Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni zan zauna a kan kujera.

zan already contains the subject “I” (it’s za + ni → zan).
Ni is an independent pronoun placed before the verb mainly for emphasis or contrast.

So:

Zan zauna a kan kujera. = I will sit on the chair. (neutral)
Ni zan zauna a kan kujera. = I will sit on the chair. (with the sense I, not someone else, will sit on the chair.)

In normal, neutral speech you often drop Ni unless you want to stress who is doing the action.

Can I drop Ni and just say Zan zauna a kan kujera?

Yes.

Zan zauna a kan kujera. is perfectly correct and very natural.
Ni zan zauna a kan kujera. is also correct but adds emphasis to I.

Use Ni when you’re answering a “who” question or contrasting:

Wa zai zauna a kan kujera? – Who will sit on the chair?
Ni zan zauna a kan kujera. – I will sit on the chair.

For a simple statement, Zan zauna a kan kujera is enough.

What exactly is zan grammatically? Is it like English “will”?

zan is:

the future marker za
+
the short subject pronoun for “I”.

So zan ≈ “will I” as a single chunk, but in English we just translate it as “will” attached to “I”.

Grammatically:

za marks future time.
It must combine with a subject pronoun, usually as one written word:
za + ni → zan, za + ka → za ka, za + ya → zai, etc.
It is followed by the base form of the verb:
zan zauna – I will sit
zai tafi – he will go

So yes, functionally it behaves a lot like English “will”, but it’s fused with the subject pronoun.

How does zan change with other subjects (you, he, we, etc.)?

Here is the full set with za + subject:

1st person singular (I):
za + ni → zan – I will …
Zan zauna. – I will sit.
2nd person singular masculine (you, m.):
za + ka → za ka – you will … (to a man/boy)
Za ka zauna. – You (m.) will sit.
2nd person singular feminine (you, f.):
za + ki → za ki – you will … (to a woman/girl)
Za ki zauna. – You (f.) will sit.
3rd person singular masculine (he):
za + ya → zai – he will …
Zai zauna. – He will sit.
3rd person singular feminine (she):
za + ta → za ta – she will …
Za ta zauna. – She will sit.
1st person plural (we):
za + mu → za mu – we will …
Za mu zauna. – We will sit.
2nd person plural (you all):
za + ku → za ku – you (pl.) will …
Za ku zauna. – You (pl.) will sit.
3rd person plural (they):
za + su → za su – they will …
Za su zauna. – They will sit.

In all of them, the verb (zauna) stays the same; only the za + pronoun part changes.

What form is the verb zauna here? Why not zaune?

In Zan zauna a kan kujera, zauna is the verb’s base form (sometimes called infinitive or simple/predictive form).

zauna → used after tense/aspect markers like za, or by itself in simple past:
- Na zauna. – I sat / I stayed.
- Zan zauna. – I will sit / I will stay.
zaune → a stative / adjectival form meaning sitting, seated, in a sitting position.
It normally appears with progressive or stative pronouns like ina, yana, tana, etc.:
- Ina zaune a kan kujera. – I am sitting (seated) on the chair.
- Yana zaune. – He is sitting / seated.

So:

zan zauna → I will sit (future action)
ina zaune → I am sitting / I am seated (current state)

That’s why in the future sentence you need zauna, not zaune.

What’s the difference between zan zauna and ina zaune?

They describe different times/aspects:

Zan zauna (a kan kujera).
- zan = future
- zauna = sit
  → I will sit (on the chair).
  This is future, something that hasn’t happened yet.
Ina zaune (a kan kujera).
- ina = I am (progressive/stative)
- zaune = in a sitting state
  → I am sitting / I am seated (on the chair).
  This describes your current state.

So:

use zan zauna when you talk about what you’re going to do,
use ina zaune when you talk about how you are right now.

Does zauna only mean “sit”, or can it also mean “stay / live”?

zauna is broader than just “sit”. Depending on context, it can mean:

to sit (down / be seated)
- Zan zauna a kan kujera. – I will sit on the chair.
to stay / remain somewhere
- Za mu zauna a nan. – We will stay here.
to live / reside somewhere
- Ina zaune a Kano. – I live in Kano.
  (Literally “I am in a staying state in Kano.”)

So the same verb covers sit, stay, remain, live; the meaning is chosen by the object or place:

with a chair / seat → usually “sit”
with a city / house → usually “live / stay / reside”.

Why do we say a kan kujera for “on the chair”? What do a and kan each mean?

The phrase a kan kujera is built from:

a – a general locative preposition meaning at / in / on
kan – literally “top, head, surface”
kujera – chair

So a kan kujera is literally:

at the top (surface) of a chair → on the chair

This “a + body-part/position noun” pattern is very common in Hausa:

a cikin gida – in the house (ciki = inside)
a ƙarƙashin tebur – under the table (ƙarƙashi = underside)
a gaban mota – in front of the car (gaba = front)

Similarly, a kan kujera uses kan (top) to give the idea of on (top of) the chair.

Is a kan the same as writing akan as one word?

In practice you will see both spellings, and for physical location (“on the chair”) they often function the same:

a kan kujera
akan kujera

Both can be understood as “on the chair”, and different authors or texts simply prefer one spelling.

Two useful points for a learner:

When the meaning is physical location “on top of”, you are safe using a kan:
- Zan zauna a kan kujera.
When the meaning is more abstract like “about / regarding”, it is very often written as one word:
- Za mu yi magana akan wannan batu. – We will talk about this issue.

So:

For location: think a kan (or akan) = on top of.
For “about, concerning”: usually akan.

How would I say “I will not sit on the chair”?

To negate a future sentence, Hausa uses ba … ba around the verb phrase:

Ba zan zauna a kan kujera ba.
= I will not sit on the chair.

Breakdown:

Ba – first negative particle
zan zauna a kan kujera – I will sit on the chair
ba – closing negative particle

If you want to emphasize “I”, you can add Ni:

Ni ba zan zauna a kan kujera ba.
= I (for my part) will not sit on the chair.

How do I say it with a plural: “I will sit on the chairs”?

The plural of kujera (chair) is kujeru (chairs).

So:

Ni zan zauna a kan kujeru.
= I will sit on the chairs.

Or, without the emphatic Ni:

Zan zauna a kan kujeru.

If you want to make it clear you mean some specific chairs, you usually add something after kujeru, for example:

Zan zauna a kan kujerun nan. – I will sit on these chairs.
(Here kujeru + n + nan = these chairs.)

How do I make it clear I mean “the chair” and not just “a chair”?

Hausa does not have separate words for “a” and “the”. A bare noun like kujera can mean a chair or the chair depending on context.

To make definiteness explicit, Hausa often adds demonstratives or other modifiers:

kujerar nan – this/that chair (near me/us)
kujerar can – that chair (over there)
kujerar da ka kawo – the chair that you brought

So you could say:

Zan zauna a kan kujerar nan.
– I will sit on that/this (particular) chair.

But in many real conversations, if it’s already clear which chair you’re talking about, Zan zauna a kan kujera can naturally be translated into English as either:

I will sit on a chair.
or
I will sit on the chair.

The English article is supplied by context, not by a change in the Hausa noun.