Learn Hardcore Hausa: Baba yana aiki duk mako a ofis. - Father works every week at the office.

So Baba yana aiki... is literally like saying Dad he‑is (in the process of) working... and it expresses an action going on now or a regular ongoing activity.

Does Baba yana aiki mean “Dad is working” or “Dad works”?

It can mean both, depending on context:

Right now / at this period:
- Baba yana aiki a ofis = Dad is working at the office (now / these days).
Regularly / habitually (especially with duk mako “all week”):
- Baba yana aiki duk mako a ofis = Dad works all week at the office.

Hausa doesn’t make a strict grammatical distinction like English between “works” and “is working” here. The same form yana aiki covers both continuous and typical present; adverbs like duk mako give you the nuance of habit.

Is aiki a verb here, or is it a noun meaning “work”?

Aiki is a noun meaning work, job, labor.

The underlying full form of the verb phrase is:

yana yin aiki
- yi = to do
- yin = doing (of)
- aiki = work

So literally: Baba yana yin aiki = Dad is doing work.

In everyday speech, Hausa frequently drops the verb yi when it’s followed by aiki, and just says:

yana aiki = he is working / he works

So:

The verb idea is carried by yana
- the implied yi.
Aiki remains a noun (‘work’), even though the whole string functions like “to work” in English.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “he”? Where is “he” in this sentence?

The “he” is built into yana:

ya = he
na = progressive/present marker
yana = he is (doing)

So you don’t say Baba, ya yana aiki. You either use:

Baba yana aiki... (Baba as the subject; yana agrees with him)
or
Ya na aiki... / yana aiki... (He is working...)

Hausa normally doesn’t double the subject with both a full noun and an independent pronoun the way English sometimes can (e.g. My dad, he works...). The subject is stated once, and the agreement is inside the verb form.

What exactly does duk mako mean? Is it “all week” or “every week”?

Duk mako can be understood in two closely related ways:

All (the) week / the whole week – emphasizing the span:
- He works all week (as opposed to just some days).
In many contexts it’s practically equivalent to “every week”:
- He works all week, every week.

If you want to be very clear about “every week” as a repeated pattern, you can also say:

kowane mako = each / every week

So:

Baba yana aiki duk mako a ofis.
→ Dad works all week at the office (i.e. every week, the whole week).

The original sentence is perfectly natural; duk mako is common in speech for this idea.

Why is there no word for “the” before ofis? Why not something like “the office”?

Hausa does not have separate words for “a” or “the” like English.

Definiteness is handled mainly by:

context, and
sometimes by a suffix (like ‑n / ‑r) attached to the noun.

In this sentence you just have ofis:

a ofis
Literal: at office
Natural translation: at the office (because we usually assume a specific workplace)

If you really need to mark definiteness more clearly, you might see a form like:

a ofishin sa = at his office
a ofishin gwamnati = at the government office

But simply a ofis is very normal and is usually translated as “at the office” in English.

What does the preposition a mean here? Is it “in” or “at”?

a is a very common Hausa preposition that can cover English “in”, “at”, and sometimes “on”, depending on context.

In this sentence:

a ofis = at the office / in the office

English forces you to choose between “in” and “at”, but Hausa doesn’t always draw that line. For places, a is the default preposition:

a gida = at home / in the house
a makaranta = at school / in school
a kasuwa = at the market

Can the word order change, for example: Baba yana aiki a ofis duk mako?

Yes, you can move the time and place phrases around without changing the core meaning too much.

These are all acceptable:

Baba yana aiki duk mako a ofis.
Baba yana aiki a ofis duk mako.

Both mean essentially: Dad works all week at the office.

Some notes:

Hausa tends to keep verb + its direct object together, but time words (duk mako) and place phrases (a ofis) are relatively free to move around.
The original order (duk mako before a ofis) slightly emphasizes the time span before the location, but it’s a subtle difference; both are natural.

How would I say “My dad works all week at the office” instead of just “Dad works…”?

You can add a possessive to Baba:

Baba na yana aiki duk mako a ofis.
- Baba na = my dad (literally “dad my”)

Other common colloquial forms you might hear (depending on dialect/region) include:

Babanmu = our dad
Babana = also my dad in many contexts

But the safest, textbook‑style way for “my dad” is:

Baba na

How would the sentence change if we said “Mom works all week at the office” instead of “Dad”?

You would change the noun and the verb agreement:

Mama tana aiki duk mako a ofis.

Changes:

Baba → Mama (Dad → Mom)
yana → tana

In Hausa:

yana = he is (doing) (3rd person singular masculine)
tana = she is (doing) (3rd person singular feminine)

So for a female subject you use tana, not yana.

Is ofis a Hausa word? Are there other ways to say “office”?

Ofis is a borrowed word from English “office”, adapted to Hausa pronunciation.

You will also see:

ofishi – another common borrowed form
ofishin X – the office of X (with a possessive/construct suffix), e.g.
- ofishin likita = the doctor’s office
- ofishin gwamnati = government office

In your sentence, a ofis is perfectly normal and widely understood as at the office.