Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malami ya gaya mana cewa a ƙasarmu kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu. - The teacher told us that in our country everyone has the right to education.

The noun (Malami) is more like a topic (“as for the teacher”), and ya is the grammatical subject that carries tense/aspect. You can’t just say ✗ Malami gaya mana…; you need ya there: ✓ Malami ya gaya mana…

What is the difference between gaya and ce in Hausa?

Both deal with “saying”, but they are used differently:

ce = “to say”
- Often used without an indirect object:
  - Ya ce haka. – “He said so.”
gaya = “to tell (someone)”
- Normally used with a person receiving the information:
  - Ya gaya mana labari. – “He told us a story.”
  - Ya gaya min. – “He told me.”

In your sentence, ya gaya mana cewa… = “he told us that…”.
If you used ce, you would typically say something like:

Malami ya ce cewa a ƙasarmu… – “The teacher said that in our country…”

So:

ce focuses on what was said.
gaya focuses on telling someone.

What exactly does mana mean, and how is it different from mu?

Both relate to “we/us”, but they play different roles:

mu = subject pronoun “we”
- Mu mun sani. – “We know.”
mana = indirect object pronoun “to us / for us”
- Ya gaya mana. – “He told us.”
- Ya ba mu or ya ba mu kyauta – “He gave us (a gift).”
  (Here mu is object, but with many verbs you see the combined forms mana, muku etc.)

In Malami ya gaya mana…:

mana means “to us”.
It answers “told whom?” → “told us”.

Is cewa always needed after verbs like gaya?

cewa is a complementizer meaning roughly “that”, introducing a clause:

Ya gaya mana cewa… – “He told us that…”

With verbs of saying, thinking, and knowing (e.g. ce, gaya, faɗa, sani, ɗauka), you usually use cewa when what follows is a whole sentence.

Na sani cewa zai zo. – “I know that he will come.”

Sometimes cewa can be omitted in casual speech, especially when the meaning is clear:

Ya ce zai zo. (spoken) instead of Ya ce cewa zai zo.

But with gaya, it’s very natural to keep cewa before a full sentence, like in your example.
So: not absolutely required in all contexts, but very common and often preferred for clarity.

How is a ƙasarmu built, and why is there an r in ƙasarmu?

Breakdown:

a = preposition “in / at”
ƙasa = “country, land, ground”
-mu = “our” (possessive suffix)

When Hausa attaches possessive suffixes to many nouns, a linking consonant (-r or -n) appears:

ƙasa + mu → ƙasar mu → ƙasarmu – “our country”
mota + ta → motar ta – “her car”
gida + su → gidan su → gidansu – “their house”

So a ƙasarmu literally = “in our country”, with r as the usual linker between the noun and the possessive suffix.

Why is it ƙasarmu and not mu ƙasa for “our country”?

Both patterns exist, but they’re used differently:

Noun + possessive suffix
- ƙasarmu – “our country”
- Very typical, compact, and natural for possession.
Separate pronoun + noun (mu ƙasa)
- This would usually be understood as “we (are) country” or “we, country” and doesn’t naturally mean “our country”.
- To express possession with a separate pronoun, you’d say:
  - ƙasar mu – literally “the country of us” (same meaning as ƙasarmu; speech often runs this together as ƙasarmu).

So:

For “our country”, use ƙasarmu (or ƙasar mu in slow, careful pronunciation).
mu ƙasa is not used for that meaning.

What does kowa mean exactly, and why is the verb yana (singular) and not suna (plural)?

kowa means “everyone / everybody / anyone”. It is grammatically singular in Hausa.

So you treat kowa like “he/she/it” for verb agreement:

Kowa yana da haƙƙi… – “Everyone has a right…”
Kowa ya zo. – “Everyone came.”

Even though kowa refers to many people in meaning, the grammar is singular, just like English “everybody is” (not are).
That’s why it’s yana (3rd singular) and not suna (3rd plural).

How does yana da express possession in Hausa?

Hausa often expresses “have” using the idea “to be with”:

yana = “he is (currently)” (3rd person masculine, continuous aspect)
da = “with”

So:

Yana da haƙƙi. – Literally “He is with a right.” → “He has a right.”
Ina da littafi. – “I have a book.” (lit. “I am with a book.”)
Muna da mota. – “We have a car.”

In your sentence:

kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu = “everyone has the right to education.”

This subject + (yake/yana, etc.) + da + thing is the normal way to say “to have” in Hausa.

Could we say kowa yana da haƙƙin karatu instead of haƙƙi na karatu? What’s the difference between haƙƙi na X and haƙƙin X?

Both are possible and often mean the same thing:

haƙƙi na karatu
- haƙƙi = “right”
- na = “of” (genitive linker)
- karatu = “study, education”
- Literally “right of study” → “right to education”.
haƙƙin karatu
- Here haƙƙi takes the construct/genitive suffix -n:
  - haƙƙi + n → haƙƙin
- haƙƙin karatu also means “the right to education”.

In practice:

Both haƙƙi na karatu and haƙƙin karatu are acceptable and understood.
Using na can sound a bit more explicit or slightly formal in some contexts.
Using the suffix -n (haƙƙin) is very common in everyday speech and in written Hausa.

So yes, kowa yana da haƙƙin karatu is fine and means the same as in your sentence.

What does haƙƙi mean here? Is it only “right” in the legal sense?

In this context, haƙƙi means “right, entitlement, due” – especially legal or moral rights:

haƙƙin ɗan-adam – human rights
haƙƙin yara – children’s rights

But the word is broader:

It can mean someone’s share or due:
- Ka ba kowa haƙƙinsa. – “Give everyone their due/right/share.”
It can also carry the idea of justice or what is owed.

For “freedom” specifically, Hausa also uses ’yanci (e.g. ’yancin faɗar albarkacin baki – freedom of speech).
In your sentence, haƙƙi na karatu is clearly the legal/moral “right to education”.

Can the word order be changed, for example: Malami ya gaya mana cewa kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu a ƙasarmu?

Yes. Hausa word order is flexible for elements like place and time.

Your original:

…ya gaya mana cewa a ƙasarmu kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu.
- Emphasis slightly on “in our country” at the start of the clause.

Alternative:

…ya gaya mana cewa kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu a ƙasarmu.
- Emphasis a bit more on “everyone has the right to education”, then adds “in our country” at the end.

Both are grammatical and natural.
General rule: core order (subject–verb–object) stays, but adverbials like a ƙasarmu can move for emphasis or style.

How would this sentence change if the subject were feminine, e.g. “The female teacher told us …”?

You only need to change the noun and the pronoun:

Malami (male teacher) → Malama (female teacher)
ya (he) → ta (she)

So the sentence becomes:

Malama ta gaya mana cewa a ƙasarmu kowa yana da haƙƙi na karatu.
- “The (female) teacher told us that in our country everyone has the right to education.”

The rest of the sentence (mana, cewa, a ƙasarmu, kowa, yana da haƙƙi na karatu) stays the same.

How do you pronounce the letter ƙ in ƙasarmu and haƙƙi?

ƙ is a voiceless implosive k in Hausa. It’s different from plain k:

k: like English “k” in cat.
ƙ: you pull the back of your tongue slightly inward as you release the sound, with a little “gulp” feeling in the throat.

Approximate tips:

For ƙa (as in ƙasa), start to say ka, but tighten your throat a bit and pull the tongue backward slightly as you release the sound.
In haƙƙi, you have ƙƙ (double ƙ) – a stronger or lengthened version of that same sound.

There’s no perfect equivalent in English, but Hausa speakers clearly distinguish k and ƙ, and changing one to the other can change the word.