Kowane dalibi yana da littafi.

Every student has a book.

Breakdown of Kowane dalibi yana da littafi.

• da: to have
• littafi: the book
• kowane: every
• dalibi: the student

Questions & Answers about Kowane dalibi yana da littafi.

What exactly does kowane mean here? Is it “every” or “each,” and does it imply plural?

Kowane means “every / each” in the sense of distributing something across all members of a group (here: every student, one by one).

Even though you are thinking of many students, kowane itself behaves grammatically as singular: it goes with a singular noun (dalibi, “student”) and a singular verb form (yana, “is/has”). So the idea is “every single student (individually) has a book.”

Why is it yana da and not just a single verb that means “has”?

Hausa does not normally use a simple verb meaning “to have.” Instead, it uses a structure that literally means “to be with”:

• yana da littafi ≈ “he is with a book” → “he has a book.”

In this structure:

• yana = “he is” (3rd person singular masculine, imperfective/continuous form)
• da = “with”
• littafi = “book”

So yana da together is the usual way to express possession (“has”) for “he.”

What tense or aspect is yana? Could I use yake instead?

Yana is the imperfective / continuous form of the verb to be with the 3rd person masculine pronoun ya attached: roughly “he is (in the state of).”

• yana da littafi is the regular, neutral way to say “he has a book.”
• yake da littafi can also appear, especially in focus or relative constructions or more formal/literary style, for example:
  
  • Shi ne dalibin da yake da littafi. – “He is the student who has a book.”

In a simple, neutral sentence like the one you gave, yana da is the most natural choice.

Why is the verb yana singular when we are talking about many students (all students)?

Grammatically, the subject here is not “students” in general, but kowane dalibi – “each/every student,” which is treated as singular.

So Hausa follows the same idea as English:

• English: Every student has a book. (not have)
• Hausa: Kowane dalibi yana da littafi. (singular verb yana)

The plural meaning comes from kowane, but the verb still agrees with the singular noun dalibi.

What is the basic word order in this sentence? Which parts go together?

The basic pattern is:

• Kowane dalibi – “every student” (quantifier + noun → the subject)
• yana da – “has” (literally “is with”) → the predicate / verb phrase
• littafi – “a book” → the possessed item

So overall: [Kowane dalibi] [yana da] [littafi].
It’s still essentially Subject–Verb–Object, just that the “verb” is the compound yana da.

Is dalibi singular or plural? How would I say “students,” and would the sentence change?

Dalibi is singular, meaning “a student.”

The regular plural is dalibai – “students.” But with kowane (“each/every”), you normally keep the noun singular:

• Kowane dalibi yana da littafi. – “Every student has a book.”

If you wanted to talk about “the students” as a group, you’d use the plural noun and plural verb, but normally without kowane:

• Dukkan dalibai suna da littattafai. – “All the students have books.”
  
  • suna da = plural “they have”
  • littattafai = plural of littafi (“books”)

Is littafi definite (“the book”) or indefinite (“a book”)? How do I say “his/her book” or “their own book”?

By itself, littafi is indefinite: here it means “a book” rather than “the book.” Hausa does not use an article like “a/the”; definiteness is usually understood from context, or shown with possessive or demonstrative markers.

To make it more specific:

• littafinsa – “his book”
• littafinta – “her book”

So for example:

• Kowane dalibi yana da littafinsa. – “Each (male) student has his book.”
• Kowane ɗalibi (ko ɗaliba) yana da littafinsa ko littafinta. – “Each student has his/her book.”

Hausa doesn’t have a single gender‑neutral “their” form the way English does; you normally choose masculine or feminine based on context.

Can I say dalibi kowane instead of kowane dalibi?

No. Quantifiers like kowane normally come before the noun they modify.

So:

• Correct: kowane dalibi – “every student”
• Incorrect / unnatural: dalibi kowane

You can compare with other quantifiers:

• duk dalibai – “all (the) students”
• wasu dalibai – “some students”

They also go before the noun.

What is the pronunciation of dalibi and littafi, and is there anything special I should know?

In standard spelling, you will often see ɗalibi with a dotted ɗ, which is an implosive d‑sound (pronounced with a slight inward movement of air). Many texts, especially informal ones, write dalibi.

Approximate pronunciations (ignoring tone):

• ɗalibi: [DAH‑lee‑bee], with a clear three‑syllable rhythm.
• littafi: [LIT‑tah‑fee], double t and stress on the first syllable.

Tone is important in real Hausa, but it’s usually not written in everyday spelling.

How would I negate this idea, for example “Not every student has a book” vs. “No student has a book”?

There are several ways to negate, but two clear, fairly standard options are:

1. “Not every student has a book.”

   • Ba kowane dalibi ke da littafi ba.
     This suggests that some students have a book, but not all of them.

2. “No student has a book.”

   • Babu dalibin da yake da littafi.
     Literally, “There is no student who has a book” → no student has a book.

For simple “X does not have a book” with a pronoun subject:

• Ba shi da littafi. – “He doesn’t have a book.”
• Ba ta da littafi. – “She doesn’t have a book.”