Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi. - I like the shoe shop at the side of the street.

ina son … is the normal way to say “I like / I love / I want …” (present).
Adding ni in front gives extra emphasis: “I (as opposed to someone else) like the shoe shop…”.

So:

Neutral: Ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi.
Emphatic: Ni ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi. (“Me, I like the shoe shop by the road.”)

Can I drop ni and just say Ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi?

Yes. That is actually the more usual everyday form.

Ni ina… → emphatic / contrastive (“I, for my part…”).
Ina… → normal, unmarked subject.

So both are correct, but if you don’t need emphasis, Ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi is the standard way to say it.

Why is it ina son and not ina so?

The verb “to like / want / love” is so, but when it takes an object, you usually see the form son.

You can think of it like this:

so = “to like / want” (the basic verb).
son = “liking / love of (something)” (a verbal noun
- linker -n before its object).

So:

Ina son shagon takalma. = “I like the shoe shop.” (literally “I am in the state of ‘liking-of’ the shoe shop.”)
Historically: ina so n shagon takalma → contracted to ina son shagon takalma.

As a learner, the practical rule is: > With an object after so, use son: Ina son …, Ba ni son …, etc.

Does ina son mean “I am liking” (continuous) or just “I like / I love / I want”?

In Hausa, ina + verb is often called “progressive”, but with verbs of feeling or mental states like so (“to like / love / want”), it usually covers the general present as well.

So Ina son shagon takalma can mean:

“I like the shoe shop” (general preference),
“I love the shoe shop”,
“I want the shoe shop” (depending on context).

English makes a distinction between “I like” and “I am liking”; Hausa just uses ina son for the normal present meaning. It does not sound strange in Hausa the way “I am liking” does in English.

What exactly does shagon takalma mean? How is it formed?

Shagon takalma is a noun–noun construction:

shago = “shop, store”.
takamla (plural takamla / takalma depending on spelling) = “shoes”.
shago + -n + takalma → shagon takalma = “shop of shoes” → “shoe shop”.

So:

shago by itself = a shop (any kind).
shagon takalma = specifically “the shoe shop / a shoe shop”.

Why is there an -n at the end of shagon?

The final -n is the linker (also called the genitive marker or construct marker). It connects two nouns in a relationship similar to English “of” or noun–noun compounds.

Pattern:

Noun 1 + -n / -r
- Noun 2.

Examples:

gida + -n + makaranta → gidan makaranta = “school building” (house of school).
shago + -n + takalma → shagon takalma = “shoe shop”.
gefe + -n + titi → gefen titi = “side of the road”.

So shagon is just shago + -n “of” before takamla.

What is the basic word order in this sentence? Is it similar to English?

Yes, it’s very similar to English S–V–O (+ adverbial):

Ni = Subject (“I”)
ina son = Verb phrase (“I like / I love / I want”)
shagon takalma = Object (“the shoe shop”)
a gefen titi = Location phrase (“by the road / at the side of the road”).

So overall: > [S] Ni [V] ina son [O] shagon takalma [Loc] a gefen titi.

This matches the English order: I like the shoe shop by the road.

What does the little word a do here?

a is a very common locative preposition, often translated as “in / at / on / by” depending on context.

In this sentence:

a gefen titi = “at the side of the road / by the road”.

Other examples:

a gida = at home / in the house.
a makaranta = at school.
a kasuwa = at the market.

So a introduces a place or location, much like English “at / in / on / by”.

What does gefen mean, and can it be used with other nouns?

gefen comes from gefe = “side”. With the linker -n, you get gefen X = “the side of X”.

In a gefen titi:

gefen = “side of”
titi = “road, street” → gefen titi = “the side of the road”.

Yes, it’s very productive:

gefen gida = the side of the house.
gefen kasuwa = the side of the market.
gefen hanya = the side of the road / path.

With a in front:

a gefen gida = at the side of the house.
a gefen titi = by the roadside.

What is the difference between a gefen titi, a bakin titi, and a kan titi?

All three relate to a road, but with slightly different images:

a gefen titi
Literally “at the side of the road”.
→ Often like English “by the road / beside the road / along the roadside.”
a bakin titi
baki can mean “mouth, edge”; bakin titi = “the edge of the road”.
→ Often suggests right at the edge, where the road meets something else (a curb, a ditch, etc.).
a kan titi
kan = “on, on top of”.
→ Literally “on the road / on the street”, often implying on the surface itself (e.g. a stall in the road, a car in the street).

In context of a shop, a gefen titi is a natural way to say it’s beside / by the road rather than in the middle of it.

Does this sentence definitely mean “the shoe shop by the road”, or could it also be “a shoe shop by the road”? How is definiteness expressed?

Hausa does not use articles like English “a / the”, so definiteness is mostly a matter of context.

shagon takalma a gefen titi can be understood as:
- “the shoe shop by the road” (if speaker and listener both know which one), or
- “a shoe shop by the road” (if it’s mentioned for the first time).

Things that often make a noun feel definite in Hausa:

Possession: gidanmu = “our house”.
Demonstratives: wannan shagon takalma = “this shoe shop”.
Shared context: “the shop we always talk about”.

So your sentence is flexible; English translation “the” vs “a” depends on context, not on a specific word in Hausa.

How would I change this sentence to the past or future?

You mainly change the subject–tense part (ina) and sometimes the verb form. Some useful patterns:

Present / ongoing / general (your sentence):
- Ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi.
- “I like / love / want the shoe shop by the road.”
Simple past (“I liked / I loved / I wanted”):
- Na so shagon takalma a gefen titi.
- For a more “once in the past” feeling: Na taɓa son shagon takalma… (“I once liked / I used to like…”).
Future / intention (“I will like / I will want / I would like”):
- Zan so shagon takalma a gefen titi.
- More natural for “I’d like to go to the shoe shop by the road”:
  Zan so zuwa shagon takalma a gefen titi. (“I’d like to go to the shoe shop…”)

In everyday speech, ina son is your go‑to for present likes/wants.

How do you pronounce shagon takalma together? Does the -n join to the next word?

Yes, in natural speech the -n of shagon links closely to the following word:

shagon takalma ≈ sha‑gon ta‑kal‑ma (the n is clearly pronounced and flows into ta‑).

Some notes:

The sh is like English “sh” in “shop”.
Stress is often towards the penultimate syllable, so you’ll commonly hear SHA‑gon ta‑KAL‑ma.
There is no pause between shagon and takamla; it’s one phrase.

Listening to native speakers pronouncing gidan abinci, shagon takalma, gefen titi, etc., will help you get the rhythm of linker -n in fast speech.

Could this sentence also be understood as “I like going to the shoe shop by the road”, or is it strictly “I like the shop itself”?

Literally, the sentence is about liking the shop itself:

Ina son shagon takalma a gefen titi.
→ “I like the shoe shop by the road.”

However, in natural conversation, saying you “like a place” often implies liking going there, especially for shops, markets, etc. Context would decide whether the focus is:

the shop as a place / business, or
the experience of going there.

If you want to be explicit about going, you’d normally add a verb like zuwa (“to go”):

Ina son zuwa shagon takalma a gefen titi.
= “I like going to the shoe shop by the road.”