Learn Hardcore Hausa: Likita yana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya. - The doctor is showing compassion to the patient.

yanaa nuna ≈ “is showing” / “is in the process of showing.”
The basic verb is nuna = “to show.”
Without yanaa, Likita ya nuna tausayi would usually mean “The doctor showed (has shown) compassion” (a completed action).

So yanaa tells you the action is ongoing (now or around now), like English is/are … -ing.

Why do we need both Likita and yanaa? Isn’t that like saying “The doctor he is showing compassion”?

In Hausa, even when you have a full noun subject like Likita, you still use a subject pronoun (here inside yanaa) to show agreement.

Likita yana nuna…
- Likita = the doctor (full noun)
- yanaa = ya (he) + na (continuous marker), fused into one form

So literally it’s something like “The doctor, he-is showing compassion…”, but in Hausa this is normal grammar, not redundant. You almost always keep this pronoun (inside yanaa) even when you name the subject.

How would I say this in the past tense: “The doctor showed compassion to the patient”?

Use the perfect (simple past) instead of the continuous:

Likita ya nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.
- ya nuna = “showed / has shown”

Compare:

Likita yana nuna tausayi… = “The doctor is showing compassion…” (right now / ongoing).
Likita ya nuna tausayi… = “The doctor showed / has shown compassion…” (completed action).

Is nuna tausayi a fixed expression? Could I just use a verb like tausaya instead?

Nuna tausayi is a common collocation meaning “to show compassion / sympathy.”

You can also use:

Likita ya tausaya wa mara lafiya.
- tausaya wa = “to feel sorry for / to pity / to sympathize with”

Difference in feel:

nuna tausayi focuses on the visible act of showing compassion.
tausaya wa focuses more on the feeling of pity/sympathy.

Both are natural; which one you choose depends on whether you emphasize the act of showing, or the inner feeling.

What does ga mean exactly here, and can I replace it with wa?

In this sentence, ga is a preposition meaning “to / towards”:

nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya = “show compassion to the patient”

With verbs like nuna, both ga and wa are possible in many contexts:

Likita yana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.
Likita yana nuna tausayi wa mara lafiya.

Both are understandable. Rough tendencies:

ga is very common and general (“to / towards” a person, place, direction).
wa is often used for indirect objects (“to / for someone”), especially with certain verbs.

Learners are usually safe using ga in this kind of sentence.

What does mara lafiya literally mean, and why does it mean “patient”?

Literally:

mara = someone who lacks / is without something
lafiya = health / well-being / safety

So mara lafiya literally means “one who lacks health” → a sick person.

Because a sick person is usually the one being treated, mara lafiya also functions very naturally as “(medical) patient.”

How do I make the sentence plural: “The doctors are showing compassion to the patients”?

You need plural forms for both the noun and the verb, plus the plural of mara lafiya:

Likita → likitoci (doctors)
yanaa (he is) → suna (they are)
mara lafiya → marasa lafiya (patients / sick people)

Full sentence:

Likitoci suna nuna tausayi ga marasa lafiya.
- “The doctors are showing compassion to the patients.”

How would I say “He is showing compassion to the patient” without repeating Likita?

Just use the pronoun form without the noun:

Yana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.
- Yanaa = “he is” (continuous)

Context would tell you that “he” refers to the doctor you were already talking about. If the person was clearly female, you’d say:

Tana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya. = “She is showing compassion to the patient.”

Does likita mean a medical doctor specifically, or any kind of expert?

In modern usage, likita most commonly means a medical doctor.

For other kinds of professionals / experts, Hausa often uses:

injiniya – engineer
lauya – lawyer
malami – teacher / scholar (religious or secular)

In some contexts likita can be used a bit more broadly for “doctor” in the Western sense (e.g. a psychiatrist, a dentist), but it usually implies medical practice.

Can likita be female, and if so do I still use yanaa?

Yes, likita can refer to either a male or a female doctor.

Grammatically, you have two options:

Treat it as masculine by default (very common in speech):
- Likita yana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.
Make the agreement clearly feminine:
- Likita tana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya. = “The (female) doctor is showing compassion…”

Both are heard, but if you know the doctor is female and want to show it clearly, use tanaa.

Can this sentence also mean a habitual action, like “The doctor shows compassion to the patient (as a rule)” rather than right now?

Yes. Yanaa + verb can express:

Present progressive: happening right now
Present habitual / general truth, especially when supported by context

So Likita yana nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya could mean:

“The doctor is (right now) showing compassion to the patient,” or
“The doctor (generally) shows compassion to the patient / to patients.”

Context (e.g. adverbs like kullum “always”) clarifies:

Likita kullum yana nuna tausayi ga marasa lafiya.
- “The doctor always shows compassion to the patients.”

How do I say “The doctor is not showing compassion to the patient”?

Use the negative form of the continuous: ba … ya/ta … ba. In practice, you’ll often see ba ya / baya.

Natural options:

Likita ba ya nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.
(Also written) Likita baya nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.

Both mean: “The doctor is not showing compassion to the patient.”

For a clearly female doctor:

Likita ba ta nuna tausayi ga mara lafiya.

Where is the word for “the” or “a” in this sentence? How do I know if likita is definite or indefinite?

Hausa does not have separate words for “the” and “a / an.”

Likita yana nuna tausayi… can be:
- “A doctor is showing compassion…”
- “The doctor is showing compassion…”

Definiteness is decided by context or by adding other elements:

wani likita = “a (certain) doctor”
likitan nan = “this doctor”
likitan asibiti = “the hospital doctor”

If you just say Likita yana nuna…, English speakers usually translate it as “The doctor…” unless the context clearly introduces a new, unknown person.

Is the word order fixed, or could I put ga mara lafiya somewhere else in the sentence?

The natural word order here is:

Subject – (continuous marker) – Verb – Object/Complement – Prepositional phrase

So:

Likita (subject)
yanaa (continuous marker + subject pronoun)
nuna (verb)
tausayi (what is shown)
ga mara lafiya (to whom)

You cannot move ga mara lafiya into the middle, e.g.

✗ Likita yana ga mara lafiya nuna tausayi. (unnatural / wrong)

You can sometimes move ga mara lafiya to the front for emphasis in more advanced styles, but that requires extra particles and is not a beginner pattern. For learners, keep the order as in the original sentence.

How do I pronounce tausayi and mara lafiya?

Approximate pronunciation (without showing tones):

tausayi: tau-sa-yi
- tau like English “tow”
- sa as in “sack”
- yi like “yee”
  → tow-sa-yee
mara lafiya: ma-ra la-fi-ya
- ma as in “mama”
- ra like “rah”
- la as in “ladder”
- fi like “fee”
- ya like “yah”
  → MAH-rah LAH-fee-yah

Hausa is written without tone marks, but native speakers use pitch patterns (tones) that you’ll pick up best by listening to audio and repeating.