Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yau da yamma ni da kai za mu shakata a cikin gida. - This evening you and I will relax inside the house.

ni da kai = “I and you / you and I.” This is a full noun phrase, used for emphasis or clarity about who is involved.
za mu = “we will.” Here mu is the subject pronoun that is grammatically required with the verb, and za marks the future tense.

So the pattern is:
[full/emphatic subject] + [future marker + short subject pronoun] + [verb]

In this sentence:

ni da kai (you and I)
za mu (we will)
shakata (relax)

You can also say simply Yau da yamma za mu shakata a cikin gida. That still means “we will relax this evening,” but it doesn’t explicitly spell out “you and I.”

Could I say “Yau da yamma mu za mu shakata…” instead?

No; that sounds wrong in Hausa.

The emphatic pronoun (like ni, kai, mu, su, etc.) normally comes before the whole za + short pronoun unit, not in between:

Correct: Ni za in tafi. (I, I will go.)
Correct: Ni da kai za mu shakata. (You and I, we will relax.)
Incorrect: *Mu za mu shakata… in this position, when you already have ni da kai.

If you want to emphasize “we” without listing people, you can say:

Mu za mu shakata a cikin gida. (We will relax in the house.)

Here mu is the full/emphatic pronoun at the start, and za mu is still needed before the verb.

What exactly does yau da yamma mean? Is it literally “today and evening”?

Literally, yau is “today” and yamma is “evening/late afternoon.”
The da here is the same word that often means “and / with,” but in time expressions it forms a fixed phrase meaning “this evening (today in the evening).”

Common patterns:

yau da yamma – this evening, today in the evening
gobe da safe – tomorrow morning
jibi da rana – the day after tomorrow in the afternoon

So yau da yamma is best understood as one time expression: “this evening.”

What is the difference between yamma and maraice? Both seem to mean “evening.”

Both are used for evening, but with slightly different common uses:

yamma – afternoon toward evening / early evening; very common in fixed phrases like da yamma.
maraice – more like evening / dusk; also common in time expressions (yau da maraice is also heard).

In many everyday contexts, yau da yamma and yau da maraice can both be understood as “this evening.” The choice is often a matter of style and regional preference.

What does shakata mean, and how is it different from huta?

Both relate to resting, but with a different feel:

shakata – to relax, unwind, chill, take it easy, have a leisurely time. It can include doing something pleasant but not stressful.
huta – to rest, take a break, recover, especially after being tired or working.

Compare:

Za mu shakata a cikin gida. – “We’ll relax / hang out in the house.”
Za mu huta a cikin gida. – “We’ll rest in the house (we’re tired).”

There is also a noun/verb phrase yin shakatawa (“to do relaxation”), but the simple verb shakata is fine here.

Why is it a cikin gida and not just a gida? What is the difference?

All of these are possible, with slightly different nuances:

a gida – “at home / in the house” (more general, not focusing on inside vs outside).
cikin gida – “inside the house” (no preposition a, but still understood as location).
a cikin gida – literally “in the inside of the house,” i.e. clearly inside.

In your sentence, a cikin gida emphasizes being inside the house rather than just “at home” in a broad sense. In everyday speech, though, a gida and a cikin gida can often refer to the same real-world situation.

Do we always need the a before cikin in expressions like this?

No, a is common but not absolutely required:

a cikin gida – very common and clearly means “inside the house.”
cikin gida – also used, especially in fast or informal speech.

Think of a as the general “at/in/on” preposition, and ciki as “inside; interior.” Putting them together (a cikin) strongly marks an interior location, but in real conversation a cikin and cikin often alternate.

Why is it gida and not gidan? Isn’t “the house” usually gidan?

gida is a special word that is very often used without the definite ending even when English would say “the house / home.”

gida – house, home; often understood as “(the) house / (at) home”
gidan – the (specific) house of someone / that particular house

So:

a gida – at home / in the house (general)
a gidan Malam – in the teacher’s house (specific: the teacher’s house)
a cikin gida – inside the house / at home (general)

Here, gida is fine and natural; it doesn’t need the -n to be understood as “the house / home.”

Is the da in yau da yamma the same da as in ni da kai?

Yes, it is the same word da, which can mean:

“and” (linking two things): ni da kai – “you and I”
“with” / “together with”: na zo da shi – “I came with him”
In time expressions (like yau da yamma, gobe da safe), it functions a bit like “in/at (time of day)”, but grammatically it is still that same da linking two elements.

The difference is in meaning and context, not in the form of the word.

How would I say the negative: “You and I will not relax in the house this evening”?

To negate a za + pronoun + verb future sentence, you use ba … ba around the za phrase:

Yau da yamma ni da kai ba za mu shakata a cikin gida ba.
– “This evening, you and I will not relax in the house.”

Structure:

ba before za
za mu stays together
Another ba at the end of the clause

You could also drop ni da kai and just say:

Yau da yamma ba za mu shakata a cikin gida ba.

Can I contract za mu to zamu, and is it still correct?

In informal writing and speech, za mu is very often written as zamu, and people pronounce it quickly as if it were one word.

However:

za mu – is the standard, careful writing form (e.g. textbooks, formal texts).
zamu – very common in texting, social media, song lyrics, etc., but less formal.

The same happens with other persons:

zan (za + ni), za ka → zaka, za su → zasu, etc.

For learning purposes, it is good to internalize za + pronoun as two parts, even if you later read or hear them fused.

Can I change the word order, like “Yau da yamma za mu ni da kai shakata a cikin gida”?

No; that word order is not natural.

The normal order is:

Time expression: Yau da yamma
Full/emphatic subject (optional): ni da kai
za + short subject pronoun: za mu
Main verb: shakata
Place expression: a cikin gida

So:

Yau da yamma ni da kai za mu shakata a cikin gida.

Moving ni da kai after za mu breaks the usual pattern and sounds wrong to native speakers.

If the context is clear, can I leave out both ni da kai and just say Yau da yamma za mu shakata a cikin gida?

Yes.

Yau da yamma za mu shakata a cikin gida.
– “This evening we will relax in the house.”

Here mu already tells you “we,” so if everyone knows who “we” refers to, you don’t need ni da kai. You only add ni da kai when you want to be explicit that it is specifically you and the other person (not you and someone else, or some other group).