Ƙungiyoyin suna fafatawa, amma tazarar maki ɗaya ce.

Ƙungiya means group or team. Its plural is ƙungiyoyi = teams.

The form ƙungiyoyin adds a final ending that often makes the noun more specific, so here it means the teams rather than just teams in general.

So:

• ƙungiyoyi = teams
• ƙungiyoyin = the teams

That is why the sentence starts with Ƙungiyoyin suna fafatawa = The teams are competing.

Here suna is the 3rd person plural imperfective subject form. For a learner, the easiest way to think about it is:

• su = they
• suna = they are / they do

In this sentence, it introduces an ongoing action:

• suna fafatawa = they are competing

It is not exactly the same as English are, but in many sentences it works that way in translation.

Fafatawa is the form Hausa commonly uses for the action competing / contesting / battling, especially after forms like suna.

So instead of thinking of it as a directly conjugated English-style verb, it is better to learn the whole pattern:

• suna fafatawa = they are competing

This is a very common Hausa structure. Compare:

• suna aiki = they are working
• suna wasa = they are playing
• suna fafatawa = they are competing

So the sentence is using a normal Hausa way to express an ongoing action.

It can often mean either, depending on context.

The Hausa imperfective can cover ideas that English splits into:

• they compete
• they are competing
• sometimes even they usually compete

In this sentence, because of the situation being described, the natural English meaning is are competing.

So the Hausa grammar is a bit broader than a single English tense.

Tazara means gap, distance, or difference.

When a noun is linked to another noun in a phrase like gap of points, Hausa often changes the first noun by adding a linking ending such as -r or -n. That is what is happening here:

• tazara = gap
• tazarar maki = gap of points / point gap

So tazarar is the linked form of tazara before maki.

A good literal way to understand it is:

• tazarar maki = the gap in points

Yes.

In sports and scoring language, maki is the normal word used for points / score points, and maki ɗaya is understood as one point.

So even if an English speaker expects a special singular form like point, Hausa does not have to match English in the same way. In this kind of expression:

• maki ɗaya = one point
• maki biyu = two points

So the phrase tazarar maki ɗaya means a one-point gap.

Because tazara is treated as a feminine noun, and Hausa uses:

• ne with masculine or general contexts
• ce with feminine singular nouns

So:

• tazarar maki ɗaya ce = the point gap is one

The ce agrees with tazara, not with maki.

That is a very common point for learners: the agreement is based on the main noun of the phrase.

In Hausa equational sentences, the identifying word ne/ce often comes after the predicate, not in the middle the way English uses is.

So Hausa structures it like this:

• tazarar maki ɗaya ce

Very literally, that is something like:

• the point gap one is

But natural English is:

• the point gap is one
• or better, the gap is one point

So even though ce translates as part of is, its position in Hausa is different from English word order.

Three letters here often catch English speakers:

• ƙ in Ƙungiyoyin: a strong k sound, produced farther back and with extra force. If you say a clear k, people will usually understand you, but Hausa treats ƙ as a separate letter.
• ɗ in ɗaya: a special d sound. Many learners start with an ordinary English d, which is acceptable as an approximation.
• c in ce: in Hausa, c is pronounced like English ch. So ce sounds roughly like cheh.

So a rough learner-friendly pronunciation guide would be:

• Ƙungiyoyin ≈ KOON-gi-yo-yin
• ɗaya ≈ DAH-ya
• ce ≈ cheh

Not perfect phonetically, but enough to get started.