Uwa tana jin alfahari da yadda 'yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.

Mother feels proud of how my sister is learning Hausa.

Breakdown of Uwa tana jin alfahari da yadda 'yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.

• ne: to be
• da: with
• ji: to feel
• ’yar uwa: the sister
• uwa: the mother
• Hausa: Hausa
• yadda: how
• alfahari: proud
• koyo: to learn

Questions & Answers about Uwa tana jin alfahari da yadda 'yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.

In Uwa tana jin alfahari…, does Uwa mean my mother, the mother, or just mother in general?

Uwa by itself simply means mother. Hausa does not use articles like the / a the way English does, so Uwa can mean:

• mother (in general) – as a concept
• (the) mother – a specific mother known from context
• Mom / my mother – if the context is clearly your own mother

If you want to be explicitly possessive, you normally add a suffix:

• Uwata = my mother
• Uwarka = your (m.sg) mother
• Uwarku = your (pl) mother
• Uwarsa = his mother
• Uwarta = her mother

So:

• Uwa tana jin alfahari…
  → Most naturally in a real conversation: Mom / My mother is proud…, relying on context.

If you really need to spell it out in a textbook-like way, you could say:

• Uwata tana jin alfahari… = My mother is proud…

What does tana mean here? Is it just the verb “to be” like “is”?

Tana is not a simple “is”; it’s a combination of:

• ta = she (3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun)
• na = a marker often used for progressive / continuous aspect

Together tana is used before a verb-like word (often a verbal noun) to mean something like:

• she is doing X / she is in the process of X‑ing

In the sentence:

• Uwa tana jin alfahari…
  literally: Mother is (in the state of) feeling pride…

So tana is closer to English “is (verb+ing)” than to a pure identity “is” (as in “she is a doctor”). For that kind of “is”, Hausa would more often use ce/ne in certain structures.

I thought ji means “to hear”. Why is jin used here for “feeling proud”?

The verb ji in Hausa is quite broad. It can mean:

• to hear (sound)
• to feel / sense (physical sensation or emotion)
• to experience / perceive

Jin is the verbal noun form of ji, so:

• ji = to hear / feel
• jin = hearing / feeling / sensing

In tana jin alfahari, the idea is:

• she is feeling pride → she feels proud

So:

• Na ji zafi = I felt pain / It hurt.
• Ina jin dadi = I feel good / I’m comfortable.
• Tana jin alfahari = She feels pride / She is proud.

So ji doesn’t only mean “hear with your ears”; it also covers emotional and physical feelings.

What exactly does alfahari mean, and why do we say jin alfahari instead of just alfahari?

Alfahari is a noun meaning pride (the feeling of being proud).

Hausa often expresses feelings with the structure:

• jin + [feeling‑noun]

So you get common patterns like:

• jin dadi = feeling pleasure / comfort → being pleased / comfortable
• jin zafi = feeling pain → feeling hurt
• jin tsoro = feeling fear → being afraid
• jin kunya = feeling shame → being ashamed / shy
• jin alfahari = feeling pride → being proud

So:

• Uwa tana jin alfahari…
  literally: Mother is feeling pride…
  naturally: Mother is proud…

You normally wouldn’t say just “Uwa tana alfahari” for “Mother is proud”; the idiomatic expression is jin alfahari.

What does da yadda do in this sentence? Is it like “about how” in English?

Yes, da yadda here functions much like “about how / with the way that”.

Breakdown:

• da often means with, and, or about / concerning, depending on context.
• yadda means how, the way that, the manner in which.

Putting them together:

• da yadda… ≈ with / about the way (that)… / about how…

So:

• …tana jin alfahari da yadda 'yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.
  → …she is proud of how my sister is learning Hausa.

Other examples:

• Ina farin ciki da yadda kake aiki.
  I’m happy with how you’re working.
• Ya yi mamaki da yadda ta amsa.
  He was surprised at how she answered.

So da yadda introduces the “how…” clause that explains what exactly she is proud of.

How does ’yar uwata mean “my sister” when uwa usually means “mother”?

