Ni zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana.

I will take food to his office in the afternoon.

Breakdown of Ni zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana.

• ni: I
• abinci: the food
• rana: the day
• da: during
• zuwa: to
• ofis: the office
• kai: to take
• shi: him

Questions & Answers about Ni zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana.

Why do we have both Ni and zan? Don’t they both mean “I”?

Yes—both refer to the first person singular, but they play different roles.

• zan = za + ni, literally “will + I”, so it already includes “I”.
• Ni is an independent/emphatic pronoun, used to stress “I (and not someone else)”.

So:

• Zan kai masa abinci… = I will take him food…
• Ni zan kai masa abinci… = I will be the one to take him food… (emphasis on “I”).

You can usually drop Ni and just say Zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana.

What exactly does zan mean, and how is the future formed in Hausa?

zan is the future marker for “I”. It’s made from za + ni (“will + I”).

Future forms:

• zan = I will
• za ka = you (m.sg) will
• za ki = you (f.sg) will
• zai = he will
• za ta = she will
• za mu = we will
• za ku = you (pl) will
• za su = they will

So zan kai = I will take, za su kai = they will take, etc.

What does kai mean here? Is it “take” or “bring”?

kai is a verb meaning roughly “take / carry (to a place)”.

• It focuses on moving something/someone to a destination.
• Whether you translate it as “take” or “bring” in English depends on your point of view, but Hausa doesn’t make the same strict take/bring distinction.

Other related verbs:

• ɗauka = to pick up, carry (not necessarily to a specific destination).
• kai = carry/take something to somewhere/someone.

What does masa mean exactly, and how is it formed?

masa means “to him / for him” (indirect object).

It’s made of:

• ma = to, for (a preposition used with indirect objects)
• shi = him

In fast/normal speech and in writing, ma + shi → masa.

Examples:

• Na ba masa littafi. = I gave him a book.
• Zan gaya masa gaskiya. = I will tell him the truth.

If masa means “to him”, what then does ɗinsa mean? Aren’t they both “his/him”?

They both refer to a male person, but they have different grammatical roles:

• masa = to him / for him (indirect object pronoun)
• ɗinsa = his (possessive, showing ownership)

In the sentence:

• masa shows who receives the food (he is the recipient).
• ofis ɗinsa = his office (he owns/uses that office).

So the sentence literally is:
I will take food to him, to his office, in the daytime.

How does ofis ɗinsa work? Why isn’t it just something like ofis sa?

ofis ɗinsa means “his office”.

It’s built like this:

• ofis = office
• ɗin = a “linker/definite marker” often used between a noun and a pronoun or another noun
• sa = his

So ofis + ɗin + sa → ofis ɗinsa.

You’ll see a similar pattern with other nouns:

• mota ɗinsa = his car
• littafi ɗinta = her book
• gida ɗinsu = their house

What does abinci mean? Does it mean “the food” or just “food”?

abinci means “food” in a general sense.

Hausa doesn’t use articles like “the” and “a/an” the same way English does. abinci can be:

• food
• the food
• some food

The exact English article is usually understood from context. If you really want to mark it as “the (specific) food”, you could say abincin ɗin nan = that particular food, but in many cases abinci alone is enough.

What does zuwa mean in this sentence?

zuwa is a preposition meaning roughly “to / towards”.

In zuwa ofis ɗinsa, it introduces the destination:

• zuwa ofis ɗinsa = to his office

Compare:

• Ina tafiya zuwa gida. = I’m going home / to the house.
• Ta aika saƙo zuwa wajensa. = She sent a message to him / to his place.

Why is it da rana for “in the afternoon/daytime”? Doesn’t da mean “with”?

Literally, da often means “with”, but in time expressions it’s used like “in/at”.

Set phrases:

• da safe = in the morning
• da rana = in the daytime / in the afternoon (context decides)
• da yamma = in the evening
• da dare = at night

So da rana is a standard expression for “during the day / in the afternoon”, not “with the day” in English.

Can the word order of masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana be changed?

The basic order here is:

[Verb] [Indirect object] [Direct object] [Destination] [Time]
kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana

This is the most natural order. You can move the time expression around for emphasis, for example:

• Da rana zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa.
  = In the afternoon, I will take him food to his office.

But splitting masa abinci or zuwa ofis ɗinsa unnaturally can sound odd. As a learner, it’s safest to keep the original order.

Could I omit masa and just say Zan kai abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana?

You can, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Zan kai masa abinci… = I will take him food… (recipient is explicit).
• Zan kai abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa… = I will take food to his office… (focus is more on the place, and it’s only implied he’ll get it).

The second sentence might be used if, for example, you leave the food in his office without directly handing it to him.

Is Ni zan kai masa abinci zuwa ofis ɗinsa da rana the only correct way, or can I drop Ni?

You can absolutely drop Ni:

• Ni zan kai masa abinci… (more emphatic)
• Zan kai masa abinci… (neutral)

Both are grammatically correct. Use Ni when you want to stress that you, specifically, are the one doing it (e.g., in contrast to someone else).

Can masa refer to someone else, like “for you” or “for them”?

No. masa is specifically “to/for him”. Other forms are:

• mini = to/for me
• maka / miki = to/for you (m.sg / f.sg)
• masa = to/for him
• mata = to/for her
• muna / mana = to/for us (forms can vary by dialect)
• muku = to/for you (pl)
• musu = to/for them

So if you wanted to say “I will take you food to your office in the afternoon” (to a man), you could say:
Zan kai maka abinci zuwa ofis ɗinka da rana.