Learn Hardcore Hausa: Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti. - The doctor is caring for the patient at the hospital.

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya.
→ could be A doctor is taking care of the patient or The doctor is taking care of the patient, depending on context.
Likitan nan yana kula da marar lafiya.
→ This particular doctor is taking care of the patient.

What does yana mean here, and how is it different from ya in Likita ya kula da marar lafiya?

Yana is the 3rd person singular masculine form of the verb to be in the imperfective/progressive aspect. In this structure:

yana + verbal noun (here kula)
gives a sense of ongoing or habitual action.

So:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor is taking care of the patient at the hospital (right now / generally does this).

If you say:

Likita ya kula da marar lafiya.

you are using ya (perfective). That usually suggests:

a completed action: The doctor took care of the patient / has taken care of the patient.

So:

yana kula = is taking care / takes care (ongoing or repeated).
ya kula = took care / has taken care (finished).

What exactly does kula da mean? Is kula one word and da another?

Yes, kula and da are separate words, but they often behave like a fixed expression.

kula is a verbal noun meaning roughly care, attention, oversight.
da is a preposition that often means with or and, but in combinations it can mark the object of some idiomatic verbs.

Together, kula da usually means:

to take care of,
to look after,
to pay attention to.

Examples:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya.
→ The doctor is taking care of the patient.
Ya kamata ka kula da ɗanka.
→ You should take care of your child.
Ka kula da abin da malami yake faɗi.
→ Pay attention to what the teacher is saying.

So you can think of kula da [someone/something] as one unit: to take care of / pay attention to [someone/something].

Why is it marar lafiya and not mara lafiya?

Both mara lafiya and marar lafiya come from the same idea:

mara = one who lacks / without
lafiya = health, well‑being

So literally: one who lacks health → a sick person.

The difference is:

mara lafiya is the basic form (like saying a sick person).
marar lafiya is the linked/attributive form used before another word or when the phrase behaves more like a fixed noun phrase, often more definite.

In everyday speech, marar lafiya is very commonly used to mean “(the) patient” or “the sick person”, especially in a hospital context. You will often hear:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya.
An kawo marar lafiya asibiti.
→ A patient has been brought to the hospital.

So in this sentence, marar lafiya is the natural, idiomatic way to say the patient / the sick person.

Does marar lafiya always mean a hospital patient, or can it also mean just any sick person?

Marar lafiya is broader than just hospital patient. It literally means a sick person / one who is not well.

Depending on context, it can mean:

a sick person in general
a patient (especially when talking about hospitals, clinics, doctors)

Examples:

Na ziyarci marar lafiya a gida.
→ I visited a sick person at home.
Marasa lafiya suna jira a asibiti.
→ The patients are waiting at the hospital.

So in your sentence with asibiti (hospital), it is very natural to understand marar lafiya as the patient.

If yana is masculine he is, can the doctor be a woman? How would I say The (female) doctor is taking care of the patient?

Hausa verbs agree with grammatical gender, and yana is the masculine form:

yana = he is (doing)
tana = she is (doing)

The noun likita itself is gender‑neutral in meaning; it can refer to a man or a woman. But the verb form you choose (yana / tana) will signal whether you are talking about a male or female doctor, if the gender is known and relevant.

So:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor (male, or unspecified by default) is taking care of the patient at the hospital.
Likita tana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor (female) is taking care of the patient at the hospital.

If you really want to make the noun clearly female, you can say:

Likitace mace tana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor, who is a woman, is taking care of the patient at the hospital.

Can I drop Likita and just say Yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti?

You can say:

Yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.

Grammatically, that means:

He is taking care of the patient at the hospital.

However:

Without Likita, the sentence no longer explicitly says that he is a doctor.
The he (the person doing the action) must already be clear from the context.

So:

If you have already mentioned the doctor, or you are clearly continuing a story about him, then Yana kula da… is fine.
If you are introducing the information for the first time, it is better to keep Likita to tell the listener who is doing the action.

