wanda / wadda / waɗanda
Relative Descriptions
Choose head agreement separately from the subject inside the relative clause.
How It Works
Wanda agrees with a masculine singular head, wadda with a feminine singular head, and waɗanda with a plural head. Feminine wacce is another established form. These forms follow nouns without an additional da linker. Self-standing relatives can mean ‘the one who’ or ‘those who’.
Completed and ongoing affirmative relative events use relative completive and relative continuative marking respectively. Future descriptions retain za. Ordinary spelling can hide plain-versus-relative completive pronunciation differences.
Compare the phrase fragments waɗanda suka zo ‘those who came’ and waɗanda na kira ‘those whom I called’. Both heads are plural, but the internal subjects are ‘they’ and ‘I’. A relativized direct object does not automatically require a repeated short object pronoun. Track head agreement, clause-subject agreement and the main clause separately.
Examples (3)
- Wanda ya zo ɗan'uwana ne.
The one who came is my brother.
The masculine relative head is the subject of ‘came’.
- Wadda take aiki a nan malama ce.
The woman working here is a teacher.
Feminine wadda combines with relative continuative take.
- Waɗanda na kira sun iso.
The people I called have arrived.
The plural head is the relative-clause object; sun marks the main clause.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Recognize relative completed and ongoing clauses and attached first-person possession before referring to a person or thing through an agreeing relative expression and an identifying main clause.
- Completed Actions After Focus
Recognize relative completed and ongoing clauses and attached first-person possession before referring to a person or thing through an agreeing relative expression and an identifying main clause.
Level 3 - Ongoing Actions After Focus
Recognize relative completed and ongoing clauses and attached first-person possession before referring to a person or thing through an agreeing relative expression and an identifying main clause.
Level 3 - -na / -taMy with Different Nouns
Recognize relative completed and ongoing clauses and attached first-person possession before referring to a person or thing through an agreeing relative expression and an identifying main clause.
Level 2
Related Patterns
Practice wanda / wadda / waɗanda in Bubblegum
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