Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.

Ni is the independent pronoun “I”. It’s used for emphasis or contrast.
Ina here is the subject+aspect form meaning something like “I am …-ing”.

In this sentence:

Ni ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
you could translate the beginning as “Me, I am resting and I am reading a book.” The Ni adds emphasis to who is doing the action, often in contexts like:
Wa yake hutawa? – Ni ina hutawa.
Who is resting? – I am (the one) resting.

Without any emphasis, most speakers would just say:

Ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
I am resting and I am reading a book.

So can I just leave out Ni and say “Ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi”?

Yes. That is the most normal everyday way to say it.

Ni ina hutawa… – adds focus/emphasis on “I”.
Ina hutawa… – a plain statement “I am resting…”.

Unless you are:

answering a “who?” question,
correcting someone (“No, I am resting, not him”),
or strongly stressing the subject,

you can safely drop Ni and say:

Ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.

What exactly is ina here? Is it like the verb “to be”?

Ina is the 1st person singular form used for the progressive / ongoing aspect. It covers the idea of “I am …-ing”.

You will see ina in two very common uses:

With places or nouns of state (location/condition):
- Ina Kano. – I am in Kano.
- Ina gida. – I am at home.
With actions (progressive / habitual):
- Ina hutawa. – I am resting / I rest (habitually, depending on context).
- Ina karanta littafi. – I am reading a book.

So in practical terms, you can think of ina as roughly “I am” when it comes before a noun or a verb phrase, but grammatically it’s a subject+aspect form, not a separate verb like English “to be.”

What is the difference between huta and hutawa? Why is it hutawa here?

Huta is the basic verb: “to rest.”
- Na huta. – I rested / I have rested.
Hutawa is the verbal noun (often called the “-ing” form or masdar): “resting, having a rest.”

In Ina hutawa, the structure is:

Ina (I am) + hutawa (resting)
→ “I am resting.”

This pattern (ina + verbal noun) is very common in Hausa to express an ongoing activity:

Ina cin abinci. – I am eating (literally: I am eating-of food).
Ina aiki. – I am working.

With huta, you will also hear:

Ina huta. – I am resting / I rest.

Both Ina hutawa and Ina huta are used; ina hutawa feels a bit more like emphasizing the activity/state of resting (like English “I’m having a rest”), but for a learner you can treat them as essentially the same meaning here.

Why is it hutawa but karanta, not karantawa? Is that a different pattern?

Good observation; different verbs behave differently.

Huta → hutawa: basic verb + -wa to make a verbal noun (rest → resting).

For karanta (“to read”):

The normal progressive with a direct object is:
- Ina karanta littafi. – I am reading a book.
Here, karanta is just the finite verb “read,” not a verbal noun.
The common verbal noun of karanta is:
- karatu – reading/study, education
  - Ina karatu. – I am studying / I am in school.
This is usually used without a direct object, or to talk more generally about study/education.
Karantawa does exist, but it usually has a different meaning:
it’s often used for “to read for / read to (someone)” because of the -wa extension.
So karantawa is not the ordinary “reading” form you want with a direct object like littafi.

So:

Correct/natural:
- Ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
Also correct in other contexts:
- Ina hutawa kuma ina karatu. – I am resting and I am studying.
Not normal for “reading a book”:
- ✗ ina karantawa littafi (this would suggest something like reading for someone, and is not the basic pattern).

What does kuma mean here? Is it just “and”? How is it different from da?

In this sentence, kuma is linking two actions and can be translated as “and” or “and also.”

Ni ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
→ I am resting and (also) reading a book.

Basic differences:

kuma
- Connects clauses or whole sentences:
  - Ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
  - Ya tafi kasuwa, kuma zai dawo da yamma.
- Can also have meanings like “also, again, moreover.”
da
- Most commonly connects nouns:
  - ruwa da burodi – water and bread
  - Ali da Aisha – Ali and Aisha
- It’s not the default choice for linking two full sentences with verbs in the way English uses “and.”

For a learner, a safe rule is:

Use kuma to link two actions/sentences.
Use da to link two nouns.

Why do we repeat ina before karanta littafi? Could we say “Ni ina hutawa kuma karanta littafi”?

In Hausa, each clause with its own verb normally needs its own subject marker (like ina, kana, yana, etc.).

So:

✔ Ni ina hutawa kuma ina karanta littafi.
(I am resting and I am reading a book.)
✗ Ni ina hutawa kuma karanta littafi.
(This sounds incomplete/unnatural.)

Think of it this way: Hausa prefers:

I am resting and I am reading a book

rather than:

I am resting and reading a book

The subject+aspect form (ina) is repeated to show clearly that there are two separate actions.

Why is there no word for “a” before littafi? How do you say “a book” vs “the book” in Hausa?

Hausa does not have separate little words like English “a” and “the.” The bare noun littafi can mean:

a book (indefinite)
the book (definite)

Context tells you which reading makes more sense.

If you really want to be explicit:

wani littafi – a (certain) book / some book
littafin or littafin nan – the book / this book (more definite/specific)
wancan littafin – that book.

So in:

Ina karanta littafi.

you can translate it as “I am reading a book” unless the context makes a particular book obvious.

How would this sentence change if the subject was you, he, she, we, or they?

You change the subject+aspect form (ina) to the appropriate person/number, but keep the rest the same.

Progressive/habitual forms:

Ina – I am …
Kana – you (sg. male) are …
Kina – you (sg. female) are …
Yana – he is …
Tana – she is …
Muna – we are …
Kuna – you (pl.) are …
Suna – they are …

Apply that to the sentence:

Kana hutawa kuma kana karanta littafi. – You (male) are resting and reading a book.
Kina hutawa kuma kina karanta littafi. – You (female) are resting and reading a book.
Yana hutawa kuma yana karanta littafi. – He is resting and reading a book.
Tana hutawa kuma tana karanta littafi. – She is resting and reading a book.
Muna hutawa kuma muna karanta littafi. – We are resting and reading a book.
Kuna hutawa kuma kuna karanta littafi. – You (plural) are resting and reading a book.
Suna hutawa kuma suna karanta littafi. – They are resting and reading a book.

The structure stays the same; only the subject marker changes.

How would I say “I am not resting and I am not reading a book”?

To negate this kind of present/progressive sentence, Hausa usually uses ba … ba and a slightly different subject form.

The general pattern for “I am not …-ing” is:

Ba na
- verbal noun / verb phrase (…)(ba).

So:

Ba na hutawa (ba). – I am not resting.
Ba na karanta littafi (ba). – I am not reading a book.

Putting them together:

Ba na hutawa kuma ba na karanta littafi (ba).
→ I am not resting and I am not reading a book.

Notes:

The second ba at the end is often spoken but may be dropped in casual speech; as a learner, including it is fine.
Notice it’s ba na, not ba ina. In the negative present/progressive, Hausa uses na / ka / ki / ya / ta / mu / ku / su after ba, not ina / kana / yana, etc.