Komai yana da lokaci.

to have

Breakdown of Komai yana da lokaci.

• lokaci: the time
• komai: everything

Questions & Answers about Komai yana da lokaci.

What does komai mean exactly? Is it “everything” or “anything”?

Komai is an indefinite pronoun that can mean “everything” or “anything”, depending on context.

In Komai yana da lokaci, the sense is “everything”:

• Komai yana da lokaci. = Everything has its time.

In questions or negative contexts, komai can lean more toward “anything” or “nothing”, but here, in a general statement, it’s best taken as “everything.”

Is komai treated as singular or plural in Hausa?

Grammatically, komai is treated as singular in Hausa.

That’s why the verb-like element is yana (3rd person singular masculine) and not a plural form. You can think of it as:

• Komai yana da lokaci.
  Literally: Each thing / everything (as a single set) is having time.

Even though in English we think of “everything” as many things, Hausa still uses singular agreement.

What exactly is yana doing here? Does it just mean “is”?

Yana is a combination of:

• ya = 3rd person singular masculine pronoun (he/it)
• na = a marker often used for progressive or continuous aspect

Together, in sentences like this, behaves a lot like when used with :