Ni ba ni da fasaha sosai.

I do not have much skill.

Breakdown of Ni ba ni da fasaha sosai.

• ni: I
• da: to have
• ba: not
• fasaha: the skill
• sosai: much

Questions & Answers about Ni ba ni da fasaha sosai.

Why is ni repeated in the phrase Ni ba ni da?

In Hausa, the subject pronoun (ni, meaning "I") occurs at the start of the sentence for emphasis, and it often appears again when forming negative "have" statements. This repetition is typical of the ba ... da construction used to express possession or lack of possession in Hausa.

How do I recognize that this sentence is a negative statement meaning someone lacks something?

When you see ba ... da, it signals a lack or absence of something. In this sentence, the structure ba ... da indicates that the speaker does not possess a large amount of skill.

What is the role of fasaha in this sentence?

Fasaha can mean "skill," "ability," or "expertise." In this context, it tells you what the speaker does not have enough of—that is, skill.

Why do I see sosai at the end of the sentence, and what does it do?

Sosai intensifies what precedes it. In this sentence, it emphasizes the degree, so ba ni da fasaha sosai implies a strong sense of "not having enough skill" or "not being very skilled."

Does ba ni da always stay together as a phrase, or can it change?

As part of the negative possession structure, ba pronoun da remains consistent for expressing "do not have" or "lack something" in Hausa. The exact form can change if the subject pronoun changes (for example, ka ba ka da, shi ba shi da, etc.), but the overall pattern stays the same.