na / ta / sun

Completed Actions

Level 1

Na marks I, ta feminine she/it, and sun they.

How It Works

The ordinary written forms are na, ka, kin, ya, ta, mun, kun, sun: I, male singular you, female singular you, masculine he/it, feminine she/it, we, plural you, and they. Ordinary spelling hides relevant tone and length distinctions.

A named subject retains marking: Maryam ta kawo takarda. Plain completive also serves yes/no questions. Compare Sun yi aiki “They worked” with Suna aiki “They are working”: the first presents a complete unit.

A future reference time can produce “will have”: Gobe da ƙarfe goma sun gama aiki means “Tomorrow at ten they will have finished the work”. Some stative verbs receive present English translations.

Fronted questions, focus and relative clauses can select relative completive forms. Negative completive uses its own paradigm, so paired negative words cannot simply surround every unchanged affirmative form.

Examples (5)

  1. Na rufe jaka.

    I closed a bag.

    First-person singular completive.

  2. Maryam ta kawo takarda.

    Maryam brought paper.

    Ta follows the named feminine subject.

  3. Yara sun yi wasa.

    The children played.

    Plural completive with yi and an action noun.

  4. Kun gama aiki?

    Have you finished the work?

    Plain completive yes/no question.

  5. Gobe da ƙarfe goma sun gama aiki.

    Tomorrow at ten they will have finished the work.

    Completion at a future reference time.

How It Connects

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na / ta / sunLevel 1Completed Actions

Learn This First

Recognize participants and tone/vowel-length notation before distinguishing the completive subject forms, including contrasts hidden by ordinary spelling.

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Patterns that build on this one.

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Words in This Pattern

nata