Learn Hardcore Hausa: Jiya na rasa alƙalami na a aji na Hausa. - Yesterday I lost my pen in my Hausa class.

Jiya – yesterday (time word)
na – subject pronoun for I in the completed past (perfective), attached to the verb
rasa – to lose (misplace / no longer have something)
alƙalami – pen
na – enclitic meaning my (possessive after a noun)
a – preposition meaning roughly in / at
aji – class / classroom / lesson
na – linker meaning of (connects aji “class” and Hausa “Hausa”)
Hausa – the Hausa language

So literally: Yesterday I-lost pen my in class of Hausa.

Why does the sentence have three na words? Are they all the same?

They are the same basic form na, but they play three different grammatical roles:

na (after jiya): subject pronoun
- Means I in the completed past (perfective).
- na rasa = I lost / I have lost.
na (after alƙalami): possessive pronoun
- Means my.
- alƙalami na = my pen.
na (before Hausa): linker / “of”
- Connects two nouns in a possessive or “of” relationship.
- aji na Hausa = Hausa class (literally class of Hausa).

Same shape, three functions: I / my / of. You tell which it is by its position in the sentence.

Is na rasa more like “I lost” or “I have lost”? What tense is it?

na rasa is the perfective form with na as the subject pronoun:

It usually translates as a simple past:
- Jiya na rasa alƙalami na. → Yesterday I lost my pen.
In some contexts, it can also match English “I have lost” (present relevance):
- Na rasa kuɗi na. → I’ve lost my money.

Hausa doesn’t make the same “past vs. present perfect” distinction as English; na + verb just says the action is completed. Context and time words like jiya “yesterday” do the rest.

Why is jiya at the beginning? Can it go somewhere else?

Time expressions like jiya (yesterday) commonly go at the start of the sentence in Hausa:

Jiya na rasa alƙalami na a aji na Hausa.

You can also move jiya after the subject–verb part:

Na rasa alƙalami na jiya a aji na Hausa.

Both are acceptable. Putting jiya at the front is very natural and slightly emphasizes yesterday. You normally don’t put jiya in the very middle of the verb phrase, e.g. you wouldn’t say:

✗ Na jiya rasa alƙalami na… (ungrammatical)

Why is it alƙalami na and not na alƙalami for “my pen”?

In Hausa, possessive pronouns like my, your, his come after the noun, not before it:

alƙalami na – my pen
alƙalami ka – your pen (to a man)
alƙalami ki – your pen (to a woman)
alƙalami sa – his pen
alƙalami ta – her pen

So the pattern is:

noun + possessive pronoun
alƙalami + na → alƙalami na (pen my)

Can I join alƙalami and na into one word (alƙalamina)?

Yes. Both of these are used:

alƙalami na
alƙalamina

They both mean “my pen”.

What’s happening is that the possessive pronoun can be:

separate: alƙalami na
attached as a suffix: alƙalamina

Many speakers often prefer the attached form in writing, but you will hear both forms in speech.

What exactly does a before aji mean? Is it “in”, “at”, or something else?

The preposition a is quite flexible. It often corresponds to:

in (a place or container)
at (a location or event)
sometimes on (a surface), depending on context

In this sentence:

a aji → in class / in the classroom or in the lesson

So a aji na Hausa means in Hausa class or in the Hausa lesson.

Isn’t a aji hard to say because of the two a sounds together?

It can feel a bit awkward for English speakers at first, but it’s normal in Hausa:

a aji is just a
- aji = in class.

In natural speech, many people blend it so it sounds almost like one unit, something like [aaji]. You don’t add anything; you just say the two a sounds smoothly together.

Why do we say aji na Hausa instead of Hausa aji for “Hausa class”?

Hausa typically expresses “X of Y” relationships using a linker like na (or ta, ɗan, etc. depending on the nouns). The basic pattern is:

head noun + na + modifier noun
aji + na + Hausa → aji na Hausa (class of Hausa)

So:

aji na Hausa – Hausa class
littafi na Turanci – English book (book of English)
makaranta na gwamnati – government school

You don’t say Hausa aji for “Hausa class”; the “of” relation is shown by na, not by word order alone.

I’ve seen ajin Hausa written instead of aji na Hausa. Are a aji na Hausa and a ajin Hausa different?

They mean the same thing: in Hausa class.

What’s happening is that the linker na can merge with the preceding noun and show up as a final -n:

aji na Hausa → ajin Hausa

So:

a aji na Hausa = in the Hausa class
a ajin Hausa = the same meaning, with the linker attached.

Both forms are understood. In many written contexts you will more often see ajin Hausa.

If I change the subject from “I” to “he”, “she”, or “they”, which parts change?

Only the subject pronoun before the verb changes. The rest of the sentence can stay the same.

Na rasa alƙalami na a aji na Hausa. – I lost my pen in Hausa class.
Ya rasa alƙalami sa a aji na Hausa. – He lost his pen in Hausa class.
Ta rasa alƙalami ta a aji na Hausa. – She lost her pen in Hausa class.
Sun rasa alƙalaminsu a aji na Hausa. – They lost their pen(s) in Hausa class.

Notice that the possessive pronoun after alƙalami also changes to match the subject: na, sa, ta, -nsu, etc.

Does rasa always mean “lose by accident”? Can it mean other things?

rasa primarily means to lose, to no longer have something (usually not on purpose):

Na rasa alƙalami na. – I lost my pen.
Ta rasa kuɗi ta. – She lost her money.

It can also be used more generally for “to be deprived of / to be without” something:

Mun rasa lafiya. – We lack health / we have lost health.
Sun rasa ɗa. – They lost a child.

For losing a match or game, you can still use rasa:

Sun rasa wasa. – They lost the game.

There are other related verbs (like ɓata for “spoil / waste / ruin”), but rasa is the basic one for “lose (no longer have something)”.

Can I leave out some parts, like na Hausa or the na after alƙalami, and still be understood?

Yes, but the meaning becomes less specific:

Leaving out na Hausa:
- Jiya na rasa alƙalami na a aji.
  → Yesterday I lost my pen in class. (We don’t know which subject.)
Leaving out na after alƙalami:
- Jiya na rasa alƙalami a aji na Hausa.
  → Yesterday I lost a pen in Hausa class. (Could be any pen, not clearly “my pen”.)

Native speakers often rely on context, but grammatically:

with the possessive na → clearly my pen
without it → just a pen (unless context strongly implies otherwise)