Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje. - The children are playing a lot outside.

yara is the full noun (“children”), often used as a topic: “As for the children…”
suna is the subject pronoun + aspect marker (“they are”) that actually carries the verbal meaning.

So Hausa often does:

Yara suna wasa... – “The children, they are playing…”

This topic + pronoun pattern is very common and feels natural to Hausa speakers. It’s not considered redundant the way it might sound to an English speaker.

Is suna the same as su? What’s the difference?

They are related but not the same:

su = “they” (independent pronoun, used for emphasis or on its own)
suna = su + na, fused into one form, used as the subject pronoun + continuous aspect: “they are (doing…)”

Examples:

Su ne yaran da suke nan. – They are the children who are here. (independent su)
Suna wasa. – They are playing. (suna is tied directly to the verb wasa)

In Yara suna wasa, suna is the correct form because it directly introduces the action.

Is wasa a verb (“play”) or a noun (“game / playing”) here?

Grammatically, wasa is a verbal noun – something like “play / playing”.

In Hausa:

The progressive is often formed with:
(subject pronoun + aspect)
- verbal noun

So:

suna – they are (progressive)
wasa – playing

Together: suna wasa ≈ “are playing”.

You can also use wasa as a noun meaning “a game / play / fun”, but in this sentence it functions as the action “playing”.

What exactly does da yawa do in the sentence, and does da mean “and” here?

da yawa is a fixed expression meaning “a lot / much / many”.

da literally can mean “and/with”, but in this phrase it’s better to treat da yawa as one unit: “a lot”.
yawa means “muchness / plenty / a lot”.

In Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje, da yawa is modifying the action wasa:

wasa da yawa – “play a lot / do a lot of playing”

So: They are playing a lot (outside).

Can da yawa come before wasa, like “da yawa wasa”?

No. da yawa normally comes after the word it modifies.

Correct patterns:

wasa da yawa – a lot of playing
yara da yawa – many children
aiki da yawa – a lot of work

Putting da yawa before the noun or verbal noun (e.g. da yawa wasa) is not natural Hausa.

How would I say “The child is playing a lot outside” instead of “The children…”?

Just change the subject from plural to singular:

Yaro yana wasa da yawa a waje.

Breakdown:

Yaro – child
yana – he is (3rd person singular masculine, continuous aspect)
wasa da yawa – playing a lot
a waje – outside

For a girl specifically, you’d normally still say yaro for “child” unless you specify yarinya (girl), but the verb agreement can be feminine:

Yarinya tana wasa da yawa a waje. – The girl is playing a lot outside.

Does Yara suna wasa mean “The children are playing right now” or “Children usually play”?

It can mean either, depending on context and intonation:

Right now / current action:
If you’re looking outside and describing what’s happening:
Yara suna wasa a waje. – The children are playing outside (now).
Habitual / general:
If you’re talking about a general habit:
Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje. – Children (tend to) play a lot outside.

Hausa doesn’t always mark the difference between present progressive and general present as clearly as English; context usually tells you which is meant.

What does a waje literally mean, and can a be left out?

waje – outside / outdoors / outside area
a – a preposition meaning “in / at / on” (location)

So a waje literally is “at/out in the outside”, which we just translate as “outside”.

You cannot usually drop a here.

Yara suna wasa a waje. – correct
Yara suna wasa waje. – incorrect / ungrammatical

Hausa normally requires a preposition like a to introduce locations.

How would I make this sentence negative: “The children are not playing a lot outside”?

Use the negative continuous pattern with ba ... ba and sa:

Yara ba sa wasa da yawa a waje.

Breakdown:

Yara – children
ba sa – they are not (doing)
wasa da yawa – a lot of playing
a waje – outside

Literally: “Children not-do playing a lot outside.”

Could I say just Suna wasa da yawa a waje without yara?

Yes.

Suna wasa da yawa a waje. – They are playing a lot outside.

This is perfectly grammatical; suna already contains the subject “they”.
Adding yara makes it clearer who “they” are:

Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje. – The children, they are playing a lot outside.

So:

With yara: more explicit and natural in many contexts.
Without yara: ok, but we must already know who “they” are from context.

Is the word order in Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje fixed, or can I move things around?

Most of the word order here is fixed:

Subject (topic) → Yara
Subject pronoun/aspect → suna
Verbal noun → wasa
Quantity modifier → da yawa
Location (with preposition) → a waje

Natural options:

Yara suna wasa da yawa a waje. – normal, neutral
A waje yara suna wasa da yawa. – Outside, the children play a lot. (location fronted for emphasis)

You cannot freely scramble inside the verb phrase, e.g.:

✗ Yara suna da yawa wasa a waje. – wrong
✗ Yara da yawa suna wasa a waje. – now this means “Many children are playing outside”, which is a different meaning (da yawa modifies yara, not wasa).

So, moving parts changes either the naturalness or the meaning.