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Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.

Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.
The children climb the stairs slowly to go to the upper floor.
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Questions & Answers about Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.

What does suna mean in this sentence, and why is it needed?

suna is the 3rd person plural pronoun su (they) plus the aspect marker na, which together mark a continuous / progressive action.

  • Yara suna hawa matakala...
    = The children are climbing the stairs...

In Hausa, you normally need both:

  • a subject pronoun (su, ya, ta, mu, ku, etc.)
  • plus an aspect marker (na, ke, ma, etc., depending on dialect/structure)

So suna is not just are, it’s more like they + (progressive).

What is hawa, and why is it used instead of a simple verb form?

hawa is a verbal noun (sometimes called a gerund) from the verb hawã (to climb, ride).

In Hausa, the progressive often looks like:

  • Subject pronoun + aspect marker + verbal noun

So:

  • suna hawa matakala
    literally: they are in the act of climbing stairs

You can think of hawa here as climbing (the -ing form) acting like a noun. This pattern is very common in Hausa:

  • yana cin abinci – he is eating food (cin from ci, to eat)
  • muna shan ruwa – we are drinking water (shan from sha, to drink)
Is matakala singular or plural, and what exactly does it mean?

matakala is plural, from mataki (step).

In everyday usage:

  • mataki – a (single) step, stage
  • matakala – steps / stairs / a staircase

So hawa matakala is best understood as climbing the stairs rather than just climbing a step.

What does a hankali mean, and what is the function of a here?

a hankali means slowly or carefully.

  • hankali = sense, reason, calmness
  • a = a preposition often meaning in / with / at, but here it’s part of a fixed manner expression.

Literally, a hankali is something like in calmness, which naturally extends to:

  • slowly, gently, carefully

The a is used in many adverbial/manner phrases:

  • a sauri – quickly
  • a hankali – slowly
  • a tsanake – calmly, quietly
Can a hankali be placed in a different position in the sentence?

Yes, a hankali is fairly flexible. All of these are possible and natural:

  • Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.
  • Yara suna hawa matakala su je bene na sama a hankali. (less common, can sound like they go upstairs slowly rather than climb slowly)
  • Yara suna a hankali suna hawa matakala su je bene na sama. (more marked/emphatic: they are, slowly, climbing the stairs...)

The most neutral and common is the original placement, right after the object (matakala), modifying how they are climbing.

Why do we have su je at the end? Haven’t we already said suna (they) before?

su je starts a second clause with its own subject marking, even though the subject is the same children.

  • su – they (subject pronoun, 3rd person plural)
  • je – go

In Hausa, when you chain actions (do X and then do Y / do X in order to do Y), you often repeat the pronoun for the next clause:

  • Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.
    = The children are climbing the stairs slowly to go to the upper floor.

So:

  • first clause: Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali
  • second clause: su je bene na sama

The su in su je marks that this is another action of the same subject.

Is su je expressing purpose, like “in order to go upstairs”?

Yes. In context, su je bene na sama is naturally understood as a purpose/result clause:

  • suna hawa matakala... su je bene na sama
    ≈ they are climbing the stairs… so that they go / in order to go to the upper floor

Hausa often uses this kind of bare subject pronoun + verb structure to show:

  • next action in a sequence, or
  • intended result/purpose.

You could make the purpose even clearer by adding don or domin:

  • Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali don su je bene na sama.
    = The children are climbing the stairs slowly so that they may go upstairs.
What does bene na sama literally mean, and how is it different from just sama?

Literally:

  • bene – floor (of a building), storey
  • na – of (possessive / genitive linker)
  • sama – up, above, top

So bene na sama = the floor of above → the upper floor / the upstairs floor.

Compare:

  • sama on its own – up, above, the sky, the top
    • na je sama can mean I went up / upstairs (depending on context).
  • bene na kasa – the lower floor / ground floor
  • bene na biyu – the second floor, literally the floor of two.

In this sentence, bene na sama specifically points to an upper storey of a building, not just “upward” in a general sense.

If I want to say “The children are climbing the stairs” (with a definite “the”), do I need to change yara?

Yes, to make yara definite (the children), you normally add the -n / -r definite ending:

  • Yaran suna hawa matakala a hankali.
    = The children are climbing the stairs slowly.

So:

  • yara = children (general / indefinite)
  • yaran = the children (definite)

In your original sentence, Yara suna... can mean children are... or the children are..., depending on context, but adding -n makes the definiteness explicit.

How would the sentence change if it were only one child instead of many?

You change the subject and the agreement:

  • Yaro yana hawa matakala a hankali ya je bene na sama.
    • Yaro – child / boy (singular)
    • yana – he is (ya + na)
    • ya je – he goes

So:

  • plural: Yara suna hawa matakala a hankali su je bene na sama.
  • singular: Yaro yana hawa matakala a hankali ya je bene na sama.

The pattern subject + aspect marker and then same-subject pronoun + verb in the second clause stays the same, only the person/number changes (suna / su → yana / ya).