Breakdown of Na yi alƙawari zan taimaka wa ƙanwata ta koyi karatu da Hausa.
Questions & Answers about Na yi alƙawari zan taimaka wa ƙanwata ta koyi karatu da Hausa.
Literally:
- na = I (perfective subject pronoun)
- yi = do / make
- alƙawari = promise (a noun)
So Na yi alƙawari is literally I did/made a promise, which in natural English is I promised.
Hausa very often uses yi with nouns to form expressions like:
- yi magana – to speak / talk (literally: do speech)
- yi aure – to get married (literally: do marriage)
- yi tambaya – to ask a question (literally: do a question)
Yi alƙawari follows the same pattern: do a promise → make a promise → promise.
In this sentence na is the 1st person singular perfective subject pronoun. It marks both:
- the subject: I
- the aspect: perfective (completed action)
Compare:
- Na yi alƙawari – I (have) made a promise.
- Ina yin alƙawari – I am (in the process of) promising / I promise (habitually).
- Zan yi alƙawari – I will make a promise.
So na is not a separate tense marker plus a separate pronoun; it is a single form that already encodes “I” in the perfective.
Hausa can introduce a content clause (like English that…) with cewa, but it is often optional, especially after verbs like gani (see), sani (know), faɗi (say), yi alƙawari (make a promise), etc.
With cewa:
Na yi alƙawari cewa zan taimaka wa ƙanwata…
= I made a promise that I will help my younger sister…Without cewa (your sentence):
Na yi alƙawari zan taimaka wa ƙanwata…
– very natural and common.
So cewa is possible but not necessary here; leaving it out is normal everyday speech.
Zan = za + ni:
- za – future marker
- ni – strong pronoun “I”
In fast, normal speech, za ni contracts to zan.
Other persons work similarly:
- za ka → “you (m.sg) will”
- za ki → “you (f.sg) will”
- za shi → “he will”
- za ta → “she will”
So in your sentence zan taimaka = I will help / I am going to help.
The verb taimaka (“to help”) normally takes the person you help with the preposition wa (or ma):
- taimaka wa mutum – help a person
- taimaka wa yara – help the children
So:
- zan taimaka wa ƙanwata
= I will help to my younger sister → I will help my younger sister.
Saying *zan taimaka ƙanwata (without wa/ma) sounds ungrammatical or at least very odd to native speakers.
After taimaka, both wa and ma can introduce the person being helped:
- zan taimaka wa ƙanwata
- zan taimaka ma ƙanwata
In many contexts they are effectively synonyms. Rough tendencies:
- wa – often a bit more formal or careful speech / writing.
- ma – very common in everyday spoken Hausa.
In your sentence, either wa or ma would be acceptable; you just happened to have wa.
Ƙanwata is built from:
- ƙanwa – younger sibling, especially “younger sister”
- -ta – suffix showing that the sibling is female (and also functioning as possessive in this kinship pattern)
So:
- ƙanwata – my younger sister
- ƙanina – my younger brother
With kinship terms, Hausa often uses -na for a male referent and -ta for a female referent:
- yayana – my older brother
- yayata – my older sister
Thus ƙanwata specifically means my younger sister.
The ta before koyi is the 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun = she.
- It refers back to ƙanwata (my younger sister).
- It is the subject of koyi (learn):
ta koyi = “she learned / she will learn”.
In Hausa, finite verbs normally require an explicit subject pronoun, even when the noun has just been mentioned. So:
- …wa ƙanwata ta koyi karatu…
is the normal pattern: …my younger sister, she should learn to read…
Leaving out ta (*ƙanwata koyi karatu) is not grammatical in standard Hausa.
The two words contribute different pieces:
- koyi – to learn (often: to acquire a skill by practice or imitation)
- karatu – reading; study; schooling
So ta koyi karatu = she learns (the skill of) reading / studying.
Compare:
- ta koyi Hausa – she learned Hausa (the language)
- ta koyi karatu – she learned to read / to study (not just the language itself)
Your full phrase ta koyi karatu da Hausa is very close in meaning to she learns to read in Hausa.
The preposition da is very flexible; basic meanings include with, and, using, and often in (a language).
With languages, da commonly means “in (a language) / using (a language)”:
- ta yi magana da Hausa – she spoke in Hausa
- suna koyarwa da Turanci – they teach in English
So karatu da Hausa means reading/study done in Hausa, i.e. reading in Hausa.
Other possibilities you might see:
- karatu a Hausa – also used: “reading in Hausa”
- karatu da harshen Hausa – “reading in the Hausa language” (more explicit)
But da Hausa in your sentence is completely natural and idiomatic.
Yes, that is grammatical, but the nuance shifts:
- ta koyi karatu da Hausa – she learns to read, and the language used is Hausa.
- ta koyi Hausa – she learns Hausa (the language) in general (speaking, understanding, maybe reading/writing too).
So your original sentence focuses on the skill of reading/study, specifically in Hausa.
The version with ta koyi Hausa is more about learning the Hausa language itself.
You would make the sibling male and switch to the masculine pronoun:
- ƙanwata → ƙanina (my younger brother)
- ta → ya (he)
So the sentence becomes:
- Na yi alƙawari zan taimaka wa ƙanina ya koyi karatu da Hausa.
= I promised I would help my younger brother learn to read in Hausa.
The two parts describe two different times:
- Na yi alƙawari – the act of promising is completed (perfective; it already happened).
- zan taimaka – the helping is in the future (relative to now, or relative to the time of promising).
This is similar to English: “I promised I would help…” / “I promised I will help…”.
Hausa is quite comfortable mixing perfective + future like this to show:
- past action of promising
- future action that was promised
So Na yi alƙawari zan taimaka… is the normal way to say I promised I will (would) help….