Ki zauna a nan.

You (feminine), sit here.

Breakdown of Ki zauna a nan.

• nan: here
• zauna: to sit
• ki: you (feminine)

Questions & Answers about Ki zauna a nan.

What does ki mean in this sentence?

Ki is a verb marker that shows the subject is “you (singular, female)” in Hausa, in a command/suggestion form.

So ki zauna is like saying “you (female) should sit” or “please sit (you, woman/girl)”.
If you’re speaking to a woman or girl, ki is the form you use here.

How would this sentence change if I’m speaking to a man or to more than one person?

For a man (one person):

• Ka zauna a nan. – “(You, male) sit here.”

For more than one person (mixed group or all female/male):

• Ku zauna a nan. – “You (plural) sit here.”

So:

• Ki zauna a nan. – to one female
• Ka zauna a nan. – to one male
• Ku zauna a nan. – to several people

Can I drop ki and just say Zauna a nan? Does it still sound natural?

Yes.

• Zauna a nan. – is a direct imperative: “Sit here.”
  It doesn’t show gender or number, but context usually makes it clear.

Nuance:

• Zauna a nan. – a bit more direct, like “Sit here.”
• Ki/Ka/Ku zauna a nan. – often heard as slightly softer or more “sentence-like”, closer to “You should sit here” or “Please sit here.”

All are very common; which one people use depends on tone, context, and how polite/soft they want to sound.

Does zauna only mean “sit”, or can it also mean “stay” or “live”?

Zauna has several related meanings, depending on context:

1. To sit (down)

   • Ki zauna a nan. – Sit here.

2. To stay / remain

   • Ki zauna a nan yau. – Stay here today.

3. To live / reside

   • Ina zaune a Kano. – I live in Kano.

In Ki zauna a nan., the most straightforward reading is “Sit here”, but in a suitable context it could sound like “Stay here” as well (for example, if someone is already sitting and you’re telling them not to move).

Is ki zauna always a command, or can it mean something like “you should sit” or “that you sit”?

Formally, ki here is the subjunctive/jussive marker for you (fem. sg.), which is used for:

• Commands / requests:
  Ki zauna a nan. – Sit here / You should sit here.

• After some verbs and conjunctions (like “want that…”, “so that…”):

  • Ina so ki zauna a nan. – I want you (fem.) to sit here.
  • Don ki zauna a nan. – So that you (fem.) sit here.

In everyday speech, when it’s said on its own, Ki zauna a nan. functions as a command or polite instruction.

What does a mean in a nan, and can I just say nan without it?

A is a preposition that usually means “at / in / on”, depending on context.
Nan means “here”.

• a nan = literally “at here” → “here (at this place)”.

You can sometimes say just nan in speech, especially in short answers or where the preposition is understood:

• Zauna nan. – Sit here. (colloquial, common)
• Ki zauna a nan. – more fully formed, a bit more careful/neutral.

Both are used, but a nan is the more explicit, grammatical form.

Are there other ways to say “here” in Hausa, or is it always a nan?

Yes, there are a few forms related to “here”:

• nan – here (close to the speaker)

  • Ki zauna nan. – Sit here.

• a nan – at/in here (explicitly with preposition)

  • Ki zauna a nan. – Sit (right) here.

• an nan – a contracted spoken form you may hear, essentially the same as a nan in casual speech.

There’s also an nan kusa (“right here, nearby”), and for “there” you’ll see can, can nan, etc.
For this sentence, a nan is the standard “here”.

How polite or rude is Ki zauna a nan.? How would I make it more polite?

Ki zauna a nan. on its own is neutral to slightly direct. It’s not rude by default; tone and context matter a lot.

To sound more polite or softer, you can:

• Add don Allah – literally “for God (please)”:

  • Don Allah, ki zauna a nan. – Please, sit here.

• Use a more indirect structure:

  • Ina roƙonki ki zauna a nan. – I’m asking you (fem.) to sit here.
  • Da kyau ki zauna a nan. – It’s better if you sit here.

In everyday situations, Ki zauna a nan. said in a friendly voice is usually perfectly acceptable.

How do you pronounce ki zauna a nan?

Approximate pronunciation (in simple English terms):

• ki – like “key” in English.

• zauna – roughly “zow-na” or “zaow-na”:

  • zau is like English “cow” but with z at the start.
  • na like “nah”.
• a – short “a” as in “father”, but very brief.
• nan – like “nun”, but with a as in “father”:
  • closer to “nahn”.

So together: ki ZAOW-na a NAHN, with fairly even stress.
Hausa vowels are short and clear; try not to stretch them too much.

Does Hausa always mark the gender of “you” like with ki here?

Hausa marks gender only in some second- and third-person singular forms, mainly in pronouns and verb markers.

For “you (singular)”:

• ka – you (male, singular) marker in many tenses/subjunctive.
• ki – you (female, singular) marker in many tenses/subjunctive.

Examples:

• Ka zauna a nan. – You (male) sit here.
• Ki zauna a nan. – You (female) sit here.

For plural “you”, there’s no gender difference:

• ku zauna a nan. – You all sit here. (any mix of genders)

So yes, in forms like ki zauna, Hausa shows that the addressee is specifically female.

How would I say “Sit there” instead of “Sit here”?

You can change a nan (“here”) to a can (“there”):

• Ki zauna a can. – Sit there. (to one female)
• Ka zauna a can. – Sit there. (to one male)
• Ku zauna a can. – Sit there. (to more than one person)

Colloquially, you might also hear:

• Ki zauna can. – Sit there. (without a)

Is the word order in Ki zauna a nan typical for Hausa sentences?

Yes, this is typical Hausa order:

1. Verb marker / subject marker – ki
2. Verb – zauna
3. Prepositional phrase (place) – a nan

So the structure is roughly:

• [you-F.sg (subjunctive)] [sit] [at here]

In full sentences with explicit pronouns and objects, Hausa is generally Subject–Verb–Object, and locative phrases (like a nan) usually come after the verb and object:

• Ke ki zauna a nan. – You (fem.) should sit here.
  (Subject ke, marker ki, verb zauna, place a nan.)