Ni zan kira ki daga baya ta waya.

I will call you later by phone.

Breakdown of Ni zan kira ki daga baya ta waya.

• ni: I
• waya: the phone
• kira: to call
• ki: you (feminine)

Questions & Answers about Ni zan kira ki daga baya ta waya.

Why do we need both Ni and zan? Don’t they both mean “I”?

Both relate to “I”, but they don’t do the same job.

• Ni is the independent pronoun “I / me”. It’s used mainly for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.
• zan is actually the future marker + subject (“I will”), so it already tells you the subject is “I”.

So:

• Zan kira ki daga baya ta waya.
  = I’ll call you later by phone. (normal, neutral)

• Ni zan kira ki daga baya ta waya.
  = I will call you later by phone. (emphasising I, e.g. “I (not someone else) will call you …”)

In everyday speech, you often drop the initial Ni unless you want emphasis.

What exactly does zan mean? Is it like English “will”?