VERB TENSES

 

CONTINUATIVE

  

 

Basic meaning of the Continuative in action constructions

Hausa has three "Continuative" forms, but they share the same basic range of meaning:

The Continuative indicates that an action extends over a period of time. This can mean that the action is ongoing or that the action is recurrent or habitual.

English translation in the sense of ongoing action will usually be progressive, e.g. suna salla 'they are praying'.
 
English translation in the sense of habitual action will usually be simple present, e.g. suna salla 'they pray' (that is, 'they pray on a regular basis, they are practicing Muslims').

The table below illustrates the three Continuative forms, with translations in the "ongoing" sense. Click the highlighted links to see full pronoun paradigms.

 Continuative  Suna shan shayi.  'They are drinking tea.'
 Relative Continuative  Shayi suke sha.  'It is tea that they are drinking.'
 Negative Continuative  Ba sa shan shayi.  'They are not drinking tea.'

Active vs. stative verbs: Because the continuative represents ongoing action, it's primary role is with active verbs. However, a few stative verbs normally use the continuative rather than the completive (the normal tense for stative verbs). Some important stative verbs normally using the continuative are

 so 'want, like'

Ina son shayi.
Me kake so ka sha?

 

'I like tea.'
'What do you want to drink?'
 ji 'feel; hear, understand' Ba na jin dad'i.
Kana jin Hausa?		 'I don't feel good.'
'Do you understand Hausa?'

ji can take the Completive as an alternative to the Continuative in the meaning 'hear, understand' at the present time, e.g. na ji jawabinka 'I understand your point'.

Forms of the Continuative

As with all Hausa tenses, the primary marker of tense is the form of the subject pronoun rather than the form of the verb. Hausa has three Continuative forms, whose functions are explained immediately below. The bases for forming the Continuative pronouns are as follows. Click on the highlighted links to see the full paradigms.

Continuative Relative Continuative  Negative Continuative
short, Hi pronoun + na short, Hi pronoun + ke long, Hi ba + long, low pronoun

Uses of the three Continuative forms in action constructions

The three continuative forms share the basic meaning described above. The differences have to do with the contexts in which you wish to express that meaning. Below are lists of the main uses for each of the three continuatives. Click on the highlighted links to see full paradigms of the Continuative markers.

1. Statement: Makes a statement about an event viewed as extending over a period of time.
Muna shan shayi.
Jakuna suna cin ciyawa.		 'We are drinking tea.'
'The donkeys [they] are eating grass.'
2. Question: Asks a question to which the answer could be "yes" or "no" about an event extending over a period of time.
Kuna shan shayi?
Jakuna suna cin ciyawa.?		 'Are you drinking tea?'
'Are the donkeys [they] eating grass?'

1. Question word: Used in a question about an ongoing event when a question word ('who', 'what', 'where', 'when', etc.) is at the beginning of the sentence.
Wa yake shan shayi?
Me suke sha?
Me jakuna suke ci?		 'Who is [he] drinking tea?'
'What are they drinking?'
'What are the donkeys [they] eating?'
2. Emphasis: Makes a statement about an ongoing event when a word is put at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize it. (ne or ce 'it is...' sometimes appears after the emphasized word)
Bashir ne yake shan shayi.
Shayi ne suke sha.
Ciyawa suke ci.		 'It is Bashir who [he] is drinking tea.'
'It's tea that they are drinking.'
'It is grass that they are eating.'
3. Relative clause: Used in any relative clause which refers to an ongoing event.
shayin da yake sha
ciyawar da jakuna suke ci		 'the tea that he is drinking'
'the grass that the donkeys [they] are eating'

Negative: Used in all contexts to show that an event is not ongoing or does not happen on a regular basis.
Tanko ba ya shan shayi.
Ba sa shan shayi.
Jakuna ba sa cin nama.
Ba a bi ta gaban mai salla.
Wa ba ya shan shayi.
ciyawar da jakuna ba sa ci		 'Tanko [he] isn't drinking tea.'
'They are not drinking tea.'
'Donkeys [they] don't eat meat.'
'One doesn't pass in front of one who is praying.'
'Who isn't [he] drinking tea?'
'the grass that the donkeys [they] are not eating'

 

Verb form in the Continuative:
VERBAL NOUNS

The continuative is the only Hausa tense which requires a special verb form. The continuative uses the verbal noun rather than the basic verb. We have a brief summary here. Click on the verbal nouns link just above for more details.

Two types of verbal nouns

Some verbs have only -wa verbal nouns, some have only non-wa verbal nouns, some have both. Here are a few verbs in the Completive (illustrating the base form of the verb) and the Continuative (illustrating the verbal noun).

  Completive (base verb) Continuative (verbal noun)
-wa verbal nouns

Sun huta.
'They rested.'

Sun fito.
'They came out.'

