Learn Hardcore Hausa: Musa yana da tambayoyi da yawa a makaranta.

So in this sentence, Musa yana da tambayoyi = Musa has questions.
Anytime you see [pronoun] + na + da + noun, it usually means [pronoun] has [noun]:

Ina da littafi – I have a book
Suna da mota – They have a car

Is yana da the only way to say has in Hausa?

For everyday spoken Hausa, [pronoun] + na + da is the standard pattern for have:

Ina da – I have
Kana da / Kina da – You have (m/f)
Yana da – He has
Tana da – She has
Muna da – We have
Kuna da – You (pl.) have
Suna da – They have

Sometimes people speak quickly and you may hear these shortened, but ina da / kana da / yana da etc. are the clear, learner‑friendly forms.

There are other, more formal or stylistic ways to express possession in some contexts, but for a learner, mastering [pronoun] + na + da is enough and very natural.

Why is it tambayoyi and not tambaya in this sentence?

Tambaya means question (singular).
Tambayoyi means questions (plural).

Hausa often forms the plural of nouns that end in -a by changing -a to -oyi:

ƙofa → ƙofofi (door → doors; irregular but similar idea)
hanya → hanyoyi (road → roads)
tambaya → tambayoyi (question → questions)

In the sentence, the meaning is many questions, so the plural form tambayoyi is required, not the singular tambaya.

What does da yawa mean, and how does it work in the sentence?

Da yawa literally combines:

da – with
yawa – quantity, muchness, a lot

Together, da yawa means many, a lot of, or much depending on the noun:

tambayoyi da yawa – many questions
kudi da yawa – a lot of money
mutane da yawa – many people

In Musa yana da tambayoyi da yawa, the phrase da yawa comes after the noun it modifies (tambayoyi), roughly questions many in word order, but in English we move many before the noun (many questions).

What does a mean in a makaranta, and is it in or at?

A is a very common preposition in Hausa that covers meanings like:

The exact English preposition depends on context. Here:

a makaranta → at school or in school

Both at school and in school are usually acceptable translations. Hausa does not distinguish as sharply as English does between at and in with this kind of location phrase.

Why is there no word for the or a before makaranta?

Hausa does not use separate words for a, an, or the the way English does. There is no dedicated article.

The bare noun makaranta can mean:

a school
the school
school (in a general sense)

Which English article you use is decided by context. In this example, a makaranta is best translated as at school, not necessarily at the school, unless earlier context makes a specific school clear.

What is the basic word order of the sentence, and does it match English word order?

The sentence:

Musa yana da tambayoyi da yawa a makaranta.

Breaks down as:

Musa – subject (S)
yana da – verbal complex (V; literally he is with → has)
tambayoyi da yawa – object with quantifier (O)
a makaranta – locative phrase (place)

So the structure is roughly:

S – V – O – (place)

This is fairly similar to English:

Musa (S) has (V) many questions (O) at school (place).

The main differences are:

Hausa shows has as is with (yana da).
The quantifier da yawa comes after the noun, not before it.

If the subject were a girl instead of Musa, what would change in the sentence?

The verb form must agree with the gender of the subject in Hausa.

For a male: yana da – he has
For a female: tana da – she has

So if the subject is Maryam, you would say:

Maryam tana da tambayoyi da yawa a makaranta.
Maryam has many questions at school.

Only yana changes to tana; the rest of the sentence stays the same.

Can a makaranta be moved to the beginning of the sentence, and would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can front the location for emphasis or style:

A makaranta, Musa yana da tambayoyi da yawa.

This is similar to saying in English:

At school, Musa has many questions.

The basic meaning does not change; you just emphasize the place a bit more.

What you normally do not do is break yana da away from its object in a strange way, like:

✗ Musa yana da a makaranta tambayoyi da yawa. (unnatural word order)

Keep yana da right before what is owned (tambayoyi da yawa), and put a makaranta either:

after the object: ... tambayoyi da yawa a makaranta, or
at the very start: A makaranta, Musa yana da tambayoyi da yawa.

How should I pronounce tambayoyi and makaranta? Where is the stress?

Approximate syllable breakdown and stress:

tambayoyi: tam–ba–yo–yi
- Stress is often on ba or yo, depending on dialect, something like tam-BA-yo-yi or tam-ba-YO-yi.
- Make sure the y is a clear y sound (like y in yes).
makaranta: ma–ka–ran–ta
- Typically stressed around ran: ma-ka-RAN-ta.
- The r is usually tapped or lightly rolled, similar to a quick r in some Spanish or Italian dialects.

Hausa vowels are generally pronounced clearly and evenly; don’t reduce them as much as English does.