Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu.

Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. = “I am sitting on the stairs now.” (normal, neutral)
Ni ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. = “Me, I am sitting on the stairs now.” (adds emphasis or contrast, like “As for me, I’m sitting on the stairs now.”)

You don’t need ni; it’s there when you want to stress the subject (“I, not someone else”).

Can I just say Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu without ni?

Yes, and that is actually the most common form.

Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. is perfectly correct and natural.
Adding ni simply makes the I more emphatic or contrastive.

Use ni if, for example, you are answering a question like:

Su ina? – “Where are they?”
Ni ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. – “Me, I’m sitting on the stairs now.”

If you’re just stating a fact with no special emphasis, drop ni.

What exactly is zaune, and why isn’t it zauna?

The basic verb is zauna = “to sit, to stay, to reside.”

Hausa often uses a special form called a verbal adjective / posture form for body positions and ongoing states:

zaune – “sitting, seated; living (somewhere)”
tsaye – “standing” (from tsaya “to stand/stop”)
kwance – “lying down” (from kwanta “to lie down”)

So:

Ina zaune. – “I am sitting / I am seated.”
Not: ✗ Ina zauna (this sounds odd if you mean “I am (in a state of) sitting”).

Zaune describes the state you are in, not the action of sitting down at that moment.

So could I say Ina zauna a kan matakala yanzu instead of Ina zaune?

You can say Ina zauna, but it changes the meaning:

Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu.
→ “I am (in the state of being) seated on the stairs now.” (right now, posture / state)
Ina zauna a Kano.
→ “I live in Kano / I reside in Kano.” (habitual residence)

With zauna in the continuous aspect, Hausa usually understands it as something like “I (habitually) stay / live / reside.” If you use Ina zauna a kan matakala yanzu, it can sound as if you regularly live on the stairs, which is strange.

For “I am sitting (right now)”, use ina zaune.

What does a kan mean, and how is it different from just a or from akan?

Both a and kan are involved in expressing location:

a = general locative preposition: “in, at, on”
kan = “top, surface; head,” and also a preposition “on (top of)”

When you put them together:

a kan matakala = “on the stairs / on top of the stairs (steps)”

In writing you will see both:

a kan (two words), and
akan (one word),

with little or no difference in meaning in this context. Many speakers freely use either.

Difference in feel:

a alone just marks location: a gida = “at home.”
a kan / akan adds the idea of “on top of, on the surface of”:
a kan tebur / akan tebur = “on the table.”

So a kan matakala is the natural way to say “on the stairs.”

Could I just say a matakala instead of a kan matakala?

You can hear a matakala, but it is less precise:

a matakala can be understood as “at the stairs” (somewhere by the stairs, not necessarily on them).
a kan matakala clearly means “on the stairs / on the steps” (on top of the steps).

If you specifically mean physical contact with the steps (sitting on them), a kan matakala is the clearer choice.

Is matakala singular or plural? Does it mean “stair” or “stairs”?

In practice, matakala is usually treated as a plural-like noun meaning “stairs, steps” as a set.

In English you distinguish:

“a stair / a step” vs. “the stairs.”

In Hausa, matakala often just covers the whole unit:

matakala – “stairs, steps” (the staircase)
e.g. Ina sauka matakala. – “I am coming down the stairs.”

If you need to be very specific (one step, many steps), you would clarify with other words or context, but in everyday speech matakala works fine for “stairs.”

What does yanzu do in the sentence, and can it move to a different position?

yanzu means “now” and is a time adverb.

Common positions:

At the end (very typical and natural):
- Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. – “I am sitting on the stairs now.”
At the beginning:
- Yanzu, ina zaune a kan matakala. – “Now, I’m sitting on the stairs.”

Putting yanzu in the middle, like:

✗ Ina yanzu zaune a kan matakala.

is not natural. So prefer:

Yanzu ina zaune a kan matakala.
or
Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu.

How would I say the negative: “I am not sitting on the stairs now”?

To negate the continuous aspect with ina, Hausa normally uses ba na (often pronounced bana):

Ba na zaune a kan matakala yanzu.
or
Bana zaune a kan matakala yanzu. (more colloquial)

If you also want to emphasize I, you can add ni:

Ni ba na zaune a kan matakala yanzu. – “Me, I’m not sitting on the stairs now.”

Avoid:

✗ Ba ni ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. (this is not the standard way to negate this kind of sentence)

Does ina zaune always mean “I am sitting”, or can it also mean “I live (somewhere)”?

Ina zaune can mean either:

Physical posture:
- Ina zaune a kan matakala yanzu. – “I am sitting on the stairs now.”
Residence / living somewhere:
- Ina zaune a Kano. – “I live in Kano.”
- Ina zaune a gidan su. – “I live at their house.”

Context usually makes it clear:

With a city or house: almost always “I live (there).”
With a physical surface like a kan matakala: “I am sitting (there).”

How would I say “I am standing on the stairs now” or “I am lying on the stairs now” using the same pattern?

You replace zaune with another posture word:

tsaye = “standing”
kwance = “lying down”

So:

Ina tsaye a kan matakala yanzu.
– “I am standing on the stairs now.”
Ina kwance a kan matakala yanzu.
– “I am lying (down) on the stairs now.”

The structure Ina + [posture word] + a kan + place + yanzu is very productive for describing your physical position.