Na saya ruwa a kasuwa don yara.

In Na saya ruwa a kasuwa don yara, Na combines:

• the subject “I”
• plus a perfective (completed action) marker.

So Na saya literally means “I (completedly) bought”, which in English is just “I bought.”

You don’t need an extra word for “did” or a special past-tense ending on the verb; Na already tells you it’s 1st person singular + completed/past.

They’re related but used differently:

1. Sentence-initial Na (capital N)

   • Stands alone before a verb: Na saya ruwa = I bought water.
   • This is the subject + tense form (I + past).

2. Suffix -na / -nā (attached to nouns)

   • Added to the end of a noun: littafi → littafina = my book.
   • This is a possessive ending, meaning “my”.

So:

• Na saya – I bought
• Littafina – my book

They look similar in writing but function differently in the sentence.

The base verb is saya = to buy, but in real usage:

• Na sayi ruwa – is the most common standard form for I bought water.
• Na saya ruwa – is also heard, depending on dialect or speaker, but many grammars teach sayi after Na.

You may encounter:

• Na sayi ruwa – natural, common, recommended to learn first.
• Zan saya ruwa – I will buy water (future, here the form saya is normal).

So for your own speaking/writing, prefer:

• Na sayi ruwa a kasuwa don yara.

Tense/aspect is mainly shown by a particle before the verb, not by changing the verb ending.

For saya:

• Na sayi ruwa. – I bought water. (completed/past)
• Ina sayen ruwa. – I am buying water / I buy water (habitually).
• Zan saya ruwa. – I will buy water.

So:

• Na = 1st person + completed
• The verb sayi/saya itself usually stays in a basic form.

Hausa generally has no separate words for “a / an / the” like English.

• ruwa can mean water, some water, or the water, depending on context.
• yara can mean children, some children, or the children.

So Na saya ruwa a kasuwa don yara can be translated, depending on context, as:

• I bought water at the market for the children.
• I bought some water at the market for (the) children.

If you must be very specific, you add extra words (e.g., waɗannan yaran = these children), but you don’t use an article like the.

Ruwa is usually a mass noun like English water.

• Na saya ruwa. – I bought water.

If you want something countable, you specify the container or unit:

• Na sayi kwalaben ruwa uku. – I bought three bottles of water.
  
  • kwalabe = bottles, uku = three
• Na sayi gallons ɗin ruwa biyu. – I bought two gallons of water.

There is a plural ruwoyi in some contexts, but it’s uncommon in everyday speech; you usually count containers, not the water itself.

The preposition a is a general locative preposition and can correspond to:

• at – Na saya ruwa a kasuwa = I bought water at the market.
• in – Ina aiki a ofis = I work in the office.
• sometimes on or inside, depending on the noun.

So a kasuwa is best understood as “at the market”, but literally it’s just “in/at market” with a broad locative sense.

Yes, but the meaning shifts:

• a kasuwa – focus on location (at/in the market).

  • Na saya ruwa a kasuwa. = I bought water at the market.

• daga kasuwa – focus on origin / from.

  • Na kawo ruwa daga kasuwa. = I brought water from the market.

So:

• a kasuwa answers “Where did you buy it?”
• daga kasuwa answers “Where did you bring/get it from?”

In don yara, don means “for / for the benefit of / on behalf of”.

• Na saya ruwa don yara.
  = I bought water for the children (so that the children can use/drink it).

don (or the longer form domin) can also mean “because of / on account of” in other contexts, often overlapping with “for”:

• Na yi hakan don kai. – I did that for you / because of you.

In your sentence, don is clearly benefactive (for the children’s benefit).

All three can be translated as “for/to the children,” but there are nuances:

• don yara

  • Emphasizes purpose or benefit:
    
    • Na saya ruwa don yara. – I bought water for the children (so they can have it).

• wa yara

  • Often used with verbs of giving, saying, doing to someone:
    
    • Na ba yara ruwa. or Na ba wa yara ruwa. – I gave the children water.
  • Here wa introduces an indirect object.

• ga yara

  • More like “to / toward / for” in a directional or dative sense:
    
    • Na kai ruwa ga yara. – I took water to the children.

In your sentence, don yara is natural because you’re stressing the purpose of buying: it was for (the benefit of) the children.

Yes, that is also correct and very natural:

• Na saya wa yara ruwa a kasuwa.
  = I bought water for the children at the market.

Here:

• wa yara explicitly marks yara as an indirect object (“for/to the children”).
• don yara emphasizes purpose/benefit.

In many everyday contexts, Na saya ruwa don yara and Na saya wa yara ruwa would be understood the same way, though the structure is slightly different.

You add a possessive after yara:

• Na saya ruwa a kasuwa don yaran̄a.
  
  • yara = children
  • -na (attached) = my
  • yaran̄a = my children

So:

• don yara – for (the) children (general)
• don yaran̄a – for my children

To negate Na saya/sayi ruwa a kasuwa don yara, use the Ba … ba pattern:

• Ban sayi ruwa a kasuwa don yara ba.

Breakdown:

• Ba
  • na → ban (contracted)
• sayi – buy
• … ba – closing negative particle

So:

• Na sayi ruwa… – I bought water…
• Ban sayi ruwa… ba. – I did not buy water…