Baba yana da ajiya a banki domin tallafa wa iyali idan akwai matsala.

Father has savings in the bank in order to support the family if there is a problem.

Breakdown of Baba yana da ajiya a banki domin tallafa wa iyali idan akwai matsala.

• da: to have
• idan: if
• iyali: the family
• baba: the father
• a: in
• akwai: there is
• wa: to
• domin: so that
• banki: the bank
• matsala: the problem
• ajiya: the savings
• tallafa: to support

Questions & Answers about Baba yana da ajiya a banki domin tallafa wa iyali idan akwai matsala.

What exactly does yana da mean here? Is it like English “is having” or just “has”?

Yana da in this sentence means “has”, not “is having” in the English progressive sense.

• Literally, yana da is “he is with”, and in Hausa “to be with X” is the normal way to say “to have X”.
• So Baba yana da ajiya = “Father has savings.”

For other persons you get:

• Ina da – I have
• Kana da – You (sg) have
• Yana da – He has
• Tana da – She has
• Muna da – We have
• Kuna da – You (pl) have
• Suna da – They have

Even though yana is a progressive form of to be, when it is followed by da + noun, it expresses possession / a state, not an ongoing action.

What does ajiya mean exactly, and which verb does it come from?

Ajiya is a noun meaning things like:

• savings (money put aside)
• deposit
• stored/kept items

In this sentence, ajiya a banki naturally means “savings in the bank” (money he has deposited).

It is related to the verb ajiye, which means “to put down, to store, to keep, to deposit”.
So you can think of:

• ajiye kuɗi – to put money aside / to deposit money
• ajiya – the deposit / savings that result from that action

Why is the preposition a used in a banki? Does it mean “in”, “at”, or “with” here? Could I use cikin instead?

The preposition a is a very general locative preposition. Depending on context it can be translated as “in, at, on”.

• a banki here is best understood as “in/at the bank”, referring to the bank as an institution (where money is held).

You can sometimes use a cikin (“inside, in the inside of”) for more physical, spatial emphasis:

• ajiya a cikin banki – literally “savings inside the bank building”

In this sentence:

• a banki = natural and idiomatic for “in the bank (as an account / institution)”
• a cikin banki = possible, but sounds more like physically inside the building, not necessarily focusing on the abstract idea of an account.

So a banki is the better match for “has savings in the bank” as an institution.

How is definiteness expressed here? There is no word for “the” before banki or iyali – so how do we know if it is “the bank”, “the family”, etc.?

Hausa does not use a separate word for “the”. Instead, definiteness is usually marked by a suffix on the noun phrase, often -n / -r.

• banki – bank / a bank (indefinite or generic)
• bankin – the bank (definite)
• iyali – family / a family
• iyalin – the family

In the sentence:

• a banki – literally “at a bank / at bank,” but in context this is easily understood as “in the bank” in a generic sense (the banking institution, not one specific, newly introduced bank).
• iyali – “family” in the context is naturally taken as “his family / the family”. Hausa often relies on context and possession to convey what English would mark with “the”.

So there is no explicit “the”, but:

• The form is indefinite (banki, iyali),
• The meaning is often definite or specific from context, especially for things like your family, the bank (where you have an account), etc.

If you needed a clearly definite, specific bank in the discourse, you might hear:

• a bankin nan – at this bank
• a bankin da muka saba amfani da shi – at the bank that we usually use

What is the role of domin in this sentence, and how is it different from don or saboda?

Domin introduces a purpose clause: it means “in order to, so as to, for the purpose of”.

In the sentence:

• domin tallafa wa iyali – “(in order) to support the family”

About the related words:

• don – a very common short form of domin in everyday speech.
  
  • You could say don tallafa wa iyali with basically the same meaning.
• saboda – usually means “because of, due to”, indicating reason/cause, not purpose.
  • Saboda iyali – because of (his) family
  • Domin tallafa wa iyali – in order to support (his) family

So:

• domin / don + verb phrase → purpose (“so as to … / to …”)
• saboda + noun/clause → reason (“because of … / because …”)

Why do we say tallafa wa iyali instead of just tallafa iyali?

Many Hausa verbs that involve helping / giving / saying to someone use a preposition (often wa or ga) before the indirect object (the person/people who receive the action).

• tallafa (wa wani) – to help / support someone
• tallafa wa iyali – to support the family

Here, wa marks the family as the recipient of the support.

• Without wa, tallafa iyali sounds incomplete or ungrammatical to most speakers.
• With wa, it clearly means “to support the family”.

This pattern appears with many verbs:

• bayar da taimako wa iyali – to give help to the family
• faɗa wa shi – to tell him
• bada kuɗi wa su – to give them money

Is tallafa wa one verb, or two words? And what is the difference between tallafa and tallafi?

