Learn Hardcore Hausa: A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida. - Every week, on Monday and Tuesday, I do extra studying at home.

In your sentence, a kowace sati is very natural and idiomatic. You will also hear kowace sati without a, but a kowace sati is slightly clearer and more formal/complete. Both are acceptable in everyday speech.

Why is it “kowace” and not “kowane”? Is “sati” feminine?

Yes. kowace is the feminine singular form of “every/each”, and sati (week) is treated as feminine.

kowane – masculine singular: kowane ɗalibi (every male student)
kowace – feminine singular: kowace rana (every day), kowace sati (every week)

So:

✅ kowace sati – correct (every week)
❌ kowane sati – grammatically off, because of the gender mismatch

You might also see “mako” (also “week”), which is usually treated as masculine:

kowane mako – every week (using mako instead of sati)

What’s the difference between “sati” and “mako” for “week”? Could I say “kowane mako” instead?

Both sati and mako can mean “week”:

sati – often treated as feminine
mako – often treated as masculine

So you can say:

a kowace sati – every week
a kowane mako – every week

They are both widely understood. Usage can vary by region and speaker preference. In your sentence, changing to a kowane mako, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida would still be correct and natural.

Why is there a comma after “A kowace sati,”? Is that how Hausa normally handles time expressions?

Yes, that comma reflects a natural pause and is common in writing when you front a time phrase:

A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida.
Every week, on Monday and Tuesday I do extra study at home.

In speech, you’d typically pause after A kowace sati.
You could also write it without the comma and it would not be “wrong,” but the comma makes the structure clearer:

Time frame: A kowace sati
Specific days: Litinin da Talata
Main clause: ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida

Why is it just “Litinin da Talata” with no preposition? Could I also say “a Litinin da Talata”?

Yes, you can say a Litinin da Talata, but it’s not required.

In Hausa, names of days often stand alone as time expressions:

Litinin ina zuwa kasuwa. – On Monday I go to the market.
Talata da Laraba muna lafazi. – On Tuesday and Wednesday we recite.

So both are possible:

A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida.
A kowace sati, a Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida.

The second one repeats a, making the structure [in every week], [on Monday and Tuesday], which some speakers like for emphasis or clarity. The first is a bit lighter and very natural.

Is the word order “A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin …” fixed, or can I move the time expressions around?

The word order is flexible. Hausa often fronts time expressions, but you can move them:

Original:
- A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida.
Time at the end:
- Ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida a kowace sati, Litinin da Talata.
Single time phrase at front:
- Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida a kowace sati.

All are understandable. The main rules:

Time expressions (like a kowace sati, Litinin da Talata) can go before or after the main clause.
Putting them at the beginning is common to set the scene and sounds very natural.

Your original word order is perfectly normal and clear.

What’s the function of “ina yin” here? Why not just “ina karatu”?

ina yin is “I am doing / I do” using the verb yi (to do) plus a verbal noun:

yi (do) → yin (doing)
karatu (reading/study)

So:

ina yin ƙarin karatu – I am doing extra study / I do extra studying
ina karatu – I am reading / I am studying

Both are grammatical. Differences:

yin karatu is a very common collocation meaning “do study” or “engage in studying” – slightly more explicit than just karatu.
ina karatu can sound a bit more like “I’m (in) study / I’m studying” in a general sense.

In this sentence, ina yin ƙarin karatu emphasizes the activity of doing extra study. You could say:

Litinin da Talata ina karatu a gida. – On Monday and Tuesday I study at home.
Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida. – On Monday and Tuesday I do extra study at home.

The second explicitly highlights that it’s additional work.

What exactly does “ƙarin” mean in “ƙarin karatu”, and why does it come before “karatu”?

ƙari means “addition, extra, more (of something)”.
ƙarin is its construct/linked form, used before a noun:

ƙarin ruwa – more water / extra water
ƙarin abinci – more food / extra food
ƙarin lokaci – additional time
ƙarin karatu – extra study / more reading

So:

ƙarin
- karatu = additional study / extra studying

It normally comes before the noun it modifies. You wouldn’t say karatu ƙari in this context to mean “extra study.” The order [ƙarin + noun] is the natural pattern for this meaning.

Does “ina yin ƙarin karatu” here mean something like a habit (I usually do extra study), or is it more like right now (I am doing extra study)?

On its own, ina yin is the imperfective/progressive: “I am doing / I do.”
Its exact nuance depends on context.

With a repeating time frame like a kowace sati, Litinin da Talata, it is clearly habitual:

A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida.
→ Every week, on Monday and Tuesday, I (normally/regularly) do extra study at home.

If you wanted to strongly emphasize habitual action, Hausa also has:

nakan yi ƙarin karatu – I usually/typically do extra study
ina kan yi ƙarin karatu – I tend to do / I am in the habit of doing extra study

For example:

A kowace sati, Litinin da Talata nakan yi ƙarin karatu a gida.
This is very explicitly “I tend to / usually do extra study.”

But your original ina yin is still fully correct and naturally understood as a regular routine because of the “every week” context.

Why is it “a gida” for “at home”? Could I say something like “cikin gida” instead?

a gida is the standard, simplest way to say “at home / in the house”:

Ina zama a gida. – I live/stay at home.
Yara suna wasa a gida. – The children are playing at home.

You can say a cikin gida (literally “in the inside of the house”) if you want to stress physically inside as opposed to outside the house:

Yana a cikin gida yanzu. – He’s inside the house now.

In your sentence:

ina yin ƙarin karatu a gida – I do extra study at home

is exactly what you want. It focuses on home as your location, not on the physical interior vs exterior.

How is “ƙarin karatu” pronounced, especially the “ƙ” sound?

The letter ƙ in Hausa represents an implosive “k” sound. Some guidance:

ƙ is written with a hook: ƙ (not plain k)
k – like English k in kite
ƙ – produced with a slight inwards movement of air at the glottis; many learners approximate it with a “harder” or “tenser” k.

ƙarin karatu roughly:

ƙa – like “ka” but with the special ƙ;
rin – “reen” (short vowel);
ka – normal k;
ra – “ra” (r is tapped/flapped);
tu – “too” with a short u.

Even if you don’t fully master the implosive ƙ at first, Hausa speakers will usually understand you. But distinguishing k vs ƙ is useful, because in some word pairs it changes meaning.