Babur yana da amfani idan hanya ba ta da kyau.

to be

Breakdown of Babur yana da amfani idan hanya ba ta da kyau.

• da amfani: useful
• ba … ba: not
• idan: when

Questions & Answers about Babur yana da amfani idan hanya ba ta da kyau.

In Babur, is this talking about a bicycle or a motorcycle? And why is it capitalized?

In Hausa, babur normally means a motorcycle / motorbike, not a bicycle.

• keke = bicycle
• babur = motorbike / small motorcycle

It is capitalized in the sentence simply because it is the first word of the sentence. In the middle of a sentence you’d usually see babur with a lowercase b.

What exactly does yana da amfani mean, word by word, and why does it translate as “is useful”?

Breakdown:

• yana = “he/it is (in the state of) …” / “he/it has …”
  
  • From ya (he/it) + na (progressive/continuous marker).
• da = “with / has”
• amfani = “use, benefit” (a noun)

So yana da amfani literally means “it has use / it has benefit”.

In English we say “is useful”, but in Hausa this idea is often expressed with “to have use” rather than “to be useful”. So:

• babur yana da amfani ≈ “a motorcycle has use” → “a motorcycle is useful.”

Could I say babur yana da amfani sosai to mean “very useful”? Where do intensifiers go?

Yes, that is completely natural. Intensifiers usually come after the main phrase:

• babur yana da amfani sosai = “the motorbike is very useful”
• yana da amfani ƙwarai = also “very useful / extremely useful”

So the pattern is:
[subject] + yana da + [noun/adjective] + sosai/ƙwarai/da gaske…