Lokacin da ruwan sama ya tsaya, za mu tafi filin wasa mu yi yawo.

When the rain stops, we will go to the playground and take a walk.

Breakdown of Lokacin da ruwan sama ya tsaya, za mu tafi filin wasa mu yi yawo.

• tafi: to go
• yi: to do
• mu: we
• lokacin da: when

Questions & Answers about Lokacin da ruwan sama ya tsaya, za mu tafi filin wasa mu yi yawo.

What does Lokacin da mean here, and how is it different from just idan?

Lokacin da literally means “the time that / when”. It introduces a time clause:

• Lokacin = the time
• da = a linker that can mean that / when in this context

So Lokacin da ruwan sama ya tsaya = When the rain stops (literally “The time that the rain stops”).

You could also say:

• Idan ruwan sama ya tsaya… = When/if the rain stops…

Differences:

• Lokacin da… focuses more on the specific time an event happens.
• Idan… is more like if / when, and can sound a bit more conditional.

Both are common and acceptable here; Lokacin da just sounds a bit more like you are talking about the moment in time.

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What does ruwan sama literally mean? Why not just a single word for “rain”?

Ruwan sama is a compound expression:

• ruwa = water
• -n = a linking/genitive ending (ruwa + n → ruwan)
• sama = sky / heaven

So ruwan sama literally = “water of the sky”, and that is the usual way to say rain.

Hausa often forms new meanings by linking two nouns like this (possessive/genitive construction):

• ruwan lemo = soft drink (literally “water of orange drink”)
• gidan cin abinci = restaurant (literally “house of eating food”)

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