Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.

The children are inside the house today because rain is falling.

Breakdown of Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.

• ne: to be
• gida: the house
• yau: today
• yaro: the child
• cikin: inside
• ruwan sama: the rain
• sauka: to fall
• saboda: because of

Questions & Answers about Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.

What does yara mean exactly, and how would I say the children instead of just children?

Yara means children and it is plural. The singular is yaro (boy/child, usually male).

Hausa usually shows definiteness (like English the) by adding a suffix rather than using a separate word:

• yara = children (general, not specific)
• yaran = the children (specific group already known in the context)

So your sentence:

• Yara suna cikin gida… = Children are inside the house… / The children are inside the house…

In many real situations, context makes it clear that you mean the children, so Hausa can use yara without adding -n.

What is the role of suna in Yara suna cikin gida? Is it just the verb to be?

Suna is a combination of:

• su = they
• na (here) = a marker that often corresponds to a present / ongoing situation

When used before a verb, suna would mean they are (doing something), as in:

• Yara suna wasa = The children are playing.

In your sentence, suna is not followed by an action verb but by a location phrase cikin gida:

• Yara suna cikin gida = The children are inside the house (right now).

Hausa does not have a separate verb that directly corresponds to English to be.
Instead, for temporary states and locations, it uses this pronoun + na pattern:

• Ni ina cikin gida = I am in the house.
• Shi yana wurin aiki = He is at work.
• Su suna makaranta = They are at school.

So suna is functioning like are in they are inside the house, but grammatically it is they + progressive/locative marker.

Why is it cikin gida and not just a gida? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in meaning:

• a gida = at the house / at home (more general location)
• cikin gida = inside the house (emphasizes being inside, not outside)

Breakdown:

• ciki = inside
• cikin = inside (of) …, used before a noun
• gida = house / home

So:

• Yara suna cikin gida = The children are inside the house.
• Yara suna a gida = The children are at home / at the house (less specific, could emphasize being home rather than away).

In your sentence, cikin gida fits well, because the idea is that they stayed indoors because of the rain.

Where is the word today in the Hausa sentence, and where can yau go in the word order?

Yau means today.

In the sentence:

• Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.
  = The children are inside the house today because it is raining.

Yau is placed after cikin gida, but Hausa word order for time expressions is flexible. These are all natural:

• Yau yara suna cikin gida saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.
• Yara suna yau cikin gida saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.
• Yara suna cikin gida saboda ruwan sama yana sauka yau. (less common, but possible, emphasizing “today” at the end)

Most commonly, learners start with:

• Time at the beginning: Yau yara suna cikin gida…
• Or time after the verb phrase: Yara suna cikin gida yau…

What does saboda mean, and does it always introduce a reason like because?

Saboda means because, because of, or due to.

In your sentence:

• saboda ruwan sama yana sauka = because it is raining
  (literally: because rain is falling)

Examples:

• Na zauna a gida saboda rashin lafiya.
  I stayed at home because of illness.
• Saboda aiki, ba zan je ba.
  Because of work, I will not go.

Yes, saboda is regularly used to introduce a reason. You can put the saboda-phrase after the main clause (like in your sentence) or at the beginning:

• Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.
• Saboda ruwan sama yana sauka, yara suna cikin gida yau.

What exactly does ruwan sama mean? Why not just say ruwa?

Ruwan sama is literally water of the sky, and it means rain.

Breakdown:

• ruwa = water
• sama = sky / above
• ruwan sama = water-of sky → rain

You can also hear:

• Ana ruwa. = It is raining. / There is rain.
• Ruwa yana sauka. = Rain is falling.

But ruwan sama is a perfectly natural, slightly more descriptive way of saying rain, emphasizing its origin from the sky.

Why is it yana sauka and not suna sauka? Doesn’t rain count as a “they”?

The verb phrase yana sauka breaks down as:

• ya = he / it (masculine singular)
• na = progressive/ongoing marker
• yana = he/it is (doing something)
• sauka = to descend, come down, fall

The subject is ruwan sama (rain), treated as singular and grammatically masculine in Hausa, so it takes yana (3rd person singular masculine):

• Ruwan sama yana sauka. = Rain is falling.

If the subject were plural, you would use suna:

• Yara suna tafiya. = The children are going.

But ruwan sama is one thing (rain), so yana is correct, not suna.

What does sauka literally mean, and why is it used with rain?

Sauka literally means to descend, to come down, or to get down.

Common uses:

• Jirgi ya sauka. = The plane has landed (come down).
• Na sauka daga mota. = I got down from the car.

With rain:

• Ruwa yana sauka. = Rain is falling (coming down).
• Ruwan sama yana sauka. = The rain is falling.

So, for rain, sauka describes the downward movement of the water from the sky, just like English fall in rain is falling.

Could I say Yara na cikin gida instead of Yara suna cikin gida?

You might hear something like yaro na cikin gida in very informal or dialectal speech, but the standard, clear way to say it is:

• Yara suna cikin gida.

In standard grammar:

• For they are … (location/state) now → suna …
  
  • Su suna cikin gida. (Yara suna cikin gida.)
• For he is … (location/state) now → yana …
  
  • Shi yana cikin gida.

Using just na without the pronoun is not the normal pattern for this kind of sentence. For a learner, it’s safest and most correct to keep:

• Yara suna cikin gida = The children are inside the house.

Is the tense here specifically “present continuous,” like are staying/ is raining now?

Yes, the na-series (suna, yana, ina, muna, etc.) usually indicates an ongoing or current situation, often close to English present continuous.

In your sentence:

• Yara suna cikin gida → The children are (currently) inside the house.
• ruwan sama yana sauka → The rain is falling (now) / it is raining.

The adverb yau (today) adds the sense that this is what is happening today, not necessarily as a general habit. If you wanted a pure habitual meaning, you might express it differently or rely on context, e.g.:

• Yara kan kasance cikin gida idan ruwan sama yana sauka.
  The children usually stay inside when it rains.

How would I change this sentence to say The children were inside the house yesterday because it was raining?

You mainly need to change the time word and the aspect from present ongoing to past/perfective:

• Jiya yara suna cikin gida saboda ruwan sama ya sauka.

Breakdown:

• Jiya = yesterday
• yara suna cikin gida = the children were inside the house (location with suna is often used for present, but with jiya it naturally shifts to “were”)
• saboda ruwan sama ya sauka = because it rained / because the rain fell

Note the change in the second clause:

• Present: ruwan sama yana sauka = the rain is falling.
• Past: ruwan sama ya sauka = the rain fell / it rained.

In natural speech, jiya yara suna cikin gida saboda ruwan sama ya sauka clearly means they were inside yesterday because it rained.

Is this sentence the most natural way to say The children are inside the house today because it is raining, or are there common alternatives?

Your sentence is natural and correct. Some very common alternatives a native speaker might use include:

1. • Yau yara suna gida saboda ana ruwa.
   • gida instead of cikin gida (more like “at home”)
   • ana ruwa = it is raining / there is rain (very common colloquial phrase)
2. • Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ana ruwa.
3. • Yau yara suna cikin gida saboda ruwa yana sauka.

All of these convey basically the same idea. Your original:

• Yara suna cikin gida yau saboda ruwan sama yana sauka.

is slightly more literal and descriptive (with ruwan sama and cikin gida), and perfectly good as standard Hausa.