gani / sani / bari

Common Verbs Outside the Grades

Level 3

Ordinary finite forms drop final -i before objects; gani loses the whole -ni before noun objects.

How It Works

Without a following object, finite forms are gani ‘see’, sani ‘know’ and bari ‘leave, allow’. Before short direct-object pronouns, use gan, san, bar. Before noun objects, gani loses the whole -ni, giving ga; the other stems remain san and bar.

Compare Na ga fitila ‘I see a lamp’ and Na gan shi ‘I see him’. Different following objects select different stems. Completive seeing and knowing can describe states holding now; context can also supply past readings. An English past translation does not make the Hausa form inherently past.

Continuatives use verbal nouns and their own linking. Imperative bari has separate vowel-length behavior; some speakers retain imperative -i before objects. This variation limits the finite summary. Ordinary Nigerian Boko leaves tone and vowel length unmarked.

Examples (4)

  1. Na ga fitila.

    I see a lamp.

    A noun object selects ga; the completive permits present seeing.

  2. Na gan shi a kasuwa.

    I saw him at the market.

    The short object pronoun selects gan; the translation assumes a past encounter.

  3. Mun san hanyar.

    We know the route.

    Sani loses final -i before the noun object.

  4. Ta bar jakar a gida.

    She left the bag at home.

    Finite bari loses final -i before the noun object.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

gani / sani / bariLevel 3Common Verbs Outside the Grades

Learn This First

Use the grade inventory and its inherited finite/verbal-noun contrasts before learning the lexical gani/sani/bari group separately.

Words in This Pattern

ganiganisanisanibari