Sun taru.
'They gathered.'

Suna hutawa.
'They are resting.'

Suna fitowa.
'They are coming out.'

Suna taruwa.
'They are gathering.'

Non-wa verbal nouns

Sun tashi.
'They got up.'
(verb ends in a short vowel)

Sun saya.
'They bought.'

Sun taimaka.
'They helped.'

Sun nema.
'They looked.'
(verb has Low-High tones)

Sun tafi.
'They went.'

Suna tashi.
'They are getting up.'
(verbal noun ends in a long vowel)

Suna saye.
'They are buying.'

Suna taimako.
'They are helping.'

Suna nema.
'They are looking.'
(verbal noun has High-High tones)

Suna tafiya.
'They are going.'

Objects in the continuative

  Completive (base verb) Continuative (verbal noun)
-wa verbal nouns

Sun zuba sukari.
'They poured sugar .'

Sun kawo kaza.
'They brought a hen.'

Sun kama ni.
'They caught me.'

Na raba su.
'I separated them.'

Sun goge mota.
'They polished the car.'

Suna zuba sukari.
'They are pouring sugar.'

Suna kawo kaza.
'They are bringing a hen.'

Suna kama ni.
'They are catching me.'

Ina raba su.
'I am separating them.'

Suna goge mota.
'They are polishing the car.'

Non-wa verbal nouns

Sun sami izini.
'They got permission.'

Sun sayi kabewa.
'They bought a pumpkin.'

Sun taimake ni.
'They helped me.'

Sun neme ka.
'They looked for you.'

Sun ci doya.
'They ate yam.'

Suna samun izini.
'They got up.'

Suna sayen kabewa.
'They are buying a pumpkin.'

Suna taimakona.
'They help me.'

Suna nemanka.
'They are looking for you.'

Suna cin doya.
'They are eating yam.'

Indirect objects in the continuative

  Completive (base verb) Continuative (verbal noun)
-wa verbal nouns

Sun kawo mini kaza.
'They brought me a hen.'

Na raba wa bak'i goro.
'I distributed kolas to the guests.'

Sun goge masa mota.
'They polished the car for him.'

Suna kawo mini kaza.
'They are bringing me a hen.'

Ina raba wa bak'i goro.
'I am distributing kolas to the guests.'

Suna goge masa mota.
'They are polishing the car for him.'

Non-wa verbal nouns

Sun saya wa matansu kabewa.
'They bought pumpkin for their wives.'

Sun nemam mini shi.
'They sought him for me.'

Suna saya wa matansu kabewa.
'They buying pumpkins for their wives.'

Suna nemam mini shi.
'They are seeking him for me.'

The Continuative with ACTION NOUNS

A verb in the continuative is in the verbal noun form. In fact, the continuative can beused with any noun which represents an action, whether or not there is a verb associated with it. Here is a list of some common action nouns which have no associated verb (or at least no verb in common use):

aiki
bacci
dariya
fad'a
fama
fata
hira
kuka
magana
murmushi
rawa
salla
wak'a
wasa		 'working'
'sleeping'
'laughing'
'fighting"
'struggling'
'hoping'
'chatting, conversing'
'crying'
'talking, speaking'
'smiling'
'dancing'
'praying'
'singing'
'playing'

In tenses other than the continuative, the only way to express these notions as actions is to use the verb yi 'do', saying 'he did work(ing)', etc. In the continuative you can use yi in its verbal noun form, with a falling tone, in which case the genitive linker -n is required before the action noun (as with verbal nouns + a noun object). However, yi is often omitted in the continuative.

Completive (must use yi)

Sun yi aiki.

Bala ya yi magana.

'They worked.' (...did work)

'Bala spoke.' (...did speaking)

Continuative (yi is optional)

Suna yin aiki. = Suna aiki.

Bala yana yin magana. = Bala yana magana.

'They are working.'

'Balais speaking.'

Omission of pronouns in the Continuative

When a subject is present before the verb, the pronoun part of the continuative pronouns (ya 'he', ta 'she', su 'they', etc.) can be omitted, leaving just the -na of the plain continuative pronouns or the -ke of the relative continuative pronouns.

Bala yana shan shayi. = Bala na shan shayi.
Zainab tana shan shayi. = Zainab na shan shayi.
Mutane suna shan shayi. = Mutane na shan shayi.		 'Bala is drinking tea.'
'Zainab is drinking tea.'
'The people are drinking tea.'
   
Wa yake shan shayi? = Wa ke shan shayi?
Me Bala yake sha? = Me Bale ke sha?
Ita ce take shan shayi. = Ita ce ke shan shayi.
mutanen da suke shan shayi = mutanen da ke shan shayi		 'Who is drinking tea?'
'What is Bala drinking?'
'SHE is drinking tea.'
'the people who are drinking tea'