Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba da mota ba.

I like to go to work by motorbike, not by car.

Breakdown of Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba da mota ba.

• ne: to be
• ba … ba: not
• da: with
• aiki: the work
• tafi: to go
• so: to like
• mota: the car
• babur: the motorbike

Questions & Answers about Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba da mota ba.

In Ina son in tafi, what does in mean, and why is it there?

in here is a small linking word that you can roughly understand as that I.

So:

• Ina son in tafi ≈ I want that I go → I want to go.

In Hausa, when one verb (like so / son – to want/like) is followed by another verb (tafi – to go), you normally put this little word in in between. It introduces a kind of subordinate or dependent clause.

You cannot just say:

• ✗ Ina son tafi aiki… (ungrammatical)

You need the in:

• ✓ Ina son in tafi aiki…

What is the difference between Ina son in tafi and Ina so in tafi?

Both are used and both are understood as I want to go or I like to go.

• Ina so in tafi
  – uses the verb so directly: I-want I-go.

• Ina son in tafi
  – uses son, which is related to the noun form so plus a linking -n. It feels a little more like I am in a state of wanting (to) go, but in everyday speech the meaning is basically the same.

For a learner, you can treat:

• Ina so in tafi and Ina son in tafi

as practically interchangeable in ordinary conversation.

Does Ina son mean I like or I want?

It can mean both, depending on context:

• I like / I love – a more general preference
  
  • Ina son shayi. → I like tea.
• I want – a current desire or intention
  
  • Ina son in tafi. → I want to go.

In this sentence, with an action following (in tafi aiki da babur), it is most naturally understood as I want or I would like.

Why is there no word for to before aiki? Why not something like zuwa aiki?

Hausa often does not use a separate word for English to before destinations. After motion verbs like tafi (go), a bare noun can function as the destination:

• tafi gida → go home
• tafi kasuwa → go to the market
• tafi aiki → go to work

You can say tafi zuwa aiki, but in everyday speech tafi aiki is shorter and very common. So tafi aiki naturally means go to work without a separate to.

What does da mean in da babur and da mota?

da is very flexible in Hausa. Here it means with or by (means of):

• da babur → with a motorbike / by motorbike
• da mota → with a car / by car

So in tafi aiki da babur is to go to work by motorbike.

In other contexts, da can also mean and, but in this sentence it is clearly with/by.

Why is the contrast phrase ba da mota ba and not something like just ba mota?

The pattern ba … ba is a common way to negate or contrast something. Here it targets the whole phrase da mota:

• da babur, ba da mota ba
  → by motorbike, not by car

If you only said ba mota, it would sound incomplete and less natural in this contrast. The double ba:

• first ba = opens the negation
• final ba = closes it

This ba … ba bracketing is a standard Hausa pattern, especially for clear, emphatic contrast like not X (but Y).

Can I drop the second ba and just say ba da mota at the end?

In careful, standard Hausa, you normally keep both:

• ba da mota ba

In casual speech, you might hear people drop the final ba in some contexts, but for a learner it is better (and safer) to use the full pattern ba … ba. It will always sound correct:

• Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba da mota ba.

Could the sentence be Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba mota ba (without the second da)?

Yes, that is also possible and very natural:

• Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba mota ba.
  → I want to go to work by motorbike, not (by) car.

Here, da is understood from the first phrase and not repeated. The original version:

• da babur, ba da mota ba

makes the parallelism very clear (with X, not with Y). Without the second da, it is slightly shorter and still clear. Both are acceptable.

Is there any difference between tafi and je here? Could I say Ina son in je aiki…?

You can say:

• Ina son in tafi aiki…
• Ina son in je aiki…

Both will be understood as I want to go to work….

Sometimes speakers feel:

• tafi – a bit more like go / travel / leave (can sound slightly broader)
• je – more like go (there), especially to a specific place

But in everyday speech, they often overlap. In this sentence, either works fine for a learner.

Does aiki here mean work as an activity or the workplace as a place?

Literally, aiki is work (the activity), but after a motion verb like tafi, aiki is naturally understood as the place where I work:

• tafi aiki → go to work / go to my workplace

If you want to be very explicit about the place, you could say wurin aiki (place of work), but tafi aiki is what people normally say for go to work.

Can I leave out Ina and just say Son in tafi aiki da babur…?

No, you cannot. Ina is essential here.

• Ina is the present marker for I (it literally means something like I am).
• Ina son… as a chunk expresses I like / I want….

Without Ina, son is just a noun form (liking / love), and the sentence becomes ungrammatical. So you need:

• ✓ Ina son in tafi aiki da babur…
• ✗ Son in tafi aiki da babur…

What is the difference between Ina son in tafi aiki… and Ina son tafiya aiki…?

Both are possible but slightly different in structure:

1. Ina son in tafi aiki…

   • Verb son
     • clause with in tafi
   • Literally: I want that I go to work…
   • Very common way to say I want to go to work…

2. Ina son tafiya zuwa aiki…

   • tafiya is a verbal noun meaning going / travelling
   • Literally: I like/want the going to work…
   • Still correct, but a bit heavier stylistically.

The version with in tafi is more straightforward and is what most learners should default to: Ina son in tafi aiki da babur, ba da mota ba.