Learn Hardcore Hausa: Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya sosai.

Both are correct in modern usage. Writing them as one word is very common in everyday texts, but writing them separately (as here) can make the structure clearer for learners.

What is the role of ya in ya yi ban dariya sosai?

Ya is the 3rd person masculine singular subject pronoun: he/it.

In this sentence, ya refers back to mafarki (dream), which is grammatically masculine in Hausa. So the structure is:

Mafarki na – my dream (subject)
ya – it (referring to the dream)
yi – did/made
ban dariya – made me laugh / funny
sosai – very, a lot

Even though English doesn’t need a pronoun (My dream made me laugh a lot), Hausa normally uses this kind of subject pronoun (ya) before the verb in such sentences.

Why do we need both ya and yi? Isn’t that like saying “it it did”?

It looks redundant from an English perspective, but in Hausa they have different functions:

ya = the subject pronoun (he/it)
yi = the verb to do / to make

So ya yi is he/it did or he/it made.

This is completely normal in Hausa:
ya yi, ta yi (she did), sun yi (they did), etc.

In English, we don’t normally say the pronoun separately if we already named the subject, but in Hausa you still use the pronoun even with an explicit subject like Mafarki na.

What does ban dariya mean, and how is it formed?

Ban dariya means something like (it) made me laugh or more loosely funny.

It comes from:

ba – to give
ni – me
dariya – laughter

In fast, everyday speech, ba ni dariya can become ban dariya (the a and n merge). So literally it’s like saying it gave me laughter, which we interpret as it made me laugh.

In your sentence:

ya yi ban dariya sosai ≈ it really made me laugh / it was very funny

Is ban dariya a verb, an adjective, or what?

Functionally, it behaves like a predicate expression meaning funny / makes me laugh.

Grammatically, it’s built around the verb ba (to give), but in everyday usage ban dariya is treated almost like a set phrase:

Wannan fim ɗin ya yi mini ban dariya.
This film really made me laugh / This film was funny to me.

So you can think of ya yi ban dariya as it was funny / it made (me) laugh, where ban dariya is the thing produced by yi (“did/made”).

What does sosai add to the sentence?

Sosai is an adverb/intensifier meaning very, really, a lot.

Without it:

Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya.
My dream made me laugh / My dream was funny.

With it:

Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya sosai.
My dream really made me laugh / My dream was very funny.

So sosai strengthens the statement, similar to really, very, or so much in English.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move sosai earlier in the sentence?

The most neutral and common order is:

Subject – pronoun – verb – complement – intensifier
Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya sosai.

You can move sosai for emphasis in spoken language, but it sounds more marked. For example:

Mafarki na ya yi sosai ban dariya.
Possible in some speech patterns, but less natural.

For a learner, it’s best to keep sosai at the end of the clause in sentences like this:

Ya yi kyau sosai. – It was very beautiful.
Ta yi ƙoƙari sosai. – She tried very hard.

What tense/aspect is ya yi? Is this past, present, or something else?

Ya yi is the perfective aspect of the verb yi (to do/make) with ya (he/it). It typically refers to a completed action, often translated as a simple past in English.

So:

Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya sosai.
→ My dream made me laugh a lot. (The dream already happened.)

For something ongoing or habitual, you’d use a different form, e.g.:

Mafarki na yana bani dariya.
My dream is making me laugh / keeps making me laugh.

Why is mafarki treated as masculine so that we use ya and not ta?

In Hausa, nouns have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), which is not always predictable from meaning.

Mafarki (dream) is grammatically masculine, so it takes the masculine pronoun ya:

Mafarki na ya yi ban dariya sosai.
My dream, it made me laugh a lot.

If the noun were feminine, you’d use ta:

Tatsuniya ta ta yi ban dariya sosai.
Her story really made me laugh. (tatsuniya is feminine)

Can I say this more explicitly as “My dream gave me laughter” using ba?

Yes, you can use ba explicitly, and you’ll hear forms like:

Mafarki na ya ba ni dariya sosai.
My dream gave me laughter a lot. → My dream made me laugh a lot.

This sounds perfectly natural.

The version in your sentence:

ya yi ban dariya sosai

packs ba + ni inside ban, and uses yi (do/make) as the main verb. Both constructions are common; they just structure the idea slightly differently.

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal?

The sentence is neutral and conversational. You could say it in everyday speech, in storytelling, or in informal writing.

It’s not slangy, so it can also appear in more standard written Hausa (e.g. narratives, essays), but the phrasing feels like natural spoken language: someone recounting a dream that turned out to be very funny.