Questions & Answers about Na duba adadi, ragowa da iyaka.
What does na mean here?
In this sentence, na is the 1st person singular subject marker, so it means I.
In Hausa, this little word often appears before the verb to show who is doing the action. So:
- na duba = I checked / I looked at
Depending on context, na can also suggest a completed action, so na duba often has a past or perfect sense such as I checked or I have checked.
Why is it na duba and not just duba?
Because Hausa normally needs a marker showing the subject. English can say checked only if the subject is already understood, but Hausa usually makes that explicit.
So:
- na = I
- duba = check / look at / examine
Together, na duba means I checked.
If the subject changed, the first word would change too:
- ka duba = you checked (masculine singular)
- ta duba = she checked
- mun duba = we checked
What kind of verb is duba?
Duba is a common Hausa verb meaning things like: