zo
The Hausa verb for "come" is zo.
The verb zo is used to express the act of arriving or appearing.
Meaning: to arrive, to appear (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
The base form zo serves as the imperative when you are addressing one person or a group of people informally. To express the past tense for the phrase "they came", use the auxiliary sun with the verb to form sun zo. To express the future tense for the phrase "they will come", use the auxiliary za su with the verb to form za su zo.
Did you know?
- Because Hausa is a Chadic language, zo shares deep ancestral roots with languages spoken in the Lake Chad basin, making it a linguistic relative to languages that sound completely different from Arabic or English.
- The word zo can be used in a repetitive form to express a continuous or repeated action. Saying zo zo can imply a persistent calling or a repeated arrival.
- In Hausa culture, saying zo to a social superior or an elder can be seen as too blunt. To be polite, speakers often use a phrase that translates to 'please come' or 'I invite you to come'.
Examples in context
- Su zo su hau.Let them come aboard.This sentence demonstrates the use of zo in a command to let people come aboard.Tatoeba #10866764 by ecorralest101, translation #3913243 by CH
- Zo mu je tare.Come along with me.This sentence shows how zo is used to invite someone to come along with the speaker.Tatoeba #10816251 by ecorralest101, translation #249620 by CK
- Za ku zo gobe?Will you come tomorrow?This sentence uses zo to ask a question about coming in the future.Tatoeba #10835162 by ecorralest101, translation #862978 by papabear
- Zo, muna da abubuwa da za mu tattauna su.Come, we have things to discuss.
- 85 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Musa is calling Zainab to join him at the market.
- MusaZainab, zo nan.Zainab, come here.
- ZainabIna zuwa, Musa.I am coming, Musa.
- MusaZo mu je kasuwa.Come, let's go to the market.
- ZainabTo, na zo.Okay, I am coming.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
