Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. - I like the primary school in our village.

Ni ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. – “I, I like the primary school in our village.” (emphatic)
Ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. – “I like the primary school in our village.” (normal)

So Ni adds emphasis to the subject, like stressing “I” in English: “I like the primary school in our village (maybe others don’t).”

What does ina express? Is it a tense like “am” in “I am liking”?

Ina is a present / progressive subject marker for 1st person singular (“I”) in Hausa.

It usually covers:

Present continuous: “I am doing…”
Habitual / general present: “I (usually) do…”, “I like…”

So ina son is best understood as “I (usually) like / I like / I love”, not as a strange literal “I am liking.” Hausa uses ina + verbal noun for many present-time and habitual situations.

Why is it son and not so? What’s the difference between so and son?

The base verb is so (“to want / like / love”).
Son is the verbal noun (a noun form of the verb), roughly “liking / love / wanting.”

In practice:

so is the plain verb, often used with another verb:
- Ina so in je. – “I want to go.”
son is used as a verbal noun, especially before definite or possessed objects:
- Ina son makarantar firamare. – “I like the primary school.”
- Ina son ki. – “I love you.” (to a female)

A useful rule of thumb:

When you “like/want to do something” → so
- another verb.
When you “like/want something specific” (the school, that thing, you, etc.) → son
- that noun/pronoun is very common and sounds natural.

What exactly does son mean here: “like”, “love”, or “want”?

Hausa so/son covers “like, love, want” depending on context.

Here, with a school, Ina son makarantar firamare most naturally means:
- “I like the primary school”
- or “I love the primary school”

If you were talking about desiring to get something, son would lean more toward “want”:

Ina son wannan littafin. – “I want this book.” (or “I really like this book”)

So in this sentence, “like/love” is the right interpretation.

Why is it makarantar and not just makaranta?

Makaranta means “school”.
Makarantar is the “construct” (linking) form + definiteness: “the school of …”

In makarantar firamare:

makarantar = “school-of / the school”
firamare = “primary (level)”

Literally: “the school of primary [level]”, i.e. “the primary school.”

Hausa often changes the ending of a noun when it’s followed by another noun that describes or possesses it, using -r/-n. That’s why you see makarantar, not bare makaranta.

What is firamare? Is it a Hausa word?

Firamare is a loanword, ultimately from “primary” (influenced historically by English and/or French primaire).

In everyday Hausa:

makarantar firamare = “primary school”
makarantar sakandare = “secondary school”

So in this sentence, makarantar firamare simply means “the primary school.”

What does a mean in a ƙauyenmu?

A is a common Hausa preposition meaning “in, at, on” depending on context.

a gida – “at home”
a Kano – “in Kano”
a ƙauyenmu – “in our village”

So a ƙauyenmu is “in our village.”

How is ƙauyenmu formed, and what exactly does it mean?

Breakdown of ƙauyenmu:

ƙauye – “village”
-n- – linking element (construct/possessive marker)
mu – “our”

So:

ƙauye → ƙauyen (construct form)
ƙauyen
- mu → ƙauyenmu = “our village.”

In the full phrase:

a ƙauyenmu = “in our village.”

Can I drop Ni and just say Ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu?

Yes, and that is actually the most neutral, common way to say it:

Ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. – perfectly correct and natural.

Adding Ni makes it more emphatic:

Ni ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. – “I (for my part) like the primary school in our village.”

Use Ni when you want to stress that it’s you (perhaps in contrast to others).

Can I move the phrase a ƙauyenmu earlier, like in English?

Word order in Hausa is fairly flexible for location phrases, but some orders sound more natural than others.

All of these can be heard, with slightly different emphasis:

Ina son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu. – Most neutral.
A ƙauyenmu ina son makarantar firamare. – Emphasizes “In our village…” first.
Ni a ƙauyenmu ina son makarantar firamare. – Strong focus on “As for me, in our village, I like the primary school.”

Putting a ƙauyenmu in the middle of the object, like:

✗ Ina son a ƙauyenmu makarantar firamare.

is not natural. Keep a ƙauyenmu either after the object or at the beginning of the sentence for focus.

How do you pronounce ƙ in ƙauyenmu, and how is it different from k?

Hausa distinguishes k and ƙ:

k – a normal “k” sound (like English k in kite).
ƙ – an ejective k, produced with a little “pop” in the throat, with no puff of air.

To approximate ƙ:

Hold your breath briefly and release a tight k sound, almost like a “k!” made with a glottal catch.

So:

ƙauyenmu is not the same as kauyenmu; native speakers hear them as different sounds.

Is Hausa tone important in this sentence? How is it (roughly) pronounced?

Hausa is tonal, but tone is usually not written.

You don’t need to master all tones at the beginning, but they do matter for meaning in many words. For this sentence, a rough guide (H = high tone, L = low) is:

Ni (H)
ìna (L-H)
sòn (L)
makaràntar (L-H-L)
fìramàre (L-L-H)
a (L)
ƙàuyènmu (L-H-L)

Don’t worry about getting this perfect at first; listening to native speakers say the whole sentence and repeating it is the best way to learn the natural melody.

How would I say “I don’t like the primary school in our village”?

A common negative form is:

Bana son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu.
= “I don’t like the primary school in our village.”

Notes:

Ba na often contracts to bana in speech and writing.
The structure is: Ba na + verbal noun (son) + object…

You may also hear:

Ba ni son makarantar firamare a ƙauyenmu.

which also means “I don’t like the primary school in our village,” with a bit more focus on ni (“I”). Both are acceptable.

How would I say “I like the primary schools in our village” (plural: more than one school)?

You need the plural of makaranta:

Singular: makarantar firamare – “the primary school”
Plural: makarantun firamare – “the primary schools”

So the full plural sentence is:

Ina son makarantun firamare a ƙauyenmu.
= “I like the primary schools in our village.”