Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da.

In this sentence it sets the time frame: “Now, I love Hausa more than before.”
It does not have to come first. You could also say:
- Ina ƙaunar Hausa yanzu fiye da da.
- Ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da yanzu.

Placing yanzu at the beginning just emphasizes the contrast between now and before a bit more strongly, which fits well with fiye da da (“more than before”).

Why is ina used here instead of just ni for “I”?

Ni is the independent pronoun “I / me.”
Ina is a combination of subject + tense/aspect, roughly “I am / I (habitually)”.

ni – standalone pronoun:
- Ni ne Ali. – I am Ali.
ina – 1st person singular present/progressive/habitual marker:
- Ina cin abinci. – I am eating / I eat (food).
- Ina ƙaunar Hausa. – I love Hausa / I like Hausa.

So in Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da, ina is needed because you’re making a verbal statement (“I am loving / I love”), not just pointing to yourself.

What is ƙaunar Hausa literally, and why is there an -r on ƙauna?

The base word is ƙauna, which is a noun meaning “love (affection)”.

When that noun is followed by another noun, Hausa often puts it into a kind of construct form by changing the final -a to -ar:

ƙauna → ƙaunar Hausa

Literally, ƙaunar Hausa means “the love of Hausa”.
In context, ina ƙaunar Hausa is interpreted as “I love Hausa”.

So the -r (ƙauna → ƙaunar) is a regular linker showing a tight relationship, similar to English “love of X” or “X’s love.”

Could I also say ina son Hausa instead of ina ƙaunar Hausa? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say Ina son Hausa, and it’s very common.

so / son – “to like / love,” with son as the verbal noun:
- Ina son Hausa. – I like/love Hausa.
ƙauna / ƙaunar – “love” (often a bit stronger, emotional love):
- Ina ƙaunar Hausa. – I (really) love Hausa.

In many everyday contexts they overlap:

Yanzu ina son Hausa fiye da da.
Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da.

Both are natural. Son is slightly more general (“like / love”), ƙauna sounds a bit more like deep affection, but in practice both can translate as “love” here.

Why is da written twice in fiye da da? Is that a mistake?

It’s not a mistake; there are two different “da” words here:

fiye da = “more than” (comparative marker)
dā / da = an adverb meaning “formerly, before, in the past”

Because Hausa is often written without vowel length marks, both are just written da, so on the page you see fiye da da, but conceptually it’s:

fiye da dā → more than before / more than previously

So Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da means:
“Now I love Hausa more than (I did) before.”

Are there other ways to say “more than before” besides fiye da da?

Yes, several variants are used in Hausa, for example:

fiye da da baya – literally “more than (it was) back/before”
fiye da da can – “more than (it was) back then / earlier”
fiye da da à da – also heard, though a bit heavier
Or more explicitly:
- Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da yadda na taɓa yi a da.
  Now I love Hausa more than I ever did before.

But fiye da da on its own is short, natural, and very common in speech.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move fiye da da around in the sentence?

You have some flexibility. All of these are grammatical, with small differences in emphasis:

Yanzu ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da.
– Focuses on “Now…” then gives the comparison.
Ina ƙaunar Hausa yanzu fiye da da.
– Slightly more neutral: “I love Hausa now more than before.”
Ina ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da yanzu.
– Also possible; the “now” comes last, which can feel like an afterthought.

What you generally don’t do is split fiye da da across the sentence; it stays together as a unit.

Why is Hausa capitalized, and do I need an article like “the” or “a” in front of it?

In standard writing:

Hausa is capitalized because it’s a proper name (of a language / people), just like English, French, etc.
Hausa does not use articles like English “the / a / an” in the same way. So you say:
- Ina ƙaunar Hausa. – I love Hausa (the Hausa language).

You don’t say *Ina ƙaunar the Hausa in Hausa; there is simply no article word here.

How do you pronounce ƙaunar? What’s the difference between ƙ and k?

Pronunciation points:

ƙ is an ejective k (a glottalized sound).
- It’s produced with a small “pop,” something like a hard k made with extra pressure.
- English doesn’t have it, but you can approximate it with a very crisp, tense k.
ƙaunar:
- ƙa – ejective k
  - a
- u – like “oo” in “food” but usually shorter
- nar – na plus a tapped/flapped r at the end (similar to a quick Spanish r in “pero”)

So roughly: K’AW-nar, with a popping k’ and a light final r.

Why does the sentence use ina ƙaunar Hausa instead of something like na ƙaunaci Hausa?

Both are possible, but they express slightly different aspects:

Ina ƙaunar Hausa.
- Uses ina + verbal noun (ƙaunar).
- Expresses a current state or habitual situation: “I (now) love Hausa / I’m someone who loves Hausa.”
Na ƙaunaci Hausa.
- Uses a perfective verb form.
- Often understood as a completed event: “I loved Hausa (at some point)” or “I came to love Hausa.”

Because you’re talking about your present, ongoing feeling (“Now I love Hausa more than before”), ina ƙaunar Hausa is the most natural choice.

There is no word for “it” in “I love it (Hausa).” Why doesn’t Hausa use a pronoun here?

Hausa usually mentions the object noun directly, and often doesn’t use an extra pronoun like English “it” unless it’s really needed.

Ina ƙaunar Hausa. – literally “I am in love-of Hausa.” → I love Hausa.
Saying something like *Ina ƙaunar ta (“I love it”) would only make sense if “it” referred to something clearly mentioned before, and even then Hausa often still names the object.

So English needs a dummy object pronoun “it”, but Hausa can simply say ƙaunar Hausa with no extra pronoun.

How would I negate this sentence: “Now I do not love Hausa more than before”?

To negate ina ƙaunar, you use bana ƙaunar (or more fully Ni ba na ƙaunar… ba). A direct negation of the comparison would be:

Yanzu ba na ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da ba.

More colloquially, you’ll often hear the contracted form:

Yanzu bana ƙaunar Hausa fiye da da ba.

This means roughly: “Now I don’t love Hausa more than before.”
(The ba … ba frame is the regular Hausa negation pattern in this tense.)