Ɗan wasan yana gudu.

It is best learned as one noun phrase meaning the player.

More literally:

• ɗan can mean son, child, or more loosely person associated with
• wasa means play or game

So ɗan wasa is literally something like person of play, which is how Hausa says player.

In your sentence, ɗan wasan refers to the player or a specific player.

The -n at the end is a very common Hausa feature in noun linking and definiteness.

Compare:

• ɗan wasa = a player / player in a general sense
• ɗan wasan = the player / that specific player

So the -n helps show that the phrase is more definite or specific. It is not a separate word; it is attached to wasa.

Not by itself in this sentence.

Even though ɗan can mean son or sometimes boy in some contexts, in ɗan wasa the whole expression means player. So you should not translate this sentence word-for-word as the boy of play is running.

Here, the natural meaning is simply the player is running.

Yana is the 3rd person singular masculine continuous/progressive marker.

In simpler terms, it is the part that helps express he is ...-ing.

So:

• yana gudu = he is running

It matches a masculine singular subject, which fits ɗan wasan.

Some useful comparisons:

• yana = he is ...-ing
• tana = she is ...-ing
• suna = they are ...-ing

Because Hausa often forms the progressive with:

• subject
• continuous marker like yana
• a verbal noun

Here, gudu is the verbal noun meaning running or run.

So yana gudu is literally close to he is in running, but in normal English we translate it as he is running.

This is very normal Hausa grammar.

Not in the same way as English.

English uses is plus running. Hausa does not build this sentence in exactly that way. Instead, yana does a lot of that work: it shows the subject agreement and the ongoing action.

So although yana is often translated as part of is running, it is not exactly the same kind of word as English is.

The order is:

• Ɗan wasan = the subject
• yana = the progressive marker
• gudu = the action expressed as a verbal noun

So the structure is basically:

Subject + progressive marker + verbal noun

That is why the sentence comes out as Ɗan wasan yana gudu.

Ɗ is a special Hausa consonant. It is not exactly the same as ordinary d.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• say it like a strong d
• but remember that Hausa treats d and ɗ as different sounds

So:

• dan and ɗan are not the same spelling
• you should try to keep the special letter ɗ in mind from the start

A rough pronunciation guide for the whole sentence is:

• Ɗan wasan ≈ dan wa-san
• yana ≈ ya-na
• gudu ≈ goo-doo

That is only approximate, but it is a helpful starting point.

In many contexts, yes, English may translate it either as:

• The player is running
• The player runs

But the Hausa form yana gudu most naturally gives an ongoing action, so is running is usually the best choice.

If you are learning the sentence, the safest translation is The player is running.

The main change would be yana.

For a feminine singular subject, Hausa normally uses tana instead.

So the pattern would be:

• masculine singular: yana gudu
• feminine singular: tana gudu

That shows that yana agrees with the subject, not just with the action.