Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yara suna wasa a waje kusa da gida a Asabar. - The children play outside near the house on Saturday.

So overall pattern is: Subject + “are doing” + action + place + time, similar to English:
“The children are playing outside near the house on Saturday.”

Why do we have both yara and suna? Don’t they both mean “they”?

They are not the same thing:

Yara = a full noun phrase meaning “children”.
suna = su + na: the 3rd‑person plural pronoun su (“they”) plus the continuous aspect marker na (“be doing”).

In Hausa, even when you have a full noun subject like yara, you still normally add the subject pronoun + aspect before the verb:

Yara suna wasa – literally “Children they-are playing.”
Ali yana karatu – “Ali he-is reading/studying.”

So yara tells you who they are, and suna shows who is doing it and the aspect (ongoing action).

What exactly does suna mean, and how is it formed?

suna is a contracted form of su + na:

su = “they” (3rd person plural subject pronoun)
na = marker of continuous/progressive aspect (“be doing”)

Together suna means roughly “they are (doing something now / at that time)”.

Other forms of this pattern:

ina – I am (doing)
kana / kina – you (m/f sg) are (doing)
yana / tana – he / she is (doing)
muna – we are (doing)
kuna – you (pl) are (doing)
suna – they are (doing)

So Yara suna wasa = “The children are playing.”

Why is it suna wasa and not something like suna yin wasa or suna yi wasa?

The full form of “to play” is actually yin wasa — literally “doing play”:

yi = “do”
yin = “the doing of” (verbal noun form)
wasa = “play, playing”

In continuous sentences, Hausa very often drops the verb yi when it’s followed by a common action noun like wasa:

Yara suna yin wasa. – The children are doing play.
Yara suna wasa. – The children are playing.

Both are grammatically correct. suna wasa is just shorter and very natural in everyday speech.

What does the preposition a do in a waje and a Asabar?

a is a very general preposition in Hausa. Its basic meanings cover:

at / in / on (a place):
- a gida – at home
- a waje – outside / outdoors
on / in (a time):
- a Asabar – on Saturday
- a dare – at night

So in the sentence:

a waje = “outside” (literally “at outside”)
a Asabar = “on Saturday”

You’ll see a used a lot before places and times, and it’s usually not translated word‑for‑word into English; you just pick the natural preposition in English (“in/at/on”) depending on context.

Does waje simply mean “outside”? Could it also mean “place”?

In this context, waje means “outside / outdoors”:

a waje – outside
Na fita waje. – I went outside.

In other contexts, waje can also mean “place” or “elsewhere, outside (the area/country)”, but:

everyday “place” is more commonly wuri:
- a wuri – at the place
here, with a waje after a verb like wasa, speakers will understand “outside / outdoors”, not just “at a place.”

How does the phrase kusa da gida work grammatically?

kusa da is a two‑part expression meaning “near / close to”:

kusa – “near, close”
da – a linker here, forming “near to”

It always takes a noun after it:

kusa da gida – near the house
kusa da makaranta – near the school
kusa da titi – near the road

So a waje kusa da gida literally means “outside, near the house.” The structure is:

a waje (outside) + kusa da gida (near the house).

Why is it gida and not gidan? Isn’t Hausa supposed to mark “the house”?

Hausa doesn’t use a separate word like English “the”. Instead, definiteness is shown by:

context
possessive/genitive endings (-n / -r)
demonstratives (nan, can, wancan, etc.)

Here, gida by itself can mean “a house” or “the house/home”, depending on context. In everyday speech gida often means “(the) home” in a general, shared sense.

You’d see -n/-r when something follows it, especially in possessive or genitive constructions:

gidan mu – our house
gidan nan – this house
kusa da gidan su – near their house

In kusa da gida, the simple gida is natural and doesn’t feel incomplete to Hausa speakers; English naturally adds “the”, but Hausa does not need an extra marker here.

Can I move the time expression a Asabar to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are fairly flexible. Common options include:

End position (as in your sentence):
- Yara suna wasa a waje kusa da gida a Asabar.
Beginning (for emphasis on the time):
- A Asabar, yara suna wasa a waje kusa da gida.
After the verb phrase but before some other extra information, depending on style and clarity.

All of these are possible; Hausa often puts time either at the beginning or at the end of the clause.

Does a Asabar mean “on a Saturday” (any Saturday) or “on Saturday” (a specific one)?

By itself, a Asabar is a bit flexible; it usually means “on Saturday” and context tells you if it’s:

a specific upcoming/mentioned Saturday, or
a general habit on Saturdays.

If you really want to emphasize a particular Saturday, you often hear:

a ranar Asabar – on the day Saturday
a wannan Asabar – this Saturday

If you want habitual Saturdays (every Saturday), you’d clarify:

a kowace Asabar – on every Saturday
duk Asabar yara suna wasa… – every Saturday the children play…

So a Asabar alone is neutral; context does the work.

What is the singular form of yara?

The singular is:

yaro – “child, boy (often masculine)”
plural: yara – “children”

This is an irregular plural; it doesn’t just add a simple ending. A few patterns:

yaro → yara (child → children)
saurayi → samari (young man → young men)
mutum → mutane (person → people)

So in your sentence Yara suna wasa… = “The children are playing…”. For a single child, you’d say:

Yaro yana wasa a waje kusa da gida a Asabar. – “The child (boy) is playing outside near the house on Saturday.”

Could I say Yara suke wasa a waje… instead of Yara suna wasa a waje…?

Not in exactly the same context. suke and suna are different:

suna = su + na – simple continuous/progressive (“they are doing”)
suke = form with ke, used mainly in focus and relative clauses, often with a nuance of emphasis or habitual when focused.

Examples:

Yara suna wasa a waje. – The children are playing outside. (plain statement)
Yara ne suke wasa a waje. – It’s the children who (are the ones that) play outside.
Yaran da suke wasa a waje… – The children who are playing outside…

So your original neutral sentence about what is happening now uses suna, not bare suke.

Why is the sentence using the continuous form (suna wasa) instead of a simple past or future?

suna wasa (continuous aspect) is used when the playing is:

happening now,
or happening at a specified time (like “on Saturday”) as an ongoing activity.

For other aspects, you would change the auxiliary:

Sun yi wasa a waje kusa da gida. – They played outside near the house. (completed past)
Za su yi wasa a waje kusa da gida. – They will play outside near the house. (future)

But Yara suna wasa a waje kusa da gida a Asabar presents it as an action in progress at that time (Saturday), similar to English “are/will be playing (then).”