Ina jira yayin da dillali yake duba takalmin.

That’s a very common confusion. In Hausa, ina can mean different things depending on context.

In this sentence, ina is the 1st person singular continuous marker, so ina jira means I am waiting.

As a separate question word, ina? means where?
For example:

• Ina kake? = Where are you?
• Ina jira. = I am waiting.

So the surrounding words tell you which meaning is intended.

Hausa often forms the continuous/progressive idea with a subject marker plus the verb.

Here:

• ina = I am
• jira = wait / waiting

So ina jira means I am waiting or I’m waiting.

For an English speaker, it may help to think of it as a built-in progressive form rather than trying to translate each word too literally.

Yayin da is a conjunction meaning while, as, or sometimes when, depending on context.

In this sentence, it connects the two actions:

• Ina jira = one action
• dillali yake duba takalmin = another action happening at the same time

So yayin da tells you that the second action is happening during the first one.

This is an important grammar point.

In a simple main clause, you would normally expect:

• dillali yana duba takalmin = the seller is checking the shoe

But after a structure like yayin da, Hausa often uses the relative/subordinate form of the continuous marker:

• yana → yake

So:

• yayin da dillali yake duba takalmin

is the expected form in this kind of clause.

A useful way to remember it is:

• yana = common main-clause form
• yake = common form inside relative/subordinate environments

Dillali usually means dealer, broker, trader, or middleman. In everyday context, it can also be understood as a seller depending on the situation.

So in this sentence, it most likely refers to the person handling or inspecting the shoe for sale.

The exact English word can change with context, but the Hausa word stays the same.

Duba literally means to look at, to examine, to inspect, or to check.

So in this sentence, it does not just mean a quick glance. It can suggest that the seller is checking or examining the shoe.

That is why different translations might use:

• looking at
• checking
• examining
• inspecting

All are possible depending on context.

Takalmi means shoe.
Takalmin is the determined/specific form, often translated as the shoe.

So the final -n is not random. It helps show that a specific shoe is being referred to.

Very roughly:

• takalmi = a shoe / shoe
• takalmin = the shoe

This -n ending is very common in Hausa nouns when the noun is made more specific.

The second clause is:

dillali yake duba takalmin

Its order is basically:

• dillali = subject
• yake = continuous marker for the subordinate clause
• duba = verb
• takalmin = object

So Hausa is following a normal subject + marker + verb + object pattern here.

That makes the sentence structure quite regular once you recognize what yake is doing.