Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

I will wear the new shirt/dress today.

Breakdown of Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

• ni: I
• yau: today
• sabo: new
• riga: the shirt
• sa: to wear

Questions & Answers about Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

Why do we need both Ni and zan if they both refer to “I”?

Ni is an independent/emphatic pronoun meaning I, and zan already contains the idea of I will.
So Zan sa sabuwar riga yau is already I will wear a new shirt today.
Adding Ni makes the subject emphatic or contrastive, something like: I will wear a new shirt today (not someone else / unlike other days).
In normal, neutral speech you can often drop Ni and just say Zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

What exactly is zan, and how do I use this future form with other pronouns?

Zan is za + ni fused together: za is the future marker, and ni is I.
Here is the usual future pattern with subject pronouns:

• zan – I will
• za ka – you (masc. sg) will
• za ki – you (fem. sg) will
• zai – he / it will
• za ta – she / it will
• za mu – we will
• za ku – you (pl.) will
• za su – they will

So Zan sa… = I will wear…, Zai sa… = He will wear…, etc.

What does sa mean here? Is it specifically “to wear”?

The verb sa is quite general; its basic meaning is to put, to place, to put on.
With clothing or accessories it means to put on / to wear:

• sa riga – to put on / wear a shirt or dress
• sa hula – to put on / wear a cap

So in Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau, sa means to put on / to wear.

Why is sabuwar before riga, when I learned that adjectives usually come after nouns in Hausa?

You’re right that the basic pattern is Noun + Adjective, e.g. riga sabuwa = a new shirt/dress.
However, Hausa also allows a pre‑noun adjective form, often with a linker, especially in common phrases.
Here sabuwar riga is such a phrase: the adjective sabuwar comes before the noun riga, but the meaning is still new shirt/dress.
Both sabuwar riga and riga sabuwa are possible; sabuwar riga is just a very common, natural collocation.

What is the difference between sabuwar riga and riga sabuwa?

In everyday speech, both can be translated as a new shirt/dress.
Rough tendencies (not strict rules):

• riga sabuwa – literally shirt new; very straightforward noun + adjective.
• sabuwar riga – feels a bit more like a fixed phrase or a specific “new dress/shirt” that the speaker has in mind, and is very idiomatic.

For most beginner and intermediate uses, you can treat them as essentially equivalent; sabuwar riga just happens to be extremely common.

Why does sabuwar end in ‑ar? What is the base form of this adjective?

The basic adjective new in Hausa is:

• masculine: sabo
• feminine: sabuwa
• plural: sababbi

In sabuwar riga, you have sabuwa (feminine form) + a linker ‑r before another feminine noun (riga).
So sabuwa + r → sabuwar, and it agrees with the feminine noun riga.

Does riga mean “shirt”, “dress”, or something else?

The noun riga is a general word for an upper‑body garment, traditionally like a gown, robe, or long shirt.
In modern everyday speech it is often used roughly as shirt, top, or dress‑like garment, depending on context and regional usage.
So sabuwar riga could be understood as a new shirt, a new dress, or a new robe, whichever fits the situation.

Why is there no word for a or the in this sentence?

Hausa does not have separate words that directly match English a / an / the.
Definiteness and indefiniteness are usually expressed by context, by demonstratives (wannan = this, wancan = that), by tone, or by certain endings.
So sabuwar riga can mean a new shirt/dress or the new shirt/dress, depending entirely on what the speakers already know or have mentioned.
In Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau, both I will wear a new shirt today and I will wear the new shirt today are possible translations.

Can I move yau to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Yau means today, and time words can go at the end or be fronted for emphasis.
All of these are grammatical:

• Zan sa sabuwar riga yau.
• Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.
• Yau zan sa sabuwar riga.
• Yau ni zan sa sabuwar riga. (strong emphasis on I, today)

Putting yau first emphasizes today.

How do I say this sentence in the negative: “I will not wear a new shirt today”?

The normal future negative is formed with ba … ba around the verb phrase.
A natural negative version is:

• Ba zan sa sabuwar riga yau ba. – I will not wear a new shirt today.

You can add ni for extra emphasis on the subject, but in standard style you usually start with Ba zan… rather than Ni ba zan….

Is there a difference between Ni zan sa… and Zan sa… without Ni?

Yes; Zan sa sabuwar riga yau is a neutral statement: I will wear a new shirt today.
Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau adds emphasis to I, like: I will wear a new shirt today (not you / even if others don’t).
So Ni is not required grammatically but is used when you want to highlight or contrast the subject.

How would I say “I am wearing a new shirt today” instead of “I will wear a new shirt today”?

If you mean I have it on now (today), two natural options are:

• Yau na sa sabuwar riga. – literally Today I (have) put on a new shirt, often understood as I am wearing a new shirt today.
• Yau ina sanye da sabuwar riga. – literally Today I am dressed with a new shirt, i.e. I am wearing a new shirt today.

By contrast, Zan sa sabuwar riga yau is clearly future: I will wear a new shirt today.