Yara suna karatu tsawon lokaci a makaranta.

to be

Breakdown of Yara suna karatu tsawon lokaci a makaranta.

• karatu: to study
• a: at
• makaranta: the school

Questions & Answers about Yara suna karatu tsawon lokaci a makaranta.

What does yara mean exactly? Is it singular or plural?

Yara means children and it is plural.

• Singular forms:
  • yaro = boy / child (male or generic)
  • yarinya = girl
• Plural:
  • yara = children (boys, girls, or mixed)

So yara already means children, not a child. If you wanted the children, Hausa usually relies on context, or you can say:

• yaran nan = these children / the children (here)
• yaran (with something after it) = the children of …, etc.

What is suna doing in this sentence? Is it like are in English?

Yes. Suna is a subject pronoun + tense marker that works very much like they are in English.

• su = they
• na (here) = continuous / present tense marker
• Together: suna ≈ they are (doing something now or around now)

In the sentence:

• Yara suna karatu… = The children are studying/reading…

The pattern is:

• su
  • na → suna (they are)
• ni
  • na → (I am)