Learn Hardcore Hausa: Kaka ta ce ba ta son ƙura a cikin ɗaki saboda lafiya. - Grandmother said she does not like dust in the room because of health.

Kaka here = grandmother (female), because ta is the feminine 3rd‑person pronoun.
If it were a grandfather, you’d expect ya ce (he said).

Why is ta used twice: Kaka ta ce ba ta son…? Aren’t they both “she”?

Yes, both ta refer to the same person (Grandma), but they play different roles:

Kaka ta ce – ta is the subject pronoun for the verb ce (to say): Grandma she-said.
ba ta son ƙura… – this ta is the subject/possessor in the second clause: she doesn’t like dust.

Hausa normally keeps a subject pronoun with the verb even when the noun subject (like Kaka) is already mentioned. Each clause needs its own subject marking, so you repeat ta in the reported‑speech clause.

How does the negation work in ba ta son ƙura…? I learned ba … ba – where is the second ba?

The “full” negative frame in Hausa is:

ba + subject + (verb / verbal noun) + … + ba

So, very careful/explicit speech could be:

Kaka ta ce ba ta son ƙura a cikin ɗaki saboda lafiya ba.

However, in everyday Hausa, the final ba is often dropped, especially in short, clear sentences. So:

ba ta son ƙura…

is completely normal and understood as “she does not like dust…”.

Key points:

ba at the start is essential.
The final ba is optional in many spoken and even written contexts.

What is son in ba ta son ƙura? I thought “to like” was so.

The basic verb is so (to like, to love, to want), but son is its verbal noun / “liking” noun form.

Very often, Hausa expresses “like X” as literally “X is the object of my liking”:

ina son shayi = I (am) in liking-of tea → I like tea
ba ta son ƙura = Not she her‑liking dust → She doesn’t like dust

So:

so = the verb (e.g. Na so ki – I loved you / I liked you).
son = “liking” as a noun, used in structures like ina son… / ba ta son….

Is ba ta son ƙura present, past, or something else? How does tense work here with ta ce?

The sentence mixes:

ta ce – perfective past: she said
ba ta son ƙura… – negative present/habitual: she does not (generally) like dust…

So the overall meaning is:
“Grandma said (in the past) that she doesn’t like dust (as an ongoing preference) in the room because of health.”

In indirect speech, Hausa often keeps the tense of the content clause according to the real situation, not necessarily “backshifting” everything into the past as English sometimes does.

Why is it a cikin ɗaki? Could I say just a ɗaki or just cikin ɗaki?

All three are possible, but they feel slightly different:

a ɗaki – in/at the room (more general location).
cikin ɗaki – inside the room (focus on the inside).
a cikin ɗaki – literally in inside the room, and is very common, sounding natural and slightly more explicit/emphatic about the interior.

In this sentence, a cikin ɗaki suggests she doesn’t like dust inside the room (as opposed to, say, dust outside in the yard).

What is the difference between ɗaki and daki? Does the dotted ɗ really matter?

Yes, the dot matters a lot. Hausa ɗ is a different consonant from d:

d – a regular “d” sound (like English d).
ɗ – an implosive d; you slightly “pull in” air while pronouncing it. It’s written with a dot to show it’s a different phoneme.

ɗaki (with ɗ) means room.
Spelling it as daki (without the dot) is technically wrong in standard Hausa and can change meaning or look non‑native, so it’s good to pay attention to ƙ, ɗ, ɓ etc. in writing and pronunciation.

What does ƙura mean exactly? Is it “dust”, “dirt”, or something else?

ƙura mainly means dust – fine particles that make a place dusty.

It’s usually treated as a mass noun (like English “dust”), not something you count.
It often implies dust that flies around or settles on surfaces and can cause coughing, allergies, or uncleanliness.

For dirt on the ground in general, other words like ƙasa (earth/soil) or dattti (dirt, filth) might be more appropriate, depending on context. Here, ƙura is exactly what you’d expect in a health‑related sentence about a room.

Why is it just saboda lafiya and not saboda lafiyarta if it’s “because of her health”?

saboda lafiya literally means “because of health” / “for health reasons” in a general sense. It’s like saying:

“She doesn’t like dust in the room for health.”
i.e. for the sake of (good) health, to stay healthy.

If you want to make it clearly possessive (her health), you can say:

saboda lafiyarta = because of her health

Both are possible:

saboda lafiya – sounds general: because it’s healthier / for health.
saboda lafiyarta – explicitly points to her health.

What does saboda mean, and can I replace it with domin or don?

saboda means “because (of)” / “due to” / “because” and can introduce a reason:

saboda lafiya – because of health
Ba ta son ƙura saboda lafiya. – She doesn’t like dust because of health.

domin / don usually mean “in order to” / “for the sake of” (purpose), though in some dialects they can also overlap with “because”.

In this sentence:

saboda lafiya – best choice: reason/cause (it affects health).
don lafiya – would lean more toward purpose: “in order to be healthy”, still understandable but slightly different nuance.

So saboda is the most natural here for a cause‑of‑health problem.