Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi.

But Ni so on its own isn’t how Hausa expresses “I want”; the verb needs that ina (or another verbal form) to be complete.
So for ordinary “I want…”, you should say Ina so …, not Ni so ….

Does Ina so mean “I want” or “I like / love”? How strong is it?

Ina so can cover all of these depending on context:

“I want” – desire at the moment or in the near future:
- Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi. – I want to drink cold water.
“I like” – general preference:
- Ina son shan ruwa mai sanyi. – I like drinking cold water.
“I love” – for people or strong affection:
- Ina son ki. – I love you (to a woman).

Notes:

When so has an object, it usually appears as son:
- Ina son ruwa. – I like/love/want water.
Context tells you if it’s “want”, “like”, or “love”. With food/drink, it’s often “want” or “like”; with people, often “love” or “care about”.

What is the word in doing in in sha? Why not say Ina so na sha ruwa?

The in in in sha is a subjunctive pronoun meaning roughly “that I (should) …” or “for me to …”.

In Hausa, after verbs like so (to want), so + subjunctive is used to express what you want to do:

Ina so in sha ruwa.
= I want to drink water.
(literally: I-am wanting that-I-drink water)

The set of basic subjunctive pronouns is:

in – that I (should) …
ka / ki – that you (m/f) should …
ya / ta – that he/she should …
mu – that we should …
ku – that you (pl.) should …
su – that they should …

So you cannot replace in with na here:

na sha means “I drank” (past), not “I should drink”.
Ina so na sha ruwa would sound like “I want, I drank water”, which is not the intended meaning.

For “I want to drink…”, use Ina so in sha ….

In English we say “I want to drink…”. Where is the word “to” in the Hausa sentence?

Hausa does not use a separate word equivalent to the English “to” before verbs.

Instead, it uses:

the subjunctive pronoun (here: in) directly before the verb:

So:

Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi.
literally: I-am wanting that-I drink cold-water.

The combination in sha functions like “to drink” in English in this context.
So think of:

so + subjunctive (Ina so in sha) ≈ “want + to verb” (want to drink).

What does sha mean? Why do we say sha ruwa instead of just sha?

sha is the verb “to drink”.

It is normally transitive, meaning it usually needs an object (what you are drinking):

Ina so in sha ruwa. – I want to drink water.
Na sha madara. – I drank milk.

You can sometimes drop the object if it’s obvious from context:

Ka sha? – Have you drunk (it)? / Did you drink?

But in a neutral sentence like Ina so in sha …, you typically specify what you want to drink, hence sha ruwa = “drink water”.

What exactly does ruwa mean here? Is it “the water” or “some water”?

ruwa means “water” in general.

Hausa does not have separate words for “a / an / some / the” like English does.
Whether it means “water”, “some water”, or “the water” depends on context:

Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi.
Can be understood as “I want to drink (some) cold water.”
Ka kawo min ruwan nan. – Bring me that water.
Here ruwan nan is clearly “that (specific) water.”

So ruwa alone is just “water”; the idea of “some/the” is inferred from the situation or added with extra words like nan (this/that).

What does mai mean in ruwa mai sanyi?

In ruwa mai sanyi, the word mai is an attributive particle meaning roughly:

“having …” / “with …” / “that has …”

So:

ruwa mai sanyi
literally: “water having coldness”
→ natural English: “cold water”

This structure is very common in Hausa:
Noun + mai + quality-noun:

mutum mai kudi – a rich man (man with money)
mota mai tsada – an expensive car (car with expense)
gida mai kyau – a nice/beautiful house (house with goodness)

So in this sentence, mai links ruwa (“water”) with sanyi (“cold / coldness”), forming “water that has coldness” = cold water.

Is sanyi an adjective or a noun? How does it work in ruwa mai sanyi?

sanyi is originally a noun, meaning “cold, coldness, coolness, chill”.

In ruwa mai sanyi, Hausa is literally saying:

ruwa – water
mai – having/with
sanyi – coldness
→ “water with coldness” ⇒ cold water

Many Hausa “adjectival” ideas are expressed using noun-of-quality + mai:

mai sanyi – cold (having coldness)
mai tsabta – clean (having cleanliness)
mai hankali – intelligent/sensible (having sense)

There are also “true adjectives” (baki, fari, tsawo, etc.), but sanyi in this structure is best thought of as a noun of quality used with mai to give an adjectival meaning.

Can I say ruwa sanyi or ruwan sanyi instead of ruwa mai sanyi?

You will see different patterns in real speech, but as a learner, the safest and clearest way to say “cold water” is:

ruwa mai sanyi

You may encounter:

ruwan sanyi in some contexts/dialects, often as a set phrase.
ruwa sanyi is less standard and may not sound as natural everywhere.

Because ruwa mai sanyi follows a very regular and productive pattern (Noun + mai + quality-noun), it’s the best form to learn and use consistently when you mean “cold water”.

What is the difference between Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi and Ina son shan ruwa mai sanyi?

Both are correct, but they differ slightly in structure and nuance.

Ina so in sha ruwa mai sanyi.
- so is a verb: “I want”.
- in sha uses the subjunctive: “that I drink / to drink”.
- Feels a bit more like a specific desire right now:
  “I want to drink cold water (now / in this situation).”
Ina son shan ruwa mai sanyi.
- son is a noun (“wanting/liking/love”) from the verb so.
- shan is the verbal noun from sha (“drinking”).
- Structure: I-am in a state of liking the drinking of cold water.
- Often expresses a more general preference or habit:
  “I like drinking cold water.” / “I’m fond of drinking cold water.”

In everyday conversation, the meanings can overlap, and speakers may use either form depending on context.
For a clear “I want to drink… (now)”, Ina so in sha … is very straightforward.

How would I say “I don’t want to drink cold water” in Hausa?

A natural negative version is:

Ba na son in sha ruwa mai sanyi.

Breakdown:

Ba na … – I am not … (negative imperfective for “I”)
son – wanting/liking (noun form of so)
in sha – that I drink / to drink
ruwa mai sanyi – cold water

Literally: “I am not in (a state of) wanting that I drink cold water.”

Notes:

In fast speech, Ba na is often pronounced like bana.
You usually keep the subjunctive in even in the negative:
Ba na son in sha … – I don’t want to drink …

Why is the word order “ruwa mai sanyi” and not “mai sanyi ruwa” like in English “cold water”?

Hausa noun phrases have a different word order from English.

Basic rule:

The noun comes first, and descriptive elements follow it.

So:

ruwa mai sanyi – literally “water with coldness” ⇒ cold water
abinci mai dadi – food with goodness ⇒ tasty food
mota mai tsada – car with expense ⇒ expensive car

Putting mai sanyi before ruwa (mai sanyi ruwa) would be ungrammatical.
Always say NOUN + mai + quality word, not the other way round.

How do you pronounce sanyi in ruwa mai sanyi?

sanyi is pronounced in two syllables, roughly:

san-yee (with an “ny” sound, like in English “canyon”)

Details:

sa – like “sa” in “saga”.
ny – a single consonant [ɲ], like the “ñ” in Spanish señor.
i – like “ee” in “see”.

So you don’t say it as “san-yi” with a clear “n” + “y” break, but with a smooth ny sound: saɲ-yee.