Questions & Answers about Fasinjoji suna tsaye a layi.
What does fasinjoji mean, and is it singular or plural?
Fasinjoji means passengers, and it is plural.
The singular form is usually fasinja = passenger.
So:
- fasinja = passenger
- fasinjoji = passengers
This is a loanword, ultimately from English passenger.
What is suna doing in this sentence?
Suna is the they form used here to show the subject and the ongoing/habitual state.
In this sentence, it tells you that the passengers are the ones in that state:
- su = they
- na is part of the form used here
- together: suna
So fasinjoji suna tsaye means something like the passengers are standing.
Why is there no separate word for are like in English?
Hausa does not always match English word-for-word.
In English, we say:
- Passengers are standing in line
In Hausa, the idea of they are is built into forms like suna. So you do not need a separate standalone word exactly like English are in the same way.
That means:
- fasinjoji = passengers