Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri. - I like to work quickly, but I don’t like delays.

Ni = independent pronoun, used for emphasis or as a topic (like “Me, I…”).
ina = the subject‑tense marker (“I am / I [do]” in the present or habitual aspect).

So:

Ni ina son in yi aiki da sauri…
≈ “Me, I like to work quickly…”

If you remove Ni, the sentence is still grammatically correct and very natural:

Ina son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri.

Adding Ni just emphasizes the contrast with others (e.g. “Other people might be slow, but I like to work fast…”).

Can I leave out Ni and just say Ina son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri?

Yes, that is completely fine, and probably the most common version in everyday speech:

Ina son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri.

With Ni:

sounds a bit more emphatic/contrastive: “As for me, I like to work fast…”

Without Ni:

neutral statement: “I like to work quickly…”

Both are correct; use Ni when you want extra emphasis on the subject I.

What is the difference between so and son in ina son in yi and ba na son jinkiri?

The basic verb is so (“to want, to like, to love”). It changes shape depending on what follows:

so alone:
- Ina so. = “I want (it).”
son before a noun or a clause:
- Ina son ruwa. = “I want water.”
- Ina son in yi aiki. = “I want to work.”
- Ba na son jinkiri. = “I don’t like delay / being slow.”

What happens is:

so
- linker -n → son before its object.
This -n is a kind of “of” / linker, so son aiki is literally “wanting‑of work”.

So as a practical rule:

Ina so = “I want.”
Ina son X = “I want X / I like X.”
Ina son in yi X = “I want to do X.”

In ina son in yi, what does in mean? Is it the same as English “in”?

No. Hausa in here is not the English preposition “in”.

In this sentence, in is the subjunctive pronoun “I”, used in a subordinate clause meaning “that I (should) do” or “to do”:

ina son in yi aiki
≈ “I want to do work” / “I want that I should do work.”

The subjunctive pronoun set is:

in – I
ka – you (m.sg)
ki – you (f.sg)
ya – he
ta – she
mu – we
ku – you (pl)
su – they

Examples:

Ina son in tafi. – I want to go.
Ina son mu yi aiki tare. – I want us to work together.

So in in yi, in = “I (subjunctive),” yi = “do.”

Why is it in yi aiki and not just yi aiki for “to work”?

Hausa doesn’t use an infinitive like English “to work”. Instead, it often uses:

a verb of wanting/necessity (like so)
plus a subjunctive pronoun
plus the bare verb.

So:

ina son in yi aiki
literally: “I am wanting I‑should do work”
→ “I want to work / I like to work.”

If you said just ina son yi aiki without in, it would sound incomplete or odd. You need that subjunctive pronoun (in, ka, mu, etc.) before the verb when expressing “to do X” after so in this pattern.

Why do we need yi if aiki already means “work”? Why not just in aiki da sauri?

In Hausa:

aiki is mainly a noun: “work, job, task, labor.”
yi is the general verb “do / make / perform.”

So yi aiki literally means “do work”, and that is how Hausa commonly expresses “to work” as a verb:

Ina yin aiki. – I am working.
Za mu yi aiki gobe. – We will work tomorrow.
Ina son in yi aiki da sauri. – I like to work quickly.

Saying in aiki da sauri without yi would be ungrammatical in this meaning; aiki on its own is not a finite verb.

What does da sauri literally mean, and how does it function in the sentence?

Literally:

da = “with”
sauri = “speed, quickness”

So da sauri = “with speed,” which functions as an adverbial expression meaning “quickly / fast.”

In the sentence:

in yi aiki da sauri
= “that I (should) do work with speed”
→ “that I work quickly / that I work fast.”

Similar adverbial expressions:

a hankali – slowly, gently (literally “in care/quietness”).
da wuri – early (literally “with earliness”).
cikin gaggawa – urgently / very quickly (literally “in urgency”).

Da sauri is a very common, neutral way to say “quickly.”

I learned that Hausa negatives are usually ba … ba. Where is the second ba in amma ba na son jinkiri?

The full “textbook” negative pattern is indeed:

ba
- (subject + verb + object) + ba

For example:

Ina son jinkiri. – I like delay.
Ba na son jinkiri ba. – I do not like delay.

