Aboki na yana karatu a makaranta.

My friend is studying at school.

Breakdown of Aboki na yana karatu a makaranta.

• ne: to be
• karatu: to study
• a: at
• makaranta: the school
• aboki: the friend

Questions & Answers about Aboki na yana karatu a makaranta.

What is na in Aboki na?

Na is the 1st person singular possessive pronoun meaning my. In Hausa, possessive pronouns typically follow the noun they modify, so aboki na literally means “friend my,” i.e. “my friend.”

Why is na separate from aboki, and when would I write abokina as one word?

• aboki na (two words) is the fully transparent form: noun + pronoun.
• abokina (one word) is a more compact spelling common in casual writing or speech.
• Both forms mean exactly the same thing; choosing one over the other is a matter of style or pace of speech.

What does yana indicate in this sentence?

• Yana is the 3rd person masculine singular progressive marker.
• It fuses the pronoun ya (“he”) with the aspect suffix -na, giving “he is (doing something).”
• So yana karatu means “he is studying.”

How do you form the present continuous (progressive) in Hausa?

The pattern is:

1. Subject pronoun (like ni, ka, ya, mu, su)
2. The aspect suffix -na (attached to the pronoun)
3. The verb stem or verbal noun
   Examples:
   • Ina cin abinci – “I am eating food.”
   • Kana aiki – “You (m.) are working.”
   • Suna wasa – “They are playing.”

Why is karatu used here instead of a verb like karanta?

• Karatu is a verbal noun meaning “studying” or “reading.”
• Hausa often uses the verbal noun with the progressive marker (yana + verbal noun) to express the continuous aspect.
• Karanta is the infinitive/imperative stem (“to study”), but yana karatu focuses on the ongoing action “he is studying.”

What role does a play in a makaranta?

• A is a locative preposition meaning “in” or “at.”
• It introduces the place where the action happens.
• Thus a makaranta = “at (the) school.”

Why is the locative phrase a makaranta placed at the end of the sentence?

Hausa follows a general Subject–Verb–Object/Location word order. After you state who is doing what, you add any object or location. So:
Subject + Aspect + Verb + Location
becomes Aboki na + yana + karatu + a makaranta.

How would I change the sentence to talk about “my friends” instead of “my friend”?

1. Make aboki plural: abokan (“friends”).
2. Keep the pronoun na after it: abokan na (“my friends”).
3. Switch the aspect marker to 3rd‑person plural suna.
   Final sentence: Abokan na suna karatu a makaranta.