Breakdown of Uwa tana yin addua domin Allah ya ƙarfafa zuciyar yara idan suna jarabawa.
Questions & Answers about Uwa tana yin addua domin Allah ya ƙarfafa zuciyar yara idan suna jarabawa.
tana yin expresses a progressive or ongoing/habitual action, like English “is praying / is doing prayer” or “(usually) prays”.
- tana is the 3rd person singular feminine progressive form: “she is …‑ing”.
- Historically: ta (she) + na (progressive marker), fused as one word.
- yin is the verbal noun of yi (“to do”), so yin literally means “doing”.
So Uwa tana yin addua is literally something like “Mother is in the act of doing prayer.”
Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts:
Uwa tana yin addua
→ emphasizes an ongoing or habitual action:
“The mother is praying / prays (for them).”Uwa ta yi addua
→ uses the completive (perfective) aspect, seeing the action as finished:
“The mother prayed / has prayed (for them).”
In your sentence, tana yin fits well because we picture her currently engaged in prayer (or regularly doing it), not just a one‑time, completed act.
With the verb yi (“to do”), Hausa normally uses the verbal noun yin when there is a direct object:
Correct with object:
- Ina yin aiki. – I am doing work.
- Tana yin addua. – She is praying / doing prayer.
Without an object, you can just say yi:
- Ina yi. – I’m doing (it).
- Tana yi. – She’s doing (it).
So when you explicitly name what is being done (addua, “prayer”), standard Hausa wants yin, not bare yi:
- ✅ tana yin addua
- ❌ tana yi addua (unnatural/incorrect in standard usage)
In this sentence, domin introduces a purpose clause:
domin Allah ya ƙarfafa zuciyar yara
“so that God will strengthen the children’s hearts.”
Roughly:
- domin = “in order that / so that / because (for the sake of)”.
- don is basically a shortened form of domin, very common in speech:
- don Allah ya ƙarfafa… is essentially the same as domin Allah ya ƙarfafa…
- saboda tends more to mean “because / due to” (cause/reason), not purpose:
- Saboda sun gaji, sun huta. – Because they were tired, they rested.
Here, since the mother is praying with a goal in mind, domin naturally means “so that / in order that God may strengthen…”.
After domin (expressing purpose or wish), Hausa typically uses a bare subject pronoun + verb, which here functions like a subjunctive / optative:
- Allah ya ƙarfafa zuciyar yara
→ “(May) God strengthen the children’s hearts.”
Notes:
- ya is the 3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun (“he”), referring to Allah.
- There is no progressive marker like na / yana here, because this is not describing an ongoing process, but a desired or intended action.
- In English, this is similar to “that God may strengthen…” or “so that God will strengthen…”.
If you said Allah yana ƙarfafawa zuciyar yara, that would mean “God is (now) strengthening the children’s hearts,” which doesn’t fit the idea of a prayer/wish as well as the form used in the sentence.
Literally:
- ƙarfafa – “to strengthen, to make strong.”
- zuciya – “heart” (in the emotional/spiritual sense).
So ƙarfafa zuciya is literally “to strengthen the heart.”
Idiomatic meaning:
- It commonly means “to encourage someone,” “to give them courage/confidence,” “to make them resolute.”
So Allah ya ƙarfafa zuciyar yara ≈
“May God encourage / give courage to the children” (especially so they won’t be afraid or discouraged in their exams).
Hausa often shows possession/“of” relationships by using a linking consonant on the first noun:
- zuciya – heart
- zuciya + r → zuciyar – “heart of …”
- yara – children
So:
- zuciyar yara = “the heart(s) of children / the children’s heart(s)”.
This pattern is very common:
- gidan malam – the house of the teacher / the teacher’s house
(gida → gidan- malam)
- littafin yaro – the child’s book
(littafi → littafin- yaro)
Here, zuciyar yara naturally translates as “the children’s hearts” (their inner strength/courage).
- Singular: yaro – “child” (usually a boy, but often used generically).
- Plural: yara – “children.”
Yes, this plural is irregular. You don’t get *yaro‑yaro or a simple suffix; instead, the whole shape of the word changes. Hausa has many such irregular plurals:
- mace – woman → mata – women
- mutum – person → mutane – people
- yaro – child → yara – children
So yara by itself already means “children.”
idan can mean “if,” “when,” or “whenever”, depending on context.
In your sentence:
… idan suna jarabawa.
“… when they are taking exams.”
This is more naturally understood as “when/whenever they have exams”, not a speculative if:
- She’s praying every time or whenever they are sitting exams.
In a clearly conditional context, idan would be closer to “if”:
- Idan ya zo, zan tafi. – If/when he comes, I will go.
Here, the idea is regular situation/time rather than uncertainty, so “when (they are in exams)” is the best reading.
Grammatically:
- suna = su (they) + na (progressive) → “they are …‑ing.”
- jarabawa – “exam, examination; the act of being examined.”
So idan suna jarabawa means “when they are taking exams / when they are in the middle of exams.”
About suna jarabawa vs suna yin jarabawa:
- suna jarabawa – perfectly natural; jarabawa itself already contains the idea of an activity/process (“exam‑taking”), so it can follow the progressive directly.
- suna yin jarabawa – also correct and slightly more explicit, literally “they are doing exam(s)”.
Both are used. In everyday speech, you’ll hear both patterns, with suna jarabawa being nicely concise here.
Hausa does not have an article like English “the” or “a/an.” Nouns are bare, and context tells you whether they are specific or general.
- uwa can mean “a mother” or “the mother.”
- yara can mean “children” or “the children.”
In this sentence, because we’re clearly talking about specific children who sit exams, and their mother, English naturally translates this as:
- “The mother is praying that God will strengthen the children’s hearts when they are taking exams.”
If Hausa wants to be extra explicit, it can add demonstratives or other modifiers:
- waccan uwa – that mother
- yaran nan – these children
But in many cases, including your sentence, bare nouns are enough and the translator chooses “the” in English for naturalness.
Hausa has two different “k” sounds:
- k – a plain k, like in English “sky”.
- ƙ – an ejective/“popped” k (glottalized), written with a small hook below.
How to approximate ƙ:
- Start to say k, but hold your breath slightly and release it with a little “pop” from the throat.
- It’s a bit like a strong, tense k produced deeper in the throat.
Minimal pair example:
- kasa – bottom, failure
- ƙasa – ground, soil, country
In ƙarfafa (“to strengthen”), that hooked ƙ is the ejective one. Many learners pronounce it as a strong k; that’s usually understood, but native speakers do hear the difference.
addua (often written addu’a) comes from Arabic duʿāʾ, and in Hausa it means “prayer, supplication.”
Nuances:
- Often it refers to personal supplication – asking God for help, support, success, mercy, etc.
- It is used by both Muslims and Christians in Hausa, not restricted to one religion.
- For the fixed ritual Muslim prayers, Hausa more often says salla:
- yin salla – to perform (ritual) prayer
- yin addua – to make supplication / pray (in a more general or personal way)
In your sentence, tana yin addua is very naturally “she is praying (making supplication)” for the children during their exams.