Learn Hardcore Hausa: Kogin da muke zuwa yana gabas da ƙauye, kusa da gonar tumatir. - The river we go to is east of the village, near the tomato farm.

It makes the noun definite:
- kogi = a river / river (general)
- kogin = the river
It acts as a linker to what follows (a relative clause or a following noun):
- kogin da muke zuwa = the river that we go to

So kogin here is “the river” and at the same time is “hooked” to the relative clause da muke zuwa that describes it.

How does da muke zuwa mean “that we go to”?

Break it down:

da – a linker used to introduce a relative clause here, like English that / which.
mu – we.
ke – a marker used in relative/focus forms of the continuous/habitual aspect, attached to the pronoun: mu + ke → muke.
zuwa – literally going / to go, a verbal noun often used where English has go / going (to).

Put together:

da muke zuwa ≈ “that we (usually) go (there)” / “where we go”.

The underlying simple sentence is like:

Muna zuwa kogin. – We go (are going) to the river.

To make a relative clause, kogin is moved to the front as the head noun, and da marks the “gap”:

Kogin [da muke zuwa] … – The river [that we go to] …

Where is the word “to” in “that we go to”? I only see zuwa.

In Hausa, zuwa covers the meaning of English “to (go)”.

zuwa can be:
- a verbal noun: going
- or a preposition: to / towards

So:

muke zuwa (wajen kogin) ≈ “we go (to the river)”

In the relative clause da muke zuwa, the “destination” is already the head noun (kogin), so Hausa doesn’t need an extra “to” at the end like English “go to (it)”. The idea of “to” is built into zuwa plus the relative structure.

What exactly does yana mean here?

Yana is a form of the verb ya (3rd person masculine singular) with the continuous/locative marker -na. Here it works like “is (located)”.

yana gabas da ƙauye ≈ “it is east of the village”

So Kogin da muke zuwa yana … is literally:

The river that we go to is (located) …

For location (in, at, on, by, etc.), Hausa commonly uses ya/ta + -na forms (yana / tana) rather than the copula ne/ce.

Why is it gabas da ƙauye for “east of the village”?

gabas = east
ƙauye = village
da here links a direction word to a reference point and is best translated as “of / from the side of” in this pattern.

So:

gabas da ƙauye = “east of the village” (literally, “east with/from the village”)

You will see similar patterns:

yamma da gari – west of the town
arewa da birni – north of the city

Optionally, speakers often add a (general locative “in/at”):

yana a gabas da ƙauye – it is to the east of the village (also correct).

What does ƙauye mean, and how is it different from gari?

ƙauye = village, countryside settlement.
gari = town / city, or sometimes just “place / town” more generally.

So in this sentence:

ƙauye is clearly a village, smaller and more rural than gari.

Plural:

ƙauye → ƙauyuka (villages)
gari → garuruwa (towns/cities)

Why is it kusa da gonar tumatir for “near the tomato farm”?

Break it down:

kusa = near, close.
da – here works like “to / at” with kusa, so kusa da X = “near X / close to X”.
gona = farm, field.
gonar = gona
- -r (linker/definite), literally “the farm (of …)”.
tumatir = tomato / tomatoes (a loanword; usually not pluralized in everyday speech).

So:

kusa da gonar tumatir = “near the tomato farm”
literally: “near the farm of tomato”.

The -r on gonar is like the -n in kogin: it makes the noun definite and links it to tumatir in a genitive structure.

Why does gona become gonar before tumatir?

Hausa uses a linking consonant (-n / -r) between a noun and something that follows it (another noun, an adjective, or a phrase), especially in possessive/genitive relationships.

gona (farm)
gonar tumatir (farm of tomato → tomato farm)

The basic rules (simplified):

-n after most consonants: kogin nan, mutumin nan
-r after many vowels: gonar tumatir, matar malam

So gona → gonar because it’s followed by another noun (tumatir) that depends on it.

Is tumatir a Hausa word? Does it change for plural?

Tumatir is a loanword (ultimately from English/French “tomate” etc.), but it is fully used in everyday Hausa.

In practice:

tumatir is often used for both “tomato” and “tomatoes” without showing plural on the word itself, especially in combinations like:
- guduma tumatir – a (piece of) tomato
- gonar tumatir – tomato farm
- sayar da tumatir – selling tomatoes

Speakers may also use forms like tumatirai in some dialects, but the unmarked tumatir is extremely common and usually enough.

Does da muke zuwa mean “we are going” right now, or “we usually go”?

The form muke with zuwa inside a relative clause is aspectually flexible. It often suggests a general or habitual meaning, but context decides:

kogin da muke zuwa can be:
- “the river that we (usually) go to” (habit)
- “the river that we are going to (these days)” (current pattern)

It does not usually mean a single, one‑time action. For a specific past event, you’d more likely see a perfective form, e.g.:

kogin da muka je – the river that we went to (on that occasion)

Why is it muke zuwa here and not muna zuwa?

Both are related but used in different environments:

Muna zuwa … – independent/main clause, continuous/habitual:
- Muna zuwa kogin. – We (regularly) go to the river / We are going to the river.
muke zuwa – the relative/focus version of the same aspect, used inside clauses introduced by da (or in focus sentences):
- Kogin da muke zuwa … – The river that we (regularly) go to …

Pattern (1st person plural, continuous/habitual):

main clause: muna (we are / we do)
relative/focus: muke

So da muke zuwa is the normal, correct form inside a relative clause.

Could this sentence be rearranged or varied and still be correct Hausa?

Yes. Some natural variations (all acceptable) include:

Adding a locative a before gabas:
- Kogin da muke zuwa yana a gabas da ƙauye, kusa da gonar tumatir.
Using ƙauyen with a linker to mark definiteness more explicitly:
- … yana gabas da ƙauyen, kusa da gonar tumatir.
  (east of the village; here ƙauyen is “the village”.)
Making the “nearness” more explicit with a kusa da:
- … yana gabas da ƙauye, a kusa da gonar tumatir.

All keep the same basic meaning; they just differ slightly in emphasis or style.