Malama tana koya mana Hausa a aji.

The female teacher is teaching us Hausa in class.

Breakdown of Malama tana koya mana Hausa a aji.

• ne: to be
• a: in
• mu: us
• Hausa: Hausa
• aji: the class
• koya: to teach
• malama: the female teacher

Questions & Answers about Malama tana koya mana Hausa a aji.

What exactly does Malama mean here? Is it just “teacher,” or does it also mean “Mrs.” or “Madam”?

Malama is a respectful title for a female teacher (or sometimes a learned woman, like a female Islamic scholar).

In this sentence it is best understood as “(the) teacher” and clearly refers to a woman.

In everyday speech, Malama can sometimes feel a bit like “Madam Teacher” or “Miss/Mrs.”, but grammatically it’s a noun, not a separate word like Mrs. in English. Context tells you whether it’s more like a title (“Teacher Aisha”) or just “the teacher.”

Is Malama always feminine? What would you say for a male teacher?

Yes, Malama is specifically feminine.

The masculine form is Malam:

• Malam = male teacher / learned man
• Malama = female teacher / learned woman

So the masculine version of this sentence would be:
Malam yana koya mana Hausa a aji.
(“The [male] teacher is teaching us Hausa in class.”)

What does tana mean, and how is it formed?

tana in this sentence is roughly “she is (doing something)”.

It is made of two parts fused together:

• ta – 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun (“she”)
• na – marker of progressive / continuous aspect (“is doing, is in the process of”).

Together: ta + na → tana

So Malama tana koya… literally has the idea “The (female) teacher, she is teaching…”, i.e. “The teacher is teaching…” in the present continuous.

Does tana mean “she is” in general, or only “she is doing (an action)”?

In this kind of sentence, tana always comes before a verb and means “she is (in the process of) doing X”.

• tana koya – she is teaching / she is learning
• tana rubutu – she is writing
• tana magana – she is speaking

If you want “she is” in the sense of equating (“she is a teacher”), Hausa normally uses a different structure (often without a direct equivalent of “is”), e.g.:

• Malama ce. – She is a teacher.

So think of tana as “she is [verb]-ing”, not as the general “she is = she exists / she equals.”

What is the difference between tana koya and ta koya?

• tana koya = “she is teaching / she is learning” (ongoing, right now, or around this time)
• ta koya = “she taught / she learned” (simple past, completed action)

So:

• Malama tana koya mana Hausa a aji.
  → The teacher is teaching us Hausa in class.

• Malama ta koya mana Hausa a jiya.
  → The teacher taught us Hausa yesterday.

Can koya mean both “teach” and “learn”? How do I know which meaning is intended?

Yes, koya is one of those Hausa verbs that can mean “to learn” or “to teach”, depending on the structure:

• koya abu often means “learn something”

  • Ina koya Hausa. – I am learning Hausa.

• koya wa mutum abu means “teach someone something”

  • Malama tana koya mana Hausa. – The teacher is teaching us Hausa.

In your sentence, because we have:

• a teacher (Malama) as subject
• mana (“to us”) as an indirect object

the natural meaning is “teach us Hausa” rather than “learn Hausa from us.” Context and who is doing what tell you which sense is intended.

What exactly does mana mean in this sentence?

mana here means “to us / for us” and functions as an indirect object pronoun.

It corresponds to something like English “us” when used after the verb with a preposition idea:

• tana koya mana Hausa
  → literally: “she is teaching to us Hausa”
  → natural English: “she is teaching us Hausa”

So the pattern is:

• koya (teach) + mana (to us) + Hausa (what is being taught).

How is mana different from mu? They both seem related to “we/us.”

They are related but not used in the same way:

• mu is the independent pronoun for “we / us”

  • Mu ɗalibai ne. – We are students.
  • Sun ga mu. – They saw us.

• mana is a clitic / indirect object pronoun meaning “to us / for us”

  • Malama tana koya mana Hausa. – The teacher is teaching us Hausa.
  • Sun ba mana littafi. – They gave us a book.

So:

• Use mu when “we/us” stands alone or as a direct object.
• Use mana when it’s more like “to us / for us” after a verb.

If mana means “to us,” what would “to them” or “to him/her” look like in the same pattern?

Here are some common indirect object pronouns that match mana:

• mini – to me
• maka / maki – to you (m.sg / f.sg)
• masa / mata – to him / to her
• mugga (or mana in some dialects) – to us
• muku – to you (plural)
• musu – to them

So you could say:

• Malama tana koya musu Hausa a aji.
  → The teacher is teaching them Hausa in class.

• Malama tana koya mini Hausa a aji.
  → The teacher is teaching me Hausa in class.

Why is Hausa placed after mana? Could it go before?

The normal word order with these clitic pronouns is:

Verb + indirect object pronoun + direct object

In your sentence:

• koya – verb
• mana – indirect object (“to us”)
• Hausa – direct object (what is being taught)

So koya mana Hausa is the natural order.

Putting Hausa before mana (koya Hausa mana) is not the usual neutral order with this verb + pronoun combination and would typically sound odd or marked.

What does a aji mean, and why are there two a’s in a row?

a aji literally is:

• a – a preposition meaning “in / at / on” (location, time, etc.)
• aji – “class, classroom, class session, grade” (depending on context)

So a aji = “in class / in the classroom”.

The two a’s appear because:

• One a is the preposition
• The noun aji itself begins with a

In writing, they’re separated: a aji. In speech, they flow together naturally, like “in in-class” in very fast English.

Is aji “class” as in “lesson,” or “classroom,” or “grade level”?

aji can mean several related things; the exact sense depends on context:

• class session / lesson period:

  • Yanzu muna aji. – We are in (our) lesson now.

• classroom (the room):

  • Malam yana aji. – The teacher is in the classroom.

• grade / year level:

  • Ina aji na uku. – I am in third grade / JSS 3, depending on system.

In your sentence a aji, the most natural reading is “in class / in the classroom.”

Could I say a cikin aji instead of a aji? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say a cikin aji, and it sounds a bit more explicit:

• a cikin literally = “inside (of)”
• a cikin aji = “inside the classroom / in the class”

Meaning-wise, a aji and a cikin aji are very close here.
a cikin aji can sometimes feel a bit more concrete/physical (“inside the classroom space”), but in everyday speech both can simply mean “in class.”

Is it possible to move a aji to the beginning of the sentence, like “In class, the teacher is teaching us Hausa”?

Yes. Hausa allows fronting of place/time expressions for emphasis or topic. You can say:

• A aji, Malama tana koya mana Hausa.

This is like English “In class, the teacher is teaching us Hausa.”
The meaning is the same; the change mostly affects emphasis and flow.

How would I change this sentence to say “Our teacher is teaching us Hausa in class”?

You can add “our” as a possessive on Malama:

• Malamarmu tana koya mana Hausa a aji.
  or, more clearly written with a hyphen:
• Malamar-mu tana koya mana Hausa a aji.

-mu is the possessive suffix for “our”, so Malamar-mu = “our teacher (female)”.

Is the word Hausa always capitalized in Hausa, like in English?

In practice, you will see both:

• Capitalized: Hausa, usually in more formal or English-influenced writing
• Not capitalized: hausa, common in some Hausa-only texts

From an English learner’s perspective, it’s safest to treat Hausa like an English language name and capitalize it, especially when you’re writing in English or in mixed English–Hausa contexts. The meaning is the same either way.