Yanzu ruwan sama yana sauka daga sama.

to be

Breakdown of Yanzu ruwan sama yana sauka daga sama.

• yanzu: now
• daga: from
• ruwan sama: the rain

Questions & Answers about Yanzu ruwan sama yana sauka daga sama.

What does each word in Yanzu ruwan sama yana sauka daga sama literally mean?

Word by word, you can break it down like this:

• Yanzu – now
• ruwan sama – rain (literally water of the sky)
  • ruwa – water
  • -n – linker/possessive marker (roughly “of”)
  • sama – sky / above / up
• yana – he/it is (progressive marker for a masculine subject)
• sauka – to descend / to come down
• daga – from
• sama – sky / above / up (again)

So a very literal gloss would be:
Now the water-of-sky is-descending from (the) sky.

Why do people say ruwan sama for “rain” instead of just ruwa?

Ruwa by itself just means water and can refer to:

• drinking water
• river water
• any generic water

Ruwan sama is a compound noun:

• ruwa (water) + -n (linker) + sama (sky)
• literally: water of the sky

This phrase is a standard way to say rain in a more descriptive or explicit way.

In everyday speech you will also hear:

• ruwan sama – rain (more literal)
• ruwa (with the right context) – can mean “rain” (e.g. Ana ruwa = It’s raining / There is rain)