There are several words in Zarma to translate the English "to be". The defective verb "tí" is used to equate two noun phrases, with the emphasized completive "ka/ga", as in "Ay ma ka ti Yakuba" ("My name is Yakuba"). The existential "gǒ" (negative "sí") is not a verb (White-Kaba, 1994, calls it a "verboid") and has no aspect; it means "exist" and usually links a noun phrase to a descriptive term, such as a place, a price or a participle: "A go fuwo ra" ("She's in the house"). The predicative "nô" means "it is", "they are", etc. and is one of the most common words in Zarma. It has no aspect or negative form and is placed after a noun phrase, sometimes for emphasis: "Ni do no ay ga koy" ("It's to your house I'm going"). Other words, such as "gòró", "cíyà", "tíyà" and "bárà" are much rarer and usually express ideas, such as the subjunctive, which "gǒ" and "tí" cannot handle.