Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida bayan aiki. - The employee is resting at home after work.

So yana corresponds to English “is (doing)”, while ya is more like “did / has done”.
Because the English meaning is “is resting”, the progressive yana is the correct choice.

Why is it hutawa and not just huta after yana?

Many Hausa verbs form a verbal noun (a gerund-like form) with -wa:

huta → hutawa (to rest → resting)
aiki (to work) → aiki / aikatawa (depending on usage)

With the progressive yana, both patterns occur in the language:

yana + bare verb (e.g., yana cin abinci – he is eating food)
yana + verbal noun in -wa (e.g., yana hutawa – he is resting)

For huta, the usual progressive expression is yana hutawa, not yana huta. You can think of hutawa as “the act of resting.”

What exactly does ma'aikaci mean? Is it gendered? How do I say it in plural?

Ma'aikaci is built from:

aiki – work
ma- ... -ci – a pattern that makes “a person who does X”

So ma'aikaci literally means “work-doer,” i.e. worker / employee.

Gender and number:

ma'aikaci – worker (usually male or gender-neutral in many contexts)
ma'aikaciya – female worker
ma'aikata – workers (plural, for any mix of genders)

In real use, ma'aikaci can function as generic “worker” unless you particularly want to emphasize a female worker (ma'aikaciya).

Why is there no separate word for “a/the” before ma'aikaci or gida?

Hausa normally has no separate articles like English a, an, the.

Ma'aikaci can mean a worker or the worker.
gida can mean a house, the house, home, depending on context.

Definiteness is understood from:

context (something already known in the conversation)
possession (gidansa – his house; aikinmu – our work)
sometimes word order or emphasis

So Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida bayan aiki could be translated as:

A worker is resting at home after work, or
The worker is resting at home after work,

depending on what makes sense in the situation.

What does the preposition a do here, and can it mean both “at” and “in”?

a is a very common preposition in Hausa. Its basic uses include:

location: in, at, on
- a gida – at home / in the house
- a kasuwa – at the market
sometimes time: a safiya – in the morning

It doesn’t distinguish “in” vs “at” like English does; the context decides the best English translation.

In a gida, it is most naturally “at home”, but “in the house” is also a possible reading depending on context.

How should I pronounce ma'aikaci? What do I do with that apostrophe?

The apostrophe marks a glottal stop, a brief closing of the throat, like the small break in the middle of “uh-oh” in English.

Approximate pronunciation:

ma'aikaci → mah-ah-ee-kah-chee
- ma – “mah”
- 'a – a short “ah” with a tiny catch before it
- i – like “ee”
- ka – “kah”
- ci – “chee” (Hausa c sounds like English “ch”)

So you hear a little break between ma and aika: ma | aika | ci.

Does yana hutawa mean only “is resting right now”, or can it also mean a habitual action?

yana hutawa is primarily progressive / ongoing:

Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida.
The worker is resting at home (right now / at this time).

However, Hausa progressive forms can also be used for “around this time / these days”, depending on context, e.g.:

These days the worker is resting at home after work (instead of going out).

If you want to clearly express a habit, Hausa would more typically use a different construction, like:

Ma'aikaci yakan huta a gida bayan aiki.
The worker usually rests at home after work.

So yana hutawa leans toward “is (currently) resting,” while yakan huta is “usually rests.”

What does bayan aiki mean exactly, and can it mean “behind the work” as well?

bayan is related to the noun baya (back, behind) and functions like:

after (in time)
behind (in space), depending on context.

In bayan aiki, with a time interpretation, it means:

after work

Examples:

bayan aiki – after work
bayan makaranta – after school
bayan gida – behind the house

In your sentence, bayan aiki is clearly temporal (“after work”), not spatial. So here it does not mean “behind the work.”

Is the word order fixed, or can I move bayan aiki or a gida to other positions?

The given sentence has a very natural order:

Ma'aikaci (subject) yana hutawa (verb phrase) a gida (place) bayan aiki (time).

This subject – verb – place – time pattern is very common in Hausa.

You can move the time phrase for emphasis or style, for example:

Bayan aiki, ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida.
After work, the worker rests at home.

That is completely correct and common.

But something like:

Ma'aikaci a gida yana hutawa bayan aiki

is less natural; place and time phrases usually come after the verb phrase unless you are fronting them for emphasis (and then you typically put them right at the beginning).

How would I say “at his home” instead of just “at home”?

To show possession (“his”), you attach a possessive ending to gida:

gidansa – his house / his home
gidata – my house
gidansu – their house

So you would say:

Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gidansa bayan aiki.
The worker is resting at his home after work.

Compare:

a gida – at home (general)
a gidansa – at his home (specifically his own house)

How do I make this sentence negative: “The worker is not resting at home after work”?

To negate the progressive in Hausa, you normally use ba … ba, and the progressive yana changes to ba ya (or baya in fast speech/writing).

So:

Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida bayan aiki.
→ affirmative

Becomes:

Ma'aikaci ba ya hutawa a gida bayan aiki.
→ The worker is not resting at home after work.

Structure:

ba
- subject + ya
  - verb phrase + ba (often the second ba is dropped in speech):
    - Ba ya hutawa. – He is not resting.
    - Full: Ba ya hutawa ba. (more emphatic / formal)

Can I replace yana with na and say Ma'aikaci na hutawa a gida bayan aiki?

You will hear sentences like Ma'aikaci na hutawa a gida bayan aiki, especially in informal speech, but it changes the nuance slightly.

yana hutawa – clearly third-person singular (“he is resting”).
na hutawa without ya- is often used:
- after a noun to mean “X’s …” (possessive), or
- as a somewhat reduced form of the progressive, depending on dialect.

For a learner, it is safer and clearer to stick with:

Ma'aikaci yana hutawa a gida bayan aiki.

This is the standard, unambiguous progressive: “The worker is resting at home after work.”