Ni ma na ji kunya lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya.

I also felt shy when the female teacher asked me a question.

Breakdown of Ni ma na ji kunya lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya.

• ni: I
• tambaya: the question
• ji: to feel
• ni: me
• ma: also
• lokacin da: when
• tambaya: to ask
• malama: the female teacher
• kunya: the shame

Questions & Answers about Ni ma na ji kunya lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya.

Why do we have “Ni” at the start if “na” already means “I” in “na ji kunya”?

In Hausa, “na ji kunya” on its own already means “I felt embarrassed.”
The extra “Ni” is there for emphasis or contrast.

• “Na ji kunya” – neutral: I felt embarrassed.
• “Ni na ji kunya” – I (as opposed to someone else) felt embarrassed.
• “Ni ma na ji kunya” – I also felt embarrassed (in addition to someone else).

So “Ni” is an independent pronoun used to highlight the subject, while “na” is the past/perfective subject marker attached to the verb.

What exactly does “ma” mean in “Ni ma na ji kunya”, and where does it go in the sentence?

“ma” means “also / too / as well.”

In this sentence:

• “Ni ma” = “I also” / “me too.”

Placement rule (simplified):

• “ma” normally comes right after the word it is adding “also” to.
  • Ni ma na ji kunya. → I also felt embarrassed.
  • Su ma sun ji kunya. → They also felt embarrassed.
  • Malama ma ta tambaye ni. → The teacher also asked me.

So here, “ma” is saying that “I” is another member of the group who felt embarrassed, not the only one.

Could I just say “Na ji kunya” instead of “Ni ma na ji kunya”? What would change?

Yes, “Na ji kunya” is a perfectly correct sentence. The difference is in emphasis and context:

• Na ji kunya.
  → I felt embarrassed. (simple statement, no “also.”)

• Ni ma na ji kunya.
  → I also felt embarrassed. (implies others felt embarrassed before, or we’re comparing feelings.)

So you use “Ni ma na ji kunya” when you are adding yourself to someone else’s experience, or reacting to something like:

“Su duk sun ji kunya.” – They all felt embarrassed.
“Ni ma na ji kunya.” – I also felt embarrassed.

The verb “ji” usually means “to hear.” How does “na ji kunya” end up meaning “I felt embarrassed”?

In Hausa, “ji” is broader than just “hear.” It also means “feel / experience (a sensation or emotion).”

So you get patterns like:

• na ji zafi – I felt pain / I felt heat.
• na ji daɗi – I felt good / I enjoyed it.
• na ji tsoro – I felt fear / I was afraid.
• na ji kunya – I felt shame/embarrassment / I was embarrassed.

Here, “ji” means “to feel”, and “kunya” is “shyness / shame / embarrassment.”
Together: “na ji kunya” = “I felt embarrassed / I was ashamed.”

What’s the difference between “na ji kunya” and “ina jin kunya”?

Both involve “ji kunya” (to feel embarrassed), but the aspect is different:

• na ji kunya

  • na = past/perfective “I”
  • often describes a completed event in the past
    → I felt embarrassed (at that moment).

• ina jin kunya

  • ina = progressive/continuous “I am”
  • jin = verbal noun / “feeling”
    → I am (feeling) embarrassed / I feel shy (right now, or generally).

In your sentence, “na ji kunya” fits because it refers to a specific past situation:
when the teacher asked me a question, I felt embarrassed.

How does “lokacin da” work here, and what does each part mean?

“lokacin da” literally breaks down as:

• lokaci – time
• lokacin – the time (when/of) (genitive/definite form)
• da – a linker/relative word that can mean that / when / which in this kind of clause.

So:

• lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya
  ≈ the time when the teacher asked me a question → “when the teacher asked me a question.”

Other common ways to say “when” include:

• sa’ad da – when (at the time that)
• yayinda – while/when (often for longer, overlapping actions)

But “lokacin da” is very common and natural here.

Could I move the “when”-clause to the front, like in English: “When the teacher asked me a question, I felt embarrassed”?

Yes, that is perfectly good Hausa. You can say:

• Lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya, na ji kunya.

This has the same meaning as:

• Ni ma na ji kunya lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya.

Typical options:

1. Main clause first, then “when”-clause

   • Na ji kunya lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya.

2. “When”-clause first, then main clause

   • Lokacin da malama ta tambaye ni tambaya, na ji kunya.

Word order is flexible in this way; moving the “when”-clause slightly changes focus but not the basic meaning.

What does “malama” mean exactly, and how is it different from “malam” or “malami”?

All of these are related to the idea of a teacher / learned person:

• malam – commonly used for a male teacher/scholar, often as a title (like “Mr. Teacher”).
• malami – also male teacher, often as a more “noun-like” form.
• malama – female teacher.

In your sentence:

• malama ta tambaye ni… → the (female) teacher asked me…

Because malama is feminine, the verb uses the feminine subject marker “ta” (see next question).

Why is it “ta tambaye ni” and not “ya tambaye ni” after “malama”?

In Hausa, the subject marker on the verb agrees with the gender and number of the subject.

• ya = he / it (masc.) – 3rd person singular masculine, past/perfective
• ta = she / it (fem.) – 3rd person singular feminine, past/perfective

Since malama is a female teacher, the correct agreement is:

• Malama ta tambaye ni… → The (female) teacher asked me…

If it were a male teacher:

• Malam ya tambaye ni tambaya. → The (male) teacher asked me a question.

Why do we have both “tambaye” and “tambaya” in “ta tambaye ni tambaya”? Isn’t that like saying “ask me a question” twice?

It looks repetitive to an English speaker, but it’s normal in Hausa.

• tambaya – noun: question
• tambaye – verb form: asked (past/perfective form here)

So:

• ta tambaye ni tambaya
  literally: “she asked me a question”
  (verb tambaye
  • object ni
    • noun tambaya)

This verb + related noun pattern is very common:

• yi magana – to speak (lit. do speech)
• yi tambaya – to ask a question (lit. do a question)
• ba da shawara – to give advice (lit. give advice)

So “ta tambaye ni tambaya” is idiomatic and natural, not incorrect repetition.

Is “ta tambaye ni” alone enough, or do we need to add “tambaya” after it?

“Ta tambaye ni” by itself is already a complete sentence:

• Ta tambaye ni. → She asked me (something).

Adding “tambaya” just makes it explicit that she asked a question, not for example:

• ta tambaye ni ƙofa – she asked me (about) the door, etc.

In everyday speech, people say both:

• Ta tambaye ni. – She asked me. (context usually makes it clear it was a question.)
• Ta tambaye ni tambaya. – She asked me a question. (more explicit, a bit more formal/complete.)

The word “ni” appears twice in the sentence (at the beginning and near the end). Is it the same word, and why is it used both as “I” and “me”?

Yes, “ni” is the same pronoun form used for both “I” (subject) and “me” (object) in Hausa.

• As a subject (emphatic):

  • Ni ma na ji kunya. – I also felt embarrassed.

• As an object:

  • malama ta tambaye ni – the teacher asked me.

Hausa doesn’t change the form of the pronoun the way English does (I/me, he/him, etc.).
Instead, it relies on position and verb markers:

• “ni” at the very start, followed by a verb or marker → usually emphatic subject.
• “ni” immediately after a verb → usually object.

So the two “ni” in your sentence do different grammatical jobs, but the form stays the same.