Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malami yana raba littattafai ga dalibai a aji. - The teacher is distributing books to the students in class.

If you said only Malami raba littattafai, it would sound incomplete or wrong; you need yana (or another appropriate form) to mark that progressive/ongoing action.

How is yana chosen? What would change if the subject were “I” or “they”?

Yana agrees with the subject in person and number:

yana – he is / it is (3rd person singular, masculine or inanimate)
tana – she is (3rd person singular, feminine)
suna – they are (3rd person plural)
ina – I am
kana / kina – you (m.sg / f.sg) are
muna – we are

So:

Malami yana raba littattafai…
The (male) teacher is distributing books…
Malama tana raba littattafai…
The (female) teacher is distributing books…
Dalibai suna raba littattafai…
The students are distributing books…
Ina raba littattafai…
I am distributing books…

Does Malami mean “a teacher” or “the teacher”? There is no word for the or a in the sentence.

Hausa does not use separate words for “the” or “a/an” the way English does.

Malami by itself can mean:

a teacher (indefinite)
the teacher (definite)

The exact meaning comes from context, not from an article.

So:

Malami yana raba littattafai…
could be understood as:
- A teacher is distributing books…
  or
- The teacher is distributing books…

depending on what has been mentioned or is understood in the situation.

What does raba mean exactly, and is it always used with an object like littattafai?

raba means to divide, to share out, to distribute, to separate.

In this sentence it means to distribute / to hand out:

yana raba littattafai
= he is distributing books

It is normally transitive in this meaning – it takes a direct object:

raba littattafai – share out / distribute books
raba abinci – share out food
raba kudi – distribute money

So yes, in this kind of usage you expect it to be followed by what is being shared or divided.

Why is littattafai the form for “books”? How did it come from littafi?

Hausa often forms plurals with internal changes to the word (so‑called “broken plurals”), not just by adding a simple ending.

littafi – book (singular)
littattafai – books (plural)

Changes:

The middle part doubles: tta (from ta)
The ending changes from -fi to -fai

You just have to learn these plural patterns word by word. A few examples:

dalibi → dalibai (student → students)
malami → malamai (teacher → teachers)
littafi → littattafai (book → books)

So littattafai here is simply the plural “books.”

What does ga mean in ga dalibai, and could I leave it out?

In this sentence ga functions like “to” (towards a recipient):

…raba littattafai ga dalibai…
= …distribute books *to the students…*

It marks who receives the books – the indirect object.

You should not leave it out here.
Compare:

Malami yana raba littattafai ga dalibai.
The teacher is distributing books to the students.

If you removed ga, dalibai would just sit next to the object and the sentence would sound wrong or at least unclear.

In many contexts you might also hear ma used for beneficiaries/recipients:

raba littattafai ma dalibai – distribute books to/for the students

But ga dalibai is very natural and correct.

Could ga here mean “for” instead of “to”? Is there a difference?

In English we distinguish sharply between “to” and “for”; in Hausa the prepositions don’t always match 1:1.

With verbs of giving, sending, distributing, ga often corresponds to English “to” (marking direction/recipient):

bada littafi ga shi – give a book to him
aika sako ga ita – send a message to her
raba littattafai ga dalibai – distribute books to the students

Depending on the wider context, in English you might translate it as to or for, but grammatically here it’s the recipient marker, so “to the students” is the clearest gloss.

Why do we get dalibai for “students”? What is the singular form?

The singular form is:

dalibi – (a) student

The plural is:

dalibai – students

Again, this is an internal vowel change pattern:

-bi → -bai

So in the sentence:

dalibai = “students”

Some similar patterns:

balarabe → balarabai (an Arab → Arabs)
malami → malamai (teacher → teachers)

Why is it written a aji with two a’s? What does this whole phrase mean?

There are two separate words:

a – a preposition meaning “in, at, on” (general location)
aji – “class, classroom”

Together:

a aji = in class / in the classroom / in the class

So the full phrase:

…ga dalibai a aji.
= …to the students in class / in the classroom.

The double a is simply because the preposition a ends with a and the noun aji starts with a. You pronounce it as a single long “a” sound flowing into “ji”, not with a pause:

[aa‑ji] → like “ah-ji” with a bit of length on the a.

Could I say a cikin aji instead of a aji? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say a cikin aji:

a cikin aji – literally “in the inside of the class”, i.e. inside the classroom

Difference:

a aji – simpler, just “in/at class”, very common and fully correct
a cikin aji – emphasizes being inside the class/room, slightly more explicit

In everyday speech, both can appear, and in many contexts they are practically interchangeable. In your sentence, a aji is natural and idiomatic.

Altogether, how would you roughly break down the structure of the sentence word by word?

Word-by-word:

Malami – teacher
yana – he is (progressive marker for 3rd sg)
raba – distributing / sharing out
littattafai – books
ga – to (recipient marker)
dalibai – students
a – in / at
aji – class / classroom

Very literal gloss:

Malami – teacher
yana raba – he-is distributing
littattafai – books
ga dalibai – to students
a aji – in class

Natural English:
The teacher is distributing books to the students in class.