Formally, tallafa wa is two words:

• tallafa – the verb “to support, to help”
• wa – a preposition marking the indirect object / beneficiary

In fast speech they can be run together and written as tallafawa, but grammatically:

• tallafa wa iyali – help (to) the family

As for tallafa vs tallafi:

• tallafa – verb: to support / to help
  
  • Ya tallafa wa iyali. – He supported the family.
• tallafi – noun: support, aid, assistance, sponsorship
  
  • Ya ba su tallafi. – He gave them support/aid.

In the sentence, domin tallafa wa iyali must use the verb (tallafa), because it’s expressing “in order to support …”, not “for the support” (that would be domin tallafi ga iyali).

What does iyali mean exactly? Is it singular or plural, and how do I say “my family”?

Iyali means “family, household” – the people who live together as a family unit.

Grammatically, iyali is usually treated as a singular collective noun:

• Iyali suna nan. – The family is here. (Literally “family they-are here,” but understood as one group.)

There is a plural iyalai (families), but you mostly meet that when talking about several families.

To say “my family”, you attach a possessive ending:

• iyalina – my family
• iyalinsa – his family
• iyalinta – her family
• iyalinmu – our family

So, if you rewrite the sentence for yourself, you get:

• Ina da ajiya a banki domin tallafa wa iyalina idan akwai matsala.
  – I have savings in the bank to support my family if there is a problem.

In idan akwai matsala, how does akwai work? Is it like English “there is / there are”?

Yes. Akwai is the basic existential verb in Hausa, roughly “there is / there are / there exists”.

• akwai matsala – there is a problem
• akwai mutane – there are people

Important points:

• Akwai does not change for number or person: it’s always akwai, even with plurals.
• Idan akwai matsala literally = “if there is a problem”.

For other times/aspects, Hausa often uses different structures rather than strictly “was / will be,” but you will see things like:

• Da akwai matsala – there used to be / there was a problem
• Idan za a sami matsala – if a problem will arise / if there will be a problem

Could I also say idan matsala ta taso instead of idan akwai matsala? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say idan matsala ta taso, and it is natural.

• idan akwai matsala – “if there is a problem” (neutral, existential)
• idan matsala ta taso – literally “if a problem arises”

The difference is nuance:

• akwai matsala describes the existence of a problem.
• matsala ta taso presents the problem as something that “comes up / arises” (a bit more dynamic).

Both can fit in this sentence; idan akwai matsala is slightly more general and matter‑of‑fact.

Does idan always mean “if”, or can it also mean “when”? And how is it different from in?

Idan can mean “if” or “when/whenever”, depending on context:

• Conditional (“if”):
  
  • Idan akwai matsala, zai tallafa. – If there is a problem, he will support (them).
• Time / habit (“when/whenever”):
  
  • Idan rana ta fito, zafi ya ƙaru. – When the sun comes out, the heat increases.

In is basically a short, colloquial form of idan in many dialects. In many contexts they are interchangeable:

• In akwai matsala ≈ Idan akwai matsala

Speakers may choose idan for slightly more formal or careful speech, but functionally in this kind of sentence idan and in work the same.

In this sentence, does Baba mean “my father”, “father” in general, or is it a name? How would you say “my father” explicitly?

Baba by itself means “father / dad” and is also often used as a familiar form of address: “Dad”.

Its exact interpretation depends on context:

• As a subject in a narrative, Baba often refers to “(my/our) father”, understood from the situation.
• It can also be used as a personal name or nickname for an older man.
• In direct address, Baba! is “Dad!” or “Father!”.

To say “my father” explicitly, you add a possessive:

• Babana or Baba na – my father
• Babanka – your (sg) father
• Babanmu – our father

So, you could make it crystal clear by saying:

• Babana yana da ajiya a banki… – My father has savings in the bank…

Why don’t we need a separate pronoun like shi (“he”) in Baba yana da ajiya…? Could we say Baba shi yana da ajiya…?

In Hausa, a full noun subject like Baba is enough; you don’t need a separate subject pronoun.

• Baba yana da ajiya… – Father has savings…

Adding shi (he) after the noun gives emphasis or contrast:

• Baba shi yana da ajiya, amma Mama ba ta da.
  – Father is the one who has savings, but Mother doesn’t.

So:

• Baba yana da… – normal, neutral
• Baba shi yana da… – marked, emphasizing “Baba (and not someone else) has…”

What tense or aspect is the whole sentence in? Is it a specific time or a general fact?

The sentence is in a present/state meaning that often covers both current and general/habitual sense.

• Baba yana da ajiya a banki…
  – Father has savings in the bank…

Hausa doesn’t split “has” vs “is having” the way English does. Yana da simply states a state of possession, which can be understood as:

• Currently true now, and
• Generally / habitually true (a standing arrangement).

Context will tell you whether the speaker means “right now” or “as a general situation”; the form itself is neutral present-state.