Learn Hardcore Hausa: A Talata zan tafi kasuwa. - On Tuesday I will go to the market.

A Talata is the more typical and clearly grammatical way to say on Tuesday.
Using Talata alone feels a bit more like naming the day (Tuesday, I’ll go…) and is more dependent on context and speech rhythm.

For a learner, it’s safest and most natural to keep the A:
A Talata zan tafi kasuwa. = On Tuesday I will go to the market.

Why does A Talata come at the beginning of the sentence? Could it go at the end like in English?

In Hausa, time expressions are very often put at the beginning of the sentence:

A Talata zan tafi kasuwa. – On Tuesday I will go to the market.

However, you can also say:

Zan tafi kasuwa a Talata.

Both are grammatical.

Differences:

A Talata zan tafi kasuwa. – puts extra emphasis on the time (Tuesday).
Zan tafi kasuwa a Talata. – sounds a bit more neutral or focused on the action going to the market.

As a learner, using time expressions at the beginning is very natural in Hausa.

What exactly does zan mean? Is it one word or two?

Zan is one word in writing, but it historically comes from za + ni:

za = a particle that marks future.
ni = I / me.

Over time they blend into zan = I will.

So in this sentence:

zan tafi = I will go.

Other persons:

za ka → zaka = you (m.sg.) will
za ki → zaki = you (f.sg.) will
za shi → zai = he will
za ta → za ta (usually separate) = she will
za mu → zamu = we will
za ku → zaku = you (pl.) will
za su → zasu = they will

Why is there no separate word for I in the sentence? Where is the subject?

In A Talata zan tafi kasuwa, the subject I is already built into zan:

zan = I will

So you do not normally say:

✗ ni zan tafi kasuwa (this sounds odd in most contexts)

The subject pronoun is fused with the tense/aspect marker in Hausa.
You’ll see this pattern for other tenses too, e.g.:

ina tafiya = I am going
na tafi = I went / I have gone

What does tafi mean here, and is it an infinitive like to go?

Tafi is the basic verb form meaning to go / to leave.

After a future marker like zan, Hausa generally uses the bare verb:

zan tafi = I will go
zai zo = he will come
zamu ci = we will eat

So tafi in zan tafi works very much like an infinitive in English after will, but grammatically it’s just the uninflected verb form.

Why is there no word for to before kasuwa? Why not tafi zuwa kasuwa?

In Hausa, with verbs of motion like tafi (go), it is very common and natural to put the destination noun directly after the verb:

zan tafi kasuwa = I will go (to) the market.
sun tafi gida = they went (to) home.

So to is understood from the verb tafi and not expressed separately.

You can say tafi zuwa kasuwa, but:

tafi kasuwa is shorter and more idiomatic in everyday speech.
zuwa is more like towards / to(wards) and shows direction more explicitly, used in some other contexts (e.g. yana magana zuwa gare ni – he is talking to me).

What does kasuwa mean exactly, and is it singular or plural?

Kasuwa means market (a place where you buy and sell things).

It is singular.
The common plural is kasuwanni = markets.

In this sentence:

zan tafi kasuwa = I will go to (the) market.

Hausa often omits articles like the / a, so kasuwa can be understood as the market or a market depending on context.

Is kasuwa a feminine or masculine noun? Does that matter here?

Kasuwa is feminine in Hausa.

Feminine nouns affect agreement with some adjectives, pronouns, and past-tense forms, but
In this particular sentence (A Talata zan tafi kasuwa) nothing is directly agreeing with kasuwa, so the gender does not show up.

You’ll see its femininity matter more in sentences like:

kasuwa ta cika = the market is full (with feminine agreement ta).

How would I say I will not go to the market on Tuesday using this structure?

To negate a future sentence, Hausa uses ba … ba around the clause. A natural version is:

A Talata ba zan tafi kasuwa ba.

Breakdown:

A Talata – on Tuesday
ba zan tafi kasuwa ba – I will not go to the market

You can also put the time later:

Ba zan tafi kasuwa a Talata ba.

Both are grammatical; the first puts more emphasis on Tuesday.

Is the capitalization in A Talata zan tafi kasuwa. important? Should a be lowercase?

In normal Hausa writing:

a is just a regular preposition, so it is usually written lowercase unless it starts the sentence.
Talata (Tuesday) is usually capitalized, like English days of the week.

So if it’s in the middle of a larger text, you might see:

… a Talata zan tafi kasuwa.

At the start of a sentence, A Talata… is capitalized simply because it’s the first word, not because A is inherently capitalized.

Is it more natural to pause after A Talata when speaking?

In normal speech, many speakers do make a small pause or intonational break after the time phrase:

A Talata, zan tafi kasuwa.

This matches the fact that A Talata is a separate time expression placed at the front for emphasis or clarity.

In writing, you may see a comma, but it’s not required. In speech, just a slight pause and a small pitch reset is natural.

Are there other common ways to say on Tuesday I will go to the market in Hausa?

Yes, you might hear small variations, all with the same basic meaning:

A Talata zan je kasuwa.
- je is another motion verb also meaning to go, very common in speech.
Zan tafi kasuwa a ranar Talata.
- a ranar Talata = on the day Tuesday
- Slightly more explicit and a bit more formal/precise.
Ranar Talata zan tafi kasuwa.
- ranar Talata = Tuesday (the day Tuesday)
- Also quite natural.

Your original sentence A Talata zan tafi kasuwa is perfectly natural and clear.