Kocin ya canza dabara.

to change

Breakdown of Kocin ya canza dabara.

• ya: he/it
• koci: the coach
• dabara: the tactic; strategy

Questions & Answers about Kocin ya canza dabara.

Why does koci become kocin here?

Kocin means the coach. In Hausa, a noun often takes a definite ending when it means the ... rather than just a/an ... or a more general noun.

So:

• koci = coach
• kocin = the coach

For many masculine nouns, this definite form shows up as -n. That is why you see kocin at the start of the sentence.

Why is ya used when Kocin already tells us who the subject is?

In Hausa, this is normal. After a full subject noun like Kocin, you still usually use a subject marker such as ya before the verb.

So the structure is roughly:

• Kocin = the coach
• ya = 3rd person singular masculine subject marker in this tense/aspect
• canza = changed / change
• dabara = strategy / tactic

Even though English would not say The coach he changed strategy, Hausa does use this kind of subject marker. So ya is not redundant in Hausa grammar.

What does ya canza mean exactly in terms of tense?