VERB TENSES   IMPERATIVE

• General information on verb tenses, tense marking, and types of verbs
• Basic meaning of the imperative
• Form of the imperative
• Negative imperative
• Use of the imperative
• Special imperatives for 'go' and 'come': je ka and ya ka

Basic meaning of the Imperative

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The Imperative has a similar function to the Imperative of European languages, though in Hausa a special Imperative verb form is limited to giving affirmative commands to singular subjects.

The Imperative is used to issue an affirmative command to one person, e.g. zo! 'come!'

Form of the Imperative

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The Imperative takes no subject pronoun and uses a special tonal pattern.

• Basic Imperative form: The verb has a Low...High tone pattern (all syllables but the last syllable are Low) regardless of base form. Note that monosyllabic verbs have only a "last" syllable and hence bear High tone.

Imperatives have a number of special features in addition to the basic Low-High tone pattern.

• Variable Vowel Verbs: Variable Vowel Verbs with no object following end in -i in the Imperative (see Sayi! and Tambayi! in the list above).

See technical comments on Imperative forms for Variable Vowel Verbs

• Tones with noun objects: Most verbs have the Lo...Hi Imperative pattern with noun objects. However, "regular verbs" ending in -a or -e have all Low tones and a final short vowel. (See technical note on verbs with final -e.)

• Tones with pronoun objects: Monosyllabic verbs take Low tone before pronoun objects. One can think of the Verb + pronoun object as comprising the Low-High Imperative tone pattern. Note that the pronoun tone of the first four verbs is High, even though the verb ends in High--see technical note on this.

Negative Imperative

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The Imperative form is not used in the negative. Negative Imperative is expressed by the Negative Subjunctive.

Kada ki dakata! Kada ka ci! Kada ki rufe k'ofa! Kada ka ajiye kayanka! Kada ki kama ta! Kada ka mayar da ita!

'Don't wait!' 'Don't eat (it)!' 'Don't close the door!' 'Don't put down your load!' 'Don't catch her!' 'Don't put it back!'

Use of the Imperative

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The Imperative form can only be used only in affirmative commands directed to a single person (male or female). Commands directed to more than one person use the 2nd person plural Subjunctive, and negative commands use the Negative Subjunctive.

Tsaya! Ku tsaya!	'Stop!' (said to male or female) 'Stop!' (said to a group)
Kada ki tsaya! Kada ka tsaya! Kada ku tsaya!	'Don't stop!' (said to a female) 'Don't stop!' (said to a male) 'Don't stop!' (said to a group)

Imperative and Subjunctive in commands: Either the Imperative or the Subjunctive can be used to give commands to a single person. Some grammars claim that the Imperative is an "abrupt" command and the Subjunctive is a "polite" command. This is incorrect! Neither form, in itself, carries a sense of "abruptness" or "politeness", and one can hear either form used when a social subordinate speaks to a social superior and vice-versa. As in any society, Hausa speakers follow certain patterns of protocol when addressing others, but conveying politeness in commands would be through means other than a simple choice between Imperative or Subjunctive. See R.M. Newman & A.M. Gimba, Hausa a Dace: A Guide to Functional Hausa (Indiana University, African Languages Program, Institute for the Study of Nigerian Languages and Cultures, 1998) for linguistic interactions in a large variety of social contexts.

Special Imperatives for 'go' and 'come'

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Hausa has the following special forms for the commands 'go (on/away)!' and 'come (here)!':

Je ki! Je ka! Je ku! Ya ki! Ya ka! (Ku zo! = Subjunctive--no special form for a group)

'Go on!' (said to a female) 'Go on!' (said to a male) 'Go on!' (said to a group) 'Come here!' (said to a female) 'Come here!' (said to a male) 'Come here!' (said to a group)

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