Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yau ƙafata tana jin gajiya sosai.

Yau – today
ƙafata – my leg / my foot
- ƙafa – leg/foot
- -ta – suffix meaning my (for feminine nouns)
tana – it (she) is …-ing
- ta – she/it (3rd person singular, feminine)
- -na – progressive marker is/are …-ing
jin – feeling / experiencing (verbal noun from ji “to feel/hear”)
gajiya – tiredness, fatigue
sosai – very, very much, a lot

So the literal sense is:
“Today my leg (she) is feeling tiredness very (much).” → Today my leg feels very tired.

Why do we use tana and not ina if I’m talking about myself?

In this sentence, the subject is not “I” but “my leg”.

ina = “I am …-ing” (1st person singular)
- e.g. Ina jin gajiya sosai. – I am feeling very tired.
tana = “she/it is …-ing” (3rd person singular, feminine)
Here it refers to ƙafata (my leg), which is grammatically feminine in Hausa.

So:

Ina jin gajiya sosai. – I am very tired.
Ƙafata tana jin gajiya sosai. – My leg is/feels very tired.

Why is it tana (feminine) and not yana (masculine)?

In Hausa, many nouns have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), and verbs agree with that gender.

ƙafa (leg/foot) is grammatically feminine.
The feminine 3rd person singular subject form is ta (and in the progressive: tana).
The masculine 3rd person singular progressive is yana.

So we say:

ƙafata tana jin gajiya – my leg (fem.) is feeling tired
but
yaro yana jin gajiya – the boy (masc.) is feeling tired

What exactly is jin doing here? I thought ji means “to hear”.

Ji is a very flexible verb in Hausa. It covers:

to hear
to feel (physically or emotionally)
to sense/experience

Jin is the verbal noun (like “hearing/feeling/experiencing”). With the progressive form (tana + verbal noun), it often translates as “to feel” in this kind of context.

So:

tana jin gajiya = she/it is feeling tiredness
→ natural English: she/it feels tired.

Other examples with jin:

Ina jin zafi. – I feel pain / I’m in pain.
Sun ji daɗi. – They were pleased / They enjoyed it.

What is the difference between gaji and gajiya? Could I say tana gaji sosai?

gaji is a verb: to be tired / to get tired.
gajiya is a noun: tiredness, fatigue.

In this sentence we are using the pattern:

tana jin + [noun]
is feeling + [noun]

So tana jin gajiya literally = is feeling tiredness.

You can also use the verb directly:

Yau ƙafata ta gaji sosai. – Today my leg is very tired / has become very tired.

This is also correct, but the style is slightly different:

tana jin gajiya – emphasizes feeling/experiencing tiredness
ta gaji – more like has become tired / is tired

Both are natural, but the original sentence uses the “feeling tiredness” pattern.

What does sosai mean, and where does it go in the sentence?

Sosai means:

very, very much, a lot, intensely.

In this type of sentence, it usually comes after what it modifies, often at or near the end of the clause.

ƙafata tana jin gajiya sosai. – My leg feels very tired.
Ina jin zafi sosai. – I’m in a lot of pain.
Sun gaji sosai. – They’re very tired.

You could sometimes move sosai for emphasis, but the safest, most neutral position as a learner is at the end of the clause, as in the example.

How is ƙafata formed, and is it always written as one word?

ƙafata is:

ƙafa – leg/foot
-ta – the possessive suffix for “my” with feminine nouns

So ƙafata = my leg / my foot.

In writing, the possessive suffix is normally attached directly to the noun as one word:

ƙafa → ƙafata – my leg
mota → motata – my car
yarinya → yarinyata – my girl / my daughter

(For masculine nouns you usually see -na instead: littafi → littafina – my book.)

Spelling it as two separate words (ƙafa ta) to mean “my leg” is not standard in careful writing.

Why does “my leg” use -ta for “my”? Isn’t -na “my”?

For the 1st person singular “my”, Hausa has two common suffix shapes, depending mostly on the gender of the noun:

With masculine nouns: -na
- littafi (book, masc.) → littafina – my book
- gida (house, masc.) → gidana – my house
With feminine nouns: -ta
- mota (car, fem.) → motata – my car
- ƙafa (leg/foot, fem.) → ƙafata – my leg/foot

So ƙafa is grammatically feminine, and that’s why my leg is ƙafata, not ƙafana.

If both of my legs are tired, how would I change the sentence?

You need a plural subject and plural agreement:

ƙafafuna – my legs
- ƙafafu / ƙafafuwa – legs (plural of ƙafa)
- -na – my → ƙafafuna = my legs

Then you use the plural progressive form suna:

Yau ƙafafuna suna jin gajiya sosai.
Today my legs are feeling very tired.

Can yau (today) go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. Yau is a time adverb and is fairly flexible in position. Some natural options:

Yau ƙafata tana jin gajiya sosai.
Ƙafata tana jin gajiya sosai yau.
Ƙafata yau tana jin gajiya sosai. (less common, but possible in speech with the right intonation)

Placing yau at the start (as in the original) is very common and sounds natural: it sets the time frame first. As a learner, putting yau at the beginning is a safe default.