Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.

The primary school is north of our house.

Breakdown of Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.

• ne: to be
• gidan: the house
• da: with
• makaranta: the school
• firamare: primary
• arewa: the north

Questions & Answers about Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.

What does each part of Makarantar firamare mean, and why is it makarantar and not makaranta?

Makarantar firamare literally breaks down as:

• makaranta = school
• firamare = primary (from English primary)

Hausa usually links two nouns in a phrase like “X of Y” (school of primary, house of our father, etc.) by adding a small linking ending to the first noun. This is often called the linker or genitive marker.

• makaranta (school) + -r (feminine linker) → makarantar
• makarantar firamare = primary school (literally, “school of primary”)

So makarantar is just the “linked” form of makaranta used before another noun.

Why is it tana and not yana? Are schools feminine in Hausa?

Hausa has grammatical gender: nouns are either masculine or feminine, and verbs/pronouns agree with them.

• makaranta (school) is grammatically feminine.
• Feminine 3rd person singular uses ta- (she/it).
• Masculine 3rd person singular uses ya- (he/it).

So:

• tana = ta (she/it) + na → “she/it is …”
• yana = ya (he/it) + na → “he/it is …”

Because makaranta is feminine, you must use tana:

• Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.
  The primary school is north of our house.

If the subject were a masculine noun, you would use yana instead (see another question below for an example).

What exactly does tana mean here? Is it “is”, “is being”, or “is located”?

Tana is a combination:

• ta = she/it (feminine subject)
• na = aspect/“be” marker

Together, tana often corresponds to English “is”. Depending on context, it can mean:

• is (doing):
  
  • Tana cin abinci. = She is eating.
• is (in a place / located):
  
  • Tana gida. = She is at home.

In Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu, the meaning is “is (located)”:

• “The primary school is (located) north of our house.”

Hausa does not use a separate verb exactly like English “to be” in the present tense; instead, forms like tana / yana cover that role for ongoing states and locations.

What does arewa da mean literally, and how does it express “north of”?

• arewa = north
• da = with / and

In directional expressions like arewa da X, Hausa uses arewa + da + reference point to mean “north of X”:

• arewa da gidanmu = north of our house
  (literally, something like “north with our house”)

So the pattern is:

• [Place A] tana arewa da [Place B].
  = Place A is north of Place B.

Other directions work the same way:

• kudu da = south of
• gabas da = east of
• yamma da = west of

Example:
Kano yana arewa da Kaduna.
Kano is north of Kaduna.

Should there be an a (“in/at”) before arewa? Why not tana a arewa da gidanmu?

For this “north of X” pattern, standard Hausa normally does not use a before the direction word:

• Correct / natural:
  
  • Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.
• With a here sounds odd in this construction:
  
  • ?Makarantar firamare tana a arewa da gidanmu. (not the usual pattern)

You do use a when arewa is used as a simple location (“in the north”) rather than “north of something”:

• Yana a arewa. = He is in the north.

But when you say north of [something], the common pattern is:

• arewa da [something], without a.

What does gidanmu mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Gidanmu means “our house”.

Breakdown:

• gida = house
• -n = linker (masculine noun before another noun/pronoun)
• mu = we / our

So:

• gida + n + mu → gidanmu = house of us → our house

The -n attaches to gida because it’s the first element in the possessive construction, and mu marks the possessor.

Why is gidanmu written as one word, not gida mu?

In standard Hausa writing, short object and possessive pronouns (like mu, ka, ki, sa, ta, su) normally attach to the preceding word:

• motar mu in pronunciation → motarmu (our car)
• yayan su → yayansu (their older siblings)
• gidan mu → gidanmu (our house)

So gidanmu is written as a single word to reflect this close connection.
Writing gida mu would look like two separate words (“house” + “we/us”) and is not standard for the possessive meaning “our house”.

Where is “the” in this sentence? How do we know it’s “the” primary school and “our” house?

Hausa does not have articles like “the” or “a/an”. Definiteness is understood from context and from things like:

• Possession
• Being a specific, known item
• Previous mention in the conversation

In this sentence:

• gidanmu (“our house”) is clearly definite: there is a specific house that belongs to us.
• Makarantar firamare is typically understood as a specific nearby primary school that both speaker and listener can identify from context (for example “the primary school near our house”).

So Hausa says simply:

• Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.

In English, to match the natural meaning, we translate it as:

• “The primary school is north of our house.”

Can we change the word order, for example to Tana arewa da gidanmu makarantar firamare?

For a neutral statement, Hausa prefers the basic order:

1. Subject (S): Makarantar firamare
2. Verb (V): tana
3. Location phrase (other information): arewa da gidanmu

So:

• Makarantar firamare (subject)
• tana (verb)
• arewa da gidanmu (location)

Simply saying Tana arewa da gidanmu makarantar firamare is not normal word order and sounds wrong in standard Hausa.

You can front the location for emphasis, but then you need extra structure (this is more advanced):

• A arewa da gidanmu take makarantar firamare.
  (It’s) north of our house that the primary school is.

For ordinary, neutral speech, stay with:

• Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.

Can we leave out tana and just say Makarantar firamare arewa da gidanmu?

In normal full sentences, you should not drop tana here. Without a verb, Makarantar firamare arewa da gidanmu sounds incomplete or like a note/label rather than a proper sentence.

Hausa usually needs a form like tana/yana to link the subject to a location or ongoing state:

• Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.
  = The primary school is north of our house.

You might see verb-less fragments in headlines, signs, or labels, but for regular speech and writing, keep tana.

Is there a difference between arewa da gidanmu and arewacin gidanmu?

Both can express “north of our house”, but the structure is different.

1. arewa da gidanmu

   • arewa = north
   • da = with
   • gidanmu = our house
   • Pattern: arewa da [noun] = north of [noun]

2. arewacin gidanmu

   • arewa = north
   • -cin = linker forming “the north of …”
   • gidanmu = our house
   • arewacin gidanmu ≈ “the north of our house / the northern side of our house”

You could say:

• Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.
• Makarantar firamare tana arewacin gidanmu.

Both are understandable as “The primary school is north of our house.”
arewacin gidanmu sounds a bit more compact and sometimes slightly more formal or descriptive (“the northern side of our house”).

How would the verb change if we talked about a masculine noun instead of makarantar firamare?

If the subject is a masculine noun, you use yana instead of tana.

Example masculine noun:

• asibiti = hospital (masculine)

Sentence:

• Asibitin gwamnati yana arewa da gidanmu.
  
  • Asibitin = the hospital (asibiti + -n linker)
  • gwamnati = government
  • yana = he/it (masc.) is
  • arewa da gidanmu = north of our house

Meaning: “The government hospital is north of our house.”

Compare:

• Feminine: Makarantar firamare tana arewa da gidanmu.
• Masculine: Asibitin gwamnati yana arewa da gidanmu.