Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yanzu ’yar uwa ta tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi. - Now my sister has a fever; she is not feeling well.

yanzu – now
’yar uwa – sister (literally “daughter of mother”)
ta (after ’yar uwa) – her / of her (a possessive clitic; in context often “my/her sister”)
tana – she is (from ta “she” + na aspect marker “(be) doing/being”)
da – with; in this structure it means “has”
zazzabi – fever
ba – negative particle
ta – she (subject pronoun)
jin – feeling, experiencing (verbal noun from the verb ji, “to feel, hear, sense”)
daɗi – pleasantness, goodness, comfort, “well‑being”

So, literally: “Now sister her she-is with fever, she is not feeling well(-being).”

What does ’yar uwa literally mean, and why does it mean “sister”?

’yar uwa is a set phrase for “sister”, but literally:

’yar – daughter (feminine of ɗa “child”; ɗan for “son”, ’yar for “daughter”)
uwa – mother

Literally, ’yar uwa is “daughter of (the) mother”, but it’s understood as “female child of the same mother” → sister.

Similarly, you may see:

ɗan uwa – literally “son of mother” → (male) sibling / brother (less common in everyday speech than yaya “older sibling”)

So ’yar uwa is the normal, idiomatic way to say “sister” in Hausa.

Why is there an apostrophe at the start of ’yar? How do I pronounce it?

The apostrophe in ’yar represents a glottal stop, a brief closure of the vocal cords, like the break you hear in the middle of “uh‑oh”.

’yar is pronounced roughly like yar, but with a tiny catch in the throat at the start: [ʔjar].
Hausa often writes this glottal stop with an apostrophe (’), especially at the start of words that historically begin with that sound.

So the apostrophe is not a punctuation mark in the English sense here; it is part of the spelling and pronunciation of the word ’yar.

Is ’yar uwa ta one word or two? How do I normally write “my/her sister”?

In careful Hausa spelling, the possessive pronoun usually cliticizes (sticks) to the noun:

’yar uwata – my sister
’yar uwarsa – his sister
’yar uwarta – her sister

In many texts you will see these written as one word (e.g. uwata) or sometimes separated (uwa ta). Your sentence writes it as ’yar uwa ta, but functionally this is:

’yar uwa – sister
-ta – possessive “her” / “my” depending on context

So in more standard, compact writing, your sentence could appear as:

Yanzu ’yar uwata tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi.
“Now my sister has a fever, she’s not feeling well.”

The key point: the ta right after uwa is a possessive clitic (“X’s sister”), not the subject “she” of the verb.

Why do we see ta twice: once in ’yar uwa ta and again inside tana? Aren’t they the same word?

They are related, but they play different grammatical roles here:

ta after ’yar uwa
- This is a possessive clitic: “her / his / my” depending on context.
- It attaches to a noun to show possession: uwata “my mother”, ’yar uwarta “her sister”.
ta inside tana
- tana comes from ta (subject pronoun “she”) + na (aspect marker).
- ta na → tana = “she is (doing/being)”.

So structurally you have:

’yar uwa-ta – her/my sister (noun phrase)
ta‑na da zazzabi – she is with fever → she has a fever

English doesn’t double like this, but Hausa freely has a full noun phrase plus a subject pronoun, especially when you spell the possessive separately.

How does tana da zazzabi mean “she has a fever”? What does da do here?

In Hausa, possession and many “have”‑type meanings are expressed with da, which literally means “with”.

The pattern is:

(Subject) + ne/ce/ya/ta ke da + X (in some tenses)
In the simple present/progressive: (subject) + na/ke + da + X
And for 3sg feminine: tana da X.

So:

tana da zazzabi – she is with fever → she has a fever
ina da kuɗi – I am with money → I have money
suna da yara – they are with children → they have children

So da here doesn’t mean “and”; it functions as the “with/has” marker, giving the meaning of possession or temporary state.

What does ba ta jin daɗi literally mean, and why is it “she’s not feeling well”?

Literally:

ba – not
ta – she
jin – feeling, experiencing (verbal noun from ji, “feel/hear”)
daɗi – pleasantness, goodness, comfort, enjoyment

So ba ta jin daɗi = “she is not feeling pleasantness / she is not experiencing comfort.”

By idiom, this is how Hausa commonly says:

“She is not feeling well.”
“She is uncomfortable / not okay.”

Conversely:

Ina jin daɗi. – I feel good / I’m enjoying it / I feel fine.
Ba na jin daɗi. – I’m not feeling good / I don’t feel well.

In a health context, ba ta jin daɗi is usually understood as “she’s unwell / sick / not feeling well.”

I learned that Hausa negatives are often ba … ba. Why is there only one ba in ba ta jin daɗi?

The full negative pattern is indeed ba … ba, e.g.:

Ba ta jin daɗi ba. – She is not feeling well.
Ba na da kuɗi ba. – I don’t have money.

However, in informal speech and in many texts, especially in short main clauses or in the second clause of a sentence, the final ba is often dropped:

Yanzu ’yar uwata tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi.
(More formal: …, ba ta jin daɗi ba.)

So:

Both Ba ta jin daɗi. and Ba ta jin daɗi ba. are used.
The version with the second ba is more complete / textbook,
the version without it is very common in everyday speech.

Could I say Yanzu ’yar uwata ba ta jin daɗi, tana da zazzabi instead? Does the order matter?

Yes, you can switch the clause order:

Yanzu ’yar uwata tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi.
“Now my sister has a fever, she’s not feeling well.”
Yanzu ’yar uwata ba ta jin daɗi, tana da zazzabi.
“Now my sister is not feeling well, she has a fever.”

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly in focus:

First version focuses first on the fact of having fever, then explains she’s not well.
Second version focuses first on the feeling unwell, then gives the reason (fever).

This is similar to English: “She has a fever; she doesn’t feel well” vs “She doesn’t feel well; she has a fever.”

Can yanzu (now) appear in other positions in the sentence?

Yes. Yanzu is an adverb of time (“now”), and it is quite flexible:

Common positions:

Sentence‑initial (as in your example):
- Yanzu ’yar uwata tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi.
  “Now my sister has a fever, she’s not feeling well.”
After the subject:
- ’Yar uwata yanzu tana da zazzabi, ba ta jin daɗi.
After the verb phrase (less common for “yanzu”, but possible):
- ’Yar uwata tana da zazzabi yanzu, ba ta jin daɗi.

Placing yanzu at the beginning, as in your sentence, is very natural and keeps the time frame clearly in front of the listener.

How would the sentence change if we were talking about a brother instead of a sister?

To refer to a brother (male sibling), you could use ɗan uwa or other kin terms. A simple parallel sentence could be:

Yanzu ɗan uwana yana da zazzabi, ba ya jin daɗi.

Changes:

ɗan uwa-na – my brother (literally “son of mother my”)
yana – “he is” (from ya “he” + na aspect marker)
- feminine: tana (she is)
- masculine: yana (he is)
ba ya jin daɗi – he is not feeling well
- feminine: ba ta jin daɗi
- masculine: ba ya jin daɗi

So the feminine ta / tana become masculine ya / yana in the corresponding positions.