Malami yana koya mana yadda za mu yi sadarwa da girmamawa, ko kan layi ko a zahiri.

Koya by itself is the verb “to teach / to learn” (context decides which).

The form in the sentence is:

• yana koya = he is teaching / he teaches (habitually)

Breakdown:

• ya = “he”
• -na (attached here as yana) = progressive / continuous aspect marker
• koya = to teach

So:

• Malami yana koya mana… = “The teacher is teaching us / teaches us…”

If you said:

• Malami ya koya mana… – this usually sounds like a completed one‑time action: “The teacher taught us…”
• Malami koya mana… – incomplete; you normally need a subject pronoun or tense/aspect marker.

So yana koya expresses an ongoing or regular action, while ya koya is more like a finished past event.

Hausa distinguishes between subject pronouns and object / indirect object forms.

• mu = “we” as subject
  • e.g. mu za mu tafi – “we will go”
• mana = “to us / for us” as indirect object
  • e.g. yana koya mana – “he is teaching (to) us”

In Malami yana koya mana…:

• Malami = subject (the teacher)
• yana koya = “is teaching”
• mana = “to us / for us” (who receives the teaching)

So mana is the correct form because “us” here is not doing the action; we are receiving it.

Literal breakdown:

• yadda = “how / the way that”
• za mu = “we will / we are going to” (future/irrealis: za
  • mu)
• yi = “do / make”
• sadarwa = “communication” (verbal noun)

So yadda za mu yi sadarwa is literally:

• “how we will do communication”

In natural English we say: “how we will communicate”.

Why yi?

• Hausa often uses yi (“do”) together with a verbal noun like sadarwa.
• yi sadarwa = “to do communication” → “to communicate”

So the structure yi + verbal noun is a common way to form a verb-like phrase:

• yi magana – do speech → “to speak”
• yi aiki – do work → “to work”
• yi sadarwa – do communication → “to communicate”

That’s why yi is needed before sadarwa in this sentence.

No, yadda za mu sadarwa is ungrammatical, and sadar by itself isn’t the usual simple verb “to communicate”.

Correct patterns are:

1. Using yi + verbal noun (most common and simple here):

   • za mu yi sadarwa – we will communicate

2. Using a related verb with an object (more specific):

   • za mu sadar da juna – we will connect / communicate with each other
     (here sadar da has a causative/“cause to reach” flavor)

So in your sentence, the natural form is exactly:

• yadda za mu yi sadarwa – “how we will communicate”

You normally can’t just stick za mu directly in front of sadarwa (a noun) without yi.

Sadarwa is a verbal noun (a noun derived from a verb).

• Root verb: related to sadar da (to cause to reach, to connect, to convey)
• Verbal noun: sadarwa = “communication” / “communicating”

So:

• As a noun:
  
  • Sadarwa tana da muhimmanci. – “Communication is important.”
• With yi to act like a verb:
  • mu yi sadarwa – “let’s communicate”
  • za mu yi sadarwa – “we will communicate”

In your sentence, it’s this second pattern: yi sadarwa = “to communicate”.

• girmamawa = “respect” / “honoring” (verbal noun from girmama – to respect, to honor)
• da in this position often means “with / in a … way”, marking manner.

So yi sadarwa da girmamawa is literally:

• “do communication with respect”

Functionally, it means:

• “to communicate respectfully / in a respectful way”

This is a common Hausa pattern:

• yi magana da nutsuwa – speak with calmness → “speak calmly”
• yi aiki da gaskiya – work with truth → “work honestly”
• yi sadarwa da girmamawa – communicate with respect → “communicate respectfully”

Girmamawa is a verbal noun.

• From the verb girmama – “to respect / to honor”
• Related to the adjective girama / girma (big, important, great), and girma as a noun meaning “greatness / height / seniority”.

Forms:

• girmama (verb) – to respect
• girmamawa (verbal noun) – respecting / respect (the act or quality)

Usage:

• girmamawa ga iyaye – respect for parents
• a yi girmamawa ga malamai – let respect be shown to teachers

Literal meanings:

• ko … ko … = “either … or … / whether … or …”
• kan layi:
  • kan = “on (top of)” / “on”
  • layi = “line”
  • So literally: “on (the) line” → idiomatically: “online”
• a zahiri:
  • a = “in / at”
  • zahiri = outward / visible / obvious → by extension: “in person / physically”
  • So literally: “in the visible / in the physical (world)” → “in person / physically”

Difference between kan and a here:

• kan usually means “on, on top of, upon”
  • kan tebur – on the table
  • kan hanya – on the road
  • metaphorically: kan layi – on (the) line → online
• a is a general preposition for “in/at/on” depending on context:
  • a gida – at home
  • a kasuwa – in the market
  • a zahiri – in (the) physical/outward realm → in person

So ko kan layi ko a zahiri = “whether online or in person”.

Kan layi is a very common, everyday way to say “online”, especially in informal or semi-formal speech.

You may also see:

• a yanar gizo – literally “on the spider’s web” → on the web / online (more technical/formal)
• ta/ta hanyar intanet – via the internet

But in normal conversation:

• kan layi is widely used and easily understood:
  • karatu kan layi – online studies
  • taro kan layi – online meeting
  • kasuwanci kan layi – online business

Hausa normally doesn’t use articles like “a / an / the”. The bare noun can mean either, depending on context.

• Malami can be:
  • “a teacher” (indefinite)
  • “the teacher” (definite, a known one)
• The meaning is inferred from:
  • the broader context
  • what has been mentioned earlier
  • shared knowledge between speakers

In your sentence, English prefers:

• “The teacher is teaching us how to communicate respectfully…”

So we translate Malami as “the teacher” because it sounds like we are talking about a particular teacher (e.g., in a class you already know). Hausa itself does not mark that definiteness explicitly here.

Hausa future/irrealis is usually built like this:

• za + subject pronoun + verb

Examples:

• za ni tafi – I will go
• za ka tafi – you (m. sg.) will go
• za ki tafi – you (f. sg.) will go
• za mu tafi – we will go
• za su tafi – they will go

In your sentence:

• za = future/irrealis marker
• mu = “we” (subject pronoun)
• yi = do

So:

• za mu yi sadarwa – we will do communication → we will communicate

You can’t just say za yi sadarwa without the subject pronoun when the subject is a full noun like Malami earlier; the future marker still wants a pronoun:

• Malami zai koya mana… (short form zai = za + ya) – The teacher will teach us…
• za mu yi sadarwa… – we will communicate…

So mu is required as the subject pronoun after za.

Negation with za typically surrounds the za … verb … ba part.

Pattern in the positive:

• yadda za mu yi sadarwa – how we will communicate

In the negative (standard):

• yadda ba za mu yi sadarwa ba – how we will not communicate

Breakdown:

• ba … ba – negative “not”
• ba … za mu yi sadarwa … ba – we will not do communication

So you generally put:

• ba before za,
• and ba again at the end of the clause.