Malamin ya bari mu tafi.

Malami means teacher. Malamin is the definite/specific form, so here it means the teacher.

A useful beginner rule is:

• malami = a teacher / teacher
• malamin = the teacher

So in this sentence, Malamin is the subject: the teacher.

In Hausa, it is very normal to have:

noun subject + subject pronoun/aspect marker + verb

So:

• Malamin = the teacher
• ya = he (and it also helps show the aspect of the verb)
• bari = allowed / let

Literally, it looks a bit like:

The teacher, he allowed...

That sounds unnecessary in English, but it is normal Hausa grammar.

Here ya bari refers to a completed action, so English usually translates it as a simple past:

• ya bari = he allowed / he let

More technically, ya often marks a completed action, not just past time in the strict English sense. But for a learner, he let or he allowed is the right understanding here.

Here bari means allow or let.

So:

• ya bari mu tafi = he allowed us to go / he let us go

Be aware that bari can have related meanings in other contexts, such as leave or let in expressions like bari mu tafi = let us go. Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Hausa usually does not use an English-style infinitive after verbs like allow.

Instead of saying something exactly like allowed us to go, Hausa often uses a whole clause:

• mu = we
• tafi = go

So mu tafi literally looks like we go, but after bari it means for us to go or that we go.

That is why the structure feels different from English.

This is a very common question.

In Hausa grammar, mu is the subject of the second clause:

• mu tafi = we go

But in natural English, after allow/let, we usually say:

• allowed us to go
• let us go

So Hausa keeps mu as the subject of its own clause, while English changes the form to us. The meaning is the same, but the grammar is built differently.

Yes, very often it can.

Depending on context, mu tafi can mean:

• we should go
• let’s go
• that we go
• for us to go

In this sentence, because it comes after bari, it means for us to go or us to go, not a direct suggestion like let’s go.

tafi usually means go, leave, or depart, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural English is go:

• mu tafi = we go / we leave
• ya bari mu tafi = he allowed us to go

So tafi is about going away, leaving, or setting off.

Yes. This is a very natural Hausa pattern:

subject noun + subject marker + verb + following clause

So:

• Malamin = subject
• ya = subject marker / pronoun
• bari = main verb
• mu tafi = clause that completes the meaning

That makes Malamin ya bari mu tafi a completely normal Hausa sentence structure.