Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai.

yanzu – now, at this moment
kowa – everyone, everybody (literally “every person”)
yana – he is / it is (doing something); 3rd person singular masculine, imperfective/progressive marker
jin – from the verb ji, which means to hear, to feel, to sense, to experience; jin is a form used before an object
daidai – okay, fine, alright here; it can also mean equal, correct, exact in other contexts

So the structure is something like: Now everyone is feeling okay.

Why is it yana and not suna, since kowa means “everyone” (more than one person)?

In Hausa, kowa (everyone) is grammatically singular, even though it refers to many people in meaning.

kowa yana… – literally “everyone (he) is …”
suna is used with a clearly plural subject, e.g. mutane suna… “people are …”, su suna… “they are …”

So:

Kowa yana jin daidai. – Everyone feels okay. (correct, and natural)
Kowa suna jin daidai. – ungrammatical in standard Hausa

Treat kowa as singular for verb agreement.

What exactly does yana do here? Why not just say ya ji daidai?

yana is the imperfective/progressive form: it covers meanings like “is doing”, “does (generally)”, or “feels (now/usually)”.

ya ji daidai – perfective aspect: he felt okay / he has felt okay (at some point)
yana jin daidai – imperfective: he is feeling okay / he feels okay (now or generally)

In Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai, yana:

marks present, ongoing or current state
sounds more like “is (currently) feeling” than “felt (once)”

So yana jin is the right choice for a present-time, “how are they (now)?” context.

Why is it jin and not just ji after yana?

The verb ji (“to hear, feel, sense”) often uses a special form jin when it directly takes an object.

Think of it like this:

ji – the basic verb root “hear/feel”
jin – a “connecting” or construct form of ji, used when something follows it (an object or what is being felt/heard)

Examples:

yana ji – he is hearing/feeling (in general, no object specified)
yana jin daɗi – he is feeling pleasure / feels good
yana jin zafi – he is feeling pain
yana jin daidai – he is feeling okay

So in yana jin daidai, jin links to daidai (“okay”), which is what is being felt.

Does ji / jin here mean “to hear” or “to feel”?

ji is broad: it can mean both “to hear” and “to feel / experience / sense”.

The meaning is decided by context:

Na ji magana. – I heard speech / I heard what was said.
Ina jin daɗi. – I feel good / I enjoy it.
Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai. – Now everyone feels okay.

Here, because daidai is a state (okay/fine), jin is understood as “to feel, to experience (a state)”, not physical hearing.

What are other possible meanings of daidai, and why is it “okay” here?

daidai is a versatile word:

equal / the same – Girman su daidai ne. – “Their size is the same.”
correct / right – Amsa ta daidai ce. – “The answer is correct.”
exact / precise – Lokacin daidai ƙarfe goma. – “Exactly ten o’clock.”
okay / fine / alright – especially in health/feeling contexts

In yana jin daidai, with jin “to feel”, daidai shifts to a health/condition meaning, close to:

feels okay
feels fine
feels all right

So Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai is most naturally “Now everyone feels okay.”

Could I replace daidai with lafiya? What’s the difference between jin daidai and lafiya?

You can use lafiya in similar contexts, but the structure changes slightly:

Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai. – Now everyone feels okay / fine.
Yanzu kowa yana lafiya. – Now everyone is in good health / is fine.

Differences:

jin daidai – literally “feeling okay”; can sound more like feeling all right now, possibly after discomfort or trouble.
lafiya – strongly associated with health, safety, well-being; common in greetings (Lafiya lau. – “Perfectly fine.”)

Both can be used about how people are doing, but:

To mirror “feel okay now (after something)”, jin daidai is slightly closer.
To talk about being in good health generally, lafiya is more typical.

Can yanzu go somewhere else in the sentence, like at the end?

Yes, yanzu is flexible. Common options:

Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai. – Now everyone feels okay.
Kowa yana jin daidai yanzu. – Everyone feels okay now.

Both are natural. The difference is mostly about emphasis:

Starting with yanzu slightly emphasizes the time: As for now, everyone is okay.
Putting yanzu at the end sounds a bit flatter in intonation, but still completely normal.

You wouldn’t normally put yanzu in the middle of the verb phrase (e.g. kowa yanzu yana jin daidai) unless you want a specific rhythmic or focus effect in speech.

How would I turn this into a yes/no question: “Is everyone feeling okay now?”

Two natural ways:

With question intonation only (very common in speech):
- Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai?
With the focus particle ne (also common):
- Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai ne?

Both mean: “Is everyone feeling okay now?”

Notes:

You don’t change the verb form (yana stays the same).
Adding ne often gives a sense of “Is it the case that…?”, and can sound slightly more explicit or careful.

How would I say the opposite: “Now nobody feels okay”?

A natural way that keeps a similar feel is:

Yanzu babu wanda yake jin daidai.
- babu wanda – there is no one who…
- yake jin daidai – is feeling okay

Literally: Now there isn’t anyone who is feeling okay.

You generally don’t negate kowa directly for this meaning; instead you use babu wanda / ba wanda + relative clause:

Yanzu ba wanda yake jin daidai. – also used in many dialects with the same meaning.

If the group is all women, does yana change to tana or suna?

No. Even if the group is all women, you still say:

Yanzu kowa yana jin daidai.

Reasons:

kowa is grammatically singular, and it normally takes the 3rd person masculine singular form (ya-/yana) by default.
Hausa often uses masculine singular as the default/neutral agreement form in such cases.

You would only use tana with a clearly singular feminine subject:

Yanzu Maryamu tana jin daidai. – Now Maryam feels okay.

For a clearly plural group with an explicit plural noun or pronoun, you use suna:

Yanzu mata suna jin daidai. – Now the women feel okay.
Yanzu su suna jin daidai. – Now they feel okay.