Learn Hardcore Hausa: A kasuwa akwai wando arha amma riguna suna da tsada. - At the market there are cheap trousers, but the shirts are expensive.

You could also hear a cikin kasuwa (literally “in the inside of the market”), which is a bit more explicitly “inside the market,” but a kasuwa is completely natural and common for “at / in the market.”

What is the role of akwai in this sentence?

akwai is the Hausa existential verb, meaning “there is / there are.”

In A kasuwa akwai wando arha…, it works like this:

A kasuwa – at the market
akwai – there is / there are
wando arha – cheap trousers

So the first clause means: “At the market there are cheap trousers.”

You could think of akwai as the “exist” verb: “At the market cheap trousers exist.” It is very commonly used to introduce or point out the existence or availability of something.

Why is wando singular, but riguna is plural?

This is a common point of confusion.

wando is “trouser / trousers” in Hausa. The same form is typically used for what English treats as a plural “trousers” or “pants.”
- The strict plural is wanduna, but in everyday speech wando is very often used in a collective or generic sense: “trousers (in general).”
riga means “shirt / gown / dress,” and its plural is riguna – “shirts / dresses.”

In this sentence:

wando arha = cheap trousers (in general, available there)
riguna = shirts (plural)

So it’s not that only one pair of trousers is cheap. wando is being used generically, while riguna is explicitly plural. Both are talking about kinds / groups, not one single item.

Why is the adjective arha after wando and not before it?

In Hausa, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

English: cheap trousers
Hausa: wando arha (literally “trousers cheap”)

The pattern is:

Noun + Adjective
wando arha – cheap trousers
riga tsada – expensive shirt
motar baki – black car

So wando arha is just following the regular Hausa word order for noun + adjective.

Does arha change for plural or gender? Should it be different with riguna?

arha (cheap) in this simple adjectival use does not change for plural or gender.

wando arha – cheap trousers
riguna arha – cheap shirts

The adjective arha stays the same, even if the noun is plural or feminine. Many common Hausa adjectives behave like this in basic usage, especially in informal speech. (There are more complex agreement patterns with some adjectives and with mai-/masu- constructions, but for arha here you can keep it simple: one form for everything.)

What does amma mean, and how is it used here?

amma means “but / however.”

It joins two clauses:

A kasuwa akwai wando arha – At the market there are cheap trousers
amma riguna suna da tsada – but shirts are expensive

So amma introduces a contrast between the cheap trousers and the expensive shirts, just like English “but.” It usually comes at the beginning of the second clause, exactly as it does here.

What does suna da tsada literally mean?

suna da tsada literally breaks down as:

su – they
na – (imperfective marker, here combining with su → suna)
da – with / having
tsada – expensiveness (a noun; “costliness / high price”)

So suna da tsada is literally “they are with expensiveness” or “they have expensiveness.”

Idiomatically, that simply means “they are expensive.”

So riguna suna da tsada = “shirts are expensive.”

Why is it suna da tsada and not just sun tsada or su tsada?

Hausa doesn’t normally say *su tsada by itself. There are a few common ways to say “X is expensive”:

X suna da tsada – they have expensiveness → “they are expensive”
X sun yi tsada – they have become expensive (often implying a change: they used to be cheaper)
X masu tsada ne – they are (ones) of expensiveness → they are expensive (more descriptive/literary)

In this sentence, suna da tsada is a very straightforward, neutral way to state a current, general fact:

riguna suna da tsada – shirts are (currently / generally) expensive.

sun tsada alone would be unusual and not the standard pattern. The verb yi or the structure da tsada is normally needed with tsada.

Is suna here like the English verb “are”?

Functionally, yes, it often works like “are”, but grammatically it’s a bit different.

suna = su (they) + na (imperfective aspect marker)

In many sentences about ongoing states or regular situations, Hausa uses:

Subject pronoun + na / ke / yake ...

So:

riguna suna da tsada – literally “shirts, they are-having expensiveness”
In English: “shirts are expensive.”

So while suna is not a separate verb “to be” like English are, the combination pronoun + aspect marker often plays the role of “is / are” in describing current states.

Could the sentence be said without akwai, like A kasuwa wando arha amma…?

You could say A kasuwa wando arha in some contexts, but:

With akwai, it is a clear, standard way to say “there are cheap trousers at the market.”
Without akwai, A kasuwa wando arha can sound more like a phrase (“at the market, cheap trousers”) and may rely on context or intonation to feel complete.

For a full, clear sentence stating existence/availability, Hausa speakers strongly prefer:

A kasuwa akwai wando arha – At the market, there are cheap trousers.

So akwai is very natural and recommended here.

Why is there no word like “the” or “a” (article) in the Hausa sentence?

Hausa does not have separate definite or indefinite articles like English “the” or “a/an.”

The noun by itself can mean:

“a / some …” or “the …”, depending on context.

So:

wando arha – cheap trousers / some cheap trousers / the cheap trousers
riguna suna da tsada – shirts are expensive / the shirts are expensive

The sentence gives a general statement about prices at the market, so “cheap trousers” and “shirts are expensive” is a natural English translation, but Hausa doesn’t need extra words for “the” or “a.”

Do we need to repeat the location for the shirts, like A kasuwa riguna suna da tsada?

You can say:

A kasuwa akwai wando arha amma a kasuwa riguna suna da tsada.

But it is not necessary, and it sounds more natural and less repetitive to say it as in the original:

A kasuwa akwai wando arha amma riguna suna da tsada.

The listener will automatically understand that riguna (shirts) are being talked about in the same context (the market) introduced at the beginning. Repeating a kasuwa is usually only done if you want to emphasize or contrast locations.