Learn Hardcore Hausa: Na ji daɗin yadda ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri ta ce hoton ya yi kyau. - I liked how she answered this email quickly and said the picture looks good.

Idiomatically this is just how Hausa says “I liked how / I enjoyed the way (she answered…)”.
The verb ji is very broad: “hear, feel, experience,” so ji daɗi = “feel pleasure” → “be pleased, be happy, like (something).”

What exactly is yadda doing in this sentence?

yadda means “how / the way that” and introduces a clause describing manner:

yadda ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri
= “how she replied to this email quickly / the way she quickly replied to this email”

So the structure is:

Na ji daɗin (I liked / I enjoyed)
yadda… (the way that…)
- ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri (she replied to this email quickly)

You can think of yadda here like English “how” or “the way that” in:

I liked how she answered.
I enjoyed the way that she answered.

Why is it daɗin yadda and not just daɗi yadda? What is the -n on daɗin?

The -n on daɗin is the linker/genitive ending, used when one noun is linked to another word in a genitive-like relationship (often “of …” in English).

daɗi = pleasure
daɗi + n + yadda = daɗin yadda = “the pleasure of how…”

So:

Na ji daɗi. = I felt pleasure / I was happy.
Na ji daɗin yadda ta amsa. = I enjoyed how she answered (lit. I felt the pleasure of the way she answered).

The linker -n (or -r / -n depending on the word) is very common in Hausa when one noun or noun-like expression modifies another.

In imel ɗin nan, what does ɗin mean, and why is it there?

ɗin is a definite marker / determiner that often appears with nouns that are specific or previously mentioned, especially when they are followed by a postposed demonstrative like nan (“this/these here”).

Breakdown:

imel = email
ɗin = (definite marker, roughly like “the” / “that specific”)
nan = this (near the speaker)

So imel ɗin nan ≈ “this (particular) email” or “this email (we're talking about).”

You could say:

wannan imel = this email (introducing it or pointing it out)
imel ɗin nan = this email (that we’ve just mentioned / that you know about)

Both can translate as “this email,” but imel ɗin nan feels more like “this particular email we’re already referring to.”

Why does nan (“this”) come after the noun in imel ɗin nan instead of before like in English?

Hausa commonly uses postposed demonstratives, meaning the “this/that” word follows the noun phrase:

mutumin nan = this man (lit. man the this)
gidan nan = this house
imel ɗin nan = this email

There is also a preposed form:

wannan mutumin = this man
wannan imel = this email

So you have two patterns:

wannan + noun (preposed)
noun + ɗin + nan (postposed, often more definite / already known)

In conversation, imel ɗin nan usually suggests a particular email you and the listener both have in mind.

In ta amsa imel ɗin nan, why is there no word for “to,” as in “reply to this email”?

In Hausa, the verb amsa already includes the idea “reply to / answer” as a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object rather than a prepositional phrase:

amsa tambaya = answer a question
amsa kira = answer a call
amsa imel = reply to an email

So:

ta amsa imel ɗin nan
literally: “she answered this email”
and this is how Hausa normally says “she replied to this email.”

You don’t add a separate word like English “to.” The email itself is the object of amsa.

What is the role of da in da sauri, and why isn’t it just sauri?

The preposition da literally means “with”, and with many nouns it forms an adverbial phrase of manner:

da sauri = with speed → quickly
da gaggawa = with urgency → urgently
da kyau = with goodness → well / nicely
da hankali = with care → carefully

So:

ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri
= she replied to this email quickly
(lit. she answered this email with speed).

Using just sauri alone would sound odd here; da sauri is the fixed and natural way to say “quickly.”

There’s no word like “and” between ta amsa… and ta ce…. How can the sentence mean “she answered … and said …”?

Hausa often uses juxtaposition (just putting clauses side by side) instead of an explicit “and” when:

the subject is the same, and
the actions happen in sequence.

