Ni ina gida amma Ali yana aiki.

I am at home but Ali is working.

Breakdown of Ni ina gida amma Ali yana aiki.

• ni: I
• ne: to be
• Ali: Ali
• gida: the home
• amma: but
• aiki: to work

Questions & Answers about Ni ina gida amma Ali yana aiki.

Why does the sentence use Ni ina instead of just Ina at the beginning?

In Hausa, you can say Ni ina (literally I I am) or simply Ina to mean I am. The separate pronoun Ni can be added to emphasize the subject. So both Ni ina gida and Ina gida are correct, but including Ni makes it clear or emphatic that I am the one at home.

What does yana mean when referring to Ali?

In Hausa, yana is the third-person masculine continuous/present tense marker. It means he is doing something right now. Since Ali is a masculine name, we use yana to say Ali yana aiki (Ali is at work).

Why is there no separate word for at in Ni ina gida?

In Hausa, you often don’t need an extra preposition for being at a place. The word gida can mean house or home, and by using the continuous marker ina plus gida, you convey that you are at home. There isn’t a separate word like at needed before gida.

What does amma mean in this sentence?

Amma means but. It’s used here to contrast your location (ina gida) with Ali’s activity (yana aiki).

Is it common to use Ni with ina again when you continue the sentence, like Ni ina gida amma Ni ina aiki?

No, it would sound repetitive or unnatural. Once you establish Ni (I) in the first clause and Ali in the contrast, the second clause typically switches to Ali yana. If you’re still talking about yourself in two clauses, it’s enough to say Ni ina… amma ina… without repeating Ni each time.