Makomar ita ce tafki.

to be

Breakdown of Makomar ita ce tafki.

• ita: she
• makoma: the destination
• tafki: the lake; pond

Questions & Answers about Makomar ita ce tafki.

What is makomar? Is it the same word as makoma?

Yes. The basic dictionary form is usually makoma. In the sentence, it appears as makomar, which is the determinate/linked form.

For many feminine nouns in Hausa, this form ends in -r. Very roughly, you can think of it as the form often used for a specific noun, something like the destination / the fate / the future, depending on context.

So:

• makoma = base form
• makomar = determinate/linked form of that noun

Why is ita used here?

Ita is the independent pronoun meaning she or it.

Here it refers back to makomar. Even though makoma is not a person, Hausa still uses gendered pronouns for nouns, because Hausa has grammatical gender. Since makoma is a feminine noun, the pronoun used is ita.

So in this sentence, ita means something like it.

What does ce mean here?

Ce is the feminine identifying copula. In simple terms, it is one of the words Hausa uses where English would use is in sentences like X is Y.

So in this sentence, ce helps express the idea is.

A very useful beginner pattern is: