A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi.

In the fridge there is cold water.

Breakdown of A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi.

• ruwa: the water
• akwai: there is
• a cikin: inside
• mai sanyi: cold
• firji: the fridge

Questions & Answers about A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi.

What is the literal meaning and function of a cikin in this sentence?

A cikin is made of two parts:

• a – a preposition meaning in/at
• cikin – a noun meaning inside, interior, midst

Together, a cikin literally means “in the inside (of)”, which we naturally translate as “in” in English.

So A cikin firji literally = “In the inside of the fridge” → “In the fridge”.

You can often see a cikin + place noun to express location:

• A cikin gida – in the house
• A cikin mota – in the car

Could I just say cikin firji without a?

Yes, in many contexts Hausa speakers do say cikin firji without a, and it is still understood as “in the fridge.”

• A cikin firji is a very explicit, fully-formed “in the inside of the fridge.”
• Cikin firji is a bit shorter and also common in everyday speech.

Both are correct. As a learner, using a cikin is perfectly fine and clear.

What exactly does firji mean, and is it related to English “fridge”?

Yes, firji (also sometimes written firij/firiji) is a loanword from English “fridge.”

It simply means “fridge” or “refrigerator.”
You use it like any regular noun of place:

• A cikin firji – in the fridge
• Daga firji – from the fridge

What does akwai mean, and how does it work in Hausa?

Akwai is an existential verb/particle in Hausa. It roughly corresponds to “there is / there are” in English.

In this sentence:

• A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi.
  → In the fridge there is cold water.

Key points about akwai:

• It does not change for singular or plural:

  • Akwai littafi. – There is a book.
  • Akwai littattafai. – There are books.

• The usual pattern is:
  [Location] + akwai + [thing that exists]

  • A nan akwai mutane. – There are people here.

The negative counterpart of akwai is babu (“there is no / there are no”).

Can I change the word order, like putting akwai first: Akwai ruwa mai sanyi a cikin firji?

Yes. Both of these are acceptable and natural:

• A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi.
• Akwai ruwa mai sanyi a cikin firji.

The difference is mostly about focus/emphasis:

• Starting with A cikin firji puts more emphasis on the location (in the fridge).
• Starting with Akwai ruwa mai sanyi puts more emphasis on the existence of cold water, then adds where it is.

As a learner, either order is fine in normal conversation.

What does ruwa mean here? Does it mean “a water” or just “water”?

Ruwa means “water” in general; it’s usually treated as a mass noun (like “water” in English).

In this sentence:

• ruwa mai sanyi – cold water (not a specific glass/bottle, just water that is cold)

If you want to specify “the water” in a more definite sense, Hausa often uses a genitive/possessive form:

• ruwan firji – the fridge’s water / the water in the fridge
• ruwan nan – this water

But ruwa mai sanyi by itself is more like “some cold water” or “cold water” in general.

Why is it ruwa mai sanyi and not mai ruwa sanyi or sanyi ruwa? How does this structure work?

In Hausa, descriptive words usually follow the noun they describe, and the word mai is used to form certain kinds of adjectives.

Breakdown:

• ruwa – water
• sanyi – cold, coldness
• mai – a word that often means “having, possessing, characterized by”

So:

• ruwa mai sanyi literally = “water having cold(ness)”
• Natural translation = “cold water”

You cannot say mai ruwa sanyi here; that would not be grammatical in Hausa.
Sanyi ruwa is also not the normal word order for “cold water.” The pattern you want is:

Noun + mai + quality
ruwa mai sanyi – water that has coldness → cold water

What is the role of mai here? Does it always mean “having”?

Mai is a very common Hausa word that, in this kind of structure, works like a descriptor-maker.

Here, mai can be thought of as:

• turning sanyi (coldness) into an adjective phrase that describes ruwa
• giving “water that has coldness” → cold water

In general, mai + noun/quality can mean “having / possessing / characterized by” that thing:

• mutum mai ƙarfin jiki – a person with physical strength → a strong person
• gida mai girma – a house with bigness → a big house

So in ruwa mai sanyi, mai is what allows sanyi to describe ruwa in an attributive way.

Does mai change for plural? How would I say “cold waters” or “cold bottles of water”?

Yes, mai has a plural form: masu.

• Singular: mai
• Plural: masu

In ordinary speech, ruwa is a mass noun, so you usually don’t pluralize “water” itself. But if you pluralize the containers (e.g. bottles), you would use masu:

• kwalaben ruwa masu sanyi – bottles of water that are cold
  
  • kwalabe – bottles
  • kwalaben ruwa – bottles of water
  • masu sanyi – that have coldness → that are cold

So the pattern is:

• singular noun
  • mai + quality
• plural noun
  • masu + quality

How would I say “There is no cold water in the fridge” in Hausa?

You replace akwai with babu, which is the common negative existential word in Hausa:

• A cikin firji babu ruwa mai sanyi.
  → In the fridge there is no cold water. / There is no cold water in the fridge.

Structure:

• A cikin firji – in the fridge
• babu – there is no / there are no
• ruwa mai sanyi – cold water

How would I say “The cold water is in the fridge,” instead of “There is cold water in the fridge”?

To say “The cold water is in the fridge”, Hausa usually uses a copula (like yana for masculine/non-human singular), and often makes the noun phrase more specific/definite:

One natural way:

• Ruwan sanyi yana cikin firji.
  
  • ruwan sanyi – the cold water
  • yana – it is (for a non-human singular subject)
  • cikin firji – in the fridge

So:

• A cikin firji akwai ruwa mai sanyi. – There is (some) cold water in the fridge.
• Ruwan sanyi yana cikin firji. – The cold water is in the fridge.