A Cikin Aji

Chapter Objectives

Communication Scenario

Core Vocabulary

Kayan aji — Classroom objects

The table below lists productive classroom nouns for this chapter. Each noun is given with its grammatical gender and its plural form. Learn the gender and plural together with the Hausa word — this information cannot always be predicted from spelling, and it affects the words used around the noun throughout the course.

Reminder: Many Hausa nouns ending in -a are feminine, but not all are — and some feminine nouns do not end in -a. Always verify gender through agreement rather than guessing from spelling. Noun plurals in Hausa are frequently irregular; there is no single rule that reliably forms the plural of a new noun. Learn each plural as part of the lexical entry.

Launuka — Colors

Color adjectives in Hausa have masculine, feminine, and plural agreement forms. Full adjective agreement is introduced in Chapter 4. For now, practice colors as stand-alone descriptive words when pointing to or naming objects in the room.

Lambobi 1–20 — Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 11–19 use the pattern goma sha + the unit: goma sha ɗaya (ten and one), goma sha biyu (ten and two), and so on. The word ashirin (twenty) is a separate form, not built the same way. Note the hooked letters ɗ in ɗaya and huɗu — these are distinct Hausa consonants that must be written and pronounced accurately.

Maganganu na aji — Classroom expressions

Notice that Ka rubuta is used when speaking to a male and Ki rubuta when speaking to a female. This reflects how Hausa addresses second-person singular differently by gender. This system will be developed fully in later chapters; for now, learn these forms as useful fixed expressions.

Pronunciation and Boko

The Hausa values of c, sh, and ts

Three Hausa consonant letters frequently cause confusion for English speakers because their sound values differ from English conventions. Learn each one as a consistent, single Hausa sound.

Reviewing the hooked consonants and 'y

Chapter 1 introduced the hooked letters ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, and the consonant 'y. These remain active throughout every chapter of this course. Practice writing and typing them again with this chapter's vocabulary.

Short and long vowels — continuing awareness

Hausa contrasts short and long vowels in many words. Ordinary Boko does not mark this distinction in everyday writing, but it is real and affects meaning. In this chapter, listen carefully to how your instructor, audio model, or partner pronounces words like littafi and alkalami — the vowel lengths are set and must not be changed arbitrarily. Begin building the habit of noticing length as part of the pronunciation of each word you learn.

Pronunciation practice: Say each pair aloud and listen for the difference your instructor or audio model demonstrates. (Length is shown here in the pronunciation note only, not in ordinary Boko.)

• alloPronunciation note: the first vowel is short; say al-lo, not a drawn-out first syllable
• littafiPronunciation note: listen for the doubled consonant and the length of the vowels across the word
• malamiPronunciation note: three syllables — ma-la-mi; contrast with malama (two syllables differ)

Tone discrimination — continuing awareness

Hausa tone is part of every spoken word, even when the written page gives you no marks to guide you. In this chapter, listen and imitate rather than analyzing tone technically. Two goals:

1. Hear that littafi (book) and littattafai (books) have different tone patterns — even though both have the same base meaning.
2. Notice that the identification particles ne and ce carry tones of their own. Your instructor's model or the audio will demonstrate this. Do not rush past these short words — they are tonally significant.

Grammar Instruction

2.1 Grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, and plural

Purpose: understand that every Hausa singular noun has a grammatical gender, and that plural nouns use a distinct pattern of agreement.

Hausa distinguishes three agreement categories in the noun system:

Notice immediately: plural nouns in Hausa take ne in identification sentences, just like masculine singular nouns do. This does not mean plurals are masculine — it means plural agreement is its own category, which happens to use the same identification particle as masculine singular in this construction. Watch for this throughout the course.

2.2 Identification with ne and ce

Purpose: identify classroom objects and people using the appropriate identification particle.

In Chapter 1, you encountered ne and ce in personal introductions: Audu ne (Audu is a man's name, so ne); Fatima ce (Fatima is a woman's name, so ce). The same system applies to objects: you use ne with masculine nouns and plural nouns, and ce with feminine nouns.