In the sentence:

… ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri ta ce hoton ya yi kyau.

we have two clauses with the same subject ta (“she”):

ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri = she replied to this email quickly
ta ce hoton ya yi kyau = she said the picture looked nice

The second ta is repeated (you can’t drop it), but there is no separate word for “and.”
English supplies “and” for clarity:

“… she replied to this email quickly and said the picture looked nice.”

You could add a connector like sannan (“then”) or kuma (“and/also”) for extra clarity, but it’s not required:

… ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri, sannan ta ce…
… ta amsa imel ɗin nan da sauri, kuma ta ce…

Why is it ya yi kyau for “is nice / looks nice”? What is this yi + adjective pattern?

In hoton ya yi kyau:

hoto = picture
hoton = the picture (with -n linker/definite)
ya = he/it (3rd person singular, masculine, perfective)
yi = do / make
kyau = goodness, beauty

The pattern “subject + yi + (adjective/noun)” is a very common way to say:

“be [adjective]”
“turn out [adjective] / look [adjective] / be nice/good”

So:

Abincin ya yi daɗi. = The food is tasty / turned out tasty.
Littafin ya yi tsawo. = The book is long.
Hoton ya yi kyau. = The picture looks nice / is beautiful.

Literally it’s like “the picture did beauty,” but idiomatically it just means “the picture is nice / turned out nice.”

Does ya yi kyau mean “was nice” (past) or “is nice” (present)? It looks like a past tense form.

Formally, ya yi is the perfective form (often used for past actions), but with adjectives and certain stative expressions like:

ya yi kyau (it’s nice)
ya yi daɗi (it’s pleasant / enjoyable)
ya yi tsawo (it’s long)

the perfective is used even for present-time descriptions or evaluations. Context decides whether English uses “is” or “was.”

In this sentence:

She just looked at the picture and commented on it.
So ta ce hoton ya yi kyau is best understood as:

“she said the picture is nice / looks nice.”

If the wider context were clearly in the past with no present relevance, English might translate it as “was nice,” but Hausa doesn’t have to change the form; ya yi kyau covers both, with context doing the work.

Why is it hoton and not just hoto before ya yi kyau?

The -n at the end of hoton is again the linker/definite marker attached to the noun:

hoto = a picture / picture (indefinite)
hoton = the picture, or “picture-of …” depending on context

In subject position, adding -n often gives a sense of definiteness:

Hoto ya yi kyau. = A picture (some picture) is nice.
Hoton ya yi kyau. = The picture is nice.

Also, hoto often appears with this -n when it’s clearly a specific one already known in the discourse (e.g. the picture that was attached to the email). So hoton here corresponds to “the picture” / “the photo.”

Could we say ta ce cewa hoton ya yi kyau instead of ta ce hoton ya yi kyau? What does cewa do?

Yes, you can say ta ce cewa hoton ya yi kyau, and it’s grammatically fine.

ce = say
cewa = “that” (a complementizer that introduces reported speech or a clause)

So:

ta ce hoton ya yi kyau
= she said: “The picture is nice.” (quotation follows ce directly)
ta ce cewa hoton ya yi kyau
= she said that the picture is nice.

Both are correct. Everyday Hausa often omits cewa and just puts the quoted clause directly after ce, as in the original sentence. Adding cewa can sound a bit more explicit or formal, but it’s not necessary here.

What is the difference between d and ɗ in words like daɗin and ɗin? How should I pronounce ɗ?

Hausa has two distinct sounds written d and ɗ:

d = an ordinary voiced “d” like in English “dog”.
ɗ = an implosive d, a special sound not found in English.

To pronounce ɗ:

Put your tongue behind your teeth as for a normal d.
Slightly pull the larynx down and draw in a tiny bit of air while voicing, instead of pushing air out.
Release the tongue.

The result is like a “swallowed” or “popping” d.
Minimal pairs (they differ only by d vs ɗ):

danu vs ɗan’u (in some dialects)
dogo (tall) vs ɗogo (a different word, if it exists in a given dialect)
daɗi (pleasure) has ɗ, not plain d.

In daɗin and ɗin, that ɗ sound is important: it distinguishes these words from others that might use plain d.