Questions & Answers about Yara suna wasa a harabar masallaci bayan salla.
What is the role of suna in Yara suna wasa…? Is it like the English word are?
Yes. Suna is functioning like are in English in this sentence.
- su = they
- na (here) = a marker for continuous / present action
- su + na → suna
So Yara suna wasa literally means “The children are (in the state of) play.”
In simple terms: suna marks that the action is going on now or happens regularly, similar to English are in “The children are playing.”
Why is the plural yara and not something like yaro-yaro?
Hausa has many irregular plurals, and yaro (child) is one of them.
- yaro = child (singular)
- yara = children (plural)
You just have to memorize this pair. It doesn’t use a simple suffix; the word changes form.
Another example of an irregular plural: mutum (person) → mutane (people).
Is wasa a verb meaning “to play”, or is it something else?