’Yar uwa ta tana aiki a asibiti.

My sister is working at the hospital.

Breakdown of ’Yar uwa ta tana aiki a asibiti.

• ne: to be
• a: at
• aiki: to work
• ’yar uwa: the sister
• asibiti: the hospital

Questions & Answers about ’Yar uwa ta tana aiki a asibiti.

What are the individual parts of the sentence, word by word?

The sentence ’Yar uwa ta tana aiki a asibiti can be broken down like this:

• ’Yar uwa – sister (literally “daughter of (the) mother,” i.e. female sibling / female relative)
• ta – my (possessive pronoun attached to a feminine noun phrase)
• tana – she is (3rd person singular feminine in the “continuous/progressive” form)
• aiki – work / working
• a – at / in
• asibiti – hospital

So structurally you have: [sister + my] [she-is] [work] [at] [hospital].

What does ’yar uwa literally mean, and why does it mean “sister”?

Literally:

• ’ya = daughter
• uwa = mother

In the “construct” form, ’ya becomes ’yar, so:

• ’yar uwa ≈ “daughter of (the) mother”

In Hausa, this expression is used to refer to:

• a female sibling (sister), i.e. “a female child of the same mother,” and
• sometimes more broadly a female relative on the same family side, depending on context.

So ’yar uwa is the normal, everyday way to say “sister” in Hausa.

Why is there an apostrophe at the beginning of ’Yar? How do I pronounce it?

The apostrophe in ’yar represents a glottal stop, a brief catch in the throat, like the break in the middle of the English interjection uh-oh.

• ’ya (with apostrophe) is pronounced roughly like ya but with a slight stop right before the y.
• It contrasts with plain ya, which is a different word in Hausa (a masculine 3rd person pronoun or a part of other forms).

So ’yar is not the same as yar:

• ’yar = feminine form (“daughter of / female child of”)
• yar (without the glottal stop) is not the correct spelling here.

In writing, the apostrophe shows that this is the daughter/female child word, not something else.

Why is it ’yar and not ’ya or yarinya for “sister”?

There are three related forms to keep apart:

• ’ya – daughter (basic feminine “child” word)
• ’yar – “daughter of …” (construct form, used before another noun)
• yarinya – girl / young girl

When Hausa makes compound kinship terms like “daughter of the mother,” it often uses the construct form:

• ’yar
  • uwa → ’yar uwa = “daughter of (the) mother” → sister

Using ’ya uwa would be ungrammatical; you need the construct form ’yar in this position.
Using yarinya would change the meaning to “girl,” not “sister.”

So ’yar uwa is the fixed, idiomatic way to say “sister.”

What exactly is ta after uwa? Is it a separate word or part of ’yar uwa?

Here ta is a possessive pronoun meaning “my”, attached to a feminine noun phrase.

• The noun phrase is ’yar uwa (sister).
• Because this noun phrase is feminine, the “my” ending is -ta.
• In careful spelling it is usually written attached to the end of the noun phrase:

’Yar uwata = ’yar uwa (sister) + -ta (my) → my sister

In your sentence it’s written as ’Yar uwa ta, but you will also see (and many would prefer):

• ’Yar uwata tana aiki a asibiti.

So functionally, ta here is “my”, not “she.” It answers the question “whose sister?” → “my sister.”

But doesn’t ta also mean “she” in Hausa? Then why do we have ta and tana together?

Yes, ta is also the 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun (“she”) in some forms. That’s why this sentence can look confusing.

In this sentence, the two similar-looking pieces have different jobs:

1. … uwa ta …

   • ta = my (possessive clitic attached to a feminine noun phrase: “my sister”)

2. tana …

   • tana is a single unit meaning “she is …ing” (feminine continuous/progressive form).

So although the syllable ta appears twice, the first ta is possessive “my”, and the ta- in tana is part of the verb form “she is”.

You can think of it roughly as:

• ’yar uwata – “my sister”
• tana aiki – “she is working”

Is ’Yar uwata more correct than ’Yar uwa ta?

