Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ma ina gajiya, don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan. - I am tired too, please wait for me a little.

So Ni ma ina gajiya literally feels like: “I also, I am getting tired.”
The ma usually comes right after the word it’s linking, so to say “I too…” you say Ni ma…

Can I leave out ni and just say Ina ma gajiya?

Normally, no. You would not say Ina ma gajiya.

Reason:

ina already contains the subject “I” in it (it’s the progressive “I am …” form).
Ni ma… is used when you want to emphasise “I too / me too”.

More natural options:

Ni ma ina gajiya. – I too am (getting) tired. (emphasising “I too”)
Ina gajiya. – I’m (getting) tired. (no “too”)

So Ni ma ina gajiya is the right way to say “I’m also tired.”

What is the difference between ina gajiya and na gaji?

Both can be translated as “I’m tired”, but they differ in aspect:

ina gajiya – progressive / continuous feel
- Literally: “I am tiring / I am in tiredness.”
- Often used for a current state or process: I’m getting tired / I’m (feeling) tired now.
na gaji – perfective
- Literally: “I have become tired / I got tired.”
- Feels more like a completed event that led to tiredness: I’ve gotten tired / I’m worn out.

In many everyday situations, either can sound fine, but ina gajiya sounds a bit more like describing the ongoing state/feeling, which fits this sentence well.

What is the difference between gaji and gajiya?

They are related but not identical:

gaji – verb: to get tired, to become tired
- Na gaji. – I got tired / I’m tired (literally: I have become tired).
gajiya – noun: tiredness, fatigue
- Ina gajiya. – I am (in a state of) tiredness / I’m (getting) tired.

So ina gajiya is literally “I am in tiredness,” but idiomatically it just means “I’m tired / I’m getting tired.”

Why does don Allah mean “please”? Isn’t it literally “for God”?

Yes, literally don Allah is “for God / for Allah’s sake.”

In usage, it functions as a polite request marker, very much like:

“Please (for God’s sake)”
“Please, I beg you.”

So in don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan:

don Allah – please (I beg you / for God’s sake)
ka jira ni kaɗan – wait for me a little

It’s a very common, natural way to say “please” in Hausa.
You can use it with anyone; it’s not restricted to religious contexts in everyday speech.

What does ka do in don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan?

ka is the 2nd person masculine singular subjunctive/imperative pronoun: “you (male, singular)”.

In ka jira ni kaɗan:

ka – you (male, singular, subject for this verb form)
jira – wait
ni – me (object: wait for me)
kaɗan – a little (bit)

So it’s basically: “(that) you wait for me a little.”
In context with don Allah, it’s a polite request: “please (you) wait for me a little.”

How would this change if I were speaking to a woman or to more than one person?

You only change the pronoun before the verb jira:

To one man: don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan.
To one woman: don Allah ki jira ni kaɗan.
- ki = you (female singular)
To more than one person: don Allah ku jira ni kaɗan.
- ku = you (plural)

Everything else stays the same.

Could I just say Jira ni kaɗan without ka? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

Jira ni kaɗan. – Wait for me a little. (direct imperative)
Ka jira ni kaɗan. – (You should) wait for me a little. (subjunctive/softer request)

Nuance:

Jira ni kaɗan is a bare command; it can sound more direct or abrupt, depending on tone.
Ka jira ni kaɗan, especially with don Allah, is more like a polite request.

So don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan comes across as “Please, wait for me a bit” and is nicely polite.

Why is ni repeated? We have Ni ma… at the start and again jira ni later. Is that necessary?

They are doing two different jobs:

Ni ma ina gajiya – ni here is the subject pronoun (“I”), being emphasised with ma = “I too”.
ka jira ni kaɗan – ni here is the object pronoun (“me”) after the verb jira = “wait for me”.

You can’t normally drop the ni after jira if you want to say “wait for me”:

ka jira – wait (no object stated)
ka jira ni – wait for me

So the two ni’s are both natural and each one is needed for its own part of the sentence.

What exactly does kaɗan mean here? Time? Quantity? How should I understand it?

kaɗan literally means “small, little, few”, and it often works like “a little / a bit / a short time.”

In ka jira ni kaɗan, it modifies the waiting, so the sense is:

“wait for me a little (while)”
“wait for me a short time”

You’ll see kaɗan used after verbs and nouns:

ka ci kaɗan – you ate a little
kudi kaɗan – a little money / a small amount of money

Here, it’s a short time of waiting.

Could I move ma to the end and say Ina gajiya ma?

Native speakers do say … ma at the end of a clause, but it slightly shifts the emphasis.

Compare:

Ni ma ina gajiya. – I too am tired. (clear “me too” focus)
Ina gajiya ma. – I’m tired too / I’m also tired. (the “too” feels more attached to the whole statement)

Both are possible, but for the very clear “me too” response to someone who just said they’re tired, Ni ma ina gajiya is the more straightforward, textbook form.

How polite or informal is this whole sentence? Can I use it with older people?

Ni ma ina gajiya, don Allah ka jira ni kaɗan. is:

Polite – because of don Allah and the full phrasing
Everyday / natural – nothing is overly formal or archaic

You can use it with:

Friends and peers (it sounds natural and friendly)
Older people or people you respect (it’s polite enough, especially with a respectful tone)

If you want to sound even more deferential, you’d mainly adjust your tone of voice and body language; grammatically this sentence is already politely phrased.