Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari.

The students discovered the answer from the story.

Breakdown of Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari.

• amsa: the answer
• daga: from
• dalibi: the student
• labari: the story
• gano: to discover

Questions & Answers about Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari.

What does each word in Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari correspond to in English?

Here’s a word‑for‑word breakdown:

• Dalibai – students
• sun – 3rd person plural perfective marker: roughly they (have), they (did)
• gano – to find, discover, figure out
• amsa – answer, reply, response
• daga – from
• labari – story, news, account

So the structure is basically: Students – they.PFV – find – answer – from – story → “The students found the answer from the story.”

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

Hausa usually does not use separate words for “the” or “a/an” like English does.

• Dalibai can mean students, the students, or (some) students, depending on context.
• amsa can be an answer or the answer.
• labari can be a story, the story, news, etc.

Definiteness is often understood from context, or marked with a suffix:

• amsar = the answer (with the -r definite ending)
• labarin = the story (with the -n definite ending)

Your sentence is fine and natural without explicitly marking “the”; context tells you whether you mean “an answer” or “the answer”.

What exactly is dalibai? How do I say “one student” vs “students”?

Dalibai is the plural noun meaning students.

• dalibi – a student (male or generic)
• daliba – a female student
• dalibai – students

With the definite suffix, you’ll see:

• dalibin – the (male) student
• dalibar – the female student
• daliban – the students

In your sentence, Dalibai sun gano… is talking about students as a group (often understood as the students in a given context).

What does sun mean? Is it “they”, “have”, or “did”?

Sun is a combination of:

• su- = 3rd person plural subject (they)
• -n = perfective marker (completed action)

Functionally, sun marks 3rd person plural + completed action.
Depending on context, you could feel it as:

• they (did) find
• they (have) found

Hausa doesn’t need a separate word for “they” or “did” here; sun already carries both the subject and the idea of a completed action.

What is the difference between sun gano and suna gano?

The difference is aspect (completed vs ongoing / habitual):

• sun gano – perfective: they found / they have found / they discovered
  
  • A completed action.
• suna gano – imperfective: they are finding / they usually find / they keep discovering
  
  • Ongoing, repeated, or habitual action.

So Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari = a specific completed event:
“The students (have) found the answer from the story.”

If you said Dalibai suna gano amsa daga labari, it would sound like:
“Students (generally) find answers from the story / from stories.”

What’s the difference between sun gano and suka gano?

Both sun gano and suka gano use the perfective, but they differ in focus and narrative style:

• sun gano – neutral perfective: they found
  
  • Used in simple statements: “They found the answer.”
• suka gano – focused / narrative perfective
  
  • Often used in storytelling, when moving a story forward or emphasizing the verb:
    “(Then) they found the answer.”

So:

• Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari.
  Neutral statement about what happened.

• Sai dalibai suka gano amsa daga labari.
  More like a story line: “Then the students found the answer from the story.”
  (sai … suka is a very common storytelling pattern.)

Can I drop Dalibai and just say Sun gano amsa daga labari?

Yes, you can.

Hausa often allows you to omit the noun subject when it is clear from context, because the subject pronoun inside the verb complex (here su- in sun) still tells you who did the action.

• Dalibai sun gano amsa daga labari. – The students found the answer from the story.
• Sun gano amsa daga labari. – They found the answer from the story.

The second version is natural if it is already clear you are talking about the students (for example, in the next sentence of a paragraph about them).

What does gano mean exactly, and can it also mean “realize” or “discover”?

Gano is a verb that covers the ideas of:

• to find (physically or mentally)
• to discover
• to figure out / realize

Some examples:

• Na gano amsa. – I found the answer. / I figured out the answer.
• Sun gano gaskiya. – They discovered the truth. / They realized the truth.

In your sentence, sun gano amsa is very naturally translated as “(they) found the answer” or “(they) figured out the answer.”

What exactly is amsa? Is it only “answer to a question” or more general?

Amsa is a noun meaning:

• answer
• reply
• response

Common uses:

• amsar tambaya – the answer to a question
• ba da amsa – to give an answer / reply

So sun gano amsa is “they found the answer” (in this context, to something in the story).
It can be a literal answer to a test question, or more abstract, like “They found the solution / response.”

Does daga always mean “from”? How is it used here?

Daga is a preposition that usually means “from”, often indicating:

• source or origin:
  
  • Na zo daga gida. – I came from home.
• starting point in time or space:
  
  • Daga nan. – From here.
  • Daga jiya. – From yesterday.

In your sentence, daga labari means “from the story” in the sense of source of the answer:

• amsa daga labari – the answer (that comes) from the story

What does labari mean? Is it just “story”?

Labari is quite flexible. Its main meanings are:

• story, tale, narrative
• news, information, report
• matter, issue, affair

Examples:

• Ina so in ji labari. – I want to hear a story / the story.
• Mene ne labari? – What’s the news? / What’s going on?

In amsa daga labari, labari is best understood as “story”:
“the students found the answer from the story.”