Breakdown of Yara suna wasa a ƙarƙashin itacen ayaba.
ne
to be
yaro
the child
wasa
to play
a ƙarƙashin
under
Questions & Answers about Yara suna wasa a ƙarƙashin itacen ayaba.
What does suna mean in this sentence, and how is it formed?
Suna corresponds to English “are … -ing” for a plural subject.
Breakdown:
- su = they (3rd person plural pronoun)
- na = continuous/progressive aspect marker (be doing)
In everyday writing they are joined as suna, so:
- Yara suna wasa ≈ The children are playing
So suna is not just “are”; it already includes the idea of ongoing action (“are doing / are playing now”).
Why do we still use suna when we already have yara (children) as the subject? Do we always repeat the subject like this?
Yes, in normal Hausa you usually have:
- a full noun subject (yara, Audù, uwarka, etc.)
- plus a subject pronoun with the verb/aspect marker (suna, yana, muna, etc.)
So:
- Yara suna wasa = literally “Children they-are playing”
- Audù yana tafiya = “Audù he-is walking”
This “double subject” pattern is standard Hausa grammar.
You generally do not say:
- ✗ Yara na wasa (ungrammatical or very odd in this meaning)
The pronoun (su, , , etc.) is built into forms like , , , so it is normally required even when the noun subject is present.