Questions & Answers about Tebur yana a tsakiyar ɗaki.
Yana is the 3rd person singular masculine form of ya + na, often glossed as “he/it is (doing/being in a state)”.
In this sentence, yana works like “is (located)”. Hausa often uses this ya/ta + na form to say where someone or something is:
- Tebur yana a tsakiyar ɗaki. – The table is in the middle of the room.
- Littafi yana kan tebur. – The book is on the table.
Because tebur (table) is grammatically masculine in Hausa, we use yana (masc.), not tana (fem.).
A is a very common preposition in Hausa that can mean “in / at / on”, depending on context.
Here it marks the location of the table:
- yana a tsakiyar ɗaki – “is in the middle of the room”
You will also see a in many other location phrases:
- a gida – at home
- a makaranta – at school
- a kasuwa – at the market
So a tsakiyar ɗaki is a prepositional phrase meaning “in the middle of the room”.
Tsakiya is the basic noun meaning “middle / center”.
When you say “middle of X”, Hausa normally uses a genitive (possessive) form, which often adds -r or -n. So:
- tsakiya – middle
- tsakiyar ɗaki – the middle of the room
That -r on tsakiyar is like saying “middle of…”. You can do the same with other nouns:
- gaba – front
- gaban mota – the front of the car
- baya – back
- bayan gida – the back of the house
Ɗaki means “room” (usually a room in a house, like a bedroom or general room).
So tsakiyar ɗaki is “the middle of the room.”
Note that ɗ is a different sound from d in Hausa:
- ɗ is an implosive d (pronounced by slightly sucking in air while making a d-like sound).
- d is a regular d sound.
Spelling with ɗ vs d can change meaning in some words, so it’s worth noticing.
No, Tebur a tsakiyar ɗaki by itself is not a normal, complete sentence in Hausa.
You generally need a copular/verb element like yana (or na, ne, ce, depending on the structure) to link the subject and its location or description.
For location with a noun subject, the natural pattern is:
- [Noun] + yana/tana + a + [place]
- Tebur yana a tsakiyar ɗaki.
- Littafi yana a cikin jakar ka. – The book is in your bag.
So yana is essential here.
Yes. Hausa has grammatical gender, even for inanimate objects. Nouns are classified as either masculine or feminine, and this affects agreement.
- Tebur is grammatically masculine, so we use yana.
- If the subject were a feminine noun, we would use tana.
Examples:
- Littafi yana a kan tebur. – The book (masc.) is on the table.
- Jaka tana a ƙasa. – The bag (fem.) is on the floor.
The gender is mostly something you memorize with each noun.
Yes, Tebur yana a tsakiyar ɗaki is normally understood as “The table is in the middle of the room.”
Hausa does not use separate words for “the” and “a” like English does. Definiteness (the vs a) is usually understood from context, word order, or additional markers, not from a definite article.
So tebur can mean “a table” or “the table”, depending on what is logically meant in the situation. In a typical context where the listener knows which table you mean, it will be understood as “the table.”
Yes, in casual speech many speakers would say:
- Tebur yana tsakiyar ɗaki.
The a is often omitted with certain set expressions of place (especially genitive ones like tsakiyar ɗaki, gaban gida, etc.). However, a is also very common and fully correct:
- Tebur yana a tsakiyar ɗaki.
- Tebur yana tsakiyar ɗaki.
Both are acceptable; you will hear both, depending on the speaker and region.
The structure is:
- Tebur – subject (noun)
- yana – verb-like element (locative/progressive “is”)
- a tsakiyar ɗaki – prepositional phrase (place)
So the overall order is Subject – Verb – (Place), which matches Hausa’s normal S V O/Adjunct order.
Other examples:
- Yaro yana a gida. – The boy is at home.
- Mata tana a kasuwa. – The woman is at the market.
So this sentence follows a standard Hausa pattern.
Yes, a tsakiyar ɗaki is very natural, but you might also hear:
- a tsakiya ɗakin nan – in the middle of this room
- a tsakiya ɗaki (with slightly different prosody, still using tsakiya/tsakiya-r depending on speaker)
- a tsakiya gidan – in the middle of the house/compound (if you mean the central area of a house or yard)
However, for the straightforward idea of a physical room’s center, a tsakiyar ɗaki is the clearest and most standard form.
Break it into parts:
- tsa – ts like “ts” in “cats”, plus a as in “father”
- ki – k
- i as in “see”
- yar – ya
- a slight r at the end
So roughly: tsa-ki-yar.
Also keep in mind Hausa has tone, but it is not written in ordinary spelling. At a beginner level, getting the consonants (ts, ƙ/ƙy, ɗ, r) and vowels right is more important than perfect tone.