Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa? - Do you feminine also want to go to the market?

ke is an independent/emphatic pronoun:
It’s used for emphasis, contrast, or when “you” stands alone.
Example: Ke ma… = “You too…” / “As for you, also…”
kina is the subject pronoun + tense/aspect marker:
It’s built from ki- (you-fem) + -na (continuous/habitual aspect).
So kina so literally is something like “you-are wanting/liking”.

Putting them together:

Ke ma kina so… ≈ “You too, you (are) want(ing)…”
The first ke adds emphasis/contrast (“you, as well”),
and kina is the normal way to say “you (fem) are / do (present)”.

You could say just Kina so ki tafi kasuwa? (“Do you want to go to the market?”) if you don’t need the emphasis on you.

What exactly does ma mean in ke ma, and where does it usually go?

ma roughly means “too, also, as well, even”.

In Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa? it links to some earlier context, for example:

“I want to go to the market. Do you also want to go?”

Position:

It normally comes right after the element that is “also/even/too”:
- Ni ma zan tafi. = I also will go.
- Su ma sun zo. = They also came.
- Ke ma kina so… = You too want…

So ke ma = “you too” / “you also”, with ke being focused/emphasized.

What does kina so literally mean? Is it “you like” or “you want”?

so means “to like, love, want” depending on context.
kina is “you (fem) – continuous/habitual”.

So kina so is literally “you are liking/loving/wanting”, but in normal English it’s best translated by context:

With a following action (like ki tafi “(that you) go”):
- Kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
  → Do you want to go to the market?
  Here so = “want”.
With a person or thing:
- Kina son Audu?
  → Do you love/like Audu?

So in this sentence, interpret so as “want”:
Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa? → Do you also want to go to the market?

Why is there another ki in ki tafi if we already had ke and kina?

The second ki introduces a subordinate verb clause after so (“want”).

Pattern in Hausa:

so + [subject pronoun] + verb = “want to do X”
- Ina so in tafi. = I want to go.
- Muna so mu je. = We want to go.
- Kina so ki tafi. = You (fem) want to go.

So:

First part: kina so = “you (fem) want”
Second part: ki tafi = “(that) you (fem) go”

Even when the subject is the same, Hausa usually repeats a subject pronoun before the second verb. That’s why we need:

Kina so ki tafi… (not just Kina so tafi…)

What is the role of tafi in this sentence?

tafi is the verb “to go (away, depart)”.

ki tafi = “(that) you (fem) go”
Together: kina so ki tafi kasuwa? = “Do you want to go to the market?”

Note:

Hausa has another common “go” verb, je (especially “go (towards)”):
- Ki je kasuwa. = Go to the market.
- Ki tafi kasuwa. = Go to the market / leave for the market.

In many everyday contexts tafi and je can overlap, but tafi often has a bit more sense of “leave, depart”.

Why is it kasuwa by itself? Where’s the word for “to” as in “to the market”?

In Hausa, after verbs like tafi (“go”) or je (“go”), a place noun can follow directly without a separate preposition:

Na tafi gida. = I went (to) home.
Sun je makaranta. = They went (to) school.
Ki tafi kasuwa. = Go (to) the market.

So kasuwa (market) is acting as the destination complement. The idea of “to” is included in the verb + noun pattern; you don’t need an extra word like English “to”.

You can occasionally see zuwa kasuwa (“to the market”), especially in more formal or careful speech, but tafi kasuwa is completely normal and very common.

How do we know this is a question if there is no “?” word like ko or ne/ce in the sentence?

In Hausa, a yes–no question can be formed simply by:

using normal statement word order
and raising the intonation at the end.

So:

Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa. (statement, falling tone)
Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa? (question, rising tone)

Optional question-related words:

ko sometimes appears in questions, often at the beginning or end:
- Ko kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
- Kina so ki tafi kasuwa ko?
ne/ce are focus/“copula” particles that can appear in some question types, but they are not required here.

So in this example, it’s just intonation + context that make it a question.

What’s the difference between ke and kai for “you”?

Hausa distinguishes gender in the singular “you”:

ke = you (feminine singular)
kai = you (masculine singular)

So:

Talking to a woman:
- Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
  (Do you (female) also want to go to the market?)
Talking to a man:
- Kai ma kana so ka tafi kasuwa?

Notice the agreement:

ke – kina – ki (all feminine singular)
kai – kana – ka (all masculine singular)

Can we drop ke and just say Kina so ki tafi kasuwa? What changes?

Yes, that’s perfectly grammatical.

Kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
= Do you want to go to the market? (neutral)
Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
= Do *you too want to go to the market?
Adds *emphasis and the idea of “you as well”, presumably after someone else has been mentioned.

So:

Dropping ke ma removes the contrast/emphasis and the “also/too” meaning.
Keeping ke ma highlights you and connects to prior information:
e.g. “I want to go. Do you also want to go?”

What tense/aspect is kina? How is it different from kin?

kina is the imperfective / continuous / habitual form.

kina so ≈ you are wanting / you usually want / you want (present).

kin is the perfective (completed action) 2nd-person feminine singular:

Kin tafi kasuwa. = You (fem) went to the market.
Kin gani? = Did you (already) see?

Rough guide:

kina → ongoing, present, habitual actions
- Kina so ki tafi? = Do you (now) want to go?
kin → completed actions
- Kin so ki tafi kasuwa jiya. = You wanted to go to the market yesterday.

In our sentence, we’re talking about a current desire, so kina is used.

How would this sentence change if I were speaking to more than one person?

For you (plural), the pronouns and verb forms change:

Independent pronoun: ku (you plural)
Continuous subject: kuna
Subordinate pronoun: ku

So the plural version is:

Ku ma kuna so ku tafi kasuwa?
= Do you (all) also want to go to the market?

Compare:

Singular feminine: Ke ma kina so ki tafi kasuwa?
Plural (mixed or all female/male): Ku ma kuna so ku tafi kasuwa?

How would we make this sentence negative: “Do you also not want to go to the market?”?

One natural negative version (still addressing a woman) is:

Ke ma ba ki son ki tafi kasuwa ba?

Breakdown:

ba … ba = the negative “brackets”
ki son = “you (fem) like/want” (perfective/habitual negative style)
Whole sentence: “You too don’t want to go to the market?”

In more literal terms:

Ke ma – you also
ba ki son – you do not want/like
ki tafi kasuwa – (that) you go to the market
Final ba – closes the negation.

Intonation would again signal that this is a question.