Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu.

Contrast / emphasis:
Ni zan ajiye littafi… = I will put the book (not someone else).
Clear subject in a longer context: It can help keep track of who is doing what.

So:

Zan ajiye littafi… = neutral I will put a book…
Ni zan ajiye littafi… = I (as opposed to another person) will do it.

Both are correct; the one with Ni is more emphatic or contrastive.

Exactly what does zan mean, and how does it change with different people (you, he, we, etc.)?

Zan is the future tense marker for the first person singular (I). It roughly corresponds to English will or going to.

Basic future forms:

zan – I will
za ka – you (masc. sg.) will
za ki – you (fem. sg.) will
za shi (often za ya) – he will
za ta – she will
za mu – we will
za ku – you (pl.) will
za su – they will

In the sentence:

Ni zan ajiye littafi…
zan marks I-future; the verb itself (ajiye) does not change for person.

What does ajiye mean exactly? Is it just put, or does it have a more specific sense?

Ajiye means to put down, lay aside, set down, keep, store, leave in a place.

Nuances:

ajiye littafi – put the book down / leave the book (e.g. on a table, on a shelf).
It often suggests you’re placing something somewhere to leave it there for a while (keeping, storing, setting aside).

Compare with some other common verbs:

sa – to put, place, or wear something (put clothes on, put something into something).
sanya – also put/place, but often in more formal or specific contexts (clothes, decorations, etc.).
aika / tura – to send.

In this sentence, ajiyе littafi a kan tebur suggests putting the book down on the table and leaving it there.

Why is there no word for the or a in littafi and tebur?

Hausa does not use articles like English a/an and the. The noun by itself can be:

littafi – a book / the book
tebur – a table / the table

Definiteness is understood from context, or can be made explicit with other words:

wani littafi – a (certain) book / some book
wancan tebur – that table
wannan littafi – this book

In Ni zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu, context will tell you whether it is the book on the table or a book on a table. English has to choose an article; Hausa usually doesn’t.

What is a kan? Is it one word or two, and does it always mean on?

A kan is two words:

a – a general preposition: in, at, on, into, etc. (very flexible).
kan – literally head, top, surface.

Together, a kan means on (top of):

a kan tebur – on the table
a kan gada – on the bridge

You will also see it written as akan in some texts, but the meaning is the same: on, upon.

It does not mean about (as English on sometimes does, like a book on history). For about, Hausa would use other expressions, for example game da:

littafi game da tarihin Hausa – a book about Hausa history.

Why is the order a kan tebur, not tebur a kan?

Hausa prepositions come before their objects, just like in English:

a gida – at home
daga Kano – from Kano
a kan tebur – on the table

So the order is:

preposition + noun = prepositional phrase
a kan + tebur = on + table

Putting tebur before a kan would be ungrammatical in this sentence.

What does yanzu add, and where can it go in the sentence?

Yanzu means now, right now, at this moment.

In this sentence:

Ni zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu.
= I will put the book on the table now / in a moment.

Common positions for yanzu:

At the end (as in your sentence) – very common:
- Zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu.
At the beginning, for emphasis or scene-setting:
- Yanzu zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur.
  (Now, I’m going to put the book on the table.)
After the subject pronoun:
- Ni yanzu zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur.
  (Slight extra emphasis on now in relation to I.)

All are grammatical; the difference is mostly in emphasis and rhythm, not in basic meaning.

Can I leave out Ni and just say Zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu?

Yes, absolutely.

Zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu. – perfectly normal, neutral.
Ni zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu. – emphasizes I.

Use Ni when:

You want to contrast:
Ni zan ajiye littafi, kai ka share ɗaki.
= I will put the book away, you clean the room.
You are answering Who will do it?
– Wa zai yi hakan? – Ni zan yi.
= – Who will do it? – I will.

So Ni is not required; it adds a nuance of emphasis.

How would I say I usually put the book on the table, not I will put?

For habit or usual action, Hausa often uses the present/habitual with the subject pronoun and the bare verb, without zan:

Ina ajiye littafi a kan tebur.
= I (habitually) put / I put the book on the table.

Rough guide:

Zan ajiye… – I will put… (future, planned, about to happen).
Ina ajiye… – I put / I usually put / I am (in the habit of) putting….
Ina ajiyar littafi a kan tebur. (with verbal noun ajiya) – I am putting the book on the table (right now) in a more continuous/progressive sense, though in everyday speech many speakers just use ina ajiye.

So to talk about a repeated, general habit, prefer ina ajiye, not zan ajiye.

Is zan always future, or can it also mean about to / going to like English be going to?

Zan covers a range that overlaps both English will and be going to. It is used for:

Simple future:
- Zan ajiye littafi gobe. – I will put the book away tomorrow.
Near future / intention:
- Zan ajiye littafi yanzu. – I’m going to put the book away now / in a moment.

Context (time words like yanzu, gobe, nan da ɗan lokaci) tells you whether it feels like will or going to, but grammatically it is the same zan.

So in your sentence, both these readings are natural:

I will put the book on the table now.
I’m going to put the book on the table now.

How would I make this sentence negative: I will not put the book on the table now?

For a simple future negative, the most common pattern is:

Ba zan … ba.

So:

Ba zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu ba.
= I will not put the book on the table now.

If you keep Ni for emphasis, you can say:

Ni ba zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu ba.
(Stronger: I am the one who will not put the book on the table now.)

Notice the ba … ba frame around the future verb phrase:

Ba
- zan ajiye littafi a kan tebur yanzu
  - ba.