Questions & Answers about Uwa tana ɗakin girki yanzu.
Tana is not a simple equivalent of English “is.”
- It is made of ta + na:
- ta = she (3rd person singular feminine pronoun)
- na = imperfective / progressive marker (often “is …‑ing” in English)
- Together tana roughly means “she is (currently)”, or “she is in the process of …”
So tana ɗakin girki literally feels like “she is (currently) at/in the kitchen” rather than a timeless “she is.”
Yes, from an English point of view it looks like double subjects, but in Hausa that’s normal.
- The pronoun + aspect part (here tana) is obligatory.
- The full noun (Uwa) is optional, used for clarity, emphasis, or introducing the topic.
So:
- Uwa tana ɗakin girki yanzu. – correct and natural.
- Tana ɗakin girki yanzu. – also correct; now it just means “She is in the kitchen now”, and context must tell you who “she” is.
- ✗ Uwa ɗakin girki yanzu. – ungrammatical; you cannot drop tana.
ɗakin girki is a genitive (possessive) noun–noun phrase:
- ɗaki = room
- girki = cooking, food preparation
- ɗaki + -n + girki → ɗakin girki = “room of cooking”, i.e. kitchen
The little -n (or -r after certain endings) is a linker that joins two nouns in a “X of Y” relationship.
So the structure is:
ɗaki‑n girki
room‑LINK cooking → the cooking room / kitchen
The -n in ɗakin girki is the linker used in genitive constructions (“X of Y”).
General pattern (simplified):
- If the first noun ends in a vowel, you usually add ‑n:
- ɗaki → ɗakin girki (room of cooking)
- gida → gidan malam (the teacher’s house)
- If it ends in -a and is feminine, you often see ‑r:
- mace → matar likita (the doctor’s wife / the doctor’s woman)
- uwa → uwar yara (mother of the children)
So ɗakin girki is ɗaki + n + girki, following the “vowel + n” pattern.
They are related but not identical:
- Uwa tana ɗakin girki yanzu.
Focus is on location: Mother is in the kitchen now (she might be cooking, or just there). - Uwa tana girki yanzu.
Focus is on the activity: Mother is cooking now (not just being in the kitchen).
So:
- tana ɗakin girki ≈ “she is in the kitchen”
- tana girki ≈ “she is cooking / doing the cooking”
Hausa often uses a preposition for “in/at”, especially in clearer or more formal speech:
- a = in/at
- cikin = inside, in the middle of
Common explicit options:
- Uwa tana a ɗakin girki yanzu. – Mother is in/at the kitchen now.
- Uwa tana cikin ɗakin girki yanzu. – Mother is inside the kitchen now.
In everyday speech, a / cikin is often dropped when the location is clear, so tana ɗakin girki is understood as “is in the kitchen.”
Yanzu is flexible in position; putting it at the end is just one very common pattern.
All of these are possible (with slightly different rhythms or emphasis):
- Uwa tana ɗakin girki yanzu. – neutral: “Mother is in the kitchen now.”
- Yanzu, Uwa tana ɗakin girki. – focus on “now”.
- Uwa yanzu tana ɗakin girki. – can emphasize the change of state: “Mother now is in the kitchen (as opposed to before).”
For a basic learner, sentence‑final yanzu is the safest default.
Because Uwa is grammatically feminine, and Hausa marks gender in the 3rd person singular.
- tana = ta + na = she is (doing/being) → used with feminine nouns/pronouns.
- yana = ya + na = he/it is (doing/being) → used with masculine nouns/pronouns.
So:
- Uwa tana ɗakin girki yanzu. – Mother is in the kitchen now.
- Baba yana ɗakin girki yanzu. – Father is in the kitchen now.
The verb phrase must agree in gender with the subject.
ɗ represents an implosive “d” sound in Hausa:
- Start like an English “d”, but
- Slightly pull air in (towards the mouth) rather than pushing it out.
A simple learner’s tip:
- If you just pronounce ɗ like a regular English “d”, most speakers will still understand you.
- But be aware that d and ɗ are different letters in Hausa and can distinguish words (e.g. dama vs ɗama).
So ɗakin is roughly da-kin, but with that special implosive d at the start.
You add a possessive suffix to uwa:
- uwa + ta → uwata = my mother
- Full sentence: Uwata tana ɗakin girki yanzu.
Alternatively, in everyday speech you also hear:
- Mamana tana ɗakin girki yanzu. – using mama (“mum”) plus the -na “my” suffix.
Both are natural, with Uwata being a bit more neutral/formal than Mamana.
A common negative pattern for this type of sentence is:
Uwa ba ta cikin ɗakin girki yanzu ba.
Mother not she inside the kitchen now not.
Breakdown:
- ba … ba = general negation frame.
- ta (inside ba ta) = feminine subject pronoun (“she”).
- cikin ɗakin girki = in the kitchen.
So you wrap the clause in ba … ba and keep the subject pronoun (ta) inside the negative frame.
The relevant plurals are:
- uwa (mother) → uyaye (mothers)
- ɗaki (room) → ɗakuna (rooms)
- ɗakin girki (kitchen) →
Literally: ɗakunan girki (kitchens; “rooms of cooking”)
Example sentence:
- Uwayenmu suna ɗakunan girki yanzu.
“Our mothers are in the kitchens now.”- Uwayenmu = our mothers
- suna = they are (plural: su + na)
- ɗakunan girki = kitchens
Uwa is the basic dictionary word for “mother,” but you’ll hear several forms:
- uwa – neutral “mother” (also used in compounds: uwa uba etc.)
- mama – informal, like “mum / mom”
- inni / inna – in some dialects/regions for “mother”
- With possession:
- uwata – my mother
- uwarka – your mother (m.sg.)
- Mamana – my mum
In your sentence, Uwa can mean “(the) mother” generally, or “Mother” as a specific person, depending on context.