Learn Hardcore Hausa: Na buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya. - I opened a new account at the bank this morning.

Na here = “I” in the completed past (similar idea to “I have / I did”).
Ni is the independent pronoun “I”, mainly used:
- for emphasis: Ni na buɗe… = It was *I who opened…*
- in short answers:
  - Q: Wa ya buɗe asusun? – Who opened the account?
  - A: Ni. – I did.

So:

Na buɗe… = I opened… / I have opened…
Ni ne na buɗe… = I am the one who opened… (very emphatic)

What tense or aspect is Na buɗe? Is it more like “I opened” or “I have opened”?

Na buɗe is in the perfective/completed aspect of the verb.

It usually covers both English meanings:

“I opened a new account…” (simple past)
“I have opened a new account…” (present perfect)

Hausa doesn’t distinguish those two as clearly as English; it just says the action is completed.

So, Na buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya is naturally translated as either:

I opened a new account at the bank this morning, or
I’ve opened a new account at the bank this morning.

Why is it sabon asusu and not just sabo asusu for “new account”?

The adjective sabo (“new”) changes form depending on the noun it describes.

For a masculine singular noun like asusu (“account”), Hausa uses the linking form:

sabo
- linking -n → sabon
sabon asusu = new account (masculine singular)

Other examples:

sabon littafi – new book (masc.)
sabuwar mota – new car (fem.)
sabbin littattafai – new books (plural)

So sabon asusu is the grammatically correct way to say “new account”.

What exactly does asusu mean here? Can it also mean “bank account” specifically?

Asusu in this context means “account”, and in everyday speech it almost always implies a bank account, unless the context suggests otherwise.

You could be more explicit if you wanted:

asusun banki – bank account
Na buɗe sabon asusun banki – I opened a new bank account.

But in a sentence that already has a banki (at the bank), sabon asusu is naturally understood as a new bank account.

Why is the preposition a used before banki? What does a banki literally mean?

In a banki, the particle a is a basic location preposition, often translated as:

“at”, “in”, or sometimes “on”, depending on context.

So a banki literally means “at the bank” or “in the bank”.

Other examples:

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

If you want to emphasize “inside”, you might hear:

a cikin banki – inside the bank

There’s no word for “the” before banki. How do you say “at the bank” versus “at a bank” in Hausa?

Hausa doesn’t have separate words like English “a/an” and “the”. The phrase a banki can mean “at a bank” or “at the bank”, depending on context.

To make it clearly definite (a specific bank), Hausa may:

Attach a possessive or demonstrative:
- a bankinmu – at our bank
- a bankin nan – at this bank
Or rely on previous context: once you’ve mentioned a specific bank, a banki is naturally understood as at the bank.

So the sentence could be translated either as:

I opened a new account at a bank… or
I opened a new account at the bank…

depending on what has been talked about earlier.

What does yau safiya mean exactly? Is it the same as saying “this morning” in English?

Yau safiya literally breaks down as:

yau – today
safiya – morning

Put together, yau safiya is very naturally translated as “this morning” in English.

You will also often hear:

yau da safiya – today in the morning / this morning
da safen nan – this morning (colloquial, “this very morning”)
da safe – in the morning (more general, not necessarily just today)

In your sentence, yau safiya definitely has the sense of “this morning.”

Does the order a banki yau safiya matter? Could I say yau safiya na buɗe sabon asusu a banki instead?

Both orders are acceptable; Hausa word order is fairly flexible for time and place expressions.

Current sentence:

Na buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya.
- Focus is more neutral; the whole event is just reported.

Alternative:

Yau safiya na buɗe sabon asusu a banki.
- Puts yau safiya (“this morning”) in a more prominent/emphatic position:
  - This morning, I opened a new account at the bank.

So yes, you can move yau safiya to the front for emphasis without changing the basic meaning.

Could I leave out Na and just say Buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya?

Not in this meaning.

Na buɗe… = I opened… (you need Na to show who did the action).
Buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya. – without Na, this sounds like an imperative:
- Open a new account at the bank this morning.

In Hausa, finite verbs normally need a subject marker (like na, ka, ya, ta, mun, kun, sun). Dropping Na turns the verb into a command rather than a statement.

How would I say “I didn’t open a new account at the bank this morning” using this sentence as a base?

To negate Na buɗe…, Hausa uses ba… ba around the clause. The subject pronoun also changes shape slightly.

A natural negative is:

Ban buɗe sabon asusu a banki ba yau safiya.
- Ban = ba + na → I (did) not
- Verb stays the same: buɗe
- Final ba closes the negative.

Meaning: “I didn’t open a new account at the bank this morning.”

You can also move yau safiya earlier:

Yau safiya ban buɗe sabon asusu a banki ba.

Is buɗe only used for “open an account”, or is it a general verb for “open”?

Buɗe is a general verb for “open”. It’s used both literally and figuratively:

buɗe ƙofa – open the door
buɗe littafi – open a book
buɗe ido – open (one’s) eyes
buɗe baki – open the mouth / start speaking
buɗe asusu – open an account

The noun for the act of opening is:

buɗewa – opening (as a noun):
- buɗewar asusun – the opening of the account

If I want to say “I opened another new account…”, how would I add the idea of “another”?

To add “another” (i.e. an additional one), you typically use wani:

Na buɗe wani sabon asusu a banki yau safiya.
- wani – a / some / another (masc. sg.)
- wani sabon asusu – another new account / a (certain) new account

So:

sabon asusu – a new account (already clear from context)
wani sabon asusu – another new account / some (unspecified) new account

How would I say “I was opening a new account at the bank this morning when…”? (i.e. past continuous)

For a progressive/continuous action in the past, Hausa typically uses ina (or nake with a time expression), plus the verb.

Example:

Ina buɗe sabon asusu a banki yau safiya lokacin da…
- I was opening a new account at the bank this morning when…

Or:

Yau safiya nake buɗe sabon asusu a banki lokacin da…
- Literally: This morning I am (was) in the process of opening a new account at the bank when…
- In English: This morning I was opening a new account at the bank when…

The exact choice depends on the wider sentence, but ina + verb is the key continuous/progressive marker.