What is the function of a in a asibiti? Does it mean in or at?

The word a is a preposition of place in Hausa. It usually covers both:

The exact English translation (in vs at) depends on context, but a is the correct general preposition for location.

Examples:

Yana a gida.
→ He is at home / in the house.
Muna a makaranta.
→ We are at school / in school.
Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor is taking care of the patient at the hospital.

For inside specifically, Hausa can also use cikin:

Likita yana cikin asibiti.
→ The doctor is inside the hospital.

But your sentence with a asibiti is perfectly natural and correct.

How can I clearly say at the hospital (a specific hospital), not just at a hospital?

To make asibiti clearly definite (a particular hospital), Hausa commonly uses:

The definite ending -n (or -r after some words), often written attached:
- a asibitin = at the hospital (a specific one known in the context)
A demonstrative like nan (this, here) or can (that, over there):
- a asibitin nan = at this hospital / at the hospital here
- a asibitin can = at that hospital over there

So, for a specific hospital:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibitin nan.
→ The doctor is taking care of the patient at this (known) hospital.

What is the normal word order here? Could I say Likita a asibiti yana kula da marar lafiya instead?

Basic Hausa word order is S – V – O – (other information):

Likita (Subject)
yana kula da (Verb phrase)
marar lafiya (Object)
a asibiti (locative phrase)

So your original order is the most standard:

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.

You can move a asibiti earlier for emphasis or style, but it may sound more marked or poetic:

A asibiti, likita yana kula da marar lafiya.
→ At the hospital, the doctor is taking care of the patient. (emphasis on the location)
Likita a asibiti yana kula da marar lafiya.
→ Possible, but less neutral; it tends to emphasize that this doctor at the hospital (not somewhere else) is the one doing the caring.

For a beginner, keeping the original order is safest and most natural.

How do I make this sentence negative, like The doctor is not taking care of the patient at the hospital?

There are two common ways to negate, depending on what nuance you want. For the imperfective/progressive form yana, the natural negative is baya:

Progressive / habitual negative (not doing / does not do):

Likita baya kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ The doctor is not taking care of the patient at the hospital.
→ Or: The doctor does not take care of the patient at the hospital. (habitual sense)

Here:

baya = he is not (doing).

With the ba … ba frame (often used with perfective or stative meanings), you would normally change the verb form, so for this specific sentence baya is the cleaner match to your original yana kula da.

So, to keep the same aspect as your original sentence, the most straightforward negative is:

Likita baya kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.

How do I turn this into a yes–no question: Is the doctor taking care of the patient at the hospital?

Hausa yes–no questions can be formed mainly by intonation and sometimes with particles like shin or ne/ce. Several natural options:

Just use question intonation (most common in speech):

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti?
→ Said with rising intonation, this means: Is the doctor taking care of the patient at the hospital?

Add the question particle shin at the beginning:

Shin likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti?
→ Also: Is the doctor taking care of the patient at the hospital?
(Slightly more formal or careful.)

Use ne for emphasis (often with intonation):

Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti ne?
→ More like: So it is at the hospital that the doctor is taking care of the patient? (focusing on a asibiti.)

For a simple yes–no question matching your sentence, Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti? (with rising tone) is completely fine.

Could yana kula da also mean he takes care of (as a habit), not just he is taking care of (right now)?

Yes. Hausa imperfective forms like yana kula da can express both:

ongoing action right now (progressive)
regular/habitual action (simple present)

Context decides which one is meant.

Examples:

Yanzu likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti.
→ Right now the doctor is taking care of the patient at the hospital. (clearly progressive because of yanzu = now)
Likita yana kula da marasa lafiya a asibiti kullum.
→ The doctor takes care of (looks after) patients at the hospital every day. (habitual because of kullum = every day)

So your sentence Likita yana kula da marar lafiya a asibiti can be understood either way; extra time expressions like yanzu, kullum, sau da yawa, etc., make the meaning clearer.