Learn Hardcore Hausa: Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci sosai. - The doctor’s instructions are very important.

So the structure is roughly:
Umurni na likita – the doctor’s instruction
yana da muhimmanci sosai – has very great importance / is very important

What exactly does na do in Umurni na likita? Is it just “of”?

Na is a linker that expresses possession or association, similar to English of or ’s.

Umurni na likita – the doctor’s instruction / instruction of the doctor
motar malam (no na because of the noun form) – the teacher’s car
murmushin yarinya – the girl’s smile

In this sentence, na connects the possessed noun (umurni) and the possessor (likita). Many Hausa possessive structures are formed with this linker:

Littafi na Musa – Musa’s book
shawara ta likita – the doctor’s advice

So you can think of X na Y broadly as “X of Y / Y’s X”, though the exact form can change with definiteness and vowel changes.

Can I also say Umurnin likita instead of Umurni na likita? What’s the difference?

Yes, Umurnin likita is also correct and very natural. The difference is stylistic and structural, not in basic meaning.

Umurni na likita – more transparently “instruction of doctor” (X na Y pattern).
Umurnin likita – uses a genitive/possessive form umurni + -n directly attached to likita.

They both mean: the doctor’s instruction / the instruction of the doctor.

Very roughly:

Umurnin likita often feels a bit more compact and is extremely common in fluent speech and writing.
Umurni na likita is also fine; learners often see this pattern early because it’s easier to parse.

You’ll see both patterns across Hausa:

Umurnin gwamnati / umurni na gwamnati – government order
Kalmar Allah / kalma ta Allah – God’s word

In your sentence, you could say:

Umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
or
Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.

with no real change in meaning.

Is umurni countable? How do I say “instructions” (plural)?

Yes, umurni is countable. Its plural is usually umurnai.

umurni – an instruction / a command
umurnai – instructions / commands

Examples:

Umurnai na likita suna da muhimmanci sosai.
The doctor’s instructions are very important.
Ka bi duk umurnan da aka baki.
Follow all the orders you were given.

Note: in rapid speech and in some dialects, plural forms can vary, but umurnai is a good standard form for “instructions”.

Why is it yana da muhimmanci and not just yana muhimmanci or something like that?

In Hausa, adjectives and “being X” are often expressed using the structure yana da + noun or ya na da + noun, literally “it is with X / it has X”.

yana da muhimmanci – it has importance → it is important
yana da amfani – it has usefulness → it is useful
yana da tsarki – it has holiness → it is holy/pure

So:

Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
literally: The doctor’s instruction has a lot of importance.
naturally: The doctor’s instruction is very important.

Saying *yana muhimmanci is not the normal way to say “is important”. The verb yana normally needs something like da, an adjective, or another complement; the idiomatic pattern for this idea is yana da + (abstract noun).

What is the role of da in yana da muhimmanci?

Da literally means “with” and also appears in structures that mean “have / has”.

In yana da muhimmanci:

yana – it is (in a state of being)
da – with / possessing
muhimmanci – importance

So the basic sense is “it is with importance” → “it has importance” → “it is important”.

You’ll see the same pattern with many qualities:

Littafin nan yana da amfani. – This book is useful.
Maganar ta yana da gaskiya. – His/Her statement has truth in it / is truthful.
Aikin nan yana da wahala. – This work is difficult.

So da here is part of a fixed, very common structure (pronoun) + na/na + da + abstract noun expressing possession or a characteristic.

What’s the difference between muhimmanci and muhimmi? They both look like “important”.

They are related but not identical:

muhimmi – an adjective: important
muhimmanci – a noun: importance

Compare:

Using the noun (your sentence):
- Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
  The doctor’s instruction has a lot of importance / is very important.
Using the adjective:
- Umurnin likita muhimmi ne sosai.
  The doctor’s instruction is very important.

Both are correct, but the structure changes:

yana da muhimmanci – “has importance” (noun)
muhimmi ne – “is important” (adjective + copula ne/ce/nece etc.)

As a learner, it’s good to recognize that many Hausa adjectives can have a related abstract noun:

muhimmi → muhimmanci – important → importance
wahali / mai wahala → wahala – difficult → difficulty
tsada → tsada (same form) – expensive → expensiveness/costliness (by context)

In casual speech, people sometimes blur these a bit, but the noun/adjective distinction is useful to understand how the sentence is built.

