Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa. - The children go to the primary school on foot.

yara – children
suna – they are (3rd person plural subject + progressive marker)
zuwa – going / coming (verb zuwa, ‘to go/come’)
makarantar – the school of … (makaranta = school, makarantar = school of … / the school)
firamare – primary (as in primary/elementary level)
a – at / in / on / by (general preposition, here: on / by)
kafa – foot (here idiomatically: on foot)

Natural English: The children go to primary school on foot.

Why do we need suna before zuwa? Why not just say Yara zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa?

In Hausa you normally cannot put a full noun subject directly in front of a bare verb. You need a subject pronoun/aspect marker between them.

su‑na is a fused form:
- su – they (3rd person plural pronoun)
- ‑na – progressive / continuous aspect marker

So suna zuwa literally means they‑PROG go, i.e. they are going / they go (habitually).

Without suna, Yara zuwa … is ungrammatical in standard Hausa. You either say:

Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa.
or use a pronoun only: Suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa. = They go to primary school on foot.

Does suna zuwa mean “are going right now” or “usually go”?

suna zuwa can express both, depending on context:

Right now / currently
- If you are talking about this moment or about what is in progress:
  - Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa yanzu.
    – The children are going to primary school on foot now.
Habitual / repeated action
- If you are describing a routine:
  - Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa kullum.
    – The children go to primary school on foot every day.

In isolation, Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa is usually understood as a general or habitual statement: The children (normally) go to primary school on foot.

What is the difference between makaranta and makarantar here?

makaranta is the basic noun school.

When another noun follows it to specify what kind of school, Hausa puts the first noun in a “construct” form (genitive/possessive‑like), often by adding ‑r or ‑n:

makaranta (school) + firamare (primary) → makarantar firamare (primary school)

This structure is like saying school of primary (level).
Other examples:

littafin yaro – the child’s book / book of the child (littafi → littafin)
gidan su – their house (gida → gidan)

So makarantar shows that makaranta is linked to the following word firamare.

What does firamare mean, and where does it come from?

firamare means primary, as in primary/elementary level in schooling.

It is a loanword from English “primary”, adapted to Hausa pronunciation and spelling:

English primary → Hausa firamare

You will see it mainly in combinations like:

makarantar firamare – primary school
aji na farko a firamare – first class/grade in primary (school)

Why is it a kafa for “on foot”? Could we also say da kafa?

Both a kafa and da kafa are used in Hausa, but there is a nuance:

a kafa – literally on/by foot, a common, neutral way to say on foot in motion contexts.
da kafa – also on foot / with the feet, and often sounds a bit more like using feet / not using a vehicle.

In everyday speech, you can hear both:

Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa.
Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare da kafa.

Both are understandable as The children go to primary school on foot.
Locally, one form may be more common, but a kafa here is perfectly natural.

Is kafa always “foot”, or can it mean “leg” too?

In Hausa, kafa often covers what English divides into foot and leg, depending on context.

For body parts in general: kafa can refer to the leg/foot area.
In this fixed expression a kafa / da kafa, it corresponds to English on foot (i.e. walking, not riding or driving).

So in this sentence, kafa is best translated as foot (as part of the idiom on foot).

Why is the subject yara (children) and not yaran or ’ya’yan?

There are a few related forms:

yaro – (a) boy, (a) child (often male, but also generic in some contexts)
yara – children (plural of yaro)
yaran – the children / those children (definite form: yara
- ‑n)
’ya’ya – children as offspring (sons and daughters), more strongly “someone’s own children”
’ya’yan – the children / those children (offspring, definite)

In this sentence:

yara is indefinite/generic: children in general (for example, in that area or in that family, depending on context).
If you said Yaran suna zuwa …, it would usually be understood as the children (already known in the conversation or visible).

So Yara suna zuwa … = Children (the children we are talking about / children generally) go …

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Yara suna zuwa a kafa makarantar firamare?

The natural order in Hausa is:

Subject – (pronoun/aspect) – Verb – Main object – Other complements

So:

Yara (subject)
suna (subject pronoun + aspect)
zuwa (verb)
makarantar firamare (main object / destination)
a kafa (manner: on foot)

→ Yara suna zuwa makarantar firamare a kafa.

Putting a kafa before makarantar firamare (… zuwa a kafa makarantar firamare) sounds unnatural or confusing. The destination (makarantar firamare) typically comes right after zuwa, and manner phrases like a kafa follow later.

How would I say “The children will go to primary school on foot” instead of “(usually) go / are going”?

To express future in Hausa, you typically use za su before the verb:

Yara za su je makarantar firamare a kafa.

Notes:

za su – they will
je – go (simple motion verb)

You could also keep zuwa, but in standard usage je is more common with za su:

Yara za su je makarantar firamare a kafa.
– The children will go to primary school on foot.