Learn Hardcore Hausa: Wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida yau. - Father’s phone got lost at home today.

So instead of using a separate word like English of or an apostrophe ’s, Hausa changes the form of the first noun (here by adding -r) and then puts the possessor right after it.

What is the function of the -r at the end of wayar?

The -r in wayar is a genitive linker (often called a possessive linker or construct marker).

Base noun: waya (phone)
With genitive linker: waya-r → written together as wayar

You add this linker when one noun directly possesses another, like:

Wayar Baba – Dad’s phone
Motar Malam – the teacher’s car (mota → motar)

For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the linker appears as -r. It signals that another noun is coming after it as the possessor.

Why is the verb form ta ɓace and not ya ɓace?

ta and ya are both 3rd person singular subject markers, but they differ by gender:

ya = he / it (masculine subject)
ta = she / it (feminine subject)

In Hausa, nouns have grammatical gender. The noun waya (phone) is feminine, so the verb must agree with it:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace. – Dad’s phone got lost.
- ta agrees with waya (feminine).

If the subject were a masculine noun, you’d use ya, e.g.:

Yaron ya ɓace. – The boy got lost.

What does the ta before ɓace actually represent? Is it a pronoun?

Yes. ta is a subject pronoun / subject marker for 3rd person singular feminine in the perfective aspect.

In Hausa, verbs usually need such a subject marker in front of them. It encodes person, number, and gender of the subject:

na ɓace – I got lost
ya ɓace – he / it (masc) got lost
ta ɓace – she / it (fem) got lost
sun ɓace – they got lost

In Wayar Baba ta ɓace, the pronoun ta is agreeing with Wayar Baba (feminine noun). Hausa often keeps this pronoun on the verb even when the noun subject is overtly stated, unlike English, which doesn’t double-mark the subject.

Is ɓace the same as ɓata? When do I use each one?

They are related but not the same:

ɓace – to get lost / to be lost / to disappear (intransitive)
- Wayar Baba ta ɓace. – Dad’s phone got lost / is lost.
ɓata – to lose something / to spoil something (transitive)
- Na ɓata wayar Baba. – I lost Dad’s phone.

So:

Use ɓace when the thing itself becomes lost, with no explicit person doing the losing.
Use ɓata when someone causes the thing to be lost (or ruined) and you mention that person.

What tense or aspect is ta ɓace, and how would I say things like was lost or will be lost?

ta ɓace is the perfective aspect with a stative/intransitive verb. It often corresponds to English got lost / has been lost / is lost, depending on context.

Some common contrasts:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace.
- Dad’s phone got lost / Dad’s phone is (now) lost.

To express other times/aspects:

Past / background (pluperfect-like)
- Wayar Baba ta taɓa ɓacewa. – Dad’s phone once got lost (before).
Future
- Wayar Baba za ta ɓace. – Dad’s phone will get lost.
Ongoing process (rare with this verb, but for the idea of losing):
You’d more often rephrase, e.g. for someone in the process of losing it, use ɓata:
- Ina ɓata wayar Baba. – I am losing Dad’s phone (more naturally: I am misplacing/spoiling it now).

The key: ta ɓace = perfective, a completed event whose result often still holds.

What does the preposition a in a gida mean exactly? Is it in or at?

The preposition a is a general locative preposition. It can be translated as:

in, at, or sometimes on, depending on context.

In a gida, it most naturally means at home or in the house, so:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida yau.
→ Dad’s phone got lost at home today.

If you want to emphasise inside specifically, you often add cikin:

a cikin gida – inside the house.

Why is there no word like the before gida? In English I’d say in the house.

Hausa does not use a separate word for the. Definiteness is handled differently:

Through context (known/unknown)
Through possessive structures
Sometimes through demonstratives (like wannan, wancan)

The word gida often behaves like home in English:

Ina gida. – I am at home.
Na je gida. – I went home.

We don’t usually say the home in English, and similarly Hausa doesn’t need a separate the here. In a gida, the sense is simply at home / in the house, where definiteness is understood from context.

Where can the word yau go in the sentence? Can I move it to the front?

Yes, yau (today) is a flexible time adverb and can appear in a few places:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida yau.
Yau, wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida.
Wayar Baba yau ta ɓace a gida. (more marked / emphatic)

Most commonly you’ll hear it either:

At the end: … a gida yau.
At the very beginning: Yau, wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida.

Moving yau to the front can give it extra emphasis: It’s today that Dad’s phone got lost.

Could I say Wayar Baba ta ɓace a cikin gida yau? What is the difference between a gida and a cikin gida?

Yes, Wayar Baba ta ɓace a cikin gida yau is grammatically fine.

The nuance:

a gida – at home / in the house (general location)
a cikin gida – inside the house (more explicit about the interior)

So:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace a gida yau.
– Dad’s phone got lost at home today.
Wayar Baba ta ɓace a cikin gida yau.
– Dad’s phone got lost inside the house today (as opposed to outside, in the yard, etc.).

How would I say I lost Dad’s phone instead of Dad’s phone got lost?

Use the transitive verb ɓata and make I the subject:

Na ɓata wayar Baba. – I lost Dad’s phone.

Breakdown:

na – I (1st person singular perfective subject marker)
ɓata – to lose / spoil (something)
wayar Baba – Dad’s phone

So:

Wayar Baba ta ɓace. – Dad’s phone got lost. (We don’t say who lost it.)
Na ɓata wayar Baba. – I lost Dad’s phone. (I am responsible.)

How do you pronounce the sound ɓ in ɓace?

The letter ɓ represents an implosive b, a sound that doesn’t exist in standard English.

To approximate it:

Start as if you are going to say English b.
Slightly pull air inward (into the mouth) instead of pushing it out strongly.
Keep the sound relatively soft and voiced.

It’s somewhere between a normal b and a gentle inward b. Native speakers will still understand you if you use a plain b, but ɓ is a distinct sound in Hausa (it can change the meaning of words), so it’s worth practising.