Learn Hardcore Hausa: Uwa tana kula da yara a gida. - Mother takes care of the children at home.

Uwa means “mother” in a general sense: a woman who has given birth.
Hausa does not have separate words for “a” and “the” the way English does.
So uwa can be understood as “a mother” or “the mother”, depending on context.
In this sentence, it could be translated either way:

“A mother is taking care of children at home.”
“The mother is taking care of children at home.”

Why is Uwa followed by tana? Isn’t that like repeating the subject (“mother she is”)?

Yes, it looks like repetition from an English point of view, but it is normal Hausa grammar.
Tana is made of:

ta = “she” (3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun)
na = a marker of continuous / progressive aspect

So Uwa tana… is literally like saying “Mother, she is …”, but in Hausa this is the regular way to say “The mother is …”.
The full clause needs the pronoun ta (inside tana) to show agreement with the subject uwa.

What does tana mean exactly, and how is it different from just ta?

ta on its own is a subject pronoun: “she”.
- Example: Ta je kasuwa. = She went to the market.
tana = ta + na and usually marks ongoing or habitual action:
- Example: Tana aiki. = She is working / She works (habitually).

So in Uwa tana kula da yara a gida, tana expresses that the caring is in progress now or regular/habitual, not just a one‑time completed action.

Does tana kula mean “is taking care of” (right now) or “takes care of” (in general)?

It can mean both, depending on context. Hausa uses aspect more than strict clock time:

Present/ongoing right now:
- If someone asks “Where is the mother?”
  - Uwa tana kula da yara a gida.
  - The mother is taking care of the children at home (right now).
Habitual / regular:
- Describing her usual role:
  - Uwa tana kula da yara a gida.
  - The mother takes care of the children at home (that’s what she usually does).

Extra time words like yanzu (now), kullum (every day) can clarify if needed.

What does kula da mean? Is kula the verb and da just a preposition?

Kula da functions together as a verb phrase meaning “to take care of / look after / pay attention to.”

kula by itself has the idea of “attention, care, supervision.”
da is a general preposition that often corresponds to “with, by, using, about, of.”

In this combination, you normally treat kula da as a fixed unit:

kula da yara = to take care of children / to look after children.

You should not drop da here; kula yara would sound wrong or at least very odd in standard Hausa.

Is kula da only for taking care of children, or can it be used more generally?

It is more general. Kula da can mean to look after, supervise, pay attention to, or be careful about with many kinds of objects:

kula da yara – to take care of children
kula da marasa lafiya – to look after sick people / patients
kula da lafiya – to take care of (one’s) health
kula da aiki – to pay attention to / be attentive in one’s work

So in your sentence it specifically means “take care of children,” but the phrase itself is broader.

What does yara mean exactly? Is it any children, or someone’s own children?

Yara means “children” in a general sense: kids, children (plural).
By default it does not specify whose children they are.

So kula da yara can mean:

take care of children (in general)
take care of some children (context decides which ones)

If you want to emphasize that they are her own children, Hausa speakers very often use 'ya'ya:

Uwa tana kula da 'ya'yanta. = The mother is taking care of her (own) children.

How would I say “The mother is taking care of her children at home”?

You can specify “her children” like this:

Uwa tana kula da 'ya'yanta a gida.
- uwa = the mother
- tana kula da = is taking care of
- 'ya'yanta = her children ('ya'ya = offspring/children, -nta = her)
- a gida = at home

This clearly means her own children, not just any children.

What does a gida mean exactly? Is it “at home” or “in the house”?

a is a very general preposition that can mean “in, at, on”, depending on context.
gida means “house, home.”

So a gida can be translated as:

“at home”
“in the house”

In this sentence, “at home” is usually the most natural translation in English:

Uwa tana kula da yara a gida. = The mother is taking care of (the) children at home.

Can I move a gida to another place in the sentence, like English “At home, the mother is taking care of children”?

Yes, Hausa word order is somewhat flexible with adverbial phrases like a gida.
You can say, for example:

A gida, uwa tana kula da yara.
- At home, the mother is taking care of children.

The basic neutral order is what you saw:

Subject – (pronoun/aspect) – verb phrase – object – place/time
Uwa tana kula da yara a gida.

Moving a gida to the front adds a bit of emphasis to the location, but it is still correct.

How do I make this sentence negative, like “The mother is not taking care of the children at home”?

To negate, Hausa usually wraps the clause in ba … ba and adjusts the verb form.
For the continuous/habitual meaning, tana changes to ta in the negative:

Uwa ba ta kula da yara a gida ba.
- literally: As for the mother, she does not take care of children at home.

Key points:

ba comes before the pronoun: ba ta
the final ba closes the negation
you don’t say ba tana, but ba ta
- verb (kula)

How can I turn this into a yes/no question, like “Is the mother taking care of the children at home?”

There are two very common ways in Hausa:

Just use question intonation (spoken language):
- Uwa tana kula da yara a gida?
- Said with rising intonation = Is the mother taking care of children at home?
Use the question particle shin at the beginning (more explicit/formal):
- Shin uwa tana kula da yara a gida?
- Is the mother taking care of children at home?

The rest of the sentence stays the same; it’s the intonation or shin that marks it as a question.

How would I say “My mother is taking care of the children at home”?

You can mark “my mother” with a possessive suffix on uwa:

Uwata tana kula da yaran a gida.

Breakdown:

uwata = my mother (uwa
- -ta “my”)
tana kula da = is taking care of
yaran = the children (definite plural)
a gida = at home

If you don’t need to stress “the” (as a specific group of children), you can also say:

Uwata tana kula da yara a gida. = My mother is taking care of children at home.

How do you pronounce the words in this sentence roughly, using English sounds?

A rough guide (Hausa has tones, but they’re not written here):

uwa – like “oo-wah” (short oo as in put, not food)
tana – “TAH-nah” (both a like in father)
kula – “KOO-lah” (u like put or a short oo; a like in father)
da – “da” (a like in father)
yara – “YAH-rah” (both a like in father)
a – short “a” (again like in father)
gida – “GEE-dah” (i like sit, a like in father)

This should be close enough for a learner to be understood, even though native pronunciation also involves correct tone.