Learn Hardcore Hausa: Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba, ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta. - When I don’t understand a word, I look in the dictionary and translate it.

So Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba... = The time when I don’t understand a word..., which in natural English is When I don’t understand a word...

You use lokacin da to introduce a “when(ever)” clause:

Lokacin da na gaji, na tafi barci.
When I got tired, I went to sleep.

Why is it ban gane kalma ba and not something like ba na gane kalma?

Hausa has a special negative frame with ba … ba around the verb, and the subject pronoun is fused into the first ba in this tense/aspect.

Affirmative (perfective / general fact):

Na gane kalma. = I understood / I understand the word.

Negative:

Ba ni gane kalma ba.
This is normally contracted in writing to:
Ban gane kalma ba.

So:

ban = ba + ni (negative + I)
gane = understand
kalma = a word
final ba closes the negative frame

You use this ba + subject + verb + ba pattern for many simple negative statements in Hausa.

Where is the word “I” in ban gane kalma ba?

The “I” is built into ban.

ba = negative marker
ni = I (independent pronoun)

When combined before the verb in this structure, ba + ni becomes ban, which functions as “I (do) not …”.

So:

ban gane ≈ I don’t understand / I haven’t understood

You will see similar contractions with other persons:

ba ka / ba ki → ba ka / ba ki (2sg, usually written separately)
ba mu → ba mu
Only the 1st person singular very often appears as ban in one word.

What is the purpose of the final ba at the end of ban gane kalma ba?

The Hausa standard negation in this type of sentence uses a “negative bracket”:

ba … ba

The first ba (here inside ban) appears before the verb; the second ba appears at the very end of the clause.

So in:

ban gane kalma ba

we have:

first ba inside ban (before verb gane)
second ba at the end of the clause

You normally cannot drop the final ba in careful or standard Hausa in this pattern.

Is ban gane kalma ba present tense, past tense, or something else?

Formally, gane here is in the perfective aspect (completed / stative), but Hausa perfective often covers meanings that in English are either past or present state.

So:

Na gane kalma. = I understood / I understand (it is clear to me now).
Ban gane kalma ba. = I did not understand / I do not understand.

In this sentence introduced by Lokacin da (when(ever)), ban gane kalma ba is understood as a general or habitual present:

When I don’t understand a word…

Context decides whether it feels more like past or present in English.

What does kalma mean exactly, and why is there no “a” or “the” before it?

kalma means “word” (a single lexical item). Its plural is kalmomi.

Hausa generally does not use separate words for “a, an, the” the way English does. Definiteness is usually understood from context, word order, or pronouns.

So:

ban gane kalma ba can mean I don’t understand a word or I don’t understand the word, depending on what has been mentioned or is in focus.

If you really wanted to stress “one word,” you could say:

ban gane wata kalma ba = I don’t understand a (certain) word.

What does ina duba ƙamus express, and how is ina different from na?

ina duba ƙamus literally = I am looking at / checking a dictionary.
In this sentence, it has a habitual sense: I look it up in a dictionary.

ina = 1st person singular progressive / continuous / often habitual marker
duba = to look at, examine, check
ƙamus = dictionary

Compare:

Na duba ƙamus.
I (have) checked the dictionary. (single, completed event)
Ina duba ƙamus.
I am checking / I (usually) check the dictionary. (ongoing or habitual)

In the given sentence, ina duba matches English I look (it) up / I usually look (it) up.

Could I say Na duba ƙamus instead of Ina duba ƙamus here?

Grammatically, yes: Na duba ƙamus is correct Hausa.
However, the meaning changes slightly:

Na duba ƙamus in fassara ta.
Suggests I checked the dictionary in order to translate it (a specific or completed action).
Ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta.
Suggests Whenever this situation happens, what I (typically) do is check the dictionary to translate it.

Because the first part of the sentence is general (Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba = When(ever) I don’t understand a word), the habitual / typical reading (ina duba) is more natural.

What does in fassara ta mean, and what is this in doing?

in fassara ta ≈ (so that) I translate it / for me to translate it.

Here in is not the conjunction “if” but the 1st person singular subjunctive marker.

In Hausa, after verbs like so (to want), ƙoƙari (to try), or in purpose clauses, you often get a subjunctive form:

Ina so in tafi. = I want to go.
Ina ƙoƙari in koyi Hausa. = I’m trying to learn Hausa.

So:

in fassara ta = that I (should) translate it / to translate it.

In our sentence:

ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta
= I look in the dictionary to translate it.

What does fassara mean, and what about the final ta?

fassara = to translate, explain the meaning from one language into another.
(Noun fassara can also mean “translation.”)
ta here is the 3rd person singular feminine object pronoun, meaning “her / it (feminine)”.

So:

fassara ta = translate it (referring to a feminine noun).

In this sentence, ta refers back to kalma (word), which is grammatically feminine in Hausa.

Why is the object pronoun ta feminine? How do we know kalma is feminine?

Hausa nouns have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), and pronouns must agree in gender with the noun they refer to.

kalma (word) is grammatically feminine, so the matching object pronoun is ta = her / it (fem.).

Some other common feminine nouns:

mace (woman) → Na ganta. = I saw her.
hanya (road, way) → Na bi ta. = I followed it (the road).

Masculine objects would use shi (him / it masc.):

yaro (boy) → Na ganshi. = I saw him.
littafi (book) → Na karanta shi. = I read it.

Here:

Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba, ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta.
ta = “it”, agreeing with feminine kalma.

Could I say fassara kalma instead of fassara ta?

Yes, fassara kalma is grammatically correct and means translate a/the word.

However, Hausa often prefers to use a pronoun when the object has just been mentioned, very much like:

English: I see the word. I don’t understand it. (not usually “I don’t understand the word” again)

So:

Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba, ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta.
= When I don’t understand a word, I look in the dictionary to translate it.

You could say:

..., ina duba ƙamus in fassara kalmar.
with kalmar (the word), but the version with ta is shorter and more natural in everyday speech.

Does the order Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba, ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta have to stay this way, or can I move the clauses around?

The given order is the most natural and common:

Lokacin da ban gane kalma ba, (when I don’t understand a word,)
ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta. (I look it up in a dictionary to translate it.)

You can place the time-clause after the main clause, but it starts to sound a bit more marked or written:

Ina duba ƙamus in fassara ta lokacin da ban gane kalma ba.

This still means the same thing, but for “when(ever) X happens, I do Y” patterns, Hausa usually likes:

[When-clause] , [main clause].

So the original word order is the most idiomatic.