Wakilin ya tabbatar da rajista kafin ya cika fom.

The representative confirmed the registration before he completed the form.

Breakdown of Wakilin ya tabbatar da rajista kafin ya cika fom.

• kafin: before
• cika: to fill up
• ya: he/it
• rajista: the registration

Questions & Answers about Wakilin ya tabbatar da rajista kafin ya cika fom.

Why is it wakilin and not just wakili?

Wakili means representative or agent. In this sentence, wakilin is the form meaning the representative. A lot of masculine nouns show definiteness with -n in this kind of use, so wakilin is a natural way to say the representative.

Why is there a ya even though wakilin already tells us who the subject is?

Because Hausa normally uses a subject marker as part of the verbal structure. So even when a full noun like wakilin appears, you still usually keep the subject marker before the verb.

So:

• wakilin = the representative
• ya = 3rd person singular masculine subject marker
• tabbatar = confirmed / ensured

That is why Wakilin ya tabbatar... is normal Hausa.

What exactly does ya mean here?

Here ya marks 3rd person singular masculine and a completed action. In many sentences like this, English will translate it as he plus a simple past verb, so ya tabbatar becomes he confirmed.

A helpful shortcut is:

• ya = he in a completed-action clause