Learn Hardcore Hausa: A Alhamis Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri. - On Thursday father comes back from the office early.

With days of the week, a + day usually means “on [that day]”:
- A Litinin – on Monday
- A Lahadi – on Sunday
  So A Alhamis is naturally understood as “On Thursday” (or, depending on context, “On Thursdays”). It’s very common to put this time phrase at the start of the sentence.

Does A Alhamis mean one specific Thursday or every Thursday?

By itself, A Alhamis can be interpreted in both ways; the context decides:

One specific Thursday (e.g. a plan or schedule):
On Thursday, Baba will be coming back from the office early.
Habitual action on Thursdays:
On Thursdays, Baba (usually) comes back from the office early.

To make “every Thursday” very explicit, Hausa often adds a word like:

duk Alhamis – every Thursday
kowane Alhamis – each Thursday

But even without duk or kowane, A Alhamis Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri will often be understood as a regular habit if the wider context is about routines.

What exactly does Baba mean here? Is it “father”, “dad”, or a proper name?

Baba literally means “father” or “dad”, but in many families it also functions almost like a proper name.

So depending on context:

It can mean “my father”, especially if the speaker is talking about their father. Hausa often omits the “my” when context is clear.
It can also be used as a nickname or respectful title for an older man.

In this sentence, Baba is functioning as the subject’s name or title, like saying “Dad” or “Father” in English.

What is yana? Is it just “he is”?

Yana is more than just “he is”. It combines:

ya- – the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun (he)
-na – an aspect marker used with a verbal noun

So yana + verbal noun expresses an ongoing or habitual action, somewhat like English “he is [verb]ing” or “he [usually] does”, depending on context.

Examples:

Yana cin abinci. – He is eating / He eats (now or regularly).
Yana karatu. – He is reading / studying.

In your sentence, yana dawowa is “he is (in the process of) returning / he (usually) comes back.”

Why do we say yana dawowa and not ya dawo? What’s the difference?

The difference is aspect, not simple past vs present like in English:

ya dawo – perfective aspect
- Focuses on the action as completed:
  - Ya dawo daga ofis. – He (has) come back from the office / He returned from the office.
yana dawowa – imperfective/progressive (using yana
- verbal noun)
- Focuses on the action as ongoing or habitual:
  - Yana dawowa daga ofis. – He is coming back from the office / He (typically) comes back from the office.

So A Alhamis Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri presents his returning as an ongoing or usual pattern on Thursday, rather than a single completed event.

What is dawowa exactly, and how is it related to dawo?

Dawo is the basic verb meaning “return / come back”.
Dawowa is its verbal noun (sometimes called a gerund or -ing form).

Hausa often forms a verbal noun by adding -wa (sometimes with slight changes):

dawo → dawowa – to return → returning
tafi → tafiya – to go → going / journey
zama → zama – to sit / become → sitting / being (same form here)

With yana, you need this verbal noun:

yana dawowa – he is returning
You cannot say *yana dawo; the -wa form is required after yana.

What does daga ofis mean, and when do we use daga?

Daga is a preposition that usually means “from” (origin or starting point).

So:

daga ofis – from the office
daga gida – from home
daga makaranta – from school

You also see daga … zuwa … for “from … to …”:

daga gida zuwa ofis – from home to the office.

In your sentence, yana dawowa daga ofis is “he is returning from the office.”

Is ofis just the English word “office” in Hausa?

Yes. Ofis is a loanword from English “office”, adapted to Hausa spelling and pronunciation.

Some notes:

It behaves like a normal Hausa noun:
- ofis – office
- ofisoshi – offices (one common plural form)
There is no separate word for “the” in Hausa, so ofis can mean “an office” or “the office” depending on context.

So daga ofis is naturally understood as “from the office” here.

How does da wuri mean “early”? Doesn’t da usually mean “and/with”?

Literally, da often means “and” or “with”, but in many fixed expressions it helps form adverbial phrases.

Da wuri is one of these set expressions and means “early”.
Other similar patterns:

da safe – in the morning
da kyau – well / nicely
da sauri – quickly

So in daga ofis da wuri, the da wuri part is best understood simply as “early”, not word‑for‑word “with early.”

Is the word order fixed? Could I move A Alhamis or da wuri to other places?

Basic Hausa word order is Subject – Verb – Object – other phrases. Time and place phrases are fairly flexible, but some positions sound more natural than others.

Your sentence:

A Alhamis Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri.

Common alternatives that are still natural:

Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri a Alhamis.
Baba yana dawowa daga ofis a Alhamis da wuri.

Putting the time phrase A Alhamis at the beginning is very normal and often used to set the time frame first. The key is to keep the verb phrase together (here: yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri) and not split it in an odd way.

How would the sentence change for a female subject or for plural subjects?

Only the subject part of the verb (yana) needs to change:

Masculine singular (he):
- A Alhamis Baba yana dawowa daga ofis da wuri. – On Thursday, Baba comes back from the office early.
Feminine singular (she):
- A Alhamis Hajiya tana dawowa daga ofis da wuri. – On Thursday, Hajiya (or “Mum”) comes back from the office early.
1st person plural (we):
- A Alhamis muna dawowa daga ofis da wuri. – On Thursday, we come back from the office early.
3rd person plural (they):
- A Alhamis suna dawowa daga ofis da wuri. – On Thursday, they come back from the office early.

So the pattern is:

ni – ina dawowa (I am returning)
kai/shi – yana dawowa (you m. sg / he is returning)
ke/ita – tana dawowa (you f. sg / she is returning)
mu – muna dawowa (we are returning)
ku – kuna dawowa (you pl. are returning)
su – suna dawowa (they are returning).