Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa. - The teacher has a lot of expertise in teaching Hausa.

Subject + verb phrase + noun phrase + prepositional phrase
→ Malami (subject) yana da (has) kwarewa sosai (a lot of expertise) a koyar da Hausa (in teaching Hausa).

What does yana da literally mean, and is it always how you say “has” in Hausa?

Yana da comes from ya (he) + na (progressive/locative marker) + da (with). Historically it is like saying he is with X, which then developed the meaning he has X.

Usage:

Yana da kudi – He has money
Malaminku yana da mota – Your teacher has a car
Malami yana da kwarewa – The teacher has expertise

So yes, [subject] + (ya/ta/na etc.) + na / yana + da + [thing] is the normal way to express to have (possession or qualities) in the present:

Ina da littafi – I have a book
Kana da aiki – You have work
Yana da kwarewa – He has expertise

For negation, though, the pattern changes (see a later question on negation).

Why do we say Malami yana da kwarewa instead of Malami yana kwarewa?

These two mean different things:

Malami yana da kwarewa
- Literally: The teacher is with expertise
- Meaning: The teacher has expertise / is very experienced (a state or quality he already has)
Malami yana kwarewa
- Literally: The teacher is becoming skilled / is getting better
- Meaning: it describes a process of becoming skilled, not an already-established level of expertise.

So:

To describe an existing, stable quality → yana da kwarewa
To describe the ongoing process of improving → yana kwarewa

In your sentence, you want to say he already is very experienced, so yana da kwarewa sosai is the correct and natural choice.

What exactly does kwarewa mean? Is it “experience”, “skill”, or “expertise”?

Kwarewa is a noun formed from the verb kware (to become skilled, to be excellent at something).

Its meaning covers:

skill / proficiency
expertise / competence
practical experience (in the sense of having mastered something)

In English, depending on context, it can be translated as:

skill: kwarewa a rubutu – skill in writing
expertise: kwarewa a likitanci – expertise in medicine
experience (in doing something): yana da kwarewa a koyarwa – he has a lot of experience in teaching

So in your sentence:

kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa ≈ a lot of expertise/experience in teaching Hausa.

What does sosai add to the meaning, and where can it appear in the sentence?

Sosai is an intensifier meaning:

very, really, extremely, a lot.

In your sentence:

kwarewa sosai – very great expertise / a lot of expertise

Typical positions:

After adjectives or nouns of quality:
- gwaninta sosai – great skill
- wahala sosai – a lot of trouble
After verbs (especially stative or feeling verbs):
- Ina son Hausa sosai – I really like Hausa

In your example, the most natural place is immediately after kwarewa:

Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.

You might occasionally hear Malami yana da kwarewa a koyar da Hausa sosai, but putting sosai right after kwarewa is clearer and more standard here.

Why is a used in a koyar da Hausa? What does this a mean?

The preposition a in Hausa is very broad. Among its uses are:

in, at, on (location)
in (a field, area, or domain)

Here, a introduces the domain in which the person is skilled:

kwarewa a koyar da Hausa – expertise in teaching Hausa
kwarewa a lissafi – skill in mathematics
kwarewa a girki – skill in cooking

So in this sentence, a is best understood as in, marking the field where the teacher has expertise.

What is koyar da exactly, and why is there da after koyar?

The verb family looks like this:

koya – to learn; also, in some constructions, to teach
koyar da – to teach (literally “cause to learn something”)
koyarwa – teaching (as a noun: the activity/profession of teaching)

The construction koyar da [object] is the normal way to say to teach [something]:

koyar da Hausa – to teach Hausa
koyar da yara – to teach children
koyar da lissafi – to teach math

Function of da here:

It links koyar (teach) with its object, similar to teach with / teach X.
Many Hausa causative/“make do” verbs use da to introduce what is being affected.

So a koyar da Hausa = in teaching Hausa (using the verb phrase koyar da in a kind of verbal-noun role).

Is Malami “the teacher” or “a teacher”? How does Hausa show definiteness?

Malami by itself can mean a teacher or the teacher, depending entirely on context. Hausa usually does not use separate words like a or the.

Definiteness is understood from:

The situation (shared knowledge):
- In a story where only one teacher has been mentioned, Malami likely means the teacher.
Additional modifiers:
- Malamin nan – this teacher / that teacher
- Malaminmu – our teacher

So in isolation:

Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.
could be interpreted as
- A teacher is very experienced in teaching Hausa (generic / some teacher)
  or
- The teacher is very experienced in teaching Hausa (if already known which teacher you mean).

Does yana agree in gender with the subject? What if the teacher is a woman?

Yes, the progressive/possession forms agree in gender and person. For 3rd person singular:

yana – he is / it is (masc. / general)
tana – she is / it is (fem.)

So:

Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.
– The male teacher is very experienced in teaching Hausa.

For a female teacher, you normally change the noun and the verb:

Malama tana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.
– The female teacher is very experienced in teaching Hausa.

Summary:

Masculine: Malami yana da …
Feminine: Malama tana da …

How would you say the negative: “The teacher is not very experienced in teaching Hausa”?

For the verb to have with da, the usual negative pattern is:

ba [pronoun] da [thing]

Examples:

Ba ni da kudi. – I do not have money.
Ba shi da mota. – He does not have a car.

For your sentence:

Positive: Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.
Negative (natural form):
- Malami ba shi da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.

Literal structure:

Malami – the teacher
ba shi da – does not have
kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa – much expertise in teaching Hausa

Could sosai or a koyar da Hausa move to other positions, or is the original word order fixed?

The original order is the clearest and most natural:

Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.

Variations:

Moving sosai:
- Malami yana da kwarewa a koyar da Hausa sosai.
  – Possible in speech, but can sound slightly less focused. It may be heard as stressing the activity (in teaching Hausa very much) rather than the amount of expertise.
Fronting a koyar da Hausa for emphasis:
- A koyar da Hausa, malami yana da kwarewa sosai.
  – In teaching Hausa, the teacher is very experienced.
  – This is fine when you want to highlight the domain first.

For a neutral, default sentence stating a fact about the teacher’s abilities, the original:

Malami yana da kwarewa sosai a koyar da Hausa.

is the best and most typical order.