Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla. - I am trying to remember each word in the sentence.

ni is an independent/emphatic pronoun – “I (myself)”.
ina is a verb‑like form that marks subject + continuous aspect – roughly “I am …‑ing”.

So:

Ina ƙoƙari in tuna… = I am trying to remember… (normal)
Ni ina ƙoƙari in tuna… = I am trying to remember… (with extra emphasis on I, like “Me, I’m trying to remember…”)

You can absolutely say Ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
Adding Ni is optional and adds emphasis or contrast.

What exactly does ina mean in this sentence? Is it just “am”?

Ina does two jobs at once:

It tells you the subject: I.
It marks the progressive/ongoing aspect: am doing (right now / currently).

So:

ina ƙoƙari ≈ “I am trying / I’m making an effort (now)”.

Compare with other tenses/aspects:

na ƙoƙarta – I tried / I made an effort (completed action, past/perfective).
zan yi ƙoƙari – I will try / I will make an effort (future).

In this sentence, ina focuses on the action as something in progress.

Is ƙoƙari a verb, or a noun? Why isn’t there yi (to do) before it?

ƙoƙari is basically a noun meaning “effort, attempt, trying” – it’s a verbal noun.

You will often see it in this very common pattern:

yi ƙoƙari – “make an effort / try”

So, a very explicit version could be:

Ina yin ƙoƙari in tuna… – I am making an effort to remember…

In everyday speech, Hausa often drops the verb yi when the meaning is clear:

Ina ƙoƙari in tuna…
≈ “I’m (making an) effort to remember…”
≈ simply “I’m trying to remember…”

So in form it’s “I am [in a state of] effort to remember,” but in meaning it’s just “I am trying to remember.”

What does the small word in do in …ƙoƙari in tuna…? Is it like English “to”?

in here is a subordinator that introduces a kind of subjunctive/irrealis clause. A very close English idea is “to” or “(so that I) …” after verbs like want, try, plan.

Ina ƙoƙari in tuna…
≈ “I’m trying to remember…”
≈ “I’m making an effort that I remember…”

Some points:

Verbs after in appear in a bare/subjunctive form (here: tuna, not na tuna).
The subject of the verb after in is usually the same as the subject before it. Here, both clauses refer to “I”.

You also see this with other verbs:

Ina so in tafi. – I want to go.
Na yi ƙoƙari in kira shi. – I tried to call him.

So in is a little linker that turns “I am trying” into “I am trying to do X.”

Why is it tuna and not something like tuna da or na tuna? Don’t I often see tuna da for “remember”?

Hausa uses tuna in a few different ways:

tuna + direct object
- Na tuna wannan labari. – I remembered this story.
- Ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma. – I’m trying to remember every word.
tuna da + something (often “remember about / think of”)
- Ina tuna da kai. – I’m thinking of you / I remember you.
Different tense/aspect of tuna:
- na tuna – I remembered / I remember (completed).
- zan tuna – I will remember.
- in tuna – (that) I remember (subjunctive after in).

In in tuna kowace kalma, the verb is in the subjunctive / bare form after in, and kowace kalma is its direct object, so no da is needed here.

Why is it kowace kalma and not kowane kalma or just kowace?

kowane / kowace is a word meaning “each, every”, and it agrees with gender:

kowane – masculine singular “each/every”
kowace – feminine singular “each/every”

The noun kalma (word) is feminine in Hausa, so you must use the feminine form:

kowace kalma – every word (lit. each word)

If the noun were masculine, you’d use kowane:

kowane mutum – every person (masc. noun mutum)

You usually don’t drop the noun here in this kind of sentence; just kowace on its own would be context‑dependent and less clear.

How is kowace different from duk? Could I say duk kalmomin a cikin jimla instead?

Yes, you could; they’re close in meaning but not identical:

kowace kalma – each / every word (focus on individual items one by one)
duk kalmomin – all the words (focus on the whole set as a group)

So:

Ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
– I’m trying to remember every single word in the sentence (emphasizes completeness, word by word).
Ina ƙoƙari in tuna duk kalmomin da suke a cikin jimla.
– I’m trying to remember all the words in the sentence (more collective).

Both are correct; the original sentence just chooses the “each/every” nuance.

What does a cikin mean exactly? Why both a and cikin for “in”?

a cikin literally combines:

a – a general preposition “in/at/on” (location).
ciki – “inside, interior”.
cikin – ciki
- linking -n, often used before another noun.

So:

a cikin jimla – “in the inside of the sentence” → simply “in the sentence”.

You have a few options:

a cikin jimla – in the sentence (very common, explicit “inside”).
cikin jimla – in the sentence (you can drop a in many contexts).
a jimla – in/at the sentence (shorter, but a cikin is more idiomatic here).

The original uses a cikin for a natural, everyday “in (the) sentence.”

Can jimla mean both “sentence” and “phrase”?

In Hausa, jimla most commonly means:

sentence (in grammar)
sometimes clause or phrase‑like unit of speech/writing, depending on context.

In language‑learning contexts, jimla is usually taught as “sentence”.
So in this sentence, jimla is naturally understood as “the sentence” you’re trying to remember.

Is the word order fixed as Ni ina ƙoƙari in tuna…, or can parts move around?

The core order is quite fixed:

[Subject / pronoun] + [aspect/subject form like ina] + [main verb / verbal noun] + [subordinate marker in] + [verb] + [object] + [prepositional phrase]

So:

(Ni) ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.

Possible variations:

Drop Ni:
- Ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla. – perfectly normal.
Add emphasis on another element by fronting it (with the right structure), but you don’t usually move ni to the end, for example:
- *Ina ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla ni. – this is not a normal, neutral sentence.

In everyday speech, the pattern used in your sentence is a very standard way to say “I am trying to remember every word in the sentence.”

Could I say this in another natural way in Hausa, still meaning “I am trying to remember every word in the sentence”?

Yes, there are several natural rephrasings. For example:

Ina ƙoƙarin tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
- Here ƙoƙari takes the possessive form ƙoƙarin, used more tightly with tuna.
- Very close in meaning and style.
Ina yin ƙoƙari in tuna kowace kalma a cikin jimla.
- Explicit yin (“doing/making”) before ƙoƙari: “I’m making an effort to remember…”.
Ina ƙoƙari in tuna duk kalmomin da ke cikin jimlar.
- Uses duk kalmomin – “all the words in the sentence”.

Your original sentence is already idiomatic; these are just stylistic alternatives.

How should I pronounce ƙoƙari and kowace? Is ƙ different from k?

Yes, ƙ is different from k in Hausa:

k – a regular [k] sound (like English k in “cat”).
ƙ – an ejective / glottalized k, often written as k’ in some materials. You build pressure in the throat and release it sharply.

So:

ƙoƙari – has two ƙ sounds: something like k’ò‑k’á‑ri.
kowace – has the normal k sound: kò‑wá‑ché.

It’s good to practice hearing and producing the difference, because it can distinguish words in Hausa (for example kafa vs ƙafa are different words).