From the point of view of standard spelling, yes:

• Standard / preferred writing: ’Yar uwata
• Less standard / more “spoken-style” writing: ’Yar uwa ta

In grammar terms, the possessive clitic (here, -ta = “my”) is normally written attached to the last word of the noun phrase:

• gida (house, masc) → gidana = my house
• mota (car, fem) → motata = my car
• ’yar uwa (sister, fem phrase) → ’yar uwata = my sister

So if you’re writing carefully, use:

’Yar uwata tana aiki a asibiti.

What exactly does tana mean, and is it one word or two?

Tana functions as one word and means “she is (doing something)” in the continuous / progressive aspect.

For subject + “is …ing” in Hausa you typically have these forms:

• ina – I am …ing
• kana / kina – you (m/f) are …ing
• yana – he is …ing
• tana – she is …ing
• muna – we are …ing
• kuna – you (pl) are …ing
• suna – they are …ing

So:

• tana aiki ≈ “she is working”
• tana tafiya ≈ “she is going / she is walking”

You will usually see tana written as one word, not ta na.

Where is the verb “work” in this sentence? Is aiki a noun or a verb?

Grammatically, aiki is a noun meaning “work, job, task.”

However, in the pattern:

• [subject-continuous form] + [verbal noun / activity noun]

Hausa often uses a noun to express an ongoing activity, similar to saying “She is at work / engaged in work.” So:

• tana aiki literally: “she is (in a state of) work”
• functionally: “she is working”

Other similar patterns:

• yana karatu – he is studying / he is reading
• suna wasa – they are playing

So tana aiki is the Hausa way of saying “she is working,” even though aiki is a noun.

What does the preposition a before asibiti mean? Is it “in” or “at”?

a is a very general locative preposition that often corresponds to English “in, at, on” depending on context. In this sentence:

• a asibiti = in/at a hospital

Examples:

• a gida – at home / in the house
• a makaranta – at school
• a kasuwa – in the market

If you want to emphasize “inside,” you can use a cikin:

• tana aiki a cikin asibiti – she is working inside the hospital.

But for neutral “at a hospital / in a hospital,” plain a asibiti is natural and common.

Can I drop the ta and just say ’Yar uwa tana aiki a asibiti?

You can say ’Yar uwa tana aiki a asibiti, but the meaning changes slightly:

• ’Yar uwata tana aiki a asibiti.
  → My sister is working in a hospital.

• ’Yar uwa tana aiki a asibiti.
  → The sister / a sister is working in a hospital (no explicit “my”).

Hausa can sometimes leave possessive relationships to context, but grammatically:

• If you want to clearly say “my sister”, you should keep the possessive clitic:
  • ’Yar uwata…

How would I say “My brother works in a hospital” instead?

For “brother,” Hausa uses a parallel pattern:

• ɗa = son / (male) child
• ɗan uwa = male child of the same mother → brother (male sibling)

So:

• ɗan uwana – my brother
  
  • ɗan uwa – brother
  • -na – my (after a masculine noun phrase)

Then use the masculine progressive form yana:

ɗan uwana yana aiki a asibiti.
= My brother is working in a hospital.

How do I say “My sisters work in a hospital”? What is the plural of ’yar uwa?

The plural of ’yar (“daughter”) is ’ya’ya, and in the kinship expression:

• ’yar uwa – sister
• ’yan uwa – siblings / brothers and sisters, or “sisters” depending on context

To say “my sisters” specifically, use:

• ’yan uwata – my sisters (literally “my siblings,” but context can make it clear they’re female)

Then use the plural progressive suna:

’Yan uwata suna aiki a asibiti.
= My sisters are working in a hospital.

Does uwa always mean “mother,” or is it only a piece inside ’yar uwa?

Uwa by itself does mean “mother” in Hausa:

• uwata – my mother
• uwarka – your (m.sg) mother

Inside ’yar uwa, it still keeps that basic meaning:

• ’yar uwa – literally “daughter of (the) mother” → sister

So uwa is a normal word meaning mother, and it also appears in this fixed kinship phrase ’yar uwa (“sister”) and ɗan uwa (“brother”).