Learn Hardcore Hausa: Musa yana jinkiri saboda bai tashi da wuri ba. - Musa is late because he did not get up early.

It describes an ongoing or current situation, not a single completed action in the past. In normal English you would not say “he is being late”; you’d just say “he is late” or “he’s running late”, and that is the idea here.

Could I also say Musa ya yi jinkiri instead of Musa yana jinkiri? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they are not identical in nuance:

Musa yana jinkiri
– Focus on the ongoing delay.
– Similar to: “Musa is running late / is delaying (right now).”
Musa ya yi jinkiri
– Perfective aspect: a completed action of delaying.
– Similar to: “Musa delayed / Musa was late (on that occasion).”

In the given sentence, yana jinkiri fits well because we are explaining his current lateness by giving a reason: he didn’t get up early.

Is jinkiri a verb here, or a noun? I thought I’d see something like yin jinkiri.

In form, jinkiri is a noun meaning “delay, lateness.”
The “basic” verb is often expressed as yi jinkiri = “to delay, to be late.”

So more literally you might expect:

Musa yana yin jinkiri = “Musa is doing delay / is delaying.”

In everyday speech, Hausa often drops the verb yi when the meaning is clear, especially with very common noun–verb combinations. So:

Musa yana jinkiri is a shortened, natural way of saying Musa yana yin jinkiri.

Functionally, yana jinkiri behaves like “is delaying / is late.”

What does saboda do in this sentence?

Saboda is a conjunction meaning “because, due to, since.”

In the sentence:

Musa yana jinkiri saboda bai tashi da wuri ba.

it introduces the reason for his being late:

“…because he didn’t get up early.”

So the structure is directly parallel to English “X is happening because Y.”

Why are there two ba’s in bai tashi da wuri ba?

Hausa normally marks clause negation with a “ba … ba” frame:

ba (before the subject/verb) … ba (at the end of the clause)

Examples:

Bai zo ba. – He didn’t come.
Ba su gane ba. – They didn’t understand.

So in:

bai tashi da wuri ba

we have:

ba…ba = the negative frame, surrounding
i / yi (from ya, “he”) and the verb phrase tashi da wuri.

The two ba’s work together as one unit of negation, not as two separate negatives.

Why is it written bai and not ba ya?

Historically it’s ba + ya, but in fast, natural speech they contract:

ba ya → bai

This contraction is standard and is usually written as a single word:

Bai tashi ba. – He didn’t get up.
Bai zo ba. – He didn’t come.

So:

bai tashi da wuri ba = ba (ya) tashi da wuri ba
≈ “he didn’t get up early.”

The same kind of contraction happens with other pronouns too, e.g. ba ni → ban in ban je ba (“I didn’t go”).

What does tashi mean here? Is it “stand up” or “wake up”?

Tashi is a very flexible verb; common meanings include:

to get up / stand up
to wake up / get out of bed
to take off (for planes)

In this sentence, with da wuri (“early”), the natural interpretation is:

tashi = “to get up / to wake up (from sleep).”

So bai tashi da wuri ba is best read as “he didn’t get up early (in the morning).”

What does the phrase da wuri literally mean, and how does it mean “early”?

Literally:

da = “with, having” (also used in many fixed adverbial expressions)
wuri = “place, space, spot” (and by extension, room/time in some idioms)

In time expressions, da wuri is an idiomatic adverb meaning “early, early enough.” Think of it as:

“with (enough) room/time” → “in good time / early.”

So:

tashi da wuri = “get up early.”
zo da wuri = “come early.”
Ka gama da wuri. = “Finish early.”

You can also hear da wuri-wuri for “very early.”

Can I put the saboda-clause first, like in English “Because he didn’t get up early, Musa is late”?

Yes. Both orders are grammatical:

Musa yana jinkiri saboda bai tashi da wuri ba.
Saboda bai tashi da wuri ba, Musa yana jinkiri.

The meaning is the same. Putting the saboda-clause first slightly emphasizes the reason (“because he didn’t get up early”) before giving the result.

Do we need ne or ce anywhere in this sentence, like Musa yana jinkiri ne?

No, ne/ce is not needed here.

Ne/ce is a copular particle, mainly used in identifying or focusing constructions, often with nouns, pronouns, or focused elements (e.g. Wane ne? – “Which one is it?”).

In Musa yana jinkiri, the predicate is verbal/aspectual (with yana), not a simple noun phrase that needs a copula. So:

Musa yana jinkiri is already a full, natural sentence.
Adding ne here would be unusual or sound marked.

Could I say Musa ya makara saboda bai tashi da wuri ba instead? How does makara compare to jinkiri?

Yes, you could say:

Musa ya makara saboda bai tashi da wuri ba.

Makara and jinkiri are related but not identical:

makara (verb/adjective-like)
– to be late / to arrive late / to miss the proper time
– Ya makara. = “He is/was late.”
jinkiri (noun)
– delay, slowness, dragging one’s feet
– yana jinkiri = “he is delaying / he is running late.”

So:

Musa yana jinkiri… – Focus on his ongoing delay or slowness.
Musa ya makara… – Emphasizes that he ended up late (he has already missed the time).

In many everyday contexts, they can both be used to talk about lateness, but the nuance differs slightly as above.

Can I use saboda haka in this sentence instead of saboda?

Not in the same position and not with the same structure.

saboda = “because”, introduces a reason clause.
saboda haka = “therefore / that’s why”, introduces a result, referring back to a previous statement.

So you would say:

Bai tashi da wuri ba, saboda haka Musa yana jinkiri.
– “He didn’t get up early; therefore / that’s why Musa is late.”

But you do not say:

✗ Musa yana jinkiri saboda haka bai tashi da wuri ba.

In short:

Use saboda = “because” right before the cause.
Use saboda haka = “therefore / that’s why” right before the result.