nawa / tawa

Independent Possessives

Level 2

Choose nawa or tawa from the possessed item, regardless of the speaker's gender.

How It Works

Use nawa for a masculine singular or plural referent and tawa for a feminine singular referent. Both identify the speaker as possessor. A man can use tawa for his bag, and a woman can use nawa for her book.

Contrast attached littafina, my book, with independent nawa, mine. In a basic identifying statement, the independent possessive precedes final ne or ce. Plural reference uses nawa and ne, including when the corresponding singular noun is feminine.

A separate emphasis construction places an independent possessive before a noun bearing previous-reference marking. Its noun ending differs in function from an attached possessive. Independent possessives have tone and vowel-length distinctions that ordinary Boko leaves unmarked. Interpret nawa from the complete construction, since the same ordinary spelling can also mean how many or how much.

Examples (3)

  1. Wannan littafi nawa ne.

    This book is mine.

    Masculine reference selects nawa.

  2. Wannan jaka tawa ce.

    This bag is mine.

    Feminine singular reference selects tawa.

  3. Waɗannan kujeru nawa ne.

    These chairs are mine.

    Plural reference selects nawa and ne.

How It Connects

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

nawa / tawaLevel 2Independent Possessives

Learn This First

Recognize attached first-person possession, established-reference nouns and demonstrative identifying clauses before using independent possessive forms and emphasizing an owner.