Learn Hardcore Hausa: Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.

Grammatically, iyali usually behaves like a plural noun in Hausa, even though in English family can be treated as singular (“my family is…”) or plural (“my family are…”).

That’s why you see:

Iyali na suna… = My family are… (using suna, the 3rd‑person plural subject marker)

Why is it “Iyali na” and not “na iyali” or “iyalina”?

In Hausa, possessive pronouns like “my” normally come after the noun:

iyali na = my family (literally “family my”)
mota ta = my car (literally “car my”)

You’ll also see a joined form in writing:

iyalina = my family
Iyali na = my family

Both iyali na and iyalina are correct; the difference is mostly orthographic style and a slight difference in emphasis or rhythm in speech. Many speakers freely alternate between the separated and joined forms.

What does suna mean, and why do we need it here?

Suna is made up of:

su = they (3rd person plural subject pronoun)
-na = progressive aspect marker (“are doing / be doing”)

So suna roughly corresponds to “they are” in English, but it’s specifically used with a verb that follows, not as a copula like “they are doctors”.

In the sentence:

Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.
= My family are feeling proud of me today.

suna tells you that the action (jin alfahari – “feeling pride”) is ongoing / current. Without suna, you would change the tense/aspect or make the sentence sound incomplete.

What is the role of jin here? Why not just say “suna ji alfahari”?

The verb ji means “to feel / hear / sense / taste” depending on context.

jin is the verbal noun (“the feeling/hearing”) formed from ji.

The pattern jin + [abstract noun] is very common to express emotions, attitudes, or internal states:

jin ƙauna = feeling love
jin zafi = feeling pain / heat
jin daɗi = feeling pleasure
jin alfahari = feeling pride

So:

suna jin alfahari
literally: they are having/feeling pride
natural English: they are proud.

You might occasionally hear “suna ji alfahari”, but “jin alfahari” is the normal, idiomatic collocation. Think of jin alfahari as a set phrase meaning “to feel proud”.

What does alfahari mean? Is it exactly the same as “pride”?

Alfahari means “pride” in the positive sense of being proud of someone or something.

In this sentence:

jin alfahari da ni = to feel proud of me

Note:

alfahari is typically used for positive pride (being proud of your child, your work, your country, etc.).
Negative pride (arrogance, haughtiness) is more often expressed with other words like girman kai (literally “bigness of head”) or tūkuru in some dialects.

So here it clearly means good, approving pride (my family are proud of me), not arrogance on your part.

What does da mean in “jin alfahari da ni”? Is it “with” or “of”?

The preposition da is very flexible in Hausa. Its core meaning is something like “with / and”, but in many idioms it corresponds to different English prepositions.

In the phrase:

jin alfahari da ni

the da is best translated as “of”:

jin alfahari da ni = to feel pride *of me → to be proud **of me*

Other examples:

Ina jin alfahari da kai. = I’m proud of you.
Sun ji alfahari da aikin su. = They were proud of their work.

So here, read da as the link between the feeling and the person / thing you’re proud of.

Why is it “ni” and not “ina” or “na” after da?

Hausa has different sets of pronouns for different grammatical slots. After the preposition da, you must use the independent pronouns:

da ni = with/of me
da kai = with/of you (m.sg.)
da ke = with/of you (f.sg.)
da shi = with/of him/it
da ita = with/of her/it

So:

jin alfahari da ni = feeling proud of me

ina is the 1st person subject + progressive form (“I am [doing]”), and na is a possessive (“my”) or part of other verbal forms, so neither is correct after da in this structure. You specifically need ni here.

Could I move yau to another place, like “Yau iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni”?

Yes. Yau (“today”) is quite flexible in position. All of these are grammatical, with only slight differences in emphasis:

Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.
– Neutral: My family are proud of me today.
Yau, iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni.
– Emphasis on today: Today, my family are proud of me.
Iyali na yau suna jin alfahari da ni.
– Possible, but sounds a bit more marked; might suggest “my family today” as a unit in contrast to another time.

The most typical everyday versions are 1 and 2. Sentence‑final yau (as in the original) is very common.

What tense/aspect is “suna jin”? How would it differ from “sun ji”?

suna jin = progressive / continuous aspect
- literally: they are feeling
- used for current, ongoing, or general states
sun ji = perfective / completed aspect
- literally: they have felt / they felt
- points to a completed event in the past

Compare:

Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.
My family are (right now) proud of me today.
Iyali na sun ji alfahari da ni jiya.
My family felt / were proud of me yesterday (at some point, completed).

So the original sentence stresses a current state using suna jin.

Why is it suna (plural) and not yana or tana with iyali?

Hausa subject markers agree with the logical number of the subject, not just the form of the noun.

Even though iyali doesn’t look like a typical plural (it’s a mass/collective noun), it refers to multiple people, so speakers usually use the 3rd‑person plural:

Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni.
= My family are proud of me.

If you used:

Iyali na yana… or Iyali na tana…

it would sound odd or wrong to most speakers, because it treats the family as grammatically singular. Standard usage is clearly with suna.

Could I drop suna and just say “Iyali na jin alfahari da ni yau”?

You’ll sometimes hear “Iyali na jin alfahari da ni yau” in fast or informal speech, but strictly speaking, the subject marker + aspect (suna) is what makes the verb phrase fully well‑formed.

Full, standard: Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.
More clipped / conversational: Iyali na jin alfahari da ni yau.

For learners, it’s better to keep the full form with suna, because:

It clearly shows who is doing the action (3rd‑person plural).
It clearly marks the progressive aspect (“are feeling”).

Once you’re more advanced and have heard lots of authentic speech, you’ll better know when native speakers naturally drop such elements.

Is there a way to say the same idea using a more direct equivalent of “to be proud,” without jin?

The most natural and widely used way to say “to be proud (of someone)” in Hausa is exactly this ji + alfahari construction:

jin alfahari da… = to feel pride / be proud of…

You might see or hear related expressions, but they’re less standard or sound more literal/Arabic‑influenced. For everyday Hausa, stick with:

Ina jin alfahari da kai. = I’m proud of you.
Malamai suna jin alfahari da dalibansu. = The teachers are proud of their students.

So the sentence “Iyali na suna jin alfahari da ni yau.” is already the most idiomatic way to say “My family are proud of me today.”