When to use it
Use it when plans change and you must cancel a booking.
“How do I cancel a reservation?” · The sentence in English
In “How do I cancel a reservation?” ‘How’ leads and the question needs ‘do’.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- do
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · auxiliary that makes the question
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- cancel
- verbcancel · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "do I"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- reservation
- nounnoun; in British English also "booking"
“Ta yaya zan soke ajiyar wuri?” · The sentence in Hausa
In “Ta yaya zan soke ajiyar wuri?” ‘Ta yaya’ (by what way) is how, ‘zan’ is ‘I will’, and ‘ajiyar wuri’ (keeping of a place) is a reservation.
- Ta
- preposition'by'; ta yaya = how
- yaya
- adverb'how'
- zan
- auxiliary verbza · person: 1st singular · tense: future · 'I will, I should'
- soke
- verbsoke · form: base · 'cancel'
- ajiyar
- nounajiya 'keeping' + -r; ajiyar wuri = reservation
- wuri
- noun'place'
What changes from one language to the other · English × Hausa
English needs ‘do’; Hausa uses the future ‘zan’, and a two-word phrase for ‘reservation’.
Example conversation
— Ta yaya zan soke ajiyar wuri?
— How do I cancel a reservation?
— Za a iya soke shi a intanet kafin ƙarfe shida.
— You can cancel online until six.