Kowane memba yana da kati.

to have

Breakdown of Kowane memba yana da kati.

• kowane: every
• ya: he/it
• kati: the card

Questions & Answers about Kowane memba yana da kati.

Why is kowane used here, and what exactly does it mean?

Kowane means every or each.

In Kowane memba yana da kati, it shows that the statement applies to each individual member one by one:

• kowane memba = every member / each member

It is singular in form, even though the idea refers to all members in a group. That is why the rest of the sentence also behaves grammatically like it has a singular subject.

Why is it yana da and not suna da?

Because kowane memba is grammatically singular.

Even though every member refers to many people in real life, Hausa treats kowane memba as each single member. So the verb phrase agrees with a singular subject:

• yana da = he is with / he has
• suna da = they are with / they have

So:

• Kowane memba yana da kati = Every member has a card
• Membobi suna da kati = Members have a card / The members have cards

What does yana da literally mean?