A yau baƙuwa za ta zo gidanmu.

Word by word:

• 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.

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.

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

Hausa has two basic types of pronouns:

1. 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

2. 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.

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.

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.

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-.

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.

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.

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.