Alƙalin wasan yana tsaye.

The referee is standing.

Breakdown of Alƙalin wasan yana tsaye.

• tsaya: to stand
• ya: he/it
• alƙalin wasa: the referee

Questions & Answers about Alƙalin wasan yana tsaye.

Why does alƙali become alƙalin here?

The basic noun is alƙali, meaning judge or referee. In this sentence it appears as alƙalin because it is part of a definite noun phrase and is linked to another noun: wasan.

So alƙalin wasan means something like the referee of the game or the game’s referee.

The final -n is a very common Hausa ending in this kind of structure.

Why is wasa written as wasan?

Wasa means game, play, or match depending on context.
Here it becomes wasan, with a final -n, which marks it as definite: the game.

So:

• wasa = a game / game
• wasan = the game

That helps make the whole phrase specific: the referee of the game, not just a referee of a game.

How does alƙalin wasan work grammatically?

This is a noun-plus-noun structure, very common in Hausa. It expresses a relationship like of or the English apostrophe ’s.

So:

• alƙalin wasan = the referee of the game