Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yara suna gajiya, ko da yake suna so su yi wasa a waje. - The children are tired, although they want to play outside.

So suna gajiya literally means “they are (in the process of) getting tired” or “they are being tired”.
In short, suna is like “they are” before a verb or verbal noun.

Why is it suna gajiya and not sun gaji? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatical, but they don’t feel exactly the same:

Yara suna gajiya
– Uses suna (progressive) + gajiya (tiredness, noun)
– Emphasises the ongoing process: “The children are getting tired / are becoming tired.”
Yara sun gaji
– Uses sun (they + perfective aspect) + gaji (to be tired, verb)
– Emphasises a completed change: “The children have gotten tired / are tired now.”

So suna gajiya sounds more like they are in the middle of getting tired, while sun gaji sounds like they have already reached the point of being tired.

Could we say Yara gajiya without suna?

Normally, no. In the present tense, Hausa usually needs some kind of copula/aspect marker (like suna, ina, kana, etc.) before many predicates.

Yara suna gajiya = The children are tired / are getting tired.
Yara gajiya on its own sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard speech.

There are some short, very informal or poetic uses where auxiliaries are dropped, but for clear correct Hausa, you should keep suna here.

What does gajiya mean, and how is it different from gaji?

gaji is a verb meaning “to be tired / to become tired / to be fed up”.
- Na gaji = I am tired / I’ve become tired.
gajiya is a noun meaning “tiredness, fatigue”.
- suna gajiya = they are (experiencing) tiredness / they are getting tired.

In this sentence, Hausa uses the noun gajiya with the progressive marker suna to express an ongoing state or process of being tired.

What does ko da yake mean, and is it one word or several?

ko da yake means “although / even though”.

It is often written as three words: ko da yake.
You might also see kodayake written as one word; it’s the same expression.

Functionally, it introduces a contrast clause, just like English “although”:

Yara suna gajiya, ko da yake suna so su yi wasa a waje.
= “The children are getting tired, although they still want to play outside.”

What is the difference between ko da yake and amma?

Both show contrast, but they behave a bit differently:

ko da yake = although / even though
- Introduces a subordinate clause that is contrasted with the main clause.
- Yara suna gajiya, ko da yake suna so su yi wasa.
  “The children are tired, although they want to play.”
amma = but / however
- Usually starts a main clause by itself.
- Yara suna gajiya, amma suna so su yi wasa.
  “The children are tired, but they want to play.”

In many everyday contexts, both are possible and give a similar meaning; ko da yake feels a bit more like a formal “although,” while amma is a direct “but.”

Why do we have both suna so and su yi? Why is su repeated?

There are two clauses here, and each one needs its own subject pronoun:

suna so
- suna = they (progressive)
- so = want / like
  → “they want / they like”
su yi wasa
- su = they (subject pronoun for the subjunctive)
- yi = do
- wasa = play (noun)
  → “(that) they play / that they do play”

So suna so su yi wasa literally is like “they want that they should play”, which corresponds to English “they want to play.”
You cannot drop the second su; each clause needs its own subject.

What does yi mean in su yi wasa, and why do we need it?

yi is the verb “to do / to make.” In Hausa, many actions are expressed as “do + noun”:

yi wasa = do play → play
yi wanka = do bath → bathe / take a bath
yi magana = do speech → speak / talk

In su yi wasa,

su = they
yi = do
wasa = play (noun)
Together: “that they should play.”

You can’t just say su wasa here; wasa on its own is a noun, so you need yi to turn it into a verbal phrase.

Could we say suna son yin wasa instead of suna so su yi wasa?

Yes, that is also possible and common, with a slightly different structure:

suna so su yi wasa
- literally: “they want that they should do play” → they want to play
suna son yin wasa
- son = the genitive form of so (like “wanting / desire of”)
- yin = the verbal noun of yi (“doing”)
- literally: “they are in the wanting of doing play”
  → also they want to play / they like playing

Both are understood as “they want to play / they like to play.”
Learners can use either; suna so su yi X is a bit more transparently “want to do X” as a clause, while suna son yin X sounds slightly more nominal (“they have the desire of doing X”), but in practice they overlap a lot.

What does a mean in a waje?

a is a very common preposition in Hausa. Here it means roughly “in / at / on / to (location)”, depending on context.

a gida = at home / in the house
a kasuwa = at the market
a waje = outside / outdoors

So waje = outside, and a waje = “outside (as a place)”, “outdoors.”

Does a waje mean specifically “outside the house” or just “outside” in general?

a waje generally means “outside / outdoors / out in the open”.

Context decides what “outside” is relative to (house, building, room, etc.). If you say:

Yara suna so su yi wasa a waje.
Listeners will imagine playing outside—usually outside the house or building where the conversation is happening.

How do you say “the children” more explicitly in Hausa? Does yara already mean “the children”?

yara by itself means “children” and can be definite or indefinite depending on context.

If you want to mark “the children” more clearly (specific group already known), you often use yaran:

Yaran suna gajiya. = The children are getting tired.

So:

yaro = a child (boy)
yara = children
yaran = the children (those particular children, contextually known)

In many real conversations, yara alone is enough, and context makes it clear you mean “the children” as in the English translation.

Is the word order in this sentence similar to English word order?

Mostly yes. Hausa is also S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object):

Yara (Subject)
suna gajiya (Verb phrase: are getting tired)
ko da yake (connector: although)
suna so (Verb phrase: they want)
su yi wasa (Subordinate clause: that they play)
a waje (Adverbial phrase: outside)

So the global structure mirrors English:

“The children are getting tired, although they want to play outside.”

The major differences lie in the auxiliaries and clause structure (e.g., suna, su yi, ko da yake) rather than basic word order.

Why does the comma come before ko da yake? Could it start the sentence?

Yes, ko da yake can also start the sentence, just like “although” in English.

Yara suna gajiya, ko da yake suna so su yi wasa a waje.
“The children are getting tired, although they want to play outside.”
Ko da yake suna so su yi wasa a waje, yara suna gajiya.
“Although they want to play outside, the children are getting tired.”

The comma is used much as in English: to separate the main clause and the although-clause.