Learn Hardcore Hausa: Uwa ta ajiye kuɗi a asusun banki domin hutun rani. - Mother put money in the bank account for the dry-season holiday.

You include uwa when you want to specify that the person is the mother. If it’s already clear from context who ta refers to, native speakers often just say:

Ta ajiye kuɗi a asusun banki…
(She saved money in a bank account…)

Is ajiye a verb or a noun here, and what exactly does it mean?

Here ajiye is a verb in the perfective aspect.

Basic meaning:

ajiye = to put down, put aside, store away, deposit, save

In this sentence:

ta ajiye kuɗi = she saved/put aside money

Related word:

ajiya (noun) = a deposit, savings

So:

ajiye kuɗi – to save money / put money aside (verb phrase)
ajiya – a deposit / savings (noun)

Does ajiye kuɗi always mean “save money”, or can it just mean “put money down”?

It can mean both, depending on context.

Saving/depositing:
- Ta ajiye kuɗi a asusun banki.
  She deposited/saved money in a bank account.
Simply putting money aside/away:
- Ta ajiye kuɗi a gida.
  She put money aside/kept money at home.

In this sentence, because we have a asusun banki (in a bank account) and domin hutun rani (for the summer holiday), the natural interpretation is save/deposit money for a purpose.

What exactly does kuɗi mean? Is it singular or plural?

Kuɗi means money, and grammatically it is plural.

Historically, kuɗi referred to coins or pieces of money, so it behaves like a plural noun. In modern Hausa:

kuɗi = money, cash (mass noun, but grammatically plural)
It can also take numbers: kuɗi ɗari (one hundred units of money), etc.

You usually do not use a singular form for everyday “money”; you just say kuɗi.

What does the preposition a do in a asusun banki?

A is a basic preposition that often means in, at, on depending on context.

Here:

a asusun banki = in the bank account / in a bank account

Other examples of a:

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

You could also say cikin asusun banki (inside the bank account), but a asusun banki is completely natural and common.

What is asusun banki exactly, and why is there an -n on asusu?

Asusu means account, fund, stock (among other related meanings).

Asusun banki is a genitive construction meaning bank account (literally: account of bank).

asusu (base noun)
asusun = asusu
- -n linker
banki = bank

So:

asusun banki = account-of bank = bank account

The -n is a linker that connects two nouns in a possessive/genitive relationship (similar to of in English). Hausa often does this by attaching -n / -r or using separate words na / ta / na depending on the noun.

What does domin mean, and how is it used in this sentence?

Domin means for, for the sake of, in order to, because of.

In this sentence:

domin hutun rani = for the summer holiday

Function:

It introduces the purpose or reason for saving the money.

Common patterns:

domin + noun:
Ta ajiye kuɗi domin hutun rani. – She saved money for the summer holiday.
domin + verbal noun (to express “in order to do X”):
Ta ajiye kuɗi domin yin tafiya. – She saved money in order to travel.

Spoken Hausa often shortens domin to don:

don hutun rani = for the summer holiday.

Could I use saboda instead of domin here?

Often yes, but the nuance is slightly different.

domin (or don) focuses more on purpose / aim:
She saved money for the purpose of the holiday.
saboda tends to mean because of / due to, more like a cause or reason.

So:

Ta ajiye kuɗi domin hutun rani.
She saved money for the summer holiday (to be able to enjoy it).
Ta ajiye kuɗi saboda hutun rani.
She saved money because of the summer holiday (e.g. because it’s coming up and she needs money).

In everyday speech, people may use them interchangeably in some contexts, but domin/don is the more prototypical “for (the purpose of)”.

What does hutun rani literally mean?

Break it down:

hutu = rest, break, holiday, time off
hutun = hutu
- -n linker (so it can link to the next noun)
rani = dry season / hot season (often mapped to “summer” in English)

So:

hutun rani = the holiday/break of the dry season
→ natural translation: summer holiday / summer break

In school contexts, hutun rani commonly refers to the long break in the hot season, analogous to the “summer holidays” in English-speaking countries.

Why is it hutun and not just hutu?

Because hutu is being linked to another noun (rani) in a genitive construction.

hutu (base form) = holiday / rest
hutun rani = holiday-of summer (summer holiday)

The -n at the end of hutun is the same kind of linker you saw in asusun banki. It marks that hutu is directly followed by another noun that specifies or possesses it.

How do we know this sentence is in the past? Could it also mean “Mother saves money…”?

The form ta ajiye marks a completed action (perfective aspect), which is usually a past action in context.

For 3rd person feminine:

ta ajiye – she saved / she has saved (completed)
tana ajiye – she is saving / she usually saves (progressive or habitual)
za ta ajiye – she will save (future)

So Uwa ta ajiye kuɗi… is best understood as:

Mother saved money… or Mother has saved money…

Is the word order in this Hausa sentence similar to English?

Yes, it’s very close. The structure is:

Uwa (Subject: Mother)
ta ajiye (Verb: saved)
kuɗi (Object: money)
a asusun banki (Location: in a bank account)
domin hutun rani (Purpose: for the summer holiday)

So the order is: Subject – Verb – Object – (Place) – (Purpose), which lines up quite neatly with natural English word order for this type of sentence.