Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.

Mother is putting two pieces of clothing into the suitcase.

Breakdown of Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.

• ne: to be
• uwa: the mother
• a cikin: inside
• sa: to put
• akwati: the suitcase
• tufafi: the clothes
• guda biyu: two

Questions & Answers about Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.

What exactly does tana mean here, and why is it used instead of just ta?

Tana is actually ta + na written together.

• ta = she (3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun)
• na (here) = a helper verb showing a continuous/progressive action (is/are doing)

So uwa tana sa… literally means “mother, she is putting…” → Mother is putting…

If you said just Uwa ta sa tufafi…, that would sound more like a completed action: Mother put clothes… rather than is putting.

Why is the subject marker feminine? Why tana and not yana?

In Hausa, verbs agree with the gender of the subject in the 3rd person singular.

• ta / tana = she / she is …
• ya / yana = he / he is …

Because uwa (mother) is grammatically feminine, you must use the feminine form:

• Uwa tana sa… = Mother is putting…

If it were uba (father), you’d say:

• Uba yana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.

What does sa mean here, and is it the same verb used for “to wear” clothes?

Yes, sa is the same verb.

The core meaning of sa is “to put on / cause to be in some position”, and it’s widely used for:

• sa tufafi – to put on/wear clothes
• sa takalmi – to put on/wear shoes
• sa hula – to put on/wear a cap/hat
• sa abu a wuri – to put something in/at a place

In this sentence, context tells you that sa…a cikin akwati means “put (the clothes) into the box”, not “wear the clothes in the box.”

What does tufafi mean exactly? Is it singular or plural?

Tufafi means “clothes” / “clothing” and is plural in form and meaning.

• As a general word, it refers to clothes in general, not one specific item.
• The underlying singular is tufa, but in everyday speech people usually name specific items instead, like:
  • riga – shirt/dress
  • wando – trousers
  • zani – wrapper

So tufafi guda biyu is best understood as “two pieces of clothing / two items of clothing.”

Why do we say tufafi guda biyu and not biyu guda tufafi or biyu tufafi?

Hausa has a typical pattern for counting objects:

1. Noun
2. (often) guda
3. Number word

So the normal order is:

• tufafi guda biyu = clothes + unit-word + two

Guda is like saying “units/pieces” and makes the number sound more precise and natural.

• tufafi biyu is also possible and understood as “two clothes,” but tufafi guda biyu sounds a bit more explicit and careful, like “two (in number) pieces of clothing.”

You would not normally say biyu guda tufafi.

Is guda always necessary when counting, or can it be left out?

Guda is not always necessary.

• With many common nouns, both are fine:
  • tufafi biyu – two clothes
  • tufafi guda biyu – two (in number) clothes

Guda is:

• very common after one: guda ɗaya = one (unit)
• often used when you want to emphasize exact quantity, like “two exactly,” “only two,” etc.

So the sentence would still be grammatically correct without guda, but tufafi guda biyu is a very natural, explicit way to say “two items of clothing.”

What does a cikin mean, and why do we need both a and cikin?

a cikin is a very common combination:

• a = a general preposition: in, at, on, to (depending on context)
• cikin = inside of / inside

Together, a cikin literally means “in the inside of”, i.e. “inside / in”.

• a cikin akwati = in(side) the box

You can sometimes say cikin akwati alone, but a cikin is a very standard, natural way to express location inside something.

What is the role of akwati here, and does it mean a specific kind of “box”?

Akwati means “box, trunk, suitcase, chest”—a rigid container, often for clothes or belongings.

In this sentence:

• akwati is the location noun after a cikin: inside a box / in the box.

Hausa doesn’t have articles like “a/the”, so akwati by itself can mean:

• a box, the box, or her box, depending on context.

To make it more specific, you can add more words:

• akwatin nan – this box
• a cikin akwatinta – in her box

Does uwa mean “my mother,” “the mother,” or just “a mother” here?

Grammatically, uwa is just “mother” with no article or possessor marked. Hausa doesn’t have direct equivalents of “a/the”, so uwa can be interpreted according to context:

• “Mother” (as a known person in the conversation)
• “a mother”
• “the mother”

If you want to be explicit about possession, you’d say:

• Uwa ta – her mother
• Uwana / Uwa na – my mother
• Uwar yara – the children’s mother

In many everyday contexts, Uwa tana… will be understood as “Mother is…” (some specific mother already known from context).

Can Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati also mean a habitual action, like “Mother puts two clothes in the box every day”?

Yes, Hausa tana can express both:

• Progressive / ongoing: Mother is putting… (right now).
• Habitual: Mother (usually) puts…

Context usually tells you which one is meant.

If you really want to highlight habitual/repeated action, you might add an adverb or a particle, for example:

• Kullum, Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.
  Every day, Mother puts two clothes in the box.
• Uwa kan sa tufafi… – using kan also signals habit/custom.

If I changed the subject to “father,” what parts of the sentence would change?

You mainly change the noun and the subject marker:

• Uwa tana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.
  Mother is putting two items of clothing in the box.

→

• Uba yana sa tufafi guda biyu a cikin akwati.
  Father is putting two items of clothing in the box.

Changes:

• Uwa → Uba (mother → father)
• tana → yana (she is → he is)

Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or can parts be moved around?

The core order in Hausa is quite stable:

1. Subject: Uwa
2. Subject marker + aspect: tana
3. Verb: sa
4. Object: tufafi guda biyu
5. Locative phrase: a cikin akwati

So this order: > Uwa – tana – sa – tufafi guda biyu – a cikin akwati

is the normal, neutral way to say it. You can move time expressions (like today, every day) to the beginning or end, but you generally do not rearrange the core pieces (subject–verb–object–location) without changing emphasis or sounding unnatural.