Learn Hardcore Hausa: Na ji yadda malami yake faɗa cewa madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu. - I heard how the teacher says that milk is useful for the bones and the legs.

In the sentence Na ji yadda malami yake faɗa…, the most natural interpretation is “I heard” (as in hearing speech), but depending on context it can shade into “I got/understood how the teacher was saying…” because hearing speech usually implies understanding it.

What is the function of yadda in yadda malami yake faɗa?

yadda means roughly “how” / “the way (that)”.

In Na ji yadda malami yake faɗa… it introduces a subordinate clause that describes the manner or content of what was heard:

yadda malami yake faɗa ≈ how the teacher is saying (it) / the way the teacher says (it)

So you can think of it like:

Na ji yadda … = I heard how / the way (that) …

Why is it malami yake faɗa and not malami ya faɗa or malami yana faɗa?

This is about relative/subordinate clause structure and aspect:

yake is a combination of ya + ke, and is used inside certain subordinate or relative clauses, especially after words like yadda, lokacin da, inda, wanda, etc.
Compare:
- malami ya faɗa – the teacher said (it) → simple past, main clause
- malami yana faɗa – the teacher is saying (it) / usually says (it) → progressive/habitual, main clause
- yadda malami yake faɗa – how the teacher is (the one who is) saying/usually says it → relative-like clause after yadda

So yake faɗa here is the imperfective/progressive form inside a “how/that” clause triggered by yadda. It suggests an ongoing or habitual way of saying something, not just a single isolated past event.

What does cewa do in this sentence? Is it like English “that”?

Yes. cewa functions very much like English “that” introducing a reported speech / content clause.

malami yake faɗa cewa …
= the teacher is saying that …

So in the whole sentence:

Na ji yadda malami yake faɗa cewa madara tana da amfani…
≈ I heard how the teacher is saying that milk is beneficial…

You could omit cewa in very casual speech, but in standard, clear Hausa it’s normal and helpful to keep it; it clearly signals that what follows is the content of what the teacher says.

Why is it madara tana da amfani, not madara yana da amfani?

Because madara (“milk”) is grammatically feminine in Hausa.

Hausa verbs and pronouns agree in gender (for 3rd person singular):

Masculine: yaro yana da littafi – the boy has a book
Feminine: yarinya tana da littafi – the girl has a book

madara behaves like a feminine noun, so you use tana:

madara tana da amfani – milk has usefulness / is beneficial

Using yana with madara would sound ungrammatical or at least non‑standard.

What does tana da amfani literally mean, and is this the normal way to say “is good for / is beneficial”?

Literally, tana da amfani breaks down as:

tana – it (fem.) is (in imperfective)
da – with
amfani – use, usefulness, benefit

So tana da amfani ≈ “it is with usefulness”, i.e.
“it has usefulness / it is useful / it is beneficial.”

This is a very common pattern in Hausa:

Abin yana da amfani. – The thing is useful.
Shan ruwa yana da amfani. – Drinking water is beneficial.

So madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu is a perfectly natural way to say:
“Milk is beneficial for the bones and legs.”

What does ga mean in ga ƙashi da ƙafafu, and how is it different from words like zuwa or don?

In this sentence, ga means “for” (in the sense “beneficial for / good for”).

tana da amfani ga ƙashi – it is useful for the bones

Rough differences:

ga – often marks a target, recipient, or thing affected/concerned:
- kyauta ga yara – a gift for children
- ya yi kyau ga lafiyarka – it is good for your health
zuwa – to / toward, usually directional/movement:
- na tafi zuwa makaranta – I went to school
don – for, in order to, because of:
- na yi hakan don kai – I did that for you
- don lafiya – for health / because of health

Here we are talking about what something is good for (its beneficial effect on something), so ga is the natural choice.

Are ƙashi and ƙafafu singular or plural here?

ƙashi – can be used as a kind of mass noun for “bone/bones” in general. In many contexts it works like a plural (bones) or uncountable (bone tissue), and speakers don’t always distinguish clearly between singular and plural forms here.
ƙafa – one leg/foot
ƙafafu – legs/feet (plural)

In ga ƙashi da ƙafafu, the meaning is clearly plural/general:

ƙashi – bones (in general)
ƙafafu – legs/feet

So overall: for the bones and the legs/feet.

The word da appears twice: da amfani and ƙashi da ƙafafu. Are these the same word doing the same job?

It’s the same form, but it has different functions:

da as a preposition meaning “with”:
- tana da amfani – it is with usefulness → it has usefulness / it is useful
- Here da helps form an expression of possession/attribute.
da as a conjunction meaning “and”:
- ƙashi da ƙafafu – bones and legs/feet
- Here da simply links two nouns.

So:

da in tana da amfani ≈ with / having
da in ƙashi da ƙafafu ≈ and

Can the sentence be rearranged, for example using cewa earlier, like in English “I heard that the teacher says that…”?

You have some flexibility, but not all English-style reorderings sound natural in Hausa.

The original:

Na ji yadda malami yake faɗa cewa madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu.
– I heard how the teacher is saying that milk is beneficial for bones and legs.

You could say, for example:

Na ji malami yana faɗa cewa madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu.
– I heard the teacher saying that milk is beneficial for bones and legs.
(Here yadda is removed; focus is just on the fact that he said it.)

But a structure like:

✗ Na ji cewa malami yake faɗa yadda madara tana da amfani…

would be awkward or wrong, because yadda normally introduces how/the way (that), and here the natural “how” is about the teacher’s saying, not about milk’s being beneficial.

So yes, you can reorganize somewhat, but you need to keep:

yadda + [clause with yake] if you want to say “how / the way (that)”
cewa + [content clause] for “that …”

How can I break the sentence into smaller English-style pieces to see the structure clearly?

Think of it as three layers:

Main clause (what you did)
- Na ji … – I heard …
“How”‑clause (what you heard, in what manner)
- yadda malami yake faɗa … – how the teacher is saying …
Content clause (what the teacher is saying)
- cewa madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu.
  – that milk is beneficial for the bones and legs.

Put together:

Na ji
– I heard
(yadda malami yake faɗa)
– how the teacher is saying
(cewa madara tana da amfani ga ƙashi da ƙafafu).
– that milk is beneficial for the bones and legs.