Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

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Breakdown of Ni zan sa sabuwar riga yau.

• yau: today
• sabo: new
• riga: the shirt

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”?