• Alkalami ne.It is a pen. / This is a pen. (alkalami is masculine → ne)
• Littafi ne.It is a book. (littafi is masculine → ne)
• Tebur ce.It is a table. (tebur is feminine → ce)
• Kujera ce.It is a chair. (kujera is feminine → ce)
• Littattafai ne.These are books. (plural → ne)
• Kujeru ne.These are chairs. (plural → ne)

The noun comes first, then the particle. The particle is a short separate word — do not attach it to the noun without a space.

2.3 Asking what an object is: Mene ne? and Mece ce?

Purpose: ask the name of an unfamiliar object in a classroom setting.

To ask "What is this?" or "What is it?" in Hausa, the question changes depending on what kind of referent you expect:

• Mene ne?What is it? — used when the referent is masculine or when you do not yet know the gender
• Mece ce?What is it? — used when the referent is feminine

In practice, when pointing to an unknown object whose gender you have not yet learned, you will most often begin with Mene ne? as a default question. Once you learn the noun and its gender, you will know which form to use in future references.

• Wannan mene ne?What is this? (pointing to something nearby; expecting a masculine or unknown referent)
• Wannan mece ce?What is this? (pointing to something nearby; expecting a feminine referent)
• A: Wannan mene ne? · B: Alkalami ne.A: What is this? · B: It is a pen.
• A: Wannan mece ce? · B: Tebur ce.A: What is this? · B: It is a table.

2.4 Demonstratives: wannan, wancan, waɗannan, waɗancan

Purpose: point to nearby or distant objects in the singular and plural.

Hausa has two sets of demonstratives — one for nearby things and one for distant things — and each set has a singular and a plural form. Unlike the identification particles ne and ce, these demonstratives do not change for gender within each singular/plural distinction. The same singular form is used for masculine and feminine nouns alike.

• Wannan alkalami ne.This is a pen. (singular, near)
• Wannan tebur ce.This is a table. (singular, near — demonstrative unchanged for gender)
• Waɗannan alkaluma ne.These are pens. (plural, near)
• Wancan littafi ne.That is a book. (singular, far)
• Waɗancan kujeru ne.Those are chairs. (plural, far)

2.5 Noun plurals — learned as lexical forms

Purpose: use the correct plural of each classroom noun introduced in this chapter.

Hausa plural formation is highly varied. Some nouns change vowels inside the word, some add suffixes, some do both, and some are suppletive (completely different words). There is no single suffix that safely forms the plural of any new Hausa noun. For this reason, the course introduces each noun's plural alongside its singular, and asks you to learn both as part of the lexical entry.

Study the following singular-plural pairs from this chapter. Notice that the patterns differ across words:

Notice: there is no single rule connecting singular to plural across these words. Memorizing patterns such as "add -una" would work for some nouns but fail for most others. Learn the plural as a separate form.

2.6 Fixed classroom commands

Purpose: understand and follow classroom instructions in singular and group address.

Hausa commands are introduced in this chapter as fixed expressions — the full productive system of imperatives and subjunctive patterns is developed in Chapter 11. For now, learn the following commands as communication tools, without analyzing their internal grammar.

A command to one person uses a special singular imperative form. A command to a group — or to one person in a respectful register — uses the pattern ku + verb base. The word ku here is a formulaic marker of plural or respectful address; its full grammatical role is explained later in the course.

You can add don Allah (please) before or after a command to make it more courteous: Don Allah, ku saurara. (Please listen, everyone.)

Practice exercises

Atisayen A — Zaɓi ne ko ce (Choose ne or ce):

Complete each sentence with the correct identification particle. Use the gender information in the vocabulary table.

1. Wannan alkalami _____.
2. Wannan tebur _____.
3. Wannan allo _____.
4. Wannan kujera _____.
5. Wannan takarda _____.
6. Wannan littafi _____.
7. Wannan ƙofa _____.
8. Wannan taga _____.

Atisayen B — Guda ɗaya da jam'i (Singular and plural):

Write the plural of each singular noun, then write a complete sentence using waɗannan … ne/ce.

1. alkalami → _____. Waɗannan _____ _____.
2. littafi → _____. Waɗannan _____ _____.
3. kujera → _____. Waɗannan _____ _____.
4. tebur → _____. Waɗannan _____ _____.
5. allo → _____. Waɗannan _____ _____.

