Learn Hardcore Hausa: Rubutu yana taimaka min in ci gaba da koyo sabbin kalmomi cikin sauƙi. - Writing helps me to continue learning new words easily.

So Rubutu yana taimaka min... means Writing helps me... or Writing is helping me...
Hausa often uses such verbal nouns as subjects to talk about activities in a general way.

You could also say Yin rubutu yana taimaka min... (literally Doing writing helps me...), but Rubutu yana taimaka min... is perfectly natural.

Why is it yana taimaka and not just ya taimaka?

The difference is aspect (how the action unfolds in time):

ya taimaka = perfective: helped / has helped (once or as a completed event)
- e.g. Rubutu ya taimaka min a jiya. – Writing helped me yesterday.
yana taimaka = imperfective/progressive: is helping / helps (over time)
- e.g. Rubutu yana taimaka min in ci gaba da koyo... – Writing helps me to keep learning...

Here we want an ongoing, general effect of writing on your learning, so yana taimaka is more appropriate than ya taimaka.

Could we say Rubutu yakan taimaka min in ci gaba da koyo... instead? What would change?

Yes, Rubutu yakan taimaka min... is also correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

Rubutu yana taimaka min...
- Focus on what is happening now or in this general period:
  - Writing is (generally) helping me / helps me (these days).
Rubutu yakan taimaka min...
- yakan marks a habitual / usually / tends to meaning:
  - Writing usually helps me / Writing tends to help me.

Both can describe a general truth. yakan just makes the idea of habit / usual pattern more explicit.

What does min mean in taimaka min? Why not taimaka ni?

min is a shortened form of mani, which is “to me / for me”.

The verb taimaka (to help) normally takes the preposition ma (to/for) before the person:
- taimaka ma ni → “help to me”
In fast, normal speech this becomes taimaka mani, and then shortens to taimaka min.

So:

Rubutu yana taimaka min... = Writing helps me (literally: helps to me).
taimaka ni is not idiomatic; taimaka usually needs that ma-/m- element: taimaka min / maka / mata etc.

What does in mean in in ci gaba da koyo? Is it the same as English in?

No, Hausa in here is not the English preposition in.

In this sentence, in is a subjunctive/conditional particle that includes the pronoun “I”:

in ≈ that I / so that I (should)

So:

taimaka min in ci gaba ≈ helps me (so that) I continue / helps me to continue

You do not add another ni (“I”) after it:

✅ in ci gaba
❌ in ni ci gaba

Think of in here as “so that I can / so that I may”.

What does ci gaba mean, and why do we have ci gaba da koyo instead of just ci gaba koyo?

ci gaba is an idiomatic expression:

ci = literally “eat”, but in this expression it works like continue / go on
gaba = “front / forward”

Together ci gaba means to continue / to make progress / to go on.

When ci gaba is followed by another activity, Hausa normally uses da:

ci gaba da koyo = continue learning / go on with learning

So:

in ci gaba da koyo = (so that) I continue to learn / keep learning
ci gaba koyo (without da) is not natural here; you need da to link ci gaba with the following action (koyo).

What is the difference between koyo and koya / koyi? Why is koyo used here?

koya / koyi are the finite verb forms:

koya / koyi = to learn / to teach (depending on structure; it’s a bit special in Hausa)
- Ina son in koyi Hausa. – I want to learn Hausa.

koyo is the verbal noun / action noun:

koyo = learning / the act of learning

In ci gaba da koyo you need a noun-like form after da, so you use koyo:

ci gaba da koyo = continue with learning

Using koyi there would be ungrammatical; the structure calls for the verbal noun koyo.

Why is it sabbin kalmomi and not sabon kalmomi or sabuwar kalmomi?

Hausa adjectives agree with the number (singular/plural) and sometimes gender of the noun.

sabo = new (basic form)

Common forms:

sabon littafi – a new book (masculine singular)
sabuwar mota – a new car (feminine singular)
sabbin littattafai – new books (plural)
sabbin kalmomi – new words (plural)

Since kalmomi (words) is plural, the correct form is sabbin, not sabon or sabuwar.
The double b and -n at the end are just the regular plural adjective pattern and the linking -n that often appears between noun and adjective.

What does cikin sauƙi literally mean, and how does it give the meaning “easily”?

Literally:

ciki = inside / in
cikin = in/within the (used before another noun)
sauƙi = ease / relief / lightness

So cikin sauƙi literally is “in/within ease”.

Idiomatically, this functions like an adverb of manner:

cikin sauƙi = with ease / easily

Similar patterns:

cikin sauri – quickly (literally in speed)
cikin nutsuwa – calmly (literally in calmness)

So sabbin kalmomi cikin sauƙi ≈ new words easily / new words with ease.

Why does cikin sauƙi come after sabbin kalmomi? Could it go earlier in the sentence?

The normal Hausa word order is:

Verb + object + manner phrase

So here:

taimaka min (helps me)
in ci gaba da koyo sabbin kalmomi (to continue learning new words – object)
cikin sauƙi (easily – manner)

That’s why cikin sauƙi follows sabbin kalmomi.

You could move it a bit, but many other placements would sound awkward or change the focus. The given order is natural and clear: first what you are learning (new words), then how you are learning them (easily).

In English we say “helps me to continue to learn”. Where is the English “to” in the Hausa sentence?

Hausa does not use a separate word that directly matches this “to”. Instead, its function is spread across the structure:

taimaka min in... → helps me to...
- in already carries the idea “that I (should)” / “for me to”
ci gaba da koyo → continue to learn / go on learning

So:

Rubutu yana taimaka min in ci gaba da koyo sabbin kalmomi cikin sauƙi.
≈ Writing helps me to continue to learn new words easily.

The English “to” is covered by the combination of in and the ci gaba da koyo structure, not by a single separate word.