Kamfanin yana harkar sufuri.

The company is in the transport business.

Breakdown of Kamfanin yana harkar sufuri.

• ya: he/it
• sufuri: the transport; transportation
• harka: the matter; line of business
• kamfani: the company

Questions & Answers about Kamfanin yana harkar sufuri.

What is the word-for-word breakdown of Kamfanin yana harkar sufuri?

A helpful rough breakdown is:

• Kamfanin = the company
• yana = it is / it does in the masculine singular continuous/imperfective pattern
• harkar = the business / activity / field of
• sufuri = transport / transportation

So the sentence is literally something like:

• The company is in the business of transport
• or more naturally, The company is in the transport business

Why is yana there if Kamfanin already means the company?

Because in Hausa, this kind of clause normally uses a subject-marking element like yana.

So even when you name the subject directly, Hausa still includes the agreement/aspect marker:

• Kamfanin yana ...

Here yana tells you things like:

• the subject is 3rd person singular
• it is masculine
• the action/state is in the imperfective/ongoing/general pattern

So it is not redundant in Hausa. It is a normal part of the sentence structure.

Why is it yana and not tana?