Atisayen C — Umarnin aji (Classroom commands):

Write the group command form (ku + …) for each singular command below.

1. Karanta. → _____.
2. Rubuta. → _____.
3. Saurara. → _____.
4. Zauna. → _____.
5. Duba. → _____.

Atisayen D — Tambayi da amsawa (Ask and answer):

With a partner, take turns pointing to an object in the room or in an image of a classroom. Ask Wannan mene ne? or Wannan mece ce? and give a full sentence answer using the correct identification particle. After five rounds, switch to far objects: Wancan mene ne?

Model Dialogue

Tambayoyin fahimta — Comprehension questions:

1. What object does Malama Aisha hold up first? What identification particle does Bello use in his answer, and why?
2. What expression does Bello use when he does not understand? Write the full sentence.
3. What object does Zainab point to at the end? Is it masculine or feminine? How does the dialogue show this?
4. Find the two demonstratives in the dialogue. Are they both singular or plural? How do you know?
5. Write the group command form of the first command the teacher gives. What does it mean?

Listening

Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following short exchanges aloud, twice each. Complete the tasks after each exchange.

Kula na A — Jera (List): Listen to Sauraro na A. Write down all the classroom nouns you hear, in both their singular and plural forms where both appear. Note which identification particle each noun takes.

Kula na B — Umarnai (Commands): Listen to Sauraro na B. Write down each command you hear. Is each one directed at one person or a group? What word tells you?

Kula na C — Lambobi (Numbers): Listen to Sauraro na C. Write the numbers you hear in order, first as numerals (1, 2, 3…), then as Hausa words.

Rubutun sauraro don malami, abokin karatu, ko amfani da rubutun lantarki. Duba amsoshi a sashi na amsoshi.
(Listening Script for Instructor, Partner, or Text-to-Speech Use. See Answer Key for expected responses.)

Reading

Read the two short texts below. They are written for beginner learners of Hausa. As you read, look for classroom nouns, demonstratives, identification particles, and numbers.

Tambayoyin fahimta — Comprehension questions:

1. How many chairs are in the classroom described in Rubutu na 1? Write the number in Hausa words.
2. What three colors of pens are mentioned in Rubutu na 1? List them in Hausa.
3. In Rubutu na 2, which group command does the teacher give? Write it and explain how you identified it as a group command.
4. The teacher in Rubutu na 2 says both Wannan littafi ne and Waɗannan littattafai ne. Explain why the demonstrative changes between the two sentences.
5. Find all the classroom nouns in both readings. Write each one with its plural form and its gender.

Writing Workshop

1. Karanta samfuri. Reread Rubutu na 1 (Ajina) above. Underline each classroom noun. Circle the identification particles ne or ce where they appear.
2. Shirya tunaninka. Look around the room you are in — or imagine a classroom. List six objects using Hausa nouns from this chapter. Next to each, write its gender (m. / f.) and its plural form.
3. Rubuta farkon rubutunka. Write six to eight Hausa sentences describing the objects in your space. Use wannan … ne/ce and waɗannan … ne as sentence frames. Include at least two plural nouns, at least one number, and at least one color.
4. Duba da jerin bincike. Check your draft against the editing checklist below before writing the final version.
5. Rubuta siffa ta ƙarshe. Produce a clean final version for your portfolio or to share with a partner or instructor.

Jerin binciken gyara — Editing checklist:

• Each singular noun is followed by the correct particle: ne for masculine, ce for feminine.
• Each plural noun is followed by ne.
• I used wannan with singular nouns and waɗannan with plural nouns.
• Hooked letters (ɗ, ɓ, ƙ) and 'y are written correctly wherever they appear.
• Numbers are spelled correctly as Hausa words.
• Each sentence ends with a full stop.
• I have not added tone marks or vowel-length marks to ordinary Boko writing.

Ƙarin aiki — Additional task: Write three classroom commands — one singular and one group form for each verb. Add don Allah to each one. Read them aloud to a partner, who must perform the action or say whether it was addressed to one person or the group.

Speaking Practice

Culture and Communication

Common Mistakes

Chapter Review

Chapter Performance Task

Looking Ahead