Learn Hardcore Hausa: Malama ta ba mu aikin gida mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa. - The female teacher gave us homework to translate ten sentences into Hausa.

malam – a general word for teacher / learned person, often default-masculine, also used as a respectful title for men.
malami – clearly male teacher (grammatically masculine).
malama – clearly female teacher (grammatically feminine).

In this sentence, Malama tells you the teacher is female, which is why the verb uses the feminine pronoun ta (see next question).

Why is it ta ba mu and not ya ba mu?

Hausa verbs usually agree with the subject in person and gender.

ta = she (3rd person singular feminine, perfective)
ya = he (3rd person singular masculine, perfective)

Because the subject Malama is feminine, the correct subject pronoun is ta:

Malama ta ba mu = The (female) teacher gave us…
Malam ya ba mu = The (male) teacher gave us…

So ta matches Malama in gender.

How does ba mu work here? What is the literal structure of ta ba mu aikin gida?

The verb is ba = to give.

The pattern is:

Subject pronoun + ba + indirect object pronoun + direct object

So:

ta ba mu aikin gida
= she gave us homework
= literally: she gave us work-of-house

Breakdown:

ta – she (feminine subject pronoun)
ba – gave
mu – us (indirect object)
aikin gida – homework (direct object)

Other examples:

Ya ba ni littafi. – He gave me a book.
Sun ba su kuɗi. – They gave them money.

What does aikin gida literally mean, and why is it used for “homework”?

aikin gida literally means “work of the house”.

aiki – work
-n – linking / possessive particle (here assimilated: aikin)
gida – house

So aikin gida = house-work → homework.

Grammar point: this is a genitive (possessive) construction:

X + n + Y = X of Y
aikin gida – work of house
littafin Malam – the teacher’s book (book of the teacher)

In modern usage, aikin gida is the standard, idiomatic phrase for school homework.

Why is mu used twice: ta ba mu aikin gida mu fassara…? Is that repetition necessary?

The two mu’s are doing different jobs:

ba mu – mu is the indirect object pronoun of ba:
- she gave *us (something)*
mu fassara – mu is the subject pronoun of a new clause in the subjunctive:
- that *we should translate…*

So the structure is:

Malama ta ba mu aikin gida
= The teacher gave us homework
[mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa]
= (for) us to translate ten sentences into Hausa.

You cannot normally drop the second mu, because Hausa finite clauses need a subject pronoun:

✅ …aikin gida mu fassara jimloli goma…
❌ …aikin gida fassara jimloli goma… (missing subject)

What is the role of mu fassara here? Is this a special verb form?

Yes. mu fassara is in the subjunctive / irrealis form and introduces a purpose/complement clause.

fassara – to translate
mu fassara – (that) we should translate / for us to translate

The pattern:

Main clause: Malama ta ba mu aikin gida
= The teacher gave us homework
Subordinate clause (purpose): mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa
= (so that) we translate ten sentences into Hausa.

In English we often need words like to, for, or that:

She gave us homework *to translate ten sentences…*
She gave us homework *for us to translate… Hausa often uses the *subjunctive form (mu fassara) instead of a separate word like “to/that”.

Could I say don mu fassara or domin mu fassara instead of just mu fassara? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

Malama ta ba mu aikin gida don mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa.
Malama ta ba mu aikin gida domin mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa.

don/domin roughly mean in order that / so that / for.

Difference:

mu fassara alone is already a purpose/complement clause; it’s very common and natural in speech.
don mu fassara / domin mu fassara makes the purpose more explicit and is a bit more formal or explicit, like saying:
- …in order for us to translate…

All three are acceptable; the original sentence is normal, idiomatic Hausa.

Why is there no word like “that” in “the teacher gave us homework (that) we should translate…”?

Hausa doesn’t always use a separate word like that (ce/cin/da in some contexts) where English does. Here, the subjunctive pronoun + verb (mu fassara) already functions as the “that we should …” part.

So:

Malama ta ba mu aikin gida mu fassara jimloli goma… ≈ The teacher gave us homework *that we should translate ten sentences… ≈ The teacher gave us homework **for us to translate ten sentences…*

The link between the two parts (main clause + subordinate clause) is handled by:

the verb form (subjunctive),
plus the subject pronoun mu starting a new clause,

not by a separate word like “that”.

Why is it jimloli goma and not goma jimloli or jimloli na goma?

In Hausa, cardinal numbers (1–10) normally follow the noun they count:

littafi ɗaya – one book
motoci biyu – two cars
yara uku – three children
jimloli goma – ten sentences

So the usual order is:

Noun + number

You do not say:

❌ goma jimloli – wrong order
❌ jimloli na goma – this would sound unnatural for simple counting here

The “na” construction with numbers is used in other patterns (like ordinal numbers or 11–19), but for “ten sentences” the normal form is just jimloli goma.

What is the singular of jimloli, and why does the plural look so different?

The singular is jumla (often written jimla), meaning sentence / clause / phrase.

Plural:

jumla → jimloli (or jumloli)

This is an example of a broken plural: the internal vowels/consonants change rather than just adding -s like in English. Hausa, influenced by Arabic, has many such patterns.

So:

jumla – sentence
jimloli – sentences

In your sentence, jimloli goma = ten sentences.

Why is zuwa used in zuwa Hausa? Could I say cikin Hausa or da Hausa instead?

zuwa here marks the target language of translation:

fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa
= translate ten sentences into Hausa

Common pattern:

fassara X zuwa Y – translate X into Y

Alternatives:

cikin Hausa – literally “in Hausa”; often used for “in Hausa language” (e.g. yi magana cikin Hausa – speak in Hausa). You might hear fassara … cikin Hausa, and it’s understandable, but zuwa is more textbook-standard for “into (a language)”.
da Hausa – “with/by Hausa”; more about the means or instrument, less standard for translation targets.

So zuwa Hausa is the clearest and most idiomatic for “into Hausa” in translation contexts.

What tense/aspect is ta ba here, and how would I say “was giving us” instead of “gave us”?

ta ba is the perfective aspect for 3rd person feminine:

ta ba – she gave / she has given

It presents the action as a completed event.

To express “was giving us” (imperfective / continuous), you’d use the imperfective:

Malama tana ba mu aikin gida…
= The (female) teacher was giving us homework…

Comparison:

Malama ta ba mu aikin gida… – She gave us homework… (one completed act)
Malama tana ba mu aikin gida… – She was giving us homework… / She gives us homework (habitually, depending on context)

Is the whole sentence word order fixed, or can I move parts around?

The general order here is quite fixed:

Subject – verb – indirect object – direct object – purpose clause
Malama ta ba mu aikin gida mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa.

Things you can safely vary (with slightly different nuance):

Add an explicit purpose marker:
- Malama ta ba mu aikin gida domin mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa.
- Malama ta ba mu aikin gida don mu fassara jimloli goma zuwa Hausa.

You generally cannot:

Move mu fassara to the front without rephrasing,
Split aikin from gida,
Put goma before jimloli.

So while some small additions/omissions are possible, the overall structure of the sentence is relatively stable in natural Hausa.