Hula tana kare ni daga rana lokacin da nake tafiya a titi.

A cap protects me from the sun when I am walking in the street.

Breakdown of Hula tana kare ni daga rana lokacin da nake tafiya a titi.

• ne: to be
• ni: me
• a: in
• daga: from
• rana: the sun
• lokacin da: when
• tafiya: to walk
• titi: the street
• hula: the cap
• kare: to protect

Questions & Answers about Hula tana kare ni daga rana lokacin da nake tafiya a titi.

Why is it hula and not hulata if the meaning is “my hat protects me”?

In Hausa, possession is usually shown by adding a pronoun to the noun.

• hula = a hat / the hat (no possession expressed)
• hula ta or hulata = my hat
  (ta = my / her for feminine nouns, and it often joins to the noun in writing)

So:

• Hula tana kare ni daga rana… = A hat / The hat protects me from the sun…
• Hulata tana kare ni daga rana… = My hat protects me from the sun…

If you really mean my hat, the more explicit, fully correct form is hulata or hula ta at the start of the sentence.

Why is tana used instead of just ta?

Ta is the basic 3rd person feminine pronoun (she/it for feminine nouns).

Tana is a combination used for a present/ongoing action:

• ta (she/it, feminine subject)
• na (part of the progressive “be doing” pattern)

Together: tana kare ≈ “she/it is protecting”.

Because hula (hat) is grammatically feminine in Hausa, it takes the feminine form tana:

• Hula tana kare ni… = The hat is protecting me…

If you used just ta kare ni, that would usually sound more like a completed action: The hat protected me… rather than an ongoing one.

Why does hula use a feminine form (tana)? How do we know it’s feminine?

Many Hausa nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine, and agreement shows up in pronouns and verbs.

Hula is grammatically feminine, so:

• It uses ta- / tana for “it/she”.
• If you replaced hula with a masculine noun, the verb would change.

For example:

• Hula tana kare ni daga rana.
  The hat protects me from the sun. (feminine tana)

Compare with a masculine noun:

• Rawani yana kare ni daga rana.
  The turban protects me from the sun. (masculine yana)

You mostly learn the gender of nouns with practice; many nouns ending in -a (like hula) are feminine, but not all.

What exactly is the role of ni in tana kare ni?

Ni is the 1st person singular pronoun me / I.
In this sentence it functions as a direct object:

• kare = to protect
• ni = me

So tana kare ni literally = she/it is protecting me.

In Hausa, object pronouns usually come immediately after the verb:

• Ya ga ni. = He saw me.
• Sun taimake shi. = They helped him.
• Hula tana kare ni. = The hat is protecting me.

Does kare here mean “dog” or “to protect”? How can I tell?

Written Hausa does not show tones, so kare can be:

• kàrèe / kare (verb) = to protect, guard
• kàré / kare (noun) = dog

In this sentence, the grammar and context make it clear:

• It follows tana (a verb phrase) and is followed by ni (object pronoun), so it is acting as a verb: tana kare ni = is protecting me.
• A dog meaning would not fit the pattern tana dog me.

So here kare definitely means to protect.

Does rana here mean “day” or “sun”? How do I know?

Rana can mean both day and sun. The meaning depends on context:

• rana ta biyu = the second day
• daga rana = from the sun / from sunlight

In daga rana, because we are talking about a hat protecting you, the natural interpretation is sun / sunlight:

• tana kare ni daga rana ≈ it protects me from the sun / from the sunlight.

If the meaning were from the day, it would sound strange in Hausa in this context.

What does daga mean in daga rana? Is it always “from”?

Daga is a preposition that most often means from (showing origin, source, or separation).

Common uses:

• Na fito daga gida. = I came out from the house.
• Yana fama da ciwo daga hatsari. = He suffers from an injury from the accident.
• tana kare ni daga rana = it protects me from the sun.

So here daga rana = from the sun / against the sun (literally “from the sun”).

What does lokacin da mean, and how does it work in this sentence?

Lokacin da is a common way to say when (literally the time that):

• lokaci = time
• lokacin = the time / time (with a linking suffix -n)
• da = a linker/relative word, here functioning like “that/when”

So lokacin da nake tafiya a titi = when I am walking in the street, literally:

the time that I am walking in the street

Putting it all together:

• Hula tana kare ni daga rana lokacin da nake tafiya a titi.
  ≈ The hat protects me from the sun when I am walking in the street.

Why is it nake tafiya and not ina tafiya?

Both forms relate to “I am walking”, but they are used in different structures:

• ina tafiya = I am walking (main clause progressive)
• nake tafiya usually appears in relative / subordinated clauses introduced by da, like lokacin da…, mutumin da…, etc.

Pattern in relative clauses:

• da nake tafiya = that I am walking
• da yake tafiya = that he is walking
• da take tafiya = that she is walking

So:

• Lokacin da nake tafiya a titi…
  The time when I am walking in the street…

You would normally not say lokacin da ina tafiya a titi in standard Hausa; nake is the expected form in this kind of “when …” clause.

What does tafiya mean here? Is it a noun “journey” or a verb “to walk”?

Tafiya can be:

• a verb meaning “to walk, to go (on foot)”
• a noun meaning “journey, trip, travel”

In nake tafiya, it acts as part of the verbal expression to be walking/going:

• nake tafiya = I am walking / I am going (on foot)

So in this sentence, translate nake tafiya a titi as I am walking on the street, not my journey on the street.

What does a titi mean? Is a “in”, “at”, or “on”?

A is a general locative preposition; it can correspond to in, at, or on in English, depending on context.

• a gida = at home / in the house
• a makaranta = at school
• a titi = on the street / in the street

So a titi is best rendered as on the street or in the street.

If you want to emphasize “on top of” the surface, Hausa can also use a kan:

• a kan titi = on the (surface of the) road/street
  But a titi is already natural and sufficient here.

Can I move lokacin da nake tafiya a titi to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Hausa allows that subordinate when-clause to appear at the beginning for emphasis or style.

Both are grammatical:

1. Hula tana kare ni daga rana lokacin da nake tafiya a titi.
2. Lokacin da nake tafiya a titi, hula tana kare ni daga rana.

They mean the same thing; version 2 slightly emphasizes the time clause (“When I’m walking in the street…”).

Does this sentence describe something happening right now, or a general/habitual fact?

The Hausa form tana kare ni… lokacin da nake tafiya… can cover both:

1. Ongoing situation:
   Right now, the hat is protecting me from the sun while I’m walking on the street.

2. General/habitual fact:
   (In general) a/the hat protects me from the sun whenever I walk on the street.

Without a specific time word (like yanzu = now, kullum = every day), it is flexible. Context decides whether the reader hears it as a general statement or a description of a current situation.