Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malami ya ce kar mu cutar da kare ko tsuntsaye. - The teacher said we should not harm a dog or birds.

kar mu cutar... ≈ we should not harm... / let us not harm...
kada is a slightly fuller or more formal form. In many contexts, kar and kada can both be used before a pronoun:
- kar mu tafi ≈ kada mu tafi (let us not go)

In everyday speech, especially before pronouns like mu, ka, ku, kar is extremely common; kada is frequent in more formal or careful speech and writing.

What is the role of ya in Malami ya ce?

ya is the 3rd person masculine singular subject pronoun (he). Hausa normally uses such a pronoun even when the subject noun is already mentioned:

Malami ya ce... = The teacher, he said...

Here ya ce is the perfective form he said, showing a completed action in the past. So the beginning of the sentence means The teacher said...

How does ya ce kar mu cutar... correspond to English reported speech?

Malami ya ce kar mu cutar da kare ko tsuntsaye corresponds to:

The teacher said that we should not harm the dog or birds.

Hausa does not need a separate word like that to introduce reported speech. You simply put the content of what was said directly after ya ce:

ya ce...
- the clause that was said
ya ce kar mu cutar... = he said (that) we should not harm...

If you wanted to show direct speech more explicitly, you could also say:

Malami ya ce: Kar ku cutar da kare ko tsuntsaye.
(The teacher said: Do not harm the dog or birds.)

What exactly does mu do in kar mu cutar?

mu is the subject pronoun we. In negative commands with kar/kada, the basic pattern is:

kar + subject pronoun + verb

So:

kar mu cutar... = let us not harm / we should not harm
With other pronouns you get:
- kar ka cutar... = do not (you, sg.) harm...
- kar ku cutar... = do not (you, pl.) harm...
- kar su cutar... = they should not harm...

So mu tells you that the prohibition is about us / we.

Is cutar da one unit, and what does it literally mean?

Grammatically it is two words, but together they function like a single verb:

cuta = illness, harm
cutar here is a verbal form based on that noun.
da is a preposition often used after certain verbs to introduce the object or the thing affected.

So cutar da someone or something means to harm / injure / treat badly that person or thing. In this sentence:

mu cutar da kare = we harm the dog / we hurt the dog
kar mu cutar da kare = we should not harm the dog

This pattern verb (often noun‑based) + da + object is very common in Hausa.

Is cutar here a verb or a noun? I thought cuta meant illness.

You are right: cuta is a noun meaning illness, disease, harm. Hausa often turns such nouns into verb-like forms without adding a separate verb:

cuta (illness)
→ ya cutar da shi = he harmed him / caused him trouble

So in kar mu cutar da kare, cutar is functioning as a verb meaning to harm, even though it comes historically from the noun. This noun‑based verb formation is very common in Hausa.

Where is the idea of should or must in the Hausa sentence?

There is no separate word that literally means should or must here. The idea comes from the negative command construction:

kar + pronoun + verb = do not / should not / must not

So:

kar mu cutar... can be translated as:
- we must not harm...
- we should not harm...
- let us not harm...

Context decides how strong it sounds in English, but grammatically it is just a negative prohibition.

Does kare ko tsuntsaye mean one dog and several birds, or something more general?

Literally, it is dog or birds:

kare = dog (normally singular)
tsuntsu = bird (singular)
tsuntsaye = birds (plural)

However, Hausa often uses a singular animal noun generically:

kar ka cutar da kare can mean do not harm dogs (in general)

So kare ko tsuntsaye is naturally understood as something like dogs or birds (in general), not just one particular dog plus some particular birds.

If you want to be explicit that both are plural, you can say:

karnuka ko tsuntsaye = dogs or birds

What is the difference between ko and da here? Could I say kare da tsuntsaye instead?

Yes, you can, but it changes the meaning:

ko = or
- kare ko tsuntsaye = a dog or birds / dogs or birds
da (in this usage) = and
- kare da tsuntsaye = a dog and birds / dogs and birds

So:

kar mu cutar da kare ko tsuntsaye = we should not harm the dog or the birds (either one)
kar mu cutar da kare da tsuntsaye = we should not harm the dog and the birds (both kinds of animals)

Is there any difference between Malami ya ce and Malamin ya ce?

Yes:

malami = a teacher / teacher (in general)
malamin = the teacher / that teacher

The ending ‑n is a definite or linking marker that often functions like English the and also marks possession or tight connection.

In practice:

Malami ya ce... can still refer to the teacher if the context already makes it clear which teacher you mean.
Malamin ya ce... more strongly indicates a specific, known teacher: that particular teacher said...

Both are grammatically fine; the form with ‑n is just more explicitly definite.