is intransitive and cannot mean ‘they assembled the employees.’
✅ Shugaban ya tara ma’aikatan a babban ɗaki.
The manager gathered the employees in the main room. (transitive tara)
2. Treating Grade 7 as an ordinary productive passive with a da by-phrase.
❌ Motar ta gyaru da mai gyara.
Incorrect for ‘the car was repaired by the mechanic’; da does not introduce an English-style agent here.
✅ Mai gyara ya gyara motar.
The mechanic repaired the car.
3. Treating -u as a past or completive ending.
❌ Gyaru ba ya iya zuwa bayan za ta domin u yana nuna abin da ya ƙare.
Incorrect claim—Grade 7 is lexical morphology, not completive TAM.
✅ Motar za ta gyaru gobe.
The car will become repaired tomorrow.
4. Forcing a thorough-result meaning onto every lexicalized member.
❌ Abin ya faru = abin ya fara sosai.
Incorrect—faru conventionally means ‘happen,’ not ‘begin thoroughly.’
✅ Ban san abin da ya faru ba.
I do not know what happened.
5. Changing -u according to an imagined object.
❌ Kayan sun sayi domin akwai masu saya.
Incorrect—sayi is the Grade 2 noun-object form; the affected-subject Grade 7 verb is sayu.
✅ Kayan sun sayu da sauri.
The goods sold quickly.
Key Takeaways
- Grade 7 normally has low…high tone and short final -u.
- Every Grade 7 verb is intransitive: its subject undergoes, realizes, or is disposed toward the event.
- A thorough result or capacity is common, but lexicalized meanings such as faru, taru, gamu, yiwu must be learned individually.
- Patient-oriented Grade 7 is often analyzed as a restricted lexical passive, but the impersonal construction is usually closer to a productive English agent-suppressing passive.
- Grade 7 is not completive TAM and can occur under future, habitual, and continuative marking.
Related Topics
- Grade 7 IntransitivityB2 — Use Grade 7 only with an affected or participating subject, distinguishing direct objects from licensed prepositional complements and adjuncts.
- Grade 7 Result and CompletionB2 — Separate Grade 7's lexical result, thoroughness, and capacity from actual event completion, completive TAM, and Grade 4 totality.
- Grade 7 Verbal NounsB2 — Form and use the regular -uwa verbal nouns of Grade 7 while keeping finite -u forms, noun linkers, and da-complements distinct.
- Grade 7 versus Passive InterpretationB2 — Distinguish genuine patient-oriented Grade 7 passives from resultative, intensive, lexical, and impersonal constructions by using syntactic and discourse diagnostics.
- Grades versus TAMA2 — Separate a Hausa verb’s lexical grade and object-conditioned form from the preverbal markers that express tense, aspect, and mood.
- 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.