Learn Hardcore Hausa: Dalibi yana tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla. - The student remembers every word in the sentence.

Dalibi – student (usually male; female is daliba)
yana – he is / is (doing) (3rd person singular masculine, progressive aspect)
tuna – remember, recall
kowace – each / every (feminine form of every)
kalma – word
a cikin – in / inside
jimla – sentence

So the structure is literally: “Student he-is remember every (fem.) word in inside sentence.”

What exactly does yana mean here, and why not just ya tuna?

Both are correct but they express different aspects/time nuances:

yana tuna
- yana = he is (doing)
- This is the progressive / continuous aspect:
  - “The student is recalling / is in the process of remembering every word…”
ya tuna
- ya is a perfective marker (3rd person singular masculine).
- This is more like completed action:
  - “The student remembered / has remembered every word…”

So Dalibi yana tuna… focuses on the ongoing or repeated action, not a single completed event.

Why is it kowace kalma and not kowane kalma or something else?

The word for each/every agrees with the gender of the noun:

kowane – masculine singular (“every” for masculine nouns)
kowace – feminine singular (“every” for feminine nouns)

In Hausa:

kalma (word) is grammatically feminine, so you must use kowace:
- kowace kalma – “every word” (literally each (fem.) word)

If the noun were masculine (e.g. littafi = book), you would use:

kowane littafi – “every book”

Why is kalma singular after kowace? In English we say “every word”, but can it be plural in Hausa?

This is actually similar to English:

English: every word (not every words)
Hausa: kowace kalma (not kowace kalmomi)

After kowane / kowace (“each/every”), the noun stays singular.

If you want to say all the words, you change the structure:

duk kalmomin da ke cikin jimla – “all the words that are in the sentence”
- duk – all
- kalmomin – the words (plural with the definite -n)

What does a cikin mean exactly, and how is it different from just a or just cikin?

a cikin literally: in inside → functions as “in” / “inside”.
- a cikin jimla – “in the sentence / inside the sentence”

Differences:

a by itself
- Basic preposition meaning in/at/on depending on context:
  - a gida – at home
  - a kasuwa – at the market
cikin by itself
- Literally “inside (of)”, often followed by a noun:
  - cikin kwalba – inside a bottle
a cikin
- Very common idiomatic combination, slightly more explicit than just a:
  - a cikin gidan – in the house
  - a cikin jimla – in the sentence

In this sentence, a cikin simply strengthens the idea of being inside the sentence.

Can I say Dalibin yana tuna… instead of Dalibi yana tuna…? What does the -n do?

Yes, you can, and it changes definiteness:

Dalibi – a student / (some) student / the student depending on context
Dalibin – the student (more clearly definite)

The -n at the end is the definite linker (often called a “definite suffix”). It attaches when the noun is definite or linked to something after it.

In Dalibin yana tuna kowace kalma…, you are emphasizing a specific, known student:
“The student is remembering every word in the sentence.”

In many contexts, Dalibi without -n can still be understood as the student if it’s clear from context. Hausa often doesn’t mark definiteness as strictly as English.

Does the verb tuna need da after it, like in Na tuna da kai (“I remember you”)? Why is there no da here?

Tuna can work in two common patterns:

tuna + direct object
- Na tuna kalmomin. – I remember the words.
- Yana tuna kowace kalma. – He is remembering every word.
tuna da + object
- Na tuna da kai. – I remembered you.
- Na tuna da kalmomin. – I remembered the words.

Both are widely used. In this sentence:

yana tuna kowace kalma is tuna + direct object (no da needed).

If you said:

yana tuna da kowace kalma – also understandable; often feels a bit more like “he calls to mind each word”, but the difference is subtle and mostly stylistic here.

Is the word order fixed as Dalibi yana tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla, or can I move parts around?

Basic order in a simple Hausa clause is:

Subject – Aspect/Pronoun – Verb – Object – (Place/Time phrase)

So:

Dalibi (subject)
yana (aspect/subject marker)
tuna (verb)
kowace kalma (object)
a cikin jimla (location phrase)

You normally can’t scramble these freely. These are fine variations:

Dalibi yana tuna kowace kalma da ke cikin jimla.
“The student is remembering every word that is in the sentence.” (adds a relative clause)

But something like:

Dalibi kowace kalma yana tuna a cikin jimla – wrong/very unnatural.

For learning purposes, keep:

Subject – yana – Verb – Object – a cikin + place

How would the sentence change if we talk about students (plural) instead of one student?

You need to change the subject and the corresponding plural progressive marker:

Dalibi yana tuna… – The student (he) is remembering…
Dalibai suna tuna… – The students (they) are remembering…

Full plural version:

Dalibai suna tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
“The students are remembering every word in the sentence.”

Key change:

yana (he is) → suna (they are)
Dalibi (student) → Dalibai (students)

Can I use yake instead of yana here, like Dalibi yake tuna kowace kalma…?

Not in this exact structure. yake is used in relative / focus constructions, not as the normal progressive marker.

Simple progressive:
- Dalibi yana tuna kowace kalma… – The student is remembering every word…
With focus (for example, focusing on who is doing it):
- Shi ne dalibin da yake tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
  “He is the student who is remembering every word in the sentence.”

So:

yana tuna – basic “he is remembering”
yake tuna – used when the clause is part of a relative or focused structure, not as a direct simple statement.