Learn Hardcore Hausa: A yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu. - Today a female guest will come to our house.

A – a preposition meaning on / at, often used with times and days.
yau – today.
- A yau together = today / on this day.
baƙuwa – female guest or female stranger.
za – future marker (something that will happen).
ta – she (3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun).
- za ta = she will.
zo – come.
gidanmu – our house:
- gida – house
- -n – a linker (often translates as of)
- mu – we / our
- gida + -n + mu → gidanmu = house-of-us = our house.

So the whole sentence is literally: Today, a female guest will come (to) our house.

Why do we say A yau instead of just yau?

A is a preposition meaning on / at, and with time expressions it often gives a slightly more complete or formal feel, like on this day.

A yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu.
= Today a (female) guest will come to our house.

You can also hear:

Yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu.

Both are correct. In everyday speech many people just say yau. A yau can sound a bit more careful, formal or emphatic, but the meaning is essentially the same: today.

Why do we need za ta? Could we just say baƙuwa ta zo gidanmu?

Za marks the future tense. Without za, the verb usually refers to a completed past action or to something habitual, not to a future event.

Compare:

Baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu.
= A female guest will come to our house. (future)
Baƙuwa ta zo gidanmu.
= A female guest came to our house. (past, completed)

So if you want to talk about a planned or expected future event, you normally include za plus a subject pronoun:

Za ta zo – she will come
Zan zo – I will come
Za su zo – they will come

Why is it ta and not ita if it means she?

Hausa has two basic types of pronouns:

Short subject pronouns (attached to verbs/TAM markers):
- na – I
- ka / ki – you (m/f)
- ya / ta – he / she
- mu – we
- ku – you (pl)
- su – they
Independent pronouns (used for emphasis, after prepositions, etc.):
- ni – I
- kai / ke – you (m/f)
- shi / ita – he / she
- mu – we
- ku – you (pl)
- su – they

In za ta zo:

za – future marker
ta – short subject pronoun she

So ta is the normal subject form in verb phrases. Ita is the independent/emphatic form, used in sentences like:

Ita za ta zo gidanmu.
= She (as opposed to someone else) will come to our house.

What does baƙuwa exactly mean? Is it guest or stranger, and why not baƙo?

Baƙuwa is the feminine form of baƙo.

baƙo – male guest / male stranger
baƙuwa – female guest / female stranger

The meaning is culturally broad: someone who is not from the household / not from this place, often received with hospitality. Depending on context, English might use:

guest
visitor
stranger / outsider

In your sentence, because we use baƙuwa (feminine), the pronoun must also be feminine:

A yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu. – she will come

If the guest were male, you would say:

A yau baƙo zai zo gidanmu. – A (male) guest will come to our house.

What is special about the ƙ in baƙuwa?

The letter ƙ (k with a dot below) represents a different sound from plain k in Hausa. It is an implosive / ejective k-sound, made with a little inward movement of air.

It contrasts with k, so it can change meaning:

karẽ vs ƙarẽ – different words
kasa vs ƙasa – e.g. ƙasa can mean soil / ground / country, while kasa has different meanings

So pronouncing baƙuwa with ƙ is important; it is not the same as bakuwà with plain k.

How exactly is gidanmu formed, and why isn’t it just gidamu?

Gidanmu is made of:

gida – house
-n – linking particle (often translates as of)
mu – we / our

So:

gida + -n + mu → gidanmu
literally house-of-us = our house

In Hausa, when a noun is possessed, it often takes this linking consonant (-n or -r) before the possessor or possessive pronoun.

Other examples:

gidan ka – your (m.sg) house
gidan su – their house
motarka – your (m.sg) car (from mota
- -r
  - ka)

You do not say gidamu for our house; the linker -n is required, and the form of gida in this construction is gidan-.

Where is the word to in come to our house? Why is there no preposition before gidanmu?

Hausa often does not use a separate preposition like to for destinations with verbs of motion. The destination can simply follow the verb directly.

So:

za ta zo gidanmu
literally: she will come our house
meaning: she will come to our house

Other examples:

Na je kasuwa. – I went (to) the market.
Sun koma gida. – They returned (to) home.

English needs to, but Hausa normally leaves it out in this kind of structure.

Can the word order be changed, for example putting gidanmu earlier or A yau at the end?

The basic order in your sentence is:

[Time] [Subject] [Future marker + pronoun] [Verb] [Place]

A yau | baƙuwa | za ta | zo | gidanmu.

You can move some elements for emphasis or style, for example:

Yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu. – drop A, still natural.
Baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu a yau. – today moved to the end; still good.
Gidanmu, a yau baƙuwa za ta zo. – As for our house, today a guest will come. (topicalizing gidanmu)

However, you normally keep the future marker + pronoun + verb together (za ta zo), and you keep subject and its verb phrase in order. Something like A yau za ta baƙuwa zo gidanmu would be ungrammatical.

How would the sentence change if the guest were male, or if several guests were coming?

For a male guest:

A yau baƙo zai zo gidanmu.
- baƙo – male guest
- zai – za
  - ya (he will)
    Meaning: Today a (male) guest will come to our house.

For several guests:

A yau baƙi za su zo gidanmu.
- baƙi – guests / visitors (plural)
- za su – they will
  Meaning: Today guests will come to our house.

So you adjust:

the noun (baƙo / baƙuwa / baƙi)
and the subject pronoun (zai / za ta / za su) to match gender and number.