Questions & Answers about Malam yana can.
Malam in Hausa is originally a common noun meaning “teacher / learned man”, especially a religious or Qur’anic teacher.
However, it is also very commonly used as a title or form of address, like “Sir” or “Teacher”, and sometimes functions almost like a name. So:
- malam (lowercase) = a teacher (any teacher)
- Malam (capitalized) can be:
- just the first word of the sentence, or
- a respectful way to refer to someone whose title is Malam (like “Teacher John” = Malam John)
In your sentence, Malam could mean either:
- “The teacher is there,” or
- “Malam (that specific person we call Malam) is there.”
Hausa does not usually use a separate verb like English “is” for this kind of sentence.
Instead, Hausa often uses a “continuous/locative” form built with pronouns plus -na. In Malam yana can:
- Malam = the teacher / Malam
- yana = “he is (in a state / doing something / located)”
- can = there
So yana carries the meaning that English splits into “he is”. There is no separate standalone “is” word here.
Hausa does have ne/ce, but those are not used for location. They are used more for equating or identifying things, like:
- Wane ne Malam? – “Who is the teacher?”
Yana is made up of:
- ya = he (3rd person singular masculine pronoun)
- -na = a marker for continuous / ongoing state, often translated as “be doing” or “be (in/at)”
Together, yana literally means something like “he is (currently)” or “he is in a state / at a place / doing something”.
So:
- Malam yana can – “The teacher is there.”
- Malam yana aiki – “The teacher is working.” (literally “is at work”)
- Malam yana karatu – “The teacher is studying/reading/teaching.” (depending on context)
In all of them, yana is “he is (currently) …”
Yana is specifically 3rd person singular masculine (“he is …”).
For other people, Hausa changes this part:
- tana = she is …
- Malama tana can. – “(Female) teacher is there.”
- suna = they are …
- Malamai suna can. – “The teachers are there.”
- ina = I am …
- Ina can. – “I am there.”
- kana = you (singular male) are …
- Kana can. – “You (m) are there.”
- kina = you (singular female) are …
- Kina can. – “You (f) are there.”
So you must match the ya-/ta-/su-/ka-/ki-/na- part to the subject.
Both are location words:
- nan ≈ “here” (near the speaker)
- can ≈ “there / over there” (farther away from the speaker, more distant or less immediate)
Examples:
- Malam yana nan. – “The teacher is here.”
- Malam yana can. – “The teacher is there / over there.”
So can in your sentence marks a place that is not close to the speaker (and often also not right next to the listener).
Yes, you can.
If it is already clear from context who “he” is, Hausa speakers often just use the pronoun form:
- Yana can. – “He is there.”
- Tana can. – “She is there.”
- Suna can. – “They are there.”
In Malam yana can, the subject Malam is explicit. If you’ve already mentioned Malam in previous sentences, you can switch to Yana can to avoid repeating the noun.
The standard word order here is:
Subject – continuous/locative form – place word
So:
- Malam (subject)
- yana (he is)
- can (there)
= Malam yana can.
You normally cannot reorder it arbitrarily. For example:
- ✗ Can Malam yana – incorrect
- ✗ Yana Malam can – incorrect in standard speech
To emphasize location or ask questions, Hausa uses different structures, for example:
- Ina Malam yake? – “Where is the teacher?” But for a simple statement, Malam yana can is the natural order.
Ne and ce in Hausa are used for equating / identifying, not for location or ongoing actions.
Typical uses of ne/ce:
- Wane ne Malam? – “Who is the teacher?”
- Wannan Malam ne. – “This is the teacher.”
For where someone is or what someone is doing, Hausa uses the -na forms (yana, tana, suna, etc.), not ne/ce:
- Malam yana can. – “The teacher is there.”
- Malam yana aiki. – “The teacher is working.”
So you would not say ✗ Malam ne can for location in normal Hausa.
Rough pronunciation (for English speakers):
Malam ≈ “MAH-lam”
- a as in “father”
- final m is pronounced, not silent
can ≈ “chan”
- c in Hausa is always like English “ch” in “chair”
- a again as in “father”
- final n is pronounced
So Malam yana can sounds roughly like:
- “MAH-lam YAH-nah chan” (tones not shown)
In everyday Hausa writing (newspapers, text messages, books), tones and vowel length are usually not written, so Malam yana can is normal and correct as you would typically see it.
Linguists sometimes write extra marks to show tones and long vowels, but learners are not expected to do that in regular spelling. So, for normal use, Malam yana can is fully fine and standard.
You just replace can (“there”) with nan (“here”):
- Malam yana nan. – “The teacher is here.”
Structure is the same:
- Malam – the teacher / Malam
- yana – he is (currently)
- nan – here
You need both a plural noun and a plural verb form:
- Malamai suna can. – “The teachers are there.”
Breakdown:
- Malamai – teachers (plural of malam)
- suna – they are (3rd person plural continuous/locative)
- can – there
Singular vs plural:
- Malam yana can. – The teacher is there.
- Malamai suna can. – The teachers are there.
Yes. The usual feminine counterpart is:
- Malama – female teacher
So:
- Malama tana can. – “(The) female teacher is there.”
Compare:
- Malam yana can. – male teacher / Malam is there.
- Malama tana can. – female teacher / Malama is there.