Tafkin yana kusa.

near

Breakdown of Tafkin yana kusa.

• ya: he/it
• tafki: the lake; pond

Questions & Answers about Tafkin yana kusa.

Why does tafki become tafkin here?

Tafkin is the definite form of tafki. In simple learner-friendly terms, tafki is lake / a lake, while tafkin is the lake.

The ending -n is commonly used with masculine singular nouns. It often corresponds to English the, although in Hausa it also appears in some linked constructions, so it is not always a perfect one-to-one match with English.

What does yana mean in this sentence?

Here, yana is the form that goes with a third-person masculine singular subject, so it matches tafkin.

In this sentence, it is best understood as something like it is. With words of location or state such as kusa, Hausa uses forms like yana where English would use is.

So you can think of:

tafkin = the lake
yana = it is
kusa = near / nearby

Why is it yana and not tana or suna?

Because tafki is treated as a masculine singular noun in Hausa.

These forms agree with the noun:

• yana = masculine singular
• tana = feminine singular
• suna = plural

So Hausa is not choosing this form based on real-life sex, but on the noun’s .