Learn Hardcore Hausa: Bayan mun gama cin abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje. - After we finish eating, the children will play outside.

It introduces a time clause: “Bayan mun gama cin abinci” = “After we finish eating (the food)”.
Grammatically, bayan can behave like:
- A preposition when followed by a noun:
  - Bayan abinci – after the meal
- Or like a subordinator/conjunction when followed by a clause (as in your example):
  - Bayan mun gama cin abinci – After we finish eating…

So here, it’s functioning like a conjunction introducing a subordinate time clause.

Why is it “mun gama” and not “mu gama”? What does “mun” mean?

“Mun” is the 1st person plural perfective form: “we (have) [verb]-ed”.

mu = we (independent pronoun, often used for emphasis or in certain structures)
mun = we
- perfective marker, roughly “we have / we did”

So:

Mun gama ≈ we have finished / we finished
Mu gama here would be wrong; mu on its own does not mark tense or aspect.

In your sentence:

Bayan mun gama cin abinci = After we have finished eating (food)

The -n on mun is part of the verb‑conjugation pattern for the perfective aspect, not a separate word.

What does “gama” mean, and why is it used with eating (“gama cin abinci”) instead of just saying “mun ci abinci”?

“Gama” means “to finish / to complete”.

Mun ci abinci = We ate food / We have eaten
Mun gama cin abinci = We finished eating (the food)

The version with gama emphasizes the completion of the action, which fits nicely with “after” in English.

So:

Bayan mun ci abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje.
= After we eat (have eaten) food, the children will play outside. (more neutral)
Bayan mun gama cin abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje.
= After we *finish eating, the children will play outside.* (emphasizes “finished”)

Both are grammatical, but the sentence you’re learning explicitly highlights finishing the meal.

Why is it “cin abinci” and not “ci abinci” after “gama”? What is that extra -n?

“Ci” is the bare verb “to eat”.
“Cin” is the verbal noun (sometimes called a “masdar” or “-ing” form), similar to “eating” in English.

ci abinci – eat food (finite verb + object)
cin abinci – eating food (verbal noun phrase)

The verb gama normally takes a verbal noun:

gama aiki – finish work (here aiki is itself a noun)
gama cin abinci – finish eating food
gama karatu – finish reading / finish studying

So:

mun ci abinci – we ate food
mun gama cin abinci – we finished *eating food*

That -n in cin is part of how this particular verbal noun is formed.

How is “yara” used? Does it mean “children” in general or “the children”?

“Yara” is the plural of “yaro” (boy/child) and means “children”.

Hausa does not use a separate word like “the” for definiteness. Instead, definiteness is usually understood from context or shown with suffixes or possessive phrases.

yara – children (could be “children” or “the children” depending on context)
yaran nan – these children / the children here
yaranmu – our children

In “yara za su yi wasa a waje”, the most natural translation in English is:

“the children will play outside”

because we usually understand it as specific children already known in the situation (e.g., the children at home, the ones at the table, etc.).

What is the structure of “za su yi”? How does Hausa form the future tense here?

“Za su yi” is a future construction made of:

za – future particle
su – 3rd person plural subject pronoun (“they”)
yi – verb “to do” (or a general verb here paired with wasa)

So literally:

yara za su yi wasa ≈ the children will do play
→ naturally translated as “the children will play”.

Pattern:

za ni tafi – I will go
za ka zo – you (m. sg.) will come
za ta yi aiki – she will work
za su yi wasa – they will play

za + pronoun + verb is the common way to talk about future actions in Hausa.

Why do we say “yi wasa” and not just “wasa” to mean “play”?

In Hausa, many actions are expressed as “light verb + noun” combinations.
Here:

yi = do / make
wasa = play, game, playing (a noun)

Together:

yi wasa = to play (literally “to do play”)

Other similar examples:

yi magana – to speak / talk (literally “do speech”)
yi barci – to sleep (literally “do sleep”)
yi dariya – to laugh (literally “do laughter”)

So “yara za su yi wasa” must include yi; just “yara za su wasa” is not correct in standard Hausa.

What does “a waje” mean exactly? Is “a” a preposition like “in/at”?

Yes. “a” is a common locative preposition, usually translated as “in / at / on” depending on context.

waje by itself means “outside” / “outside place”.
a waje = “outside” (literally: at outside / in the outside place)

Other examples:

a gida – at home
a kasuwa – at the market
a makaranta – at school

So “yara za su yi wasa a waje” =
“the children will play outside.”

Why is there a comma after “cin abinci”? Does Hausa really use two clauses like English “After …, …”?

Yes. Structurally, it’s very similar to English:

Subordinate time clause introduced by bayan:
- Bayan mun gama cin abinci – After we finish eating
Main clause:
- yara za su yi wasa a waje – the children will play outside

Putting it together:

Bayan mun gama cin abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje.

The comma just reflects normal writing conventions to show the boundary between the “after…” clause and the main clause. In speech you’d usually have a slight pause at that point, as in English.

Could we say “Bayan mun ci abinci” instead of “Bayan mun gama cin abinci”? Would the meaning change a lot?

You can say both, and both are correct, but there is a small nuance difference:

Bayan mun ci abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje.
- After we (have) eaten, the children will play outside.
- Focus: the eating event itself.
Bayan mun gama cin abinci, yara za su yi wasa a waje.
- After we finish eating, the children will play outside.
- Focus: the completion of eating; clearly indicates being done with the meal.

In many everyday contexts, this difference is subtle, and both will be understood similarly, but “gama cin abinci” makes the “finished” aspect explicit.