Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

The teacher explained the truth in the lesson.

Breakdown of Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

• malami: the teacher
• gaskiya: the truth
• darasi: the lesson
• a cikin: in
• bayyana: to explain

Questions & Answers about Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

What does each word in Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi literally mean, and how does the word order compare to English?

Word-by-word:

• Malami – teacher
• ya – 3rd person singular masculine subject marker (he), marking a completed action
• bayyana – to explain / to make clear / to reveal
• gaskiya – truth (also honesty in other contexts)
• a – at / in / on (general preposition)
• cikin – inside / within
• darasi – lesson / class

Natural translation: “The teacher explained/revealed the truth in the lesson.”

Word order is Subject – (subject marker) – Verb – Object – Prepositional phrase, which is very close to English:

• Hausa: Malami (S) ya bayyana (V) gaskiya (O) a cikin darasi (Prep. phrase)
• English: The teacher (S) explained (V) the truth (O) in the lesson (Prep. phrase)

What exactly is ya doing here? Why do we need it after Malami?

Ya is a subject pronoun + tense/aspect marker:

• ya = he (3rd person singular masculine) in the completed aspect.

In Hausa, even when you have a full noun subject like Malami, you still normally use the agreeing subject marker:

• Malami ya bayyana gaskiya…
  Literally: Teacher he-explained truth…

So ya:

1. Agrees with the subject (Malami, which is grammatically masculine).
2. Shows the action is completed (roughly past / perfect in English).

You can’t say ✗ Malami bayyana gaskiya… without ya; that would be ungrammatical in normal speech.

Does ya bayyana mean simple past (“explained”) or present perfect (“has explained”)?

Ya bayyana is in the completive (perfective) aspect. It describes an action as finished, without itself specifying exact time.

In English, it can correspond to:

• Simple past:
  
  • The teacher explained the truth in the lesson.
• Present perfect:
  
  • The teacher has explained the truth in the lesson.

Which English tense you choose depends on context, but Hausa ya bayyana itself mainly says: “the explaining is done.”

How would I say “The teacher is explaining the truth in the lesson” (right now, ongoing)?

Use a progressive/continuous construction:

• Malami yana bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

Breakdown:

• Malami – teacher
• yana – he is (doing), progressive marker (3rd sg masc)
• bayyana – explaining / making clear
• gaskiya – truth
• a cikin darasi – in the lesson

So:

• Malami yana bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.
  = The teacher is explaining the truth in the lesson.

What nuance does bayyana have? Is it more like “explain” or “reveal” or “state”?

Bayyana basically means to make something clear or visible, so depending on context:

• explain – making an idea clear to someone
• reveal / disclose – bringing a hidden fact to light
• state / clarify – clearly saying how something is

In Malami ya bayyana gaskiya, good translations include:

• The teacher *explained the truth…*
• The teacher *made the truth clear…*
• The teacher *revealed the truth…*

All are acceptable; context decides which English verb fits best.

Does gaskiya mean “the truth” or just “truth” in general? Why is there no “the” in Hausa?

Hausa usually doesn’t use a separate word like English “the”. Gaskiya on its own can mean:

• truth in general, or
• the truth in a specific situation, if the context makes it clear.

In this sentence, because a specific truth is being explained, we naturally translate it as “the truth”:

• Malami ya bayyana gaskiya.
  = The teacher explained *the truth.*

If you really want to emphasize “the” and make it sound very specific, you might see forms like gaskiyar nan (this truth), but gaskiya alone already works as “the truth” here.

Why do we need both a and cikin for “in”? Could I say only one of them?

A cikin together means “in / inside / within” and is very common:

• a – general preposition (at, in, on)
• cikin – inside / interior of

So:

• a cikin darasi – literally in the inside of the lesson, i.e. in the lesson / during the lesson.

You often have options:

• a cikin darasi – fully explicit, very common
• a darasi – also used, more like simply “in lesson / at lesson”
• cikin darasi – can also be heard meaning “in the lesson”

In this sentence, a cikin darasi sounds very natural and clear.

How would the sentence change if the teacher is a woman?

You change both the noun and the subject marker:

• Malama ta bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

Changes:

• Malami → Malama (female teacher)
• ya → ta (3rd person singular feminine completive)

So:

• Malama ta bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.
  = The (female) teacher explained the truth in the lesson.

How do I say clearly “the teacher” and “the lesson” (not just “a teacher / a lesson”)?

Definiteness is often marked with a suffix linker (-n / -r / -n with vowel change), especially when something is known/specific.

For “the teacher explained the truth in the lesson” you could say:

• Malamin ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasin.

Breakdown:

• Malamin – the teacher
  
  • from malami
    • -n (definite/linker)
• darasin – the lesson
  
  • from darasi
    • -n

This sounds like you’re referring to a particular known teacher and a particular known lesson (e.g. “in that lesson we talked about…”).

The original:

• Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

is more neutral and can also be understood as “the teacher… in the lesson” from context, but is not as explicitly marked as definite.

How would I say “The teachers explained the truth in the lesson” (plural subject)?

You change both the noun and the verb agreement:

• Malamai sun bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.

Changes:

• Malami → Malamai (teachers)
• ya (3sg masc) → sun (3rd person plural completive)

So:

• Malamai sun bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi.
  = The teachers explained the truth in the lesson.

How do I make this sentence negative: “The teacher did not reveal the truth in the lesson”?

Use the negative completive pattern bai … ba for 3rd person singular masculine:

• Malami bai bayyana gaskiya ba a cikin darasi.

Breakdown:

• Malami – teacher
• bai bayyana – did not reveal / did not explain
  
  • bai = negative 3sg masc completive
  • ba (at the end) closes the negation
• gaskiya – truth
• a cikin darasi – in the lesson

Meaning:

• Malami bai bayyana gaskiya ba a cikin darasi.
  = The teacher did not explain/reveal the truth in the lesson.

Can I change the word order to emphasize “the truth,” like starting the sentence with gaskiya?

Yes. Hausa allows fronting for emphasis. For example:

• Gaskiya ce malami ya bayyana a cikin darasi.
  Literally: It is truth (that) the teacher explained in the lesson.

Here:

• Gaskiya is put first for emphasis (It was the truth (not something else) that the teacher explained).
• ce is a copular particle agreeing with feminine nouns (and gaskiya is grammatically feminine).

The simple sentence Malami ya bayyana gaskiya a cikin darasi is neutral.
Using Gaskiya ce… adds a focus/emphasis meaning.

How should I pronounce Malami, bayyana, and gaskiya? Any tricky sounds for English speakers?

Basic pronunciation guide (simplified):

• Malami – ma-la-mi

  • All short vowels: a as in father, i as in sit.
  • Stress is usually on the first syllable: MA-la-mi.

• bayyana – bay-ya-na

  • b as in boy.
  • ay like eye.
  • y is a consonant y as in yes.
  • Often written bayyana, pronounced roughly bahy-YA-na, with a clear yy sound between vowels.

• gaskiya – gas-ki-ya

  • ga like ga in garden.
  • ski similar to ski in English.
  • ya as in yard.
  • Roughly GAS-kee-ya, often with primary stress near the beginning.

The main challenges for English speakers:

• Keeping vowels short and clear (not diphthongized like in some English dialects).
• Pronouncing y clearly as a consonant when it appears (e.g. in bayyana, gaskiya).