Breakdown of A ƙarshen wata za mu tafi ƙauye domin biki tare da dangi.
Questions & Answers about A ƙarshen wata za mu tafi ƙauye domin biki tare da dangi.
A ƙarshen wata is made of:
- a – a preposition meaning at / in / on (used for time and place)
- ƙarshen – the end (of); this is the “construct” form of ƙarshe (end)
- wata – month
So literally you get something like “at the end-of month”.
In Hausa, you often express time this way with a + noun phrase, e.g.:
- a safe – in the morning
- a daren jiya – last night
- a ƙarshen shekara – at the end of the year
ƙarshe on its own means end.
When it’s followed by another noun that it “belongs to” (like end of the month), Hausa usually puts it into a construct form by adding -n (or -r with some nouns). So:
- ƙarshe → ƙarshen wata = the end of the month
- ƙofar gida = the door of the house (from ƙofa “door”)
- sunna → sunnar aure = the wedding rite
So ƙarshen basically means “the end of …”, and wata tells you of what.
a is the normal preposition for:
- location: at / in / on (a place)
- time: at / in / on (a point or period in time)
So a ƙarshen wata = at the end of the month.
If you drop a and say just ƙarshen wata za mu tafi…, it’s still understandable in casual speech, but it sounds less complete and less standard. In careful or written Hausa, you normally keep a for time expressions like this.
Yes, you can say:
- A ƙarshen wata za mu tafi ƙauye…
- Za mu tafi ƙauye a ƙarshen wata…
Both are correct and natural. The difference is mainly focus / emphasis:
- Putting a ƙarshen wata at the start slightly highlights when you are going.
- Putting it after the verb feels more neutral, like English “We will go to the village at the end of the month.”
In everyday conversation, both word orders are fine.
za mu is:
- za – a particle that marks the future
- mu – the we pronoun
So za mu tafi = we will go.
Other persons work the same way:
- zan tafi – I will go
- za ka tafi – you (m.sg.) will go
- za su tafi – they will go
In informal writing you may see zamu, zasu, zaki etc. written as one word, but in careful Hausa it’s better to write them separately: za mu, za su, za ki.
Both tafi and je can be used for going somewhere, but they’re not identical in feel:
- tafi – very common, general go / leave / depart
- za mu tafi ƙauye – we will go (off) to the village
- je – also go, but often a bit lighter, “go (there)”
- za mu je ƙauye – we will go to the village
In this sentence, tafi ƙauye is the most natural, but je ƙauye is also grammatical and understandable. For a beginner, using tafi + place is a good default.
With tafi, you normally go straight into the place without another preposition:
- na tafi gida – I went home
- ta tafi kasuwa – she went to the market
- za mu tafi ƙauye – we will go to the village
You can say tafi zuwa ƙauye, but:
- zuwa already means to / towards,
- and with tafi it often sounds more formal or heavier.
In everyday speech, tafi + [place] is the normal pattern.
ƙauye means village, and here it is singular.
- ƙauye – a village (rural settlement)
- garin (from gari) – town / city
- ƙauyuka – villages (plural)
So za mu tafi ƙauye = we will go to (the) village.
Whether you translate it as “to the village” or “to a village” in English depends on context, but in Hausa it’s just ƙauye with no article.
In this sentence, domin introduces a purpose:
- domin biki – for a celebration / in order to have a celebration
Rough differences:
- domin / don – very close in meaning; both can mean for / in order to / because of.
- don is shorter and very common in speech.
- domin can sound a bit fuller or more formal, but both are widely used.
- saboda – more strongly because of, often focusing on reason rather than intended purpose.
Here we are talking about going with the intention of holding/attending a celebration, so domin biki (or don biki) is natural.
biki is a general word for ceremony / celebration / festivity. It can refer to:
- a wedding (very common use)
- a religious or cultural celebration
- a big party or festivity
The exact type depends on context. If people say za mu tafi ƙauye domin biki tare da dangi, many listeners might assume something like a wedding or a family ceremonial event, unless specified.
You can make it more specific, e.g.:
- bikin aure – wedding ceremony
- bikin suna – naming ceremony
tare da is a set expression meaning together with.
- tare by itself suggests togetherness / in company.
- da is a very general with / and word.
- tare da X = together with X / along with X
So:
- za mu tafi ƙauye da dangi – we will go to the village with (our) relatives
- za mu tafi ƙauye tare da dangi – we will go to the village together with (our) relatives
The sentence uses tare da to emphasize the idea of going as a group, not just the bare fact of accompaniment.
Yes, in many contexts dangi is naturally understood as one’s own relatives / extended family, especially when the subject is we.
- za mu tafi ƙauye tare da dangi
→ most listeners will understand with our relatives / with our extended family.
If you want to be explicit, you can certainly say:
- tare da danginmu – together with our relatives
The version with plain dangi is a bit more general and idiomatic, but in context it almost always means our or one’s own family.
Rough pronunciation guide (not strict IPA):
- ƙarshen ≈ KAR‑shen
- ƙ: a “tense” k; pronounced deep in the throat (an ejective sound)
- sh: like English sh in she
- final -n is pronounced
- ƙauye ≈ KOW‑yeh
- ƙa‑u is like “ka‑oo” blended → “kow”
- ‑ye like “yeh”
Hausa distinguishes:
- k – a plain k (as in English kill)
- ƙ – a glottalized / ejective k, made with more tension
Learners often pronounce ƙ like a strong k; that’s usually understood, but native speakers clearly hear a difference between k and ƙ (and sometimes it changes meaning in other words).