Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu.

The teacher answered Audu’s question.

Breakdown of Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu.

• Audu: Audu
• malami: the teacher
• tambaya: the question
• amsa: to answer

Questions & Answers about Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu.

What does ya mean here, and why do we need it if we already have Malami?

Ya is the 3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun in the perfective aspect. Roughly, it corresponds to he in he answered.

In Hausa, a finite verb normally needs this subject pronoun, even if a full noun subject like Malami (teacher) is already present. So:

• Malami ya amsa… ≈ The teacher, he answered…

The pronoun agrees with the subject in person, number, and gender. You cannot normally say:

• ✗ Malami amsa tambayar Audu. (ungrammatical)

You need ya to make the verb phrase complete:

• ✓ Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu.

What tense or aspect is expressed by ya amsa?

Ya amsa uses the perfective aspect of the verb amsa (to answer). In most simple contexts, this corresponds to a completed past action in English, like:

• He answered / He has answered.

To compare:

• Ya amsa tambayar Audu. – He answered Audu’s question (completed event).
• Yana amsa tambayar Audu. – He is answering Audu’s question (ongoing, progressive).

Does Malami mean the teacher or a teacher? Where is the / a in Hausa?

Hausa does not use separate words for the and a the way English does. Malami by itself can mean:

• a teacher (indefinite)
• the teacher (definite), if the context makes it clear who you’re talking about

Definiteness is often clear from context or from other structures (like possessives or known participants in the conversation).

You might see forms like malamin or malamī-n in some contexts, which can strengthen definiteness or link the noun to something else, but there is no simple one-word equivalent of English the or a. In this sentence, Malami ya amsa… is naturally understood as The teacher answered… if a specific teacher is in focus.

Why is it tambayar Audu and not just tambaya Audu?

The base noun is tambaya (question). When you say Audu’s question / the question of Audu, Hausa uses a linking consonant (often -n or -r) on the first noun to show a genitive (of) relationship:

• tambaya
  • -r → tambayar Audu
    literally: question-of Audu

So tambayar Audu = Audu’s question / the question of Audu.

The -r is not random; it is the genitive linker that connects the possessed noun (tambaya) to the possessor (Audu).

Is tambayar Audu more like Audu’s question or the question to Audu?

Tambayar Audu primarily means Audu’s question – i.e., the question that Audu asked or the question belonging to Audu.

If you wanted to say the teacher answered Audu (as a person), not specifically his question, you would typically use a structure with wa (to/for):

• Malami ya amsa wa Audu. – The teacher answered (responded) to Audu.

So:

• ya amsa tambayar Audu – he answered Audu’s question
• ya amsa wa Audu – he answered / responded to Audu

What is the grammatical role of Audu in tambayar Audu?

Audu is the possessor (or “of”-noun) in a genitive construction:

• tambayar = question-of
• Audu = the one who owns or is associated with the question

Together they form tambayar Audu = Audu’s question.

Hausa does not add case endings to Audu; instead, the relationship is marked by the linker on the first noun (tambaya → tambayar).

What part of speech is amsa here? I know amsa can also be a noun.

In this sentence, amsa is a verb meaning to answer / to respond:

• ya amsa – he answered

Hausa often uses the same form as both noun and verb:

• amsa (noun) – an answer / a reply
• amsa (verb) – to answer

Context tells you which function it has. Here, because it follows the subject pronoun ya in a verbal slot, it is a verb.

How would the sentence change if the teacher is a woman, or if there are several teachers?

The noun Malami is gender-neutral as a profession word, but you normally show gender and number through the subject pronoun and, often, through a different noun form.

1. Female teacher (one):

   • Noun: Malama (female teacher)
   • Pronoun: ta (3rd sg. feminine perfective)
   • Sentence: Malama ta amsa tambayar Audu.
     – The (female) teacher answered Audu’s question.

2. Several teachers:

   • Noun: Malamai (teachers)
   • Pronoun: suka (3rd pl. perfective in many common patterns; often written sun in simpler descriptions, but suka is the focus form)
   • Neutral, unfocused version you will often see:
     Malamai sun amsa tambayar Audu.
     – The teachers answered Audu’s question.

The key point: ya ↔ masculine singular; ta ↔ feminine singular; sun / suka ↔ plural.

Could we leave out Malami and just say Ya amsa tambayar Audu?

Yes. Ya amsa tambayar Audu. by itself is a perfectly good sentence:

• Ya amsa tambayar Audu. – He answered Audu’s question.

Hausa requires the subject pronoun (ya), but the full noun subject (Malami) is often optional and is used when you want to introduce, identify, or emphasize who the subject is.

So:

• Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu. – The teacher answered Audu’s question.
• Ya amsa tambayar Audu. – He answered Audu’s question (who “he” is must be known from context).

How else can I say Audu’s question using a pronoun instead of the name?

Instead of naming Audu, you can use a possessive pronoun suffix on tambaya:

• tambayarsa – his question
• tambayarta – her question
• tambayarmu – our question
• etc.

So you could say:

• Malami ya amsa tambayarsa. – The teacher answered his question.

This is equivalent in meaning to Malami ya amsa tambayar Audu, assuming “his” refers to Audu. The difference is:

• tambayar Audu – Audu’s question (overt noun possessor)
• tambayarsa – his question (pronoun possessor)