Learn Hardcore Hausa: Audu yana da tambaya kan makaranta.

So “yana da tambaya” is literally “he is with a question,” but idiomatically it means “he has a question.”
This yana da construction is the usual way to express possession of something at the moment.

Could I say “Audu yana tambaya kan makaranta” instead of “Audu yana da tambaya kan makaranta”?

You can, but the meaning changes:

“Audu yana da tambaya kan makaranta.”
= “Audu has a question about school.” (he possesses one question)
“Audu yana tambaya kan makaranta.”
= “Audu is asking (a) question(s) about school.” (he is in the act of asking)

So:

“yàna dà + noun” = having/possessing something
“yàna + verb” = doing the action right now

In “yana tambaya”, tambaya is functioning more like a verbal noun: “(is) doing questioning / asking.”

What exactly does “kan” mean in “tambaya kan makaranta”?

Kan is a preposition that often means “on” or “about” in this kind of context.

tambaya kan makaranta = “a question about school”

Commonly:

kan X = on/about X (topic)
You might also see “game da X” with a similar meaning:
- tambaya game da makaranta = “a question about school”

Here kan introduces the topic of the question.

Is “makaranta” “a school” or “the school”? How do I know?

Hausa does not use articles like “a / the”, so “makaranta” can mean:

“school” in general,
“a school”, or
“the school”,

depending entirely on context.

In isolation, “tambaya kan makaranta” is best understood as:

“a question about school” or “a question about the school”,
whichever fits the situation the speaker is talking about.

How would I say “Audu has some questions about school” (plural: questions)?

Use the plural of tambaya (question), which is tambayoyi (questions):

Audu yana da tambayoyi kan makaranta.
= “Audu has (some) questions about school.”

Singular vs plural:

tambaya = a question
tambayoyi = questions

What is the basic word order in “Audu yana da tambaya kan makaranta”?

The structure is:

Audu – Subject (the person)
yana da – Verb phrase expressing possession (“has”)
tambaya – Direct object (“a question”)
kan makaranta – Prepositional phrase (“about school”)

So the order is Subject – Verb – Object – Prepositional phrase, similar to English:

Audu (S) has (V) a question (O) about school (PP).

Can I drop the name and just say “Yana da tambaya kan makaranta”?

Yes, if it is clear from context who “he” is.

Yana da tambaya kan makaranta.
= “He has a question about school.”

You do not normally say “Shi Audu yana da tambaya…” in this case; just “Audu…” is enough for a named subject, and “shi” (he) is only used when you really need to emphasize or clarify the pronoun.

How would I say “I have a question about school”?

Change the subject from 3rd person (he) to 1st person (I). For “I”, the progressive form is ina:

Ina da tambaya kan makaranta.
= “I have a question about school.”

Other persons follow the same pattern:

Kana da tambaya… = You (m.sg.) have a question…
Kina da tambaya… = You (f.sg.) have a question…
Muna da tambaya… = We have a question…

How do I negate this sentence: “Audu doesn’t have a question about school.”?

Use the Hausa negative frame with ba … ba and keep da for possession:

Ba Audu yana da tambaya kan makaranta ba. (more formal/written)
In everyday speech, many speakers say instead:
Audu ba ya da tambaya kan makaranta.

The second is more natural:

Audu ba ya da tambaya kan makaranta.
= “Audu does not have a question about school.”

Pattern:

[Subject] ba ya/ta da [thing]… = Subject does not have [thing]…

How would I say “Audu had a question about school” in the past?

To put “have” in the past, you typically use ya taɓa samun / ya taɓa yin or simply ya yi tambaya depending on what you mean.

If you mean he once had (at some point) a question:

Audu ya taɓa yin tambaya kan makaranta.
= “Audu once asked a question about school.” (focus on the act of asking)

If you just want a simple past of “has a question” in context, Hausa often prefers this “he asked a question” style rather than a literal “he had a question.”