A makaranta muna da ɗakin karatu inda dalibai ke karatu a shiru.

to be

Breakdown of A makaranta muna da ɗakin karatu inda dalibai ke karatu a shiru.

• da: to have
• karatu: to study
• a: at

Questions & Answers about A makaranta muna da ɗakin karatu inda dalibai ke karatu a shiru.

What does a makaranta literally mean, and how is the preposition a used here?

A makaranta literally means “at school / in the school”.

• a is a very common preposition meaning “in, at, on” depending on context.
• makaranta means “school”.

So:

• a gida = at home / in the house
• a kasuwa = at the market
• a makaranta = at school

The sentence starts with A makaranta to set the location first: “At school, …”

Why is it muna da ɗakin karatu and not just muna ɗakin karatu?

In Hausa, “to have” is usually expressed with pronoun + da, not with a verb like English “have”.

• muna = we are (progressive marker, from mu + na)
• da = with / having
• muna da = we have / we are with

So:

• Muna da ɗakin karatu. = We have a reading room / library.
• You cannot say *muna ɗakin karatu to mean “we have a reading room.” That would sound like “we are the reading room” or just be ungrammatical.

Other examples:

• Ina da kuɗi. = I have money.
• Suna da mota. = They have a car.