What does sosai add here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Sosai is an intensifier. It roughly means very, really, extremely, a lot.

In this sentence:

muhimmanci sosai – very great importance / a lot of importance

Common positions:

After the quality noun or adjective (as in your sentence):
- yana da muhimmanci sosai. – is very important.
- yana da amfani sosai. – is very useful.
- zai yi kyau sosai. – it will be very beautiful/nice.

You might also see sosai-sosai for extra emphasis:

Muhimmanci sosai-sosai. – extremely important.

Another common intensifier, especially in northern speech, is ƙwarai:

Umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci ƙwarai. – The doctor’s instruction is very/indeed important.

But in most contexts sosai is a safe and common choice for “very”.

Why does the verb use yana (3rd person masculine singular) with umurni? Is “instruction” treated like a “he”?

Hausa often uses the 3rd person masculine singular form (ya / yana / shi) as the default “it” for many inanimate nouns, especially when they don’t belong to the feminine noun pattern.

Umurni is grammatically masculine, so:
- Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci. – The doctor’s instruction is important.

Other examples:

Littafin nan yana da amfani. – This book is useful.
Aikinmu yana da wahala. – Our work is difficult.

If the subject were plural, you would change the verb and pronoun:

Umurnai na likita suna da muhimmanci sosai.
The doctor’s instructions are very important.

So yana here is just the normal “it is/it has” form for a masculine singular noun, not a literal “he”.

Does yana da muhimmanci describe a general fact, or just something happening now?

In this type of sentence, yana da muhimmanci usually expresses a general fact or a generally valid statement, not just a temporary, right‑now action.

So:

Umurni na likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
is best understood as:
The doctor’s instruction is (in general) very important.

You can still make the time reference more specific if needed:

Yanzu umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
Now the doctor’s instruction is very important.

But with no time word, it naturally reads as a general truth, much like English “The doctor’s instructions are very important.”

How would I say the same idea in the past or future?

You have several options. A very natural way is to add time words or use different verb forms.

Past (was important):

Using ya kasance (was):
- Umurnin likita ya kasance mai muhimmanci sosai.
  The doctor’s instruction was very important.
Still using yana da but with a time adverb:
- A da, umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
  In the past, the doctor’s instruction was very important.

Future (will be important):

Using zai kasance (will be):
- Umurnin likita zai kasance mai muhimmanci sosai.
  The doctor’s instruction will be very important.
Using zai kasance yana da (a bit heavier, but possible):
- Umurnin likita zai kasance yana da muhimmanci sosai.
  The doctor’s instruction will be (having) great importance.

For everyday speech, ya kasance mai muhimmanci (past) and zai kasance mai muhimmanci (future) are very clear and idiomatic.

How would I make this sentence negative, like “The doctor’s instruction is not very important”?

One common negative structure with yana da X is ba shi da X (he/it does not have X).

So:

Umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
The doctor’s instruction is very important.

Negative:

Umurnin likita ba shi da muhimmanci sosai.
literally: The doctor’s instruction, it does not have much importance.
naturally: The doctor’s instruction is not very important.

Breaking it down:

ba … shi da … – negative of “he/it has …”
shi – refers back to umurnin likita
muhimmanci sosai – much importance

You might also hear a shorter or more neutral version without sosai:

Umurnin likita ba shi da muhimmanci. – The doctor’s instruction is not important.

Is there a more direct way to say “The doctor’s instruction is very important” without yana da muhimmanci?

Yes. You can use the adjective muhimmi with the copula ne/ce:

Umurnin likita muhimmi ne sosai.
The doctor’s instruction is very important.

Here:

muhimmi – adjective “important”
ne – copula for masculine singular noun (like “is”)
sosai – “very”

Both versions are good:

Umurnin likita yana da muhimmanci sosai.
Umurnin likita muhimmi ne sosai.

The first uses the “has importance” structure; the second uses a more straightforward “is important” adjective structure. Native speakers use both, and which one they choose often depends on style and rhythm rather than meaning.