Learn Hardcore Hausa: Shugaba yana magana da dalibai a makaranta. - The leader is talking with the students at school.

In many contexts it is used for “president” (e.g., Shugaban ƙasa = the president of a country).
It can also mean leader of a group or head of an organization, depending on context.

In this isolated sentence, it’s often translated as “the president” for convenience, but it could also be understood more generally as “the leader” (for example, a school principal, group leader, or organization head), depending on the wider context.

Why is there no word for “the” in Shugaba, dalibai, or makaranta?

Hausa does not have a separate word that corresponds directly to the English definite article “the”.

Shugaba can mean “a leader/president” or “the leader/president” depending on context.
dalibai can be “students” or “the students”.
makaranta can be “a school” or “the school”.

Definiteness is usually understood from context, not from a special word. So English has to add “the” or “a/an” when translating, but Hausa simply leaves the noun as it is.

What is the structure yana magana? Why are there two words to say “is talking”?

yana magana is a typical Hausa way of expressing the present continuous / progressive (“is talking”, “is speaking”).

ya = “he” (3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun)
na = a marker often used in the continuous/progressive construction
Together they combine as yana: ya + na → yana
magana = “speech, talk, speaking” (a verbal noun)

So yana magana literally comes from something like “he is (in the act of) speaking”, and functions as “he is talking”.

Is magana the verb “to speak”? What is the base verb form?

magana is not the basic verb “to speak”; it is a verbal noun meaning “speech, talk, speaking”.

The common verb phrase is yi magana:

yi = “do, make”
magana = “speech, talk”

So yi magana = “to speak / to talk” (literally, “to do speech”).

In the continuous form, Hausa often drops yi and just uses the verbal noun:

yana yi magana → very often shortened to yana magana
- Both can be used, but yana magana is very natural and common.

What exactly does da mean in yana magana da dalibai? Is it “to” or “with”?

In this sentence, da means “with”, in the sense of “together with / in company with / in interaction with.”

yana magana da dalibai
= “he is talking with the students”
(also often translated as “talking to the students” in English)

Hausa da is very flexible and can mean:

with (comitative): Ina zuwa da abokina – “I’m coming with my friend.”
and (coordinating): shi da ita – “he and she.”

For “to” (as in direction to someone), Hausa often uses ga or other constructions, but for speaking “with/to” people, da is standard and natural.

How is the plural dalibai formed? What is the singular form of “students”?

The singular is dalibi = “a student”.

The plural is dalibai = “students”.

This is an example of a common Hausa plural pattern where:

-bi in the singular often becomes -bai in the plural.

So:

dalibi → dalibai (student → students)

Note: In fully standard orthography, you may also see ɗalibi / ɗalibai, with the special letter ɗ, but many beginner materials use d.

What does a mean in a makaranta? Is it “at” or “in”?

a is a general locative preposition meaning “in, at, on” depending on context.

a makaranta can be translated as “at school” or “in (the) school”.

Hausa does not draw a sharp distinction between “in” and “at” the way English does, so a covers a range of spatial relations. Context and natural English usage determine whether we say “at” or “in” in translation.

What is the basic word order in this sentence?

The sentence follows normal Hausa word order, which is broadly Subject – Verb – (Objects/Complements) – Adverbials:

Shugaba (Subject)
yana magana (Verb phrase: “is talking”)
da dalibai (Prepositional phrase: “with students”)
a makaranta (Locative phrase: “at school”)

So the overall structure is:

Subject – Progressive verb phrase – Preposition + noun – Locative preposition + noun.

Does yana magana mean only “is talking right now,” or can it also mean “he talks (generally)”?

yana magana is primarily progressive:

Most naturally: “he is talking (right now / at this moment)”.

However, in real usage, Hausa progressive forms can sometimes describe a situation around now or ongoing over a period, not always just a single moment.

For more clearly habitual or general meaning (“he talks / he usually talks”), Hausa often uses other constructions such as:

yakan yi magana – “he usually speaks / he tends to talk.”

So if you want to emphasize habit or regular behavior, yakan yi magana is better than yana magana.

How would this sentence change if the speaker were a woman instead of a man?

The noun shugaba itself does not change for gender; it can refer to a male or female leader.

What changes is the subject pronoun inside “yana”:

yana = ya + na (he is …)
tana = ta + na (she is …)

So for a female leader, you would say:

Shugaba tana magana da dalibai a makaranta.
= “The (female) leader/president is talking with the students at school.”

How would the sentence look in the past tense, like “The president talked with the students at school”?

To express a completed past action, you use the perfect (simple past) form of the verb phrase. With yi magana, that looks like:

Shugaba ya yi magana da dalibai a makaranta.
= “The president talked/spoke with the students at school.”

Breakdown:

ya = he (past perfect subject marker for 3rd person masculine)
yi magana = spoke / talked

So:

yana magana – “he is talking / speaking” (ongoing)
ya yi magana – “he talked / he has spoken” (completed in the past).