Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malami ya ce cewa koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai. - The teacher said that learning Hausa is very important.

So Malami ya ce literally feels like “The teacher, he said …”.
You cannot say ✗ Malami ce cewa…; you need that ya for a grammatical past-tense clause.

What is the difference between ce and cewa in ya ce cewa? Why both?

They play different roles:

ce is the verb “to say.”
cewa is more like a linker/complementizer, similar to English “that” in “He said that …”

So ya ce cewa… is literally:

ya ce – “he said”
cewa – “that” (introducing the reported statement)

English also sometimes has two “saying” elements, like “He said the fact that …”, so it’s not unusual.

Can we drop cewa and just say Malami ya ce koyo na Hausa…?

Yes, that is possible and common:

Malami ya ce koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai.

This is still correct and natural. Cewa makes the structure a bit more explicit and formal, but it’s not always required. You’ll hear both forms in real speech.

What exactly is koyo? Is it a verb or a noun?

Koyo is a verbal noun/gerund, roughly “learning” or “the learning / study.”

It comes from the verb koya = “to teach / to learn” (context decides which).
So we have:

Ina koya Hausa. – “I am learning/teaching Hausa.” (verb form)
koyo na Hausa – “the learning of Hausa / learning Hausa.” (verbal noun)

In your sentence, koyo functions like English “learning” used as a noun.

Why is it koyo na Hausa and not koyon Hausa? Is there a difference?

Both are possible and both mean “learning of Hausa”:

koyo na Hausa – analytic form: literally “learning of Hausa.”
koyon Hausa – with a genitive linker -n attached to koyo.

Hausa links two nouns using:

na / ta / nàn etc. (separate word), or
a suffix -n / -r on the first noun.

So:

koyo na Hausa
koyon Hausa

In practice:

koyon Hausa sounds a bit more compact and is very common in writing.
koyo na Hausa is also correct and natural in speech.

No big meaning difference here; it’s mostly style and rhythm.

What does yana da muhimmanci literally mean, and how does it equal “is important”?

Literally:

yana – “it is (he is) in a continuous state” (3rd sg. masc. progressive)
da – “with/has”
muhimmanci – “importance” (a noun)

So yana da muhimmanci = “it has importance / it is with importance”, which corresponds to English “it is important.”

Hausa often uses “to have X” with a noun to express an adjective-like idea:

yana da kyau – “it has goodness” → “it is good.”
wannan aiki yana da wahala – “this work has difficulty” → “this work is difficult.”

Here, koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci ≈ “learning Hausa is important.”

Is there another common way to say “is important” apart from yana da muhimmanci?

Yes. Two very common alternatives are:

Using the adjective muhimmi:
- Koyo na Hausa muhimmı̄ ne sosai.
  – “Learning Hausa is very important.”
Using abu ne mai muhimmanci (“it is something that has importance”):
- Koyo na Hausa abu ne mai muhimmanci sosai.

But yana da muhimmanci is extremely common and very natural.

What does sosai add? Is it just “very”?

Yes, sosai is an intensifier, similar to “very,” “really,” or “a lot.”

muhimmanci sosai – “very important / extremely important.”

You can also place it earlier:

yana da muhimmanci sosai (your sentence)
yana da matuƙar muhimmanci – “has tremendous importance” (even stronger)

Synonyms you might hear:

kwarai – “really, indeed.”
matuƙa – “very much, extremely.”

Why is ya ce in the past but yana da muhimmanci in the present?

They refer to two different time frames:

ya ce – simple past: “(the teacher) said.”
yana da muhimmanci – present/general: “(it) is important.”

So the structure is:

Past reporting: “The teacher said …”
General truth inside the quote: “… that learning Hausa is very important.”

English does exactly the same: we usually say
“He said that learning Hausa is important.”
rather than “was important,” when we think it’s still true now. Hausa follows that logic here.

How would the sentence change if the teacher is female?

You’d usually change both the noun and the subject marker:

Malama ta ce cewa koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai.

Changes:

Malami → Malama (male teacher → female teacher)
ya ce → ta ce (he said → she said)

The rest (koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai) stays the same, because koyo na Hausa is grammatically masculine and takes yana regardless of the teacher’s gender.

Is the word order fixed? Could I move the clause about learning Hausa to the front?

You have some flexibility. For example:

Koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai, in ji malami.
– Literally “Learning Hausa is very important, in the saying of the teacher.”
(Very natural, especially in news style.)

Or, more simply:

Malami ya ce koyo na Hausa yana da muhimmanci sosai.
(dropping cewa as mentioned earlier)

But you cannot generally break up the core chunks like:

✗ Malami koyo na Hausa ya ce yana da muhimmanci sosai. (ungrammatical)

So yes, some reordering is possible, but each clause still needs its own subject–verb structure.

How do I pronounce ce and cewa? Are they related?

Yes, they’re related in form and sound, but used differently:

ce – pronounced roughly like “che” in “check”, short and clipped.
cewa – “che-wa”, two syllables.

Cewa is historically connected to ce, but in modern grammar you should treat:

ce as the main verb “to say,”
cewa as the linking word “that” introducing a clause.

So:

ya ce – “he said”
ya ce cewa … – “he said that …”