Learn Hardcore Hausa: Kafin mu ci abinci, uwa tana wanke hannuwa na yara. - Before we eat, mother washes the children’s hands.

In Hausa, it is very common to start a sentence with a time expression or time clause like Kafin…, Bayan… (after), Lokacin da… (when), etc. So the order
Kafin mu ci abinci, uwa tana wanke hannuwa na yara
is completely natural:
Before we eat, mother is washing the children’s hands.

Why is it mu ci and not something like muna ci?

Mu ci here is a kind of subjunctive / irrealis verb form, often used:

after words like kafin (before), sai (until/then), dole ne (must), etc.
to talk about actions that are not happening yet, but are expected, planned, or hypothetical.

Compare:

Mu ci abinci. – Let’s eat food. (subjunctive, suggestion / command)
Muna cin abinci. – We are eating food. (progressive, happening now)

In Kafin mu ci abinci, the eating has not happened yet; it is something that will happen after the hand‑washing, so the subjunctive ci is used with mu instead of muna ci.

What is the role of mu in mu ci abinci?

Mu is the 1st person plural subject pronoun: we.

Hausa often uses subject pronouns in front of the verb:

Mu ci abinci. – We should eat / let’s eat food.
Mu tafi. – Let’s go / we should go.

So in Kafin mu ci abinci, the structure is:

Kafin – before
mu – we
ci abinci – eat food

Together: before we eat food.

Why is it tana wanke and not simply ta wanke?

Tana wanke uses the progressive aspect, showing an action that is ongoing at that time.

ta wanke hannuwa – she washed the hands / she has washed the hands (completed action)
tana wanke hannuwa – she is washing the hands (in progress)

In the sentence:

uwa tana wanke hannuwa na yara – mother is washing the children’s hands

The form tana is built from:

ta (3rd person feminine subject marker: she)
plus na (progressive marker)

Together: tana = she is (doing). So tana wanke is more like is washing, not washed.

What exactly does uwa mean, and is it the same as mama?

Uwa means mother. It is a more formal / standard term.

You will often hear:

Uwa – mother (formal / dictionary form)
Mama, mama na, innā (dialectal), etc. – mom / mum (more colloquial / affectionate)

In this sentence, uwa can be understood as:

the mother (contextually understood)
or a mother in a more general statement.

Hausa does not use a separate word for the or a; definiteness is understood from context.

Why is tana feminine? Does the sentence say specifically that the mother is female?

Yes. In Hausa, gender is marked in 3rd person singular:

ya / yana – he / he is
ta / tana – she / she is

Since uwa (mother) is grammatically and naturally female, the verb agrees with it:

uwa tana wanke… – mother is washing…

If the subject were a man (baba: father), you would say:

Baba yana wanke hannuwa na yara. – Father is washing the children’s hands.

What does wanke mean, and is it only used for hands?

Wanke means to wash, usually for things like hands, clothes, dishes, etc.

Examples:

Na wanke hannuna. – I washed my hand(s).
Tana wanke kaya. – She is washing clothes.
Sun wanke kwanoni. – They washed the plates.

It is not limited to hands; it is a general verb for washing something with water.

Why is it hannuwa and not hannu?

Hannu = hand, arm (singular).
Hannuwa = hands, arms (plural).

When you wash hands, it is normally both hands, so Hausa naturally uses the plural:

hannuwa – hands

So wanke hannuwa = wash (the) hands.
Using the singular hannu would sound like washing one hand, which is possible but less typical in this context.

How does hannuwa na yara work grammatically? Why is na there?

Hannuwa na yara literally means hands of children.

The structure is:

hannuwa – hands
na – possessive linker: of
yara – children

Hausa uses linker words like na, ta, ɗan, yar, etc., to show possession or close relationship. Here, na is the generic “of” linker:

gidan malam – the teacher’s house / house of the teacher (using -n on the noun)
hannu na yaro – the hand of a child
hannuwa na yara – the hands of (the) children

So na here is similar to English of or the ’s in children’s hands.

Could it also be hannuwan yara instead of hannuwa na yara? Is there a difference?

Yes, both are possible, with a small nuance:

Hannuwan yara
- hannuwa
  - -n (genitive suffix) + yara
- Feels a bit more compact, like a tighter noun phrase: the children’s hands.
Hannuwa na yara
- Uses the linker na as of: hands of (the) children.
- Slightly more explicit / more “spelled out”.

In everyday speech, both would usually be understood the same way:

Uwa tana wanke hannuwan yara.
Uwa tana wanke hannuwa na yara.

Both: Mother is washing the children’s hands.

How does the overall tense and timing work between Kafin mu ci abinci and uwa tana wanke…?

The timing is:

Uwa tana wanke hannuwa na yara – the washing is happening (or habitually happens) first.
Mu ci abinci – the eating happens after that.

Kafin plus the subjunctive mu ci sets up a future or not-yet-happened action. The main clause uwa tana wanke… uses the progressive to show what is (typically) going on at that point in time.

So the sentence expresses:

Before we eat, mother is (typically) in the process of washing the children’s hands.

In context, it can describe a routine (what usually happens before meals) or a specific occasion, depending on surrounding sentences.