Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai.

Truth is very important.

Breakdown of Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai.

• ne: to be
• sosai: very
• da: with
• muhimmanci: the importance
• gaskiya: the truth

Questions & Answers about Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai.

What does each word in Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai mean literally?

Word by word:

• gaskiya – truth, honesty
• tana – she/it (feminine) + is/has (present; literally she is having/being with)
• da – with; in this structure it functions like have/has
• muhimmanci – importance
• sosai – very, a lot, extremely

A very literal gloss would be: “Truth, it has importance very.”
Natural English: “Truth is very important.”

Is tana more like “is” or more like “has” here?

Structurally, tana da literally means “she/it is with / she/it has”, so it is closer to “has”.

• gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai
  = truth has a lot of importance
  → idiomatic English: truth is very important

So grammatically Hausa is saying “has importance”, but in English we normally say “is important.”

Why is it tana and not yana? How do I know the gender?

In Hausa, nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine, and the verb form agrees with that gender.

• tana = ta (she/it, feminine) + na (imperfective marker)
• yana = ya (he/it, masculine) + na

The noun gaskiya is grammatically feminine, so you must use the feminine form tana:

• Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai. ✅
• *Gaskiya yana da muhimmanci sosai. ❌ (ungrammatical)

Unfortunately, gender is mostly lexical: you learn it word by word, though many abstract nouns like gaskiya tend to be feminine.

What exactly does da do in this sentence?

da is a preposition that basically means “with”.
When it appears with forms like yana / tana / suna, it often corresponds to English “have / has.”

• Ina da mota. – I have a car. (I am with a car.)
• Yana da kuɗi. – He has money. (He is with money.)
• Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai. – Truth has a lot of importance.

So in this sentence, tana da is functioning as “has”, even though the literal core of da is “with.”

What’s the difference between muhimmanci and muhimmi?

• muhimmi = important (adjective)
• muhimmanci = importance (noun)

Your sentence uses the noun:

• Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai.
  Literally: Truth has a lot of importance.

You could also use the adjective and say:

• Gaskiya muhimmi ce sosai.
  Literally: Truth is (a) very important (one).
  Natural English: Truth is very important.

Both are correct; they just use different structures:

• tana da + noun (muhimmanci) → “has importance”
• muhimmi ce → “is important”

What does sosai add? Could the sentence work without it?

sosai is an intensifier meaning “very, really, extremely, a lot.”

• With it: Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai.
  → Truth is very important.
• Without it: Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci.
  → Truth is important.

Both are grammatical; sosai just makes the statement stronger.

You’ll also hear sosai intensifying verbs and adjectives:

• Na gaji sosai. – I’m very tired.
• Yana da kuɗi sosai. – He has a lot of money.

Why is there no word for “the” in Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai?

Hausa doesn’t use a direct equivalent of the English definite article “the” in the same way. Whether a noun is generic, definite, or indefinite is usually understood from:

• context,
• word order,
• additional words (like demonstratives wannan “this”, waccan “that”), etc.

Here, gaskiya is being used in a general, abstract sense – truth in general. Hausa just says gaskiya for that. In English we naturally say “The truth is very important” or “Truth is very important”; both map to the same Hausa sentence.

Does gaskiya only mean “truth,” or can it also mean “honesty”?

gaskiya covers both:

1. Truth (as a concept, or the true version of events)

   • Faɗa min gaskiya. – Tell me the truth.

2. Honesty / truthfulness (a personal quality)

   • Yana da gaskiya. – He is honest / He has honesty.

In your sentence, gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai, it can be understood as:

• Truth is very important, and also
• Honesty is very important, depending on context. The overall idea is that being truthful / the truth itself matters a lot.

How do you pronounce Gaskiya tana da muhimmanci sosai?

Approximate pronunciation (without tone):

• Gaskiya – GAH-skee-ya

  • gas like English “gas”
  • ki like kee in “keep”
  • ya like “yah”

• tana – TAH-na

  • two open a sounds, like “father”

• da – da

  • short a, like the a in “cup” but a bit more open

• muhimmanci – mu-HIM-man-chee

  • mu like “moo” but shorter
  • him as in English “him”
  • man as in “man”
  • ci pronounced like chee

• sosai – SO-sai

  • so like “so”
  • sai like “sigh”

So the whole sentence:
GAH-skee-ya TAH-na da mu-HIM-man-chee SO-sai

Are there other natural ways to say “Truth is very important” in Hausa?

Yes, several variants are common. A few examples:

1. Gaskiya muhimmi ce sosai.
   – Uses the adjective muhimmi and the copula ce.

2. Gaskiya tana da matuƙar muhimmanci.
   – matuƙar is another intensifier: “extremely / greatly important.”

3. Gaskiya abu ne mai muhimmanci sosai.
   – Literally: “Truth is a thing that has great importance.”

   • abu – thing
   • ne – copula (masc.)
   • mai muhimmanci – “having importance” → “important”

Your original sentence, though, is already very natural and idiomatic.