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Questions & Answers about Yara suna karatu yanzu.
What does Yara mean?
Yara is the plural of yaro and means children in English. It serves as the subject of the sentence.
What does suna stand for?
Suna combines the pronoun su (they) with the continuous aspect marker na, so suna literally means they are and marks a present‐continuous action for a plural subject.
Why is karatu used here instead of a regular verb form?
Karatu is a verbal noun meaning reading or studying. After a continuous marker like na, Hausa typically uses a verbal noun to express ongoing actions. Hence suna karatu = they are studying/reading.
How do you form the present continuous tense in Hausa?
You pair a subject pronoun with the continuous marker, then add a verbal noun or verb stem. For example:
• ni ina – I am
• kai kana – you (m.) are
• ke kike – you (f.) are
• yana – he is
• tana – she is
• mu muna – we are
• ku kuna – you (pl.) are
• su suna – they are
Where does yanzu fit in, and what does it mean?
Yanzu means now. It’s an adverb of time and can appear either at the beginning or end of the sentence:
• Yanzu yara suna karatu.
• Yara suna karatu yanzu.
How would you change the sentence to talk about a single child?
Replace yara with yaro (boy) or yarinya (girl), and use the matching singular continuous form:
• Yaro yana karatu yanzu. – The boy is studying now.
• Yarinya tana karatu yanzu. – The girl is studying now.
Can I use karanta instead of karatu, and what’s the difference?
Karanta is the infinitive verb “to read.” You use suna karanta when you have a direct object, e.g. suna karanta littafi (they are reading a book). Karatu is the verbal noun “reading/study,” used without specifying what is read, as in suna karatu (they are studying/reading in general).
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