Learn Hardcore Hausa: Baba ba ya son yara su yi fushi da juna, yana ba su shawara su yi sulhu. - Father does not like the children to be angry with each other; he gives them advice to make peace.

Baba – father / dad (can be a name or just “Dad”)
ba – negative marker “not”
ya – “he” (3rd person masculine subject pronoun) in this construction
son – “liking, love, desire” (verbal noun from so “to like / love / want”)
yara – children (plural of yaro “child”)
su – “they” (3rd person plural subject pronoun)
yi – to do / make
fushi – anger; yi fushi = to be angry
da – with
juna – each other / one another
yana – “he is / he (habitually) does” (from ya + na, progressive / habitual aspect)
ba – to give
su – “to them” (3rd person plural indirect object pronoun)
shawara – advice, counsel
su – “they” (again, subject of the next verb)
yi – to do / make
sulhu – reconciliation, making peace

So structurally you get something like:

Baba ba ya son – Dad does not like
yara su yi fushi da juna – (that) children should be angry with each other
yana ba su shawara – he (habitually) gives them advice
su yi sulhu – (that) they should make peace / reconcile.

Why is it ba ya son and not something like baya son?

In correct standard writing, this is actually two separate words:

ba – the negative marker
ya – “he”

So ba ya son … = “he does not like …”.

If you write baya as one word, that usually means “back / behind” (as a noun or adverb), not “does not”. For example:

a baya – at the back / behind

In speech, ba ya is often pronounced quickly, which may sound like one word, but in writing for this meaning (“does not”) you should keep it separate: ba ya son ….

Why is it son and not the verb so?

Hausa often uses a verbal noun plus an aspect marker instead of a bare verb.

so – basic verb “to like, to love, to want”
son – its verbal noun “liking / love / desire”

The normal everyday pattern for “like / love / want” in the present / habitual is:

Ina son abinci. – I like food.
Ya na son ki. → Yana son ki. – He loves you (fem.).
Ba ya son yara … – He does not like (it when) children …

So you rarely say ya so yara for “he likes children” in the present; instead you say yana son yara. The plain perfective ya so yara usually means “he liked children (at some point)” with a more completed‑action feeling.

Why is there no word for “the” in yara, even though the translation is “the children”?

Hausa does not have separate words for “a / an / the” like English does. The bare noun yara can mean:

children
the children
some children

The exact interpretation comes from context. In this sentence:

Baba ba ya son yara su yi fushi da juna …

Given that this is about “Dad” and “children getting angry with each other”, English naturally wants “the children” or “his children”.

If you want to make “his children” explicit in Hausa, you can say:

yaran sa or ’ya’yansa – his children

For example:

Baba ba ya son yaran sa su yi fushi da juna. – Dad does not like his children to be angry with each other.

Does yara here mean “his own children” or just children in general?

By itself, yara is neutral: just “children”.

In context with Baba (“Dad”), many speakers will understand it as “his children” from the story context.
Grammatically, though, it could mean “children in general”.

To be explicit:

yaran sa / ’ya’yansa – his (own) children
yara – children (unspecified)

So:

Baba ba ya son yara su yi fushi da juna … – Dad doesn’t like (it when) children are angry with each other.
Baba ba ya son yaran sa su yi fushi da juna … – Dad doesn’t like his children to be angry with each other.

Why do we have both yara and su in yara su yi fushi? Isn’t that two subjects?

This pattern is very normal in Hausa. In many subordinate or “that / to” clauses, you:

Mention the full noun (here yara “children”), and
Still use the subject pronoun (here su “they”) before the verb.

So:

Baba ba ya son yara su yi fushi da juna …
Literally: “Dad does not like children they do anger with each other …”
Functionally: “Dad doesn’t like (it when) children get angry with each other.”

You can think of yara su yi fushi as:

“(for) the children to be angry”
“(that) the children should be angry”

The su is needed to mark the subject and mood (subjunctive su yi) in this subordinate clause. Hausa normally does not drop that pronoun even if the noun is already mentioned.

What exactly does fushi mean, and why is it su yi fushi instead of a single verb “to be angry”?

fushi is a noun meaning “anger” / “anger state”.

Hausa often forms verbs by using the very general verb yi (“to do, to make, to perform”) plus a noun:

yi fushi – to be angry (literally “do anger”)
yi magana – to speak (do speech)
yi aiki – to work (do work)

So:

su yi fushi – “that they be angry” / “for them to be angry”

In English we have a simple verb “be angry”; Hausa prefers the expression yi fushi “do anger”.

What does da juna mean exactly?

da juna literally means “with each other / with one another”.

da – with
juna – each other, one another (reciprocal form)

So:

su yi fushi da juna – for them to be angry with each other
su yi magana da juna – for them to talk with each other

You can sometimes see a fuller form da junansu, also meaning “with each other”, but da juna is already common and clear.

In the second clause, what is going on in yana ba su shawara?

Breakdown:

yana – “he is / he (habitually) does” (progressive / habitual)
ba – give
su – “to them” (indirect object pronoun)
shawara – advice

So:

yana ba su shawara – “he is giving them advice” / “he (habitually) gives them advice”.

This uses a very common “give X advice” pattern:

ba wani shawara – give someone advice
Likita ya ba ni shawara. – The doctor gave me advice.
Malam yana ba su shawara. – The teacher is giving them advice.

Why is su repeated again in yana ba su shawara su yi sulhu?

There are two different roles for su here:

ba su – su = “to them” (indirect object of “give”)
su yi sulhu – su = “they” (subject of “do”)

So:

yana ba su shawara – he gives them advice
[shawara] su yi sulhu – advice (for) them to make peace

Both uses are normal and both pronouns are needed:

You need su after ba to say “give them …”.
You need su before yi to say “that they (should) make peace”.

In English we can avoid repetition (“he advises them to make peace”), but Hausa keeps the pronouns in each clause.

What does su yi sulhu mean in terms of mood/feeling? Is it like “they do peace” or “they should make peace”?

su yi sulhu uses the subjunctive / jussive form:

su yi … – “for them to do … / that they should do … / let them do …”

And sulhu is “peace / reconciliation” (specifically settling a dispute).

So su yi sulhu is best understood as:

“that they make peace”
“for them to reconcile”
“that they should make up with each other”

In the sentence:

yana ba su shawara su yi sulhu – “he gives them advice (that) they should make peace.”

Could we say this in a more “completed action” way, like “he gave them advice to make peace”?

Yes. You could switch to a perfective form in the second clause:

Baba ba ya son yara su yi fushi da juna, ya ba su shawara su yi sulhu.
– Dad doesn’t like the children to be angry with each other; he gave them advice to make peace.

Differences:

yana ba su shawara … – suggests ongoing / repeated / habitual action: “he keeps / always gives them advice …”
ya ba su shawara … – a single completed event: “he gave them advice … (on that occasion)”

Both are grammatical; it depends on what you want to express.