Hausa

Future Present Tense

In Hausa pronouns are conjugated to indicate that something will happen in the future. Below are pronoun tables for future pronouns in both the affirmative and negative as well as examples.

Affirmative

To state that something will happen in the future, za precedes the pronoun. Note that in the first person singular (I), za contracts with the pronoun to give zan, and in third person masculine singular (he), za contracts with the pronoun to give zai. If there is a noun subject, it precedes the za.

Present Future Meaning
Ina Zan I (will)
Shi/Ya Zai He (will)
Ta Za ta She (will)
Mu Za mu We (will)
Su Za su They (will)
Ki Za ki You (will) – Fem.
Ka Za ka You (will) – Masc.
Ku Za ku You (will) – Pl.
n/a Za a There will

Negative

To state that an action will not happen in the future, ba is added before the za of the future and a second ba at the end of the sentence. As a formula negative future is:

  • Ba + za + pronoun + verb + ba
Present  Future Meaning
Ban ___ ba Ban zan ___ ba I will not ___
Ba shi/ya ___ ba Ba zai ___ ba He will not ___
Ba ta ___ ba Ba za ta ___ ba She will not ___
Ba mu ___ ba Ba za mu ___ ba We will not ___
Ba su ___ ba Ba za su ___ ba They will not ___
Ba ki ___ ba Ba za ki ___ ba You will not ___ – Fem.
Ba ka ___ ba Ba za ka ___ ba You will not ___ – Masc.
Ba ku ___ ba Ba za ku ___ ba You will not ___ – Pl.
n/a Ba za a ___ ba There will not ___

Examples

Sentence Meaning
Zan yi sha shayi I will drink tea
Ban zan yi sha shayi ba I will not drink tea
Za mu rira waka We will sing (a song)
Ba za mu rira waka ba We will not sing (a song)

Test

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