Kar ku yi haka.

you (plural)

Breakdown of Kar ku yi haka.

• yi: to do
• kar: don't
• haka: like that

Questions & Answers about Kar ku yi haka.

What does Kar ku yi haka literally mean, word by word?

Broken down:

• kar – negative command marker: don’t / must not
• ku – you (plural) or you (polite) subject pronoun
• yi – do / make (verb)
• haka – like that / that way / such a thing

So literally: “Don’t you (pl.) do like that.” → natural English: “Don’t do that.”

Why is ku (you) needed? Can I just say Kar yi haka?

In standard Hausa, with kar / kada (negative command), you normally must show the subject pronoun:

• ✅ Kar ku yi haka. – Don’t (you plural) do that.
• ✅ Kar ka yi haka. – Don’t (you, one man) do that.
• ✅ Kar ki yi haka. – Don’t (you, one woman) do that.

Kar yi haka sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in normal speech, because the subject (you) is missing.

If you want a general, impersonal idea like “One must not do that / That should not be done”, you can say:

• Kar a yi haka. – Let it not be done / It must not be done (by people in general).

Is ku always plural here? Can it also be polite singular?

Yes. Ku usually means: