Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni bana son doya sosai, amma ina son kwai da miya. - I don’t like yam very much, but I like eggs with soup.

That is still understood as I don’t like yams much, but I like eggs and stew, because the na in bana already tells us the subject is “I”. Adding ni just makes it more explicit or contrastive.

Why is it bana and not ba na? Are both correct?

Grammatically, the basic form is:

ba na = not I‑(am) (negative + 1sg progressive/habitual)

In speech, this is almost always contracted to bana, and many people also write it as one word:

Ba na son doya sosai → Bana son doya sosai

So:

Ba na son doya sosai – careful/clear writing
Bana son doya sosai – very common in everyday writing and speech

Both are understood; bana is just the spoken contraction of ba na.

How does the negative work in bana son doya sosai? Why isn’t there another ba at the end?

In Hausa, the progressive / habitual (the ina / kana / suna… type) uses only a “ba” before the verb in the negative:

Ina son doya. → I like yams.
Ba na son doya. / Bana son doya. → I don’t like yams.

You do not normally add a second ba at the end in this pattern.
Compare with a different tense, where you do get two ba’s:

Na ci doya. → I ate yams.
Ban ci doya ba. → I didn’t eat yams.

So here, because it’s the progressive/habitual type (ina / na), bana son doya sosai is fully negative already; no final ba is needed.

What’s the difference between bana son doya and ina son doya?

They are the negative and positive of the same basic structure:

Ina son doya.
– I like yams / I love yams.
Ba na son doya. / Bana son doya.
– I don’t like yams.

So:

ina son X → “I like X” / “I want X”
bana son X → “I don’t like X” / “I don’t want X”

The aspect (progressive/habitual) covers both I (generally) like and I am (right now) wanting/liking, so English often just uses the simple present.

Why is it son doya and not so doya?

In Hausa, so is a noun meaning love, liking, desire.
When that noun is followed by what is loved/wanted, it appears in a linking form son:

so → basic noun love, liking
son doya → love/liking of yams
son kwai → love/liking of eggs

So the pattern is:

ina son doya
literally: I am (in) love-of yams → I like yams.

Because of this linking rule, you say:

bana son doya, ina son kwai, etc.

Saying bana so doya is not natural; you almost always need son before the thing you like.

What exactly does sosai mean here, and where can I put it?

Sosai is an intensifier meaning roughly:

very, a lot, really (in degree)

In bana son doya sosai, it modifies how much you like yams:

bana son doya sosai ≈ I don’t like yams very much / I don’t really like yams.

Typical positions:

After the object (most common):
- Ina son doya sosai. – I really like yams.
- Bana son doya sosai. – I don’t like yams very much.
Sometimes straight after the verb phrase:
- Ina son sosai doya. – possible but sounds odd; better to keep sosai at the end.

So, for natural speech, put sosai near the end, after the thing you are talking about.

What does amma mean, and how is it used in this sentence?

Amma means “but / however”.

In the sentence:

Ni bana son doya sosai, amma ina son kwai da miya.

amma introduces a contrast:

First clause: I don’t like yams very much
Second clause (after amma): but I like eggs and stew.

Position and punctuation:

It normally comes at the start of the contrasting clause.
In writing, it’s often preceded by a comma:
- …, amma …

You wouldn’t normally move amma into the middle of its clause; it stays at the front of the contrasting part.

What does ina son literally mean? Is ina the same as ni?

Ina here is a 1st person singular subject + aspect form, often described as:

I am (doing X) or I (habitually) do X

So:

Ina son kwai da miya.
literally: I am (in) love-of eggs and stew.
idiomatically: I like eggs and stew.

Ni is a stand‑alone pronoun I / me.
Ina already contains the idea of “I” plus the progressive/habitual aspect.

So:

Ni ina son kwai. – Me, I like eggs. (very emphatic)
Ina son kwai. – I like eggs.
Ni bana son doya. – Me, I don’t like yams.

ni is just the pronoun; ina is the verb‑form (I‑am/ I‑do).

How does da work in kwai da miya? Does it mean “and” or “with”?

Da can mean both “and” and “with”, depending on context.
In kwai da miya, it is basically:

kwai da miya = eggs and stew / eggs with stew

So in this sentence:

ina son kwai da miya
– I like eggs and stew or I like eggs with stew.

Some notes:

When da just links two nouns, English usually translates it as “and”.
When it links a person and a thing, it often feels more like “with”:
- Ina tafiya da shi. – I am going with him.

Here, kwai da miya is simply a food combination, so both and and with are natural translations.

Can I drop Ni and just say Bana son doya sosai, amma ina son kwai da miya?

Yes, that’s completely natural:

Bana son doya sosai, amma ina son kwai da miya.

This is probably the most typical everyday way to say it.
The subject “I” is already encoded in:

bana (ba + na “I”)
ina (“I am / I do”)

So ni is optional and mainly for emphasis or contrast.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” with doya, kwai, and miya?

Hausa does not have articles like English “a / an / the”.

Nouns like doya (yam), kwai (egg), miya (stew/sauce) are usually bare, and context tells you whether English should use:

a yam, yams, the yam,
egg, eggs, the eggs, etc.

So:

Ina son kwai.
can be I like eggs, I like egg, or I like the egg(s), depending on context.

In this sentence, a natural English reading is:

doya → yams
kwai → eggs
miya → stew / sauce

But Hausa itself doesn’t mark definiteness (a/the) here.

How would I say “I really don’t like yams at all” using this pattern?

You keep the same structure and add a stronger negative expression, such as ko kadan or kwata‑kwata:

Ba na son doya ko kadan.
Bana son doya ko kadan.
– I don’t like yams at all (not even a little).

Or more emphatically:

Bana son doya kwata‑kwata.
– I really don’t like yams at all.

Compared with bana son doya sosai (“I don’t like yams very much”), these forms make the dislike absolute, not just “not much”.