When to use it
Use it when travelling and you need a train to another town.
“Where is the nearest train station?” · The sentence in English
In “Where is the nearest train station?” ‘nearest’ adds ‘-est’ to ‘near’, comes before the noun and needs ‘the’.
- Where
- adverbquestion word asking about place
- is
- verbbe · tense: present · person: third · number: singular · form of "to be"; here it says where something is
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- nearest
- adjectivesuperlative of "near"
- train
- nounnoun; it says what kind of station
- station
- nounnoun
“Ina tashar jirgin ƙasa mafi kusa?” · The sentence in Hausa
In “Ina tashar jirgin ƙasa mafi kusa?” there is no verb ‘is’: ‘Ina’ (where) is enough. ‘mafi kusa’ (most near) follows the noun, and ‘jirgin ƙasa’ (land vessel) is a train.
- Ina
- adverb'where', the question word here
- tashar
- nountasha 'station' + linker -r
- jirgin
- nounjirgi 'vessel' + -n; jirgin ƙasa = train
- ƙasa
- noun'ground'; jirgin ƙasa = train
- mafi
- adverb'most', makes the superlative
- kusa
- adjective'near'; mafi kusa = nearest
What changes from one language to the other · English × Hausa
English needs ‘is’ and adds ‘-est’ before the noun; Hausa needs neither and puts ‘mafi’ after it.
Example conversation
— Ina tashar jirgin ƙasa mafi kusa?
— Where is the nearest train station?
— Ku miƙe gaba na minti goma.
— Walk straight for ten minutes.