This is a very natural Hausa way to say “my sister”, and it’s built literally as:

• ’yar = daughter (feminine form of ɗa / ’ya, child)
• uwa = mother
• uwata = my mother (uwa + -ta “my”)
• ’yar uwata = daughter of my mother

So ’yar uwata literally is:

• “the daughter of my mother” → my (female) sibling → my sister

Similarly:

• ɗan uwana = son of my mother → my brother (male sibling)

So in the sentence:

• …da yadda ’yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.
  → …how my sister is learning Hausa.

You could also meet other words for particular sisters:

• ’yar uwa (with a possessive suffix) – general sister
• kanwa – younger sister (of a brother or sometimes sister)
• ’yar uba / ’yar uba daya – paternal half‑sister, etc.

But ’yar uwata is a clear and common way to say “my sister”.

Why is it ’yar uwata ke koyon Hausa and not ’yar uwata tana koyon Hausa?

Both tana and ke are aspect markers related to the present / continuous, but they belong to different sets:

• tana = an independent (main‑clause) progressive marker with a feminine subject (she is …‑ing)
• ke = a relative / dependent marker used in subordinate, relative, or focused clauses

In the main clause we have:

• Uwa tana jin alfahari…
  → main statement → uses tana.

The second part is inside a “how…” clause introduced by yadda, so it’s a subordinate clause:

• …da yadda ’yar uwata ke koyon Hausa.

In such subordinate clauses, Hausa normally switches to the “relative” set of markers, here ke. So:

• As an independent sentence:
  ’Yar uwata tana koyon Hausa. = My sister is learning Hausa.
• Inside a yadda (“how”) clause:
  …yadda ’yar uwata ke koyon Hausa. = …how my sister is learning Hausa.

So ke here is the appropriate form for this embedded “how” clause; tana would be for a standalone main sentence.

What is koyon exactly? Why isn’t it just koyo Hausa or koya Hausa?

Koyon comes from the verbal noun koyo (“learning”) plus a linking -n before another noun.

Breakdown:

• koyo = learning (verbal noun from the verb koya)
• -n = linker (often glossed as a genitive or “of” marker)
• koyon Hausa = learning of Hausa → learning Hausa

In spelling, koyo + n is written as koyon before another word:

• koyon Hausa = learning Hausa
• koyon aiki = learning work / learning a job

So the structure ke koyon Hausa is:

• ke (relative continuous marker)
• koyon Hausa (verbal‑noun phrase “learning Hausa”)

Compare:

• Ina koyo. = I am learning (something – object implied).
• Ina koyon Hausa. = I am learning Hausa.
• ’Yar uwata ke koyon Hausa. = My sister is learning Hausa.

Koya as a finite verb more often appears in past or perfect forms, like:

• Na koyi Hausa. = I learned Hausa.
• Sun koya mana Turanci. = They taught us English.

But for the ongoing action in this kind of structure, koyon + object is very common.

I’ve seen koya glossed as “to teach”. How do koya, koyo, and koyon Hausa differ?

They are related forms from the same root:

• koya (verb)
  – with different arguments it can mean to teach or to learn.
  Context decides:

  • Ya koya min Hausa. = He taught me Hausa.
  • Na koyi Hausa a makaranta. = I learned Hausa at school.

• koyo (verbal noun)
  – learning (the process):

  • koyo = learning (in general)
  • koyon harshen Hausa = learning the Hausa language

• koyon Hausa
  – literally learning of Hausa, used after aspect markers:

  • Ina koyon Hausa. = I am learning Hausa.
  • ’Yar uwata ke koyon Hausa. = My sister is learning Hausa.

So in your sentence, ke koyon Hausa focuses on the ongoing process of learning Hausa, not on the completed act of having learned it.

Where is the English word “is” in the second part “…how my sister is learning Hausa”?

In Hausa, the “is” idea is usually built into the tense/aspect marker, not a separate verb.

• In the first clause, tana carries the meaning of “she is …‑ing”.
• In the second clause, ke plays a similar role for a subordinate clause: it’s the present / continuous marker attached to the subject.

So:

• ’yar uwata ke koyon Hausa
  structurally corresponds to:
  “my sister is learning Hausa”

There is no separate verb exactly like English “is”; instead, ke marks that the action koyon Hausa is ongoing or characteristic in that how‑clause.