Learn Hardcore Hausa: Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta. - We will collect money at school.

gathering people: sun tara mutane – they gathered people / people assembled
collecting things: na tara takardu – I collected papers
fundraising: za mu tara kuɗi – we will raise money

So here it is best understood as “raise / collect money”, not just “meet” or “get together”.

Why is there no word for “the” or “some” before kuɗi (“money”)?

Hausa normally does not use separate words for “a, an, the” like English does. Instead, it uses:

the bare noun for something general or indefinite:
- kuɗi = money, some money, money in general
a suffix to show definiteness (“the”):
- kuɗin (or kuɗin nan, kuɗin da muka ce, etc.) = the money, that money

So:

Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta.
We will collect (some) money at school.

If you want to emphasize “the money”, you can say:

Za mu tara kuɗin a makaranta. – We will collect the money at school.

What does kuɗi mean, and is it singular or plural?

Kuɗi means “money”.

Grammatically, kuɗi is treated like a plural noun in Hausa (historically a plural form), but in everyday usage it works like the English mass noun “money”:

Ina da kuɗi. – I have money.
Kuɗi nawa kake da su? – How much money do you have?

For a learner, it is simplest to think of kuɗi as just “money”, without worrying about singular/plural alternations.

What does the preposition a mean in a makaranta, and how does it compare to English?

The preposition a usually expresses location or time, often corresponding to English “in, at, on” depending on context.

In this sentence:

a makaranta = “at school” / “in school”

Some rough equivalents:

a gida – at home / in the house
a kasuwa – at the market
a dare – at night

So a makaranta can mean:

“at school” (place where it happens), or
“in school” (while at school)

Context decides the best English preposition, but a itself is just a general locative preposition.

Does makaranta mean specifically “school” or something broader?

Makaranta most commonly means “school” (the institution or the place), but it can also have a broader sense of “learning, study, education” in some contexts.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is:

a makaranta = “at school”

Other examples:

Yana makaranta. – He is in school / He goes to school.
makarantar gwamnati – a government school
makarantar islamiya – Islamiyya (Islamic) school

Is the word order Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta fixed, or can I move things around?

The basic neutral word order is:

Future marker + Subject + Verb + Object + (Place/Time)
Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta.

You can move the place expression for emphasis, but then you usually need extra markers or a special intonation. For a learner, you should generally keep:

za + subject pronoun + main verb + object + place

So:

✅ Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta. – We will collect money at school.
Avoid trying to say something like:
❌ Za mu a makaranta tara kuɗi. (incorrect order)

How would I say “We will not collect money at school”?

To negate a future sentence with za, Hausa uses ba … ba around the clause:

Ba + za + subject pronoun + verb + rest of sentence + ba

So:

Ba za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta ba.
= We will not collect money at school.

Structure:

Ba (negation, opening)
za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta (the future clause)
ba (closing negation particle)

What is the difference between Za mu tara kuɗi and Muna tara kuɗi?

These differ in tense/aspect:

Za mu tara kuɗi.
- Focus: future
- Meaning: We will collect / raise money (in the future).
Muna tara kuɗi.
- Focus: ongoing / progressive
- Meaning: We are collecting / raising money (now or these days).

Forms:

za + pronoun + verb → future
muna + verb (or munã in some spelling) → present/progressive for “we”

Can I say Za mu yi tara kuɗi or do I need yi (“do”) before tara?

No. In this sentence you do not use yi before tara.

Tara is already a full verb meaning “gather/collect”.
Yi is used as a “light verb” with verbal nouns or with many borrowed verbs (e.g. yi tafiya – “make a journey”, yi aiki – “do work”).

Correct:

✅ Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta.

Incorrect here:

❌ Za mu yi tara kuɗi a makaranta. (ungrammatical in this meaning)

How would I make “school” and “money” definite, like “the school” and “the money”?

Hausa usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun (often -n or -r, with vowel changes).

In this sentence:

kuɗi (money) → kuɗin (the money)
makaranta (school) → makarantar (the school)

So you could say:

Za mu tara kuɗin a makarantar.
- We will collect the money at the school.
Za mu tara kuɗin a makaranta.
- We will collect the money at a school / at school.
Za mu tara kuɗi a makarantar.
- We will collect money at the school.

The bare forms (kuɗi, makaranta) are more indefinite or generic; the suffixed forms (kuɗin, makarantar) are more like “the money / the school.”

How do I pronounce kuɗi and what is that letter ɗ?

Kuɗi is pronounced roughly:

ku – like “koo” in English “cool”
ɗi – like “dee”, but with a special implosive “d” sound

The letter ɗ represents an implosive “d”. To produce it:

Put your tongue in the position for d.
Instead of pushing air out strongly, pull slightly inward as you voice it.
It’s softer and “swallowed” compared to a normal d.

So kuɗi is not exactly the same as kudi with a plain d, though many learners approximate it with a regular d at first.

What’s the difference between a makaranta and daga makaranta?

Both use place-related prepositions but mean different things:

a makaranta
- a = in/at
- Meaning: “at the school / in the school” (location where something happens)
daga makaranta
- daga = from
- Meaning: “from the school” (source or origin)

So:

Za mu tara kuɗi a makaranta.
We will collect money at school. (location)
Za mu kawo kuɗi daga makaranta.
We will bring money from the school. (origin/source)