Learn Hardcore Hausa: Dalibai suka gwada yin rubutu ba tare da kuskure ba, amma akwai wuya kaɗan. - The students tried to write without mistakes, but there is a little difficulty.

Marks past/perfective aspect (the action is completed).
Adds a bit of focus or emphasis on Dalibai (“the students (as opposed to others) tried…”).
Is the form you typically use when a full noun like Dalibai comes before the verb in narrative or focused style.

If you said Dalibai sun gwada yin rubutu…, it would still be correct, but it sounds a little less focused/emphatic on “students” and a bit more neutral.

Why is it Dalibai suka… and not Dalibai sun…?

Both are possible, but they differ slightly in feel:

Dalibai sun gwada yin rubutu…
Neutral past: “The students tried to write…”
Dalibai suka gwada yin rubutu…
More focused/emphatic: “It was the students who tried to write…”

Hausa often uses suka after a fronted or highlighted subject (especially at the start of a sentence or in a narrative). Using suka here is very natural stylistically; it puts a bit of weight on the subject “students” rather than just stating the bare fact.

Why is there no word for “the” before Dalibai when we say “the students” in English?

Hausa does not have a separate word that works exactly like English “the”.

Dalibai by itself can mean:
- “students” in general, or
- “the students” if context makes it clear which ones.

If you really want to mark them as a specific group that both speaker and listener already know, you can use the definite suffix:

Daliban suka gwada… = “The students tried…” (more clearly that specific group)
Dalibai suka gwada… = can be “students tried…” or “the students tried…” depending on context.

In many real situations the bare Dalibai comfortably translates as “the students” in English.

What is going on with yin rubutu? Why not just a simple verb like “to write”?

Yin rubutu literally means “the doing of writing”, and together it functions like “to write / writing”.

Breakdown:

yi = “to do”
yin = the genitive (linking) form of yi, used before a noun (so: “the doing of …”)
rubutu = “writing” (a verbal noun derived from rubuta, “to write”)

So:

yi rubutu = “do writing” → “write”
yin rubutu = “(the) doing of writing” → “to write / writing (as an activity)”

In your sentence, gwada yin rubutu = “to try the doing of writing” → “to try to write / to attempt writing.” This yi + verbal noun pattern is extremely common in Hausa.

Could we say gwada rubutu instead of gwada yin rubutu?

You can hear:

sun gwada rubutu – “they tried writing”

but gwada yin rubutu is a bit clearer and more idiomatic, because it follows the very common pattern:

gwada yin [activity] = “to try (to do) [activity]”

Examples:

gwada yin magana – try to speak
gwada yin karatu – try to study / read

So:

gwada rubutu – understandable, shorter
gwada yin rubutu – very natural, explicitly “try to do writing”

Why do we have ba twice in ba tare da kuskure ba?

The structure ba … ba is a kind of negative “bracket” (a circumfix) in Hausa.

In ba tare da kuskure ba:

ba … ba = “not / without”
tare da = “together with / with”
kuskure = “mistake”

So literally: “not together with mistake” = “without mistake(s).”

You almost always need both ba parts:

✗ ba tare da kuskure – incomplete / wrong
✓ ba tare da kuskure ba – correct: “without any mistake(s)”

This ba … ba pattern also appears with other phrases, e.g.:

ba tare da jinkiri ba – without delay
ba tare da magana ba – without (any) speech / wordlessly

Does ba tare da kuskure ba always mean “without any mistakes,” or can it be softer, like “almost no mistakes”?

In its basic meaning, ba tare da kuskure ba is strong: “without mistakes / with no mistake(s)”.

However, in real-life usage:

It can be used a bit loosely for “with hardly any mistakes,” especially if the speaker is being generous or not counting very small errors.
If you want to emphasize “not even a single one,” you can say:
- ba tare da ko ɗaya ba – “without even one”
- ba tare da wani kuskure ba – “without any mistake at all”

So context and tone decide whether it feels absolute or just “almost perfect.”

What does akwai mean in amma akwai wuya kaɗan?

Akwai is an existential verb in Hausa meaning “there is / there are”.

akwai littafi – “there is a book”
akwai dalibai – “there are students”

In your sentence:

amma akwai wuya kaɗan
= “but there was a little difficulty” / “but it was a bit difficult”

So akwai here introduces the existence of wuya kaɗan – “some difficulty.”

What does wuya mean here, and why is it followed by kaɗan?

Wuya means “difficulty, hardship, trouble”.

wuya = difficulty / hardship
kaɗan = “a little, a bit, small (amount)”

So wuya kaɗan literally is “a little difficulty” or “some difficulty.”

Word order:

Noun + kaɗan:
- ruwa kaɗan – a little water
- kuɗi kaɗan – a little money
- wuya kaɗan – a bit of difficulty

If you removed kaɗan, akwai wuya would sound stronger: “there was difficulty / it was hard,” with no softening.

How else could I say “the students found it a bit difficult” in Hausa?

Your sentence amma akwai wuya kaɗan is one good way: “but there was a little difficulty / it was a bit hard.”

Some alternative, very natural options:

Amma sun ji wuya kaɗan.
- Literally: “But they felt a little difficulty.”
- Sense: “But they found it a bit difficult.”
Amma sun yi wuya kaɗan.
- Idiomatic: “they had a hard time a bit.”
Amma sun sha wuya kaɗan.
- More idiomatic/colloquial: “they suffered a bit / had some trouble.”

All of these can describe the students experiencing some difficulty, with kaɗan softening it to “a bit.”

Is kaɗan always placed after the noun like in wuya kaɗan?

Almost always, yes: kaɗan normally comes after the noun or pronoun it modifies.

Examples:

abinci kaɗan – a little food
kuɗi kaɗan – a little money
motsi kaɗan – a bit of movement
mun yi kuskure kaɗan – we made a few mistakes

So wuya kaɗan follows the usual pattern. Putting kaɗan before the noun (kaɗan wuya) is not normal in standard Hausa.

Could I use babu instead of akwai to talk about difficulty here?

Yes, but it changes the meaning from “there was a little difficulty” to “there was no difficulty.”

akwai wuya kaɗan – “there was a bit of difficulty”
babu wuya – “there was no difficulty / no problem”
babu wuya sosai is odd; better is:
- ba wuya sosai ba – “not very difficult”

So if you wanted to say “but there was no difficulty,” you could say:

amma babu wuya
amma ba su ji wuya ba – “but they did not find it difficult”

In your original sentence, akwai wuya kaɗan deliberately signals that there was some (small) difficulty.