Asking Questions in Hausa: Me, Wa, Ina, Yaushe and Nawa

Asking questions is the fastest way into conversation, and Hausa question words are short and easy to learn.

Question words

Hausa	Meaning	Example
me / mene ne	what	Mene ne wannan? — What is this?
wa / wane / wace	who, which	Wane ne shi? — Who is he?
ina	where	Ina kake? — Where are you? (to a man)
daga ina	from where	Daga ina kake? — Where are you from?
yaushe	when	Yaushe za ka zo? — When will you come?
me ya sa / don me	why	Me ya sa ka makara? — Why are you late? (to a man)
yaya	how	Yaya aiki? — How's work?
nawa	how much, how many	Nawa ne? — How much is it?
wane irin	what kind of	Wane irin abinci ne? — What kind of food is it?

Yes/no questions

Yes/no questions use the same word order as statements, with rising intonation. You can also add ko ("or") for emphasis: Ko kana da lafiya? — Are you well?

• Kana jin Turanci? — Do you speak English? (to a man)
• Kina jin Turanci? — Do you speak English? (to a woman)
• Ka ci abinci? — Have you eaten?
• Ya zo? — Has he come?

Answers: Eh (yes), A'a (no).

Everyday questions

• Mene ne sunanka? — What's your name? (to a man)
• Mene ne sunanki? — What's your name? (to a woman)
• Daga ina kake? — Where are you from?
• Ina kake zaune? — Where do you live?
• Me kake yi? — What are you doing?
• Karfe nawa ne? — What time is it?
• Nawa ne wannan? — How much is this?
• Ina tashar mota? — Where is the bus station?
• Menene ma'anar wannan? — What does this mean?

Gender in questions

Hausa questions often change with the gender of the person you're addressing: kake (m.) versus kike (f.), kana versus kina, sunanka versus sunanki. Choose according to who you're speaking to.

Polite phrases

• Don Allah, ina ...? — Please, where is...?
• Ka yi haƙuri, zan yi tambaya. — Excuse me, I'd like to ask a question. (to a man)
• Za ka iya taimaka mini? — Could you help me? (to a man)
• A hankali, don Allah. — Slowly, please.

Answering questions

• Eh — yes
• A'a — no
• Watakila — maybe
• Ban sani ba — I don't know

Indirect questions

You can embed a question in a sentence: Ban san ina yake ba. — I don't know where he is. Ka faɗa mini yaushe zai zo. — Tell me when he'll come.

Learning tips

1. Learn the question words in a table.
2. Practise gender forms (kake/kike).
3. Use the everyday set for introductions.
4. Listen for rising intonation.

Common mistakes

• Using masculine forms with women.
• Forgetting to mark a question with intonation.
• Mixing up wa and me.

Look up Hausa question words with English Hausa Dictionary →