Learn Hardcore Hausa: Jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa idan na karanta littafi. - My happiness increases when I read a book.

jin – the verbal noun of ji (to feel, hear, sense); here: feeling of
daɗi – pleasure, enjoyment, sweetness
jin daɗi together – pleasure, enjoyment, feeling good
na – my (possessive pronoun after a noun phrase)
jin daɗi na – my pleasure / my enjoyment
yana – he/it is …‑ing (3rd person singular continuous/progressive)
ƙaruwa – verbal noun from ƙaru (to increase); increasing, increase
yana ƙaruwa – is increasing
idan – if / when / whenever
na (before karanta) – 1st person singular I in the perfective (completed) aspect
karanta – to read
littafi – book

So a very literal gloss could be:

My pleasure is increasing when/whenever I (have) read a book.

What exactly is jin daɗi? Why not just daɗi?

Daɗi by itself means things like pleasure, enjoyment, deliciousness, comfort, fun depending on context.

Jin daɗi is a set expression built from:

jin – feeling (verbal noun of ji)
daɗi – pleasure

So jin daɗi literally is feeling of pleasure, and it is commonly used to mean:

enjoyment
feeling good / feeling happy
having fun / taking pleasure in something

You can sometimes use daɗi alone (for example about food: abincin nan daɗi ne – this food is tasty), but for the more emotional or general feeling of enjoyment, Hausa very often prefers the phrase jin daɗi.

In this sentence, jin daɗi na is more natural than just daɗi na for “my pleasure / my enjoyment.”

In jin daɗi na, what is na doing there, and could I say jin daɗina instead?

Here na is a possessive pronoun meaning my that comes after the noun phrase:

jin daɗi na – my pleasure / my enjoyment

Hausa has two main ways to show possession:

Suffix on the noun
- daɗi → daɗina – my pleasure
- So jin daɗina = my enjoyment
Independent pronoun after the noun phrase
- jin daɗi na – literally pleasure of me → my pleasure

Both jin daɗina and jin daɗi na are possible in Hausa. The separate na is very common and especially handy when:

the noun phrase is longer or more complex (jin daɗi sosai na, etc.),
or for a slightly more colloquial or emphatic feel.

So in this sentence, jin daɗi na is perfectly normal; jin daɗina would also be understood as “my pleasure,” though many speakers would naturally say it the way given.

What is the subject of the sentence? Is jin daɗi na really the thing that “is increasing”?

Yes. The basic structure is:

[Jin daɗi na] [yana ƙaruwa] [idan na karanta littafi].

Breakdown:

jin daɗi na – my pleasure → subject
yana ƙaruwa – is increasing → verb phrase (predicate)
idan na karanta littafi – when I read a book → conditional / time clause

So the thing that is increasing is my pleasure.

You could rearrange the clauses and say:

Idan na karanta littafi, jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa.

The meaning is the same; Hausa allows either order for the idan‑clause.

Why do we need yana before ƙaruwa? Could we just say jin daɗi na ƙaruwa?

Yana is the 3rd person singular continuous/progressive marker, roughly he/it is …‑ing.

In Hausa, one very common way to make a progressive or ongoing action is:

subject + yana / tana / suna + verbal noun

So:

yana ƙaruwa – it is increasing
jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa – my pleasure is increasing

If you say only jin daɗi na ƙaruwa, it sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Hausa, because ƙaruwa is a verbal noun and normally needs that auxiliary (yana, tana, etc.) to make a finite verb phrase in this pattern.

To say it without the progressive structure, you would instead use the finite verb:

jin daɗi na ya ƙaru – my pleasure increased / has increased

So:

jin daɗi na ya ƙaru – completed event: my pleasure increased.
jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa – ongoing/habitual: my pleasure is (always) increasing.

What form is ƙaruwa, and how is it different from the plain verb ƙaru?

ƙaruwa is the verbal noun (sometimes called a masdar) of the verb ƙaru.

ƙaru – finite verb: to increase
- ya ƙaru – it increased
ƙaruwa – verbal noun: increase, increasing

Uses:

With a progressive auxiliary:
- yana ƙaruwa – is increasing
As a noun:
- ƙaruwa a farashi – an increase in price

So in the sentence, yana ƙaruwa literally is it is in a state of increasing, which is how Hausa builds the progressive aspect here.

What does idan mean here? Is it more like “if” or more like “when / whenever”?

Idan can mean both if and when/whenever, depending on context.

In this sentence:

idan na karanta littafi – literally if/when I read a book

Because we are talking about a regular, habitual situation (every time I read, my pleasure increases), English normally translates this as:

when I read a book or whenever I read a book

So the nuance here is whenever, not a doubtful “maybe” kind of if.

In idan na karanta littafi, what is the na doing, and what tense/aspect does it show?

Here na is not the possessive my, but the 1st person singular subject + perfective aspect marker:

na karanta – I read / I have read (completed action)

The pattern is:

na karanta – I read
ka karanta – you (m.sg.) read
ta karanta – she read
etc.

In idan‑clauses, Hausa often uses the perfective na karanta to describe:

general or habitual situations,
things that are true whenever something happens.

So idan na karanta littafi comfortably means:

when(ever) I read a book
rather than strictly past “when I read a book (once, in the past).”

Context tells us it is a general statement, not a one-time past event.

Could we say idan ina karanta littafi instead of idan na karanta littafi? What would be the difference?

Yes, idan ina karanta littafi is grammatical, but the nuance shifts.

idan na karanta littafi
- uses perfective (na)
- suggests whenever I read a book (as a complete act), my pleasure increases.
- focuses on the act being completed.
idan ina karanta littafi
- uses continuous/progressive (ina = I am …‑ing)
- suggests when I am in the process of reading a book, my pleasure increases.
- focuses on the ongoing activity.

In many everyday contexts, both could be understood similarly, but idan na karanta littafi is the more typical, compact way to express a general whenever‑type condition.

Does littafi here mean a specific book or books in general?

Littafi by itself is singular and not explicitly marked for definiteness, so it can be understood as:

a book (indefinite singular), or
book(s) in general, depending on context.

In this kind of generic statement, littafi is usually interpreted as a book / books in general:

My pleasure increases when I read a book / when I read books.

If you wanted to be clearly specific, you could say something like:

idan na karanta littafin nan – when I read this book
idan na karanta littafin – when I read the book (already known in context).

Can the idan‑clause come at the beginning of the sentence, as in English?

Yes. Both orders are natural in Hausa:

As given:
- Jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa idan na karanta littafi.
With idan‑clause first:
- Idan na karanta littafi, jin daɗi na yana ƙaruwa.

The meaning is the same. Placing idan na karanta littafi first can slightly highlight the condition (“Whenever I read a book…”), but it is a stylistic choice rather than a big grammatical difference.