Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma. - I will sit in the living room in the evening.

Ni is an independent (full) pronoun. It’s used for emphasis or contrast: Ni means I (and not someone else).
zan is the future marker plus the bound pronoun: za + ni → zan, meaning I will.

So:

Zan zauna a falo da yamma. = I will sit in the living room in the evening. (neutral)
Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma. = I will sit in the living room in the evening (it’s me who will do it, not someone else).

You only need zan to make the sentence grammatical. Ni just adds emphasis on the subject.

Can I leave out Ni and just say Zan zauna a falo da yamma?

Yes.

Zan zauna a falo da yamma. is completely correct and is probably the more common everyday version.

You add Ni when you want to stress I:

Answering a question like: Wa zai zauna a falo da yamma? (Who will sit in the living room in the evening?)
– Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma. (I will.)

Without a contrast or focus, most speakers would just say Zan zauna….

Can Ni go anywhere else in the sentence, like Zan zauna ni a falo da yamma?

No. You cannot put ni after the verb here:

Zan zauna ni a falo da yamma is wrong or would be interpreted oddly (like I will sit me…).

As a subject, Ni normally comes at the very beginning, before the tense marker:

Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma.

If ni appears after the verb, it is understood as an object pronoun, not as the emphasized subject you want here.

What exactly does zan mean? Is it like English will or going to?

zan is the future marker for 1st person singular, formed from za + ni. It normally expresses:

Future time: an event that has not happened yet
Often also intention or decision, depending on context

It covers both English will and going to:

Zan zauna a falo da yamma.
→ I will sit / I’m going to sit in the living room in the evening.

Context decides whether it sounds more like a plan (going to) or just future (will).

What does the verb zauna itself mean? Only to sit, or also to stay / to live?

zauna is quite flexible. Common meanings:

to sit (down), be seated
- Zauna a nan. – Sit (down) here.
to stay / remain somewhere
- Zauna a nan har na dawo. – Stay here until I come back.
to live / reside (especially in some forms like ina zaune a…)
- Ina zaune a Kano. – I live in Kano.

So Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma can mean either:

I will sit (down) in the living room in the evening (focus on the act of sitting), or
I will stay / be in the living room in the evening (focus on being there),

depending on context.

Why is the preposition a used before falo? Is it the same as in in English?

Yes, here a works much like in / at in English. It’s the default preposition for:

Being in a place: a gida – at home
Being at a location: a kasuwa – at the market

So:

a falo = in the living room / in a living room

If you want to stress being inside or inside the interior, you can use cikin:

Ni zan zauna cikin falo da yamma.
→ I will sit inside the living room in the evening (slightly more “inside” than just a falo).

What exactly is falo? Does it always mean living room?

falo is a common Hausa word for:

living room, parlor, or the main sitting room of a house.

It usually refers to the room where people sit, relax, watch TV, talk to guests, etc.

Context can make it broader (any main sitting area), but the default English equivalent is living room or sitting room.

Why is it da yamma and not a yamma for in the evening?

Expressions for time of day in Hausa commonly use da, not a:

da safe – in the morning
da rana – in the afternoon / daytime
da yamma – in the (late) afternoon / evening
da dare – at night

So da yamma is a set pattern meaning in the evening / late afternoon.
Using a yamma in this sense is not the normal idiomatic choice.

Does da yamma mean afternoon or evening? Where does it stop and start?

da yamma usually covers the late afternoon into early evening period, roughly from late day until it starts to feel like night.

Very roughly:

da rana – midday / early afternoon
da yamma – late afternoon / early evening
da dare – night

In practice, if the sun is going down or has just gone down but it’s not deep night, da yamma is still a natural choice. Translators often choose in the evening, but context can push it closer to late afternoon.

Why is there no word for the in a falo or da yamma? How do you say the living room?

Hausa doesn’t use a separate word like English the, but it does have ways to show definiteness, such as:

a suffix -n / -r / -n at the end of the noun (sometimes called a definite marker), or
demonstratives (nan – this/here, can – that/there), or context.

For falo:

a falo – in a living room / in the living room (context decides)
a falon – in the living room (a specific one)
a falon nan – in this living room

In your sentence, a falo is fine and can be understood as in the living room if the context is clear, or in a living room if it’s more general.

Can I change the order and say Ni zan zauna da yamma a falo instead?

Yes, you can. Both are grammatical:

Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma.
Ni zan zauna da yamma a falo.

The difference is subtle. Hausa allows some flexibility with time and place phrases. Many speakers slightly prefer place then time (a falo da yamma), but putting da yamma earlier can give the time a little more emphasis:

Ni zan zauna da yamma a falo. – more like: In the evening, I’ll be in the living room. (spotlighting the evening)

Both are acceptable.

How would I say I will not sit in the living room in the evening?

To negate the future, you wrap the ba … ba around the future form:

Ba zan zauna a falo da yamma ba. – I will not sit in the living room in the evening.

If you want to keep the emphasis on I, you can add Ni at the start:

Ni ba zan zauna a falo da yamma ba. – I (for my part) will not sit in the living room in the evening.

How would I turn this into a yes–no question, like Will I sit in the living room in the evening? or Will you sit…?

For a basic yes–no question in Hausa, you normally keep the same word order and use a question intonation (or just a question mark in writing).

For I (self-question, a bit artificial but grammatical):

Zan zauna a falo da yamma? – Will I sit in the living room in the evening?

For you (singular masculine):

Za ka zauna a falo da yamma? – Will you sit in the living room in the evening?

No extra auxiliary is needed (no do, etc.); the question is signaled mostly by intonation and context.

If I want to say I usually sit in the living room in the evenings (habit), should I still use zan?

No. zan is for future. For habitual or regular actions you typically use imperfective / progressive forms and sometimes an adverb:

Some natural options:

Ina zaune a falo da yamma.
– I am (usually) in the living room in the evenings. (stative, often used for a general habit)
Ina yawan zama a falo da yamma.
– I often stay / sit in the living room in the evening.
(yawan adds the idea of frequency: often, usually.)

So:

Zan zauna a falo da yamma. – I will sit (on a particular future occasion).
Ina zaune a falo da yamma. – I (regularly) sit / am in the living room in the evenings.

Is Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma something you could say when someone offers you a seat? Is it polite?

Yes, it can be used in that kind of situation. For example, if someone says:

Zauna a falo. – Sit in the living room.

You could reply:

To, zan zauna a falo da yamma. – OK, I’ll sit in the living room in the evening.

However, if you mean right now, you usually wouldn’t add da yamma, and you might simply say:

To, zan zauna. – OK, I’ll sit (down).

It’s polite; the level of politeness comes more from tone, to (OK), and context than from the verb form itself.

What’s the difference between Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma and Ni ne zan zauna a falo da yamma?

Ni zan zauna a falo da yamma.

Emphasis on I, but still a normal future statement.

Ni ne zan zauna a falo da yamma.

Stronger focus: I am the one who will sit in the living room in the evening (not somebody else).
ne is a copular/focus particle here, sharpening the contrast.

You’d use Ni ne zan… if you’re explicitly contrasting yourself with others, e.g., after a discussion about who will do what.