Learn Hardcore Hausa: Kashegari ba zan saya kifi ba, zan saya ƙarin kayan miya. - The next day I will not buy fish; I will buy more soup ingredients.

gobe = tomorrow (basic, very common word for the next day in everyday speech).
- Example: Gobe zan tafi. – Tomorrow I will go.
kashegari literally comes from “kashi + gari” (the next day / the following day).
- It often sounds a bit more like “the next day (after something we mentioned)”.
- It’s common in storytelling or when you’re talking about the day after a specific event.

In everyday conversation, most learners can safely use gobe most of the time, but kashegari is also natural and common, especially when referring to “the day after that time we just mentioned.”

Why is ba used twice in ba zan saya kifi ba?

Hausa usually marks negation with a pair of particles: ba … ba.

ba appears at the beginning of the clause.
Another ba appears at the end of the clause (after the verb phrase).

So:

Zan saya kifi. – I will buy fish.
Ba zan saya kifi ba. – I will not buy fish.

This ba … ba frame is very typical for Hausa negative sentences, especially in the future and perfect aspects. Think of it as a “negative bracket” around the clause:

ba + (subject + verb + object) + ba

What exactly does zan mean? Is it one word or two?

Zan is the future form of the pronoun “I”. Historically it’s a contraction of:

za (future marker) + ni (I)
→ zan (I will)

Similarly:

za ka → you (m.) will
za ki → you (f.) will
za mu → we will
za su → they will

So:

Zan saya kifi. – I will buy fish.
Ba zan saya kifi ba. – I will not buy fish.

You don’t say ba za ni saya kifi ba; the correct form is ba zan saya kifi ba.

What’s the difference between saya and other forms like siya or saye that I sometimes see?

All of these are related to the verb “to buy”, but:

saya is the standard dictionary form (infinitive).
In actual speech you may hear siya / saye / saya depending on:
- Dialect (regional variation)
- Surrounding vowels and speech habits

In your sentence, saya is the simple future verb:

Zan saya kifi. – I will buy fish.

As a learner, use saya as your base form and be aware that you might hear slight variations.

Does kifi mean “fish” in general, or one fish? What about the plural?

Kifi literally is “a fish / fish”, and Hausa works similarly to English with mass vs count uses:

one fish – kifi
fish (as food / in general) – still kifi

There is a plural form:

kifaye – fishes (individual fish, plural)

Examples:

Na saya kifi. – I bought (some) fish / I bought a fish.
Na ga kifaye a rafi. – I saw (many) fish in the river.

In your sentence, kifi is like English “fish” as a type of food.

What does ƙarin mean, and how is it formed?

Ƙarin comes from the noun ƙari, which means “addition, extra, more”.

ƙari = extra, addition
ƙarin X = extra X / more X / additional X

The -n on ƙarin is a linking (genitive) suffix that connects ƙari to the following noun.

So:

ƙarin kayan miya = more sauce ingredients / extra soup ingredients
ƙarin ruwa = more water
ƙarin lokaci = more time

In your sentence, zan saya ƙarin kayan miya literally means “I will buy extra/more sauce ingredients.”

What does the phrase kayan miya mean literally?

Kayan miya is a very common Hausa expression.

Breakdown:

kaya = things, goods, items (often physical items, merchandise)
-n = linking (genitive) suffix: kayan = “things of”
miya = sauce, soup, stew

So kayan miya literally means “the things of sauce” → in practice:

kayan miya = ingredients used for making sauce/stew
(commonly: tomatoes, peppers, onions, seasoning cubes, spices, etc.)

Thus ƙarin kayan miya = more ingredients for stew/sauce.

Why is the second clause just zan saya ƙarin kayan miya and not repeated with ba … ba?

The negation only applies to what you don’t do:

Ba zan saya kifi ba, – I will not buy fish,
zan saya ƙarin kayan miya. – I will buy more sauce ingredients.

The second clause is an affirmative contrast: “instead, I will do this.”
If you also wanted to negate the second action, you’d need another full ba … ba:

Ba zan saya kifi ba, ba zan saya ƙarin kayan miya ba.
– I will not buy fish, and I will not buy more sauce ingredients.

But that’s not the meaning here; the speaker is refusing one thing and choosing another.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move kashegari or ba to another place?

The neutral word order here is:

Kashegari ba zan saya kifi ba, zan saya ƙarin kayan miya.
(Tomorrow, I will not buy fish, I will buy more sauce ingredients.)

You can move kashegari inside the clause without changing the meaning much:

Ba zan saya kifi kashegari ba, zan saya ƙarin kayan miya.
– Still: Tomorrow I won’t buy fish…

However:

The ba … ba frame must stay around the clause it negates:
- Ba zan saya kifi ba. ✅
- Zan ba saya kifi ba. ❌ (wrong)
- Ba zan saya ba kifi. ❌ (wrong)

So you can move time expressions quite freely, but you cannot break the ba … ba structure around the clause.

How would I say “Tomorrow I will buy fish, I won’t buy more sauce ingredients” using the same structure?

Just negate the second clause instead of the first:

Kashegari zan saya kifi, ba zan saya ƙarin kayan miya ba.
– Tomorrow I will buy fish, I will not buy more sauce ingredients.

Notice:

First clause (affirmative): zan saya kifi
Second clause (negative): ba zan saya ƙarin kayan miya ba

How do I pronounce the letter ƙ in ƙarin? How is it different from k?

Hausa distinguishes between k and ƙ:

k is a regular voiceless velar stop (like k in English “kill”).
ƙ is an ejective sound (often described as a “popped” or “glottalized” k), produced with a little burst of air pressure from the throat.

In practice for learners:

k: say a normal “k” sound.
ƙ: make a strong, tense “k” with no puff of breath outwards; it feels tighter and “popped”.

Minimal pair:

karo – encounter
ƙaro – to add (related to ƙari, “extra, addition”)

In ƙarin, you should aim for this “popped k” sound at the start.