In amma ba na son jinkiri, the final “ba” is omitted, which is very common in everyday speech, especially:

in short main clauses, or
when the meaning is clear, or
when you’re not pausing strongly at the end.

So you may hear and see both:

… amma ba na son jinkiri. (more colloquial)
… amma ba na son jinkiri ba. (more fully marked negative)

As a learner, it is safe to include the final “ba”; just be aware that native speakers often drop it in speech.

Is ba na son jinkiri the same as ban son jinkiri?

They are very close in meaning (“I don’t like delay / being slow”), but there are a few points:

Form:
- ba na son jinkiri (ba)
- ban son jinkiri ba (here ban = ba + na contracted)
Usage:
- With verbs like so/son, you will hear both:
  - Ba na son kaza.
  - Ban son kaza.
- Many speakers use them almost interchangeably in conversation.
Aspect nuance (simplified):
- ba na son … often feels more habitual/general (“I generally don’t like…”).
- ban son … ba can be felt as slightly more specific in some contexts (“I don’t want/didn’t want this (now/then)”), though with like/want this difference is often weak.

In the sentence you gave, ba na son jinkiri is completely natural and understood as a general preference: “I don’t like delays / slowness.”

What exactly does jinkiri mean? Is it “delay,” “lateness,” or “slowness”?

Jinkiri is a noun that covers ideas of:

delay
lateness
slowness / dragging things out
procrastination / not doing something on time

Some examples:

Akwai jinkiri a aikin. – There is a delay in the work.
Kar ka yi jinkiri. – Don’t delay / Don’t be slow.
Ba na son jinkiri. – I don’t like delays / I don’t like being held up / I don’t like people being slow.

So in this sentence it expresses a general dislike of things not happening promptly, on time, or efficiently.

Is the sentence talking about what I’m doing right now, or a general preference/habit?

The construction ina son … often expresses a general preference or desire, not just a momentary one. In this context:

Ni ina son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri.
is best understood as a general statement:
“I (generally) like to work quickly, and I (generally) don’t like delay.”

It could also apply to the present situation, but the natural reading is that this is something characteristic about you (your working style or personality), not just what you want at this exact moment.

Can I say Ina son yin aiki da sauri instead of Ina son in yi aiki da sauri?

Yes, that is also grammatical and natural:

Ina son yin aiki da sauri.
Here yin is the verbal noun of yi (“doing”), so:
- literally: “I like the doing of work quickly.”

Comparing the two:

Ina son in yi aiki da sauri.
– I want/like to work quickly (subjunctive clause).
Ina son yin aiki da sauri.
– I like working quickly (more like a gerund “working”).

In everyday usage, the meanings are very close and often interchangeable. Both are good patterns to know.

How would this sentence change with other subjects, like “you,” “she,” or “we”?

You mainly change the subject pronouns in both clauses.

Present/habitual pronouns used here:

ina – I
kana / kina – you (m.sg / f.sg)
yana / tana – he / she
muna – we
kuna – you (pl)
suna – they

And in the negative with so/son, you’ll often see:

ba ka son … – you (m.sg) don’t like …
ba ki son … – you (f.sg) don’t like …
ba ya son … – he doesn’t like …
ba ta son … – she doesn’t like …
ba mu son … – we don’t like …
ba ku son … – you (pl) don’t like …
ba su son … – they don’t like …

Examples based on your sentence:

Kai kana son in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba ka son jinkiri.
– You (m.sg) like me to work quickly, but you don’t like delay.
Ita tana son ta yi aiki da sauri, amma ba ta son jinkiri.
– She likes to work quickly, but she doesn’t like delay.
Mu muna son mu yi aiki da sauri, amma ba mu son jinkiri.
– We like to work quickly, but we don’t like delay.

The basic structure stays the same; only the pronouns change.

What does amma do in this sentence? Are there other ways to say “but” here?

Amma is a conjunction meaning “but / however.” It links a statement with some kind of contrast:

… in yi aiki da sauri, amma ba na son jinkiri.
= “… I like to work quickly, but I don’t like delays.”

Other contrastive connectors you might hear:

amma dai – “but still / but anyway”
amma kuwa – “but actually / but indeed”
sai dai – “except that / but (there’s a drawback)”
amma fa – adds emphasis: “but (mind you)…”

In this sentence, plain amma is perfect: neutral, clear, and very common.