Learn Hardcore Hausa: Baba yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari.

In Hausa, bàbā is a common everyday word for father / dad.
It can also be used as a nickname or respectful title for an older man, depending on context.
Here, with no extra words, it’s best read as “Dad” or “Father”, not as a personal name like “Baba” in some other cultures.

What exactly does yana mean? Is it just like English “is”?

Yana is not exactly the same as English “is”, even though it often translates that way.

ya = he
na (here) = a marker showing progressive / continuous aspect

Joined together, yana roughly means “he (is) in the process of …”.

So:

Baba yana aiki = Dad is working / Dad is doing work (right now / these days).

In other persons it changes:

Ina aiki – I am working
Kana aiki – You (m.sg) are working
Suna aiki – They are working

So yana already includes the subject he; it’s more than just “is”.

Why do we say yana aiki instead of using a single verb like “works”?

Hausa often uses a helper form + verbal noun instead of a single finite verb.

yi aiki literally means “do work”.
The verbal noun is aiki (work, working).
To say is working, Hausa typically drops yi and uses:
- yana aiki = he is working.

Structure:

Subject (Baba)
- progressive form (yana)
  - verbal noun (aiki).

So there isn’t a single word meaning exactly “works” here; instead, Hausa builds it as “he is (in the process of) work”.

What is the difference between a ofis and a cikin gari? Both seem to mean “in/at”.

The preposition a is very flexible; it can mean at / in / on, depending on context.

a ofis = at the office / in the office (location of the work)
a cikin gari = in the town / within the town

Here cikin adds the idea of inside / within:

a gari – in town (more general)
a cikin gari – inside the town (a bit more explicit about being within it)

So the sentence is basically:

Dad is working at the office (which is) in the town.

Why does Hausa use a twice: a ofis a cikin gari? Can I leave one a out?

You need both a’s; each one belongs to its own phrase.

a ofis – at (the) office
a cikin gari – in (the) town

Each location phrase starts with a, so you get:

… aiki [a ofis] [a cikin gari].

If you drop one a, it sounds ungrammatical or at least odd:

✗ Baba yana aiki ofis a cikin gari – wrong / very unnatural
✗ Baba yana aiki a ofis cikin gari – also not standard

Think of it like English needing a preposition for each phrase:

at the office in the town – both at and in are there.

Why is there no word for “the” in ofis and gari? How do you say “the office” in Hausa?

Hausa usually does not have a separate word like English “the”.

Definiteness is shown by:

context (everyone already knows which office / town), or
adding a suffix like -n / -r / ɗin to the noun.

So you might see:

ofis – office / an office / the office (depending on context)
ofis ɗin – that specific office / the office (already mentioned)
gari – town / the town
garin nan – this town

In Baba yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari, context would usually make it clear you mean “the office in town”, even without a separate word for “the”.

Is ofis really Hausa, or just an English loanword for “office”?

Ofis is a loanword from English, but it is fully accepted in modern Hausa.

Pronounced roughly like English “office”, but with Hausa-style vowels: ó-fis.
There is also the longer form ofishi in some varieties, especially in government or bureaucratic language.

So a ofis is perfectly natural, everyday Hausa for “at the office”.

Could the phrase order be changed, like Baba yana aiki a cikin gari a ofis?

You’ll usually keep the order:

Baba yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari.

This matches the natural flow:

Activity: yana aiki – is working
More specific place: a ofis – at the office
Broader location: a cikin gari – in the town

Other orders might be understood, but are unusual or sound wrong:

✗ Baba yana aiki a cikin gari a ofis – not the normal way to say it.
✗ Baba a ofis yana aiki a cikin gari – very odd.

Stick with “… a ofis a cikin gari” as your standard pattern.

How would I say “My dad is working at the office in town” using this sentence?

You just need to add “my” to Baba:

Baba na yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari.

Breakdown:

Baba na – my dad / my father
yana aiki – is working
a ofis – at the office
a cikin gari – in the town

So:

Baba na yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari. = My dad is working at the office in town.

How would I put this sentence into the past, like “Dad worked at the office in town”?

To make it simple past (completed action), change yana aiki to ya yi aiki:

Baba ya yi aiki a ofis a cikin gari.
– Dad worked at the office in town.

Details:

ya – he (past/perfective subject marker)
yi – do
aiki – work

So ya yi aiki literally = he did work → he worked.

For past continuous (Dad was working at the office in town), you can often keep yana and add a time word:

Jiya, Baba yana aiki a ofis a cikin gari.
– Yesterday, Dad was working at the office in town.