A watan da ya gabata, mun yi jarabawa ta Hausa a makaranta.

In the month that passed, we took a Hausa exam at school.

Breakdown of A watan da ya gabata, mun yi jarabawa ta Hausa a makaranta.

• a: at
• makaranta: the school
• na: of
• yi: to do
• a: in
• Hausa: Hausa
• da ya gabata: last
• wata: the month
• jarabawa: the exam

Questions & Answers about A watan da ya gabata, mun yi jarabawa ta Hausa a makaranta.

What does “A watan da ya gabata” literally mean, and how is it built up grammatically?

Literally, “A watan da ya gabata” is something like “in the month that passed”.

Breakdown:

• a = in / at (preposition, used for time or place)
• wata = month
  When it becomes watan, that -n ending marks it as a specific/linked noun: “the month”.
• da = a relative linker, like “that” or “which” in English.
• ya = 3rd person masculine singular subject pronoun (he/it), agreeing with watan (which is grammatically masculine).
• gabata = to pass / to have passed / to precede.

So “watan da ya gabata” = “the month that has passed”, which is the Hausa way to say “last month”.
With a in front: “A watan da ya gabata” = “In the month that has passed / Last month”.

Why is the sentence starting with the time phrase “A watan da ya gabata”? Could it also come later in the sentence?

Hausa very often puts time expressions first in the sentence for clarity and emphasis, similar to:

• “Yesterday, we wrote the exam.”

So “A watan da ya gabata, mun yi jarabawa…” is very natural: “Last month, we took an exam…”.

You can move the time phrase, for example:

• Mun yi jarabawa ta Hausa a makaranta a watan da ya gabata.

This is grammatically fine, but less natural in everyday speech; the version with the time phrase at the beginning sounds smoother and more typical in Hausa.

What exactly is “mun yi”? Where is the word “we” here?

In Hausa, the subject pronoun and tense/aspect are combined into one short form:

• mun = we (perfect / completed action)

It already contains the idea of “we have / we did”. Then you add the verb:

• yi = to do / make

So:

• mun yi ≈ “we did / we have done”.

You don’t add a separate word for “we”; mun already covers both “we” and the past/perfect meaning.

Why is it “mun yi jarabawa” and not something like just “mun jarabawa”?

In Hausa, many actions are expressed as verb + noun combinations, where yi (“do”) is the verb and a verbal noun follows it. “Jarabawa” is a noun meaning test, exam.

• yi jarabawa = to do an exam / to take an exam

So “mun yi jarabawa” literally means “we did an exam”, which corresponds to English “we took an exam / we sat an exam.”

Saying “mun jarabawa” is ungrammatical, because jarabawa is not a verb in this form; it needs the verb yi to create the predicate.

Why is it “jarabawa ta Hausa” and not “jarabawa na Hausa”?

Hausa has linker particles (similar to “of”) that must agree with the gender and number of the first noun:

• na – used after a masculine singular noun
• ta – used after a feminine singular noun
• na/ta are also used in some other agreement patterns, but this is the basic idea.

The noun:

• jarabawa (exam) is feminine in Hausa.

So you must use ta:

• jarabawa ta Hausa = an exam of Hausa / Hausa exam

If the first noun were masculine, you’d use na instead, e.g.:

• gwajin Hausa or gwaji na Hausa (depending on structure) – Hausa test

What is the function of “ta” in “jarabawa ta Hausa”? Is it like possession?

Yes, “ta” here is a genitive/linker meaning roughly “of” or “in”:

• jarabawa ta Hausa ≈ “exam of Hausa” / “Hausa exam”

It shows the type or subject of the exam, not ownership. So it’s similar to English noun–noun combinations:

• “math exam”
• “French exam”

In Hausa, instead of just putting nouns side by side, you normally link them with na/ta (or sometimes other patterns) to show this relationship.

Could I also say “jarabawar Hausa” instead of “jarabawa ta Hausa”? Is there any difference?

Yes, “jarabawar Hausa” is also possible and you will see and hear both patterns.

• jarabawa ta Hausa
• jarabawar Hausa

Both can mean “a Hausa exam / the Hausa exam.”

Nuance:

• “jarabawa ta Hausa”: uses the separate linker ta, very transparent as “exam of Hausa.”
• “jarabawar Hausa”: uses a bound form with the final -r, which attaches to jarabawa and then directly links to Hausa. This often feels a bit more compact/nominal.

In many everyday contexts, they are interchangeable; learners can safely treat them as equivalent expressions of “Hausa exam.”

Why is “a” used both in “A watan da ya gabata” and “a makaranta”? Does it always mean the same thing?

The preposition a is very flexible and commonly used in Hausa:

• with time: a watan da ya gabata – in last month
• with place: a makaranta – at school

So a usually corresponds to “in / at / on” depending on context.

In this sentence:

• a watan da ya gabata = in the month that passed / last month (time)
• a makaranta = at school (location)

It’s the same word, but the exact English preposition you choose in translation depends on whether it’s marking time or place.

What does “makaranta” mean exactly, and why is there no word like “the” for “the school”?

“makaranta” means “school” in general.

Hausa does not have separate words for “a” and “the” like English. Definiteness is usually understood from:

• context
• word order
• sometimes extra elements (like possessives, demonstratives, etc.)

So:

• a makaranta could mean “at a school” or “at school” in general, and often naturally translates as “at school”.

If you want to be more specific, you can say:

• a makarantar mu – at our school
• a makarantar nan – at this school

But in many contexts, “a makaranta” is enough, and the listener will understand whether it’s a specific school or just school in general from the situation.