Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni bana son barkono da yawa, sai dai gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano. - I do not like a lot of pepper, however salt gives food flavour.

In this sentence, Ni just emphasizes the speaker: Ni bana son barkono da yawa… = As for me, I don’t like a lot of pepper…
In everyday speech, Hausa speakers often drop ni if the subject is clear from the verb form:
- Bana son barkono da yawa. = I don’t like a lot of pepper.

So ni is not strictly required grammatically here; it adds emphasis or clarity, especially in contrast with others (I don’t, maybe others do).

What exactly is bana? Is it one word or two words?

Bana is a contracted form of ba na.

ba = negative marker
na = first person singular subject marker for present/habitual
Together: ba na so → in fast, natural speech becomes bana so and in writing often appears as one word: bana so.

In this sentence:

bana son = I do not like / I don’t like (habitually)

So bana marks both “I” (via na) and negation (via ba), which is why you don’t need a separate ni for grammar, only for emphasis.

Why is it son and not so after bana?

So is a verb meaning “to like / to love / to want.”
Son is its verbal noun (sometimes called a masdar or gerund-like form).

Hausa often uses a structure like:

na son = I like / I love / I want (literally “I have the liking of …”)
bana son = I don’t like / I don’t want

So:

so = the bare verb “to like / want”
son = the verbal noun used in the pattern (subject) + na/bana + son + object

Example:

Ina son barkono. = I like pepper.
Bana son barkono. = I don’t like pepper.

Does barkono mean “pepper” in general, or a specific type?

Barkono generally means (chili) pepper, and in many contexts it refers to hot chili pepper used as a spice.

In this sentence, barkono da yawa means a lot of (chili) pepper / very spicy pepper.
Hausa may also use barkono in a general sense, much like English “pepper” when talking about spicy food.

If you need to be very specific (e.g., black pepper vs chili), you would add extra words, but in everyday speech barkono typically suggests hot pepper.

What does da yawa add to barkono? Is it like “too much”?

Da yawa literally means “with much” or “with many / with a lot”, and together it functions as “a lot (of), much, many.”

barkono = pepper
barkono da yawa = a lot of pepper / lots of pepper / very much pepper

In context, when you say bana son barkono da yawa, it is often naturally understood as I don’t like *too much pepper* (i.e., I don’t like it when it’s very peppery/spicy), even though the literal meaning is just “a lot of pepper.”

So yes, da yawa is the usual way to say “a lot (of), much, many,” and in this kind of sentence it often feels like “too much” in English.

What does sai dai mean here? Is it like “but” or “except”?

Sai dai is a conjunction meaning roughly “except that / but / however / only that.”

In this sentence:

Ni bana son barkono da yawa, sai dai gishiri…
→ I don’t like a lot of pepper, *but / except that salt…*

It introduces a contrast or exception to what was just said:

“I don’t like a lot of pepper, but salt is okay / but salt (on the other hand) gives food some taste.”

So you can think of sai dai as a stronger, slightly more contrastive “but/except that.”

Is gishiri the subject of yana ba? What is the structure of gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano?

Yes, gishiri (salt) is the subject of the verb phrase yana ba abinci ɗanɗano.

Breakdown:

gishiri = salt
yana = he/it is (continuous/progressive marker with 3rd person singular)
ba = to give (this is a completely different ba from the negative particle)
abinci = food
ɗanɗano = taste, flavour

So gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano literally is:

“Salt is giving food taste.”
→ Natural English: salt gives food (some) taste / flavour.

Structure is:
[Subject] gishiri + [prog. marker] yana + [verb] ba + [indirect object] abinci + [direct object] ɗanɗano.

There are two ba’s in the sentence (bana and ba in yana ba). Are they the same word?

No, they are two different words that just happen to look/sound the same.

In bana son…:
- ba is the negative particle → bana = ba na = I do not / I’m not (doing).
In yana ba abinci ɗanɗano:
- ba is the main verb meaning “to give.”

So:

bana → negative auxiliary: I don’t (like)
ba (after yana) → lexical verb: gives

Context and position in the sentence tell you which ba is which.

What does yana indicate? Why not just ya ba abinci ɗanɗano?

Yana is ya + na, the 3rd person singular subject + progressive marker.

ya ba abinci ɗanɗano = it/he gave food taste (completed action, simple past).
yana ba abinci ɗanɗano = it/he is giving food taste / it gives food taste (ongoing, habitual, or general truth).

In this sentence, yana presents the idea as a general, ongoing fact:

gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano = salt gives food taste (as a general rule).

So yana signals a progressive or habitual aspect, similar to “is giving / tends to give / gives” in English.

How should I understand ɗanɗano? Is it a noun or an adjective?

ɗanɗano is a noun meaning “taste, flavour.”

In this sentence, it is the direct object of ba (give):

ba (wa) abinci ɗanɗano = give (to) food taste.

To say “tasty” / “has taste,” Hausa might use structures like:

abincin nan yana da ɗanɗano. = This food has taste / is tasty.

So here, ɗanɗano is not an adjective like “tasty”; it’s the thing being given: “taste.”

Why is it ba abinci ɗanɗano and not something like ba abinci da ɗanɗano?

In Hausa, the verb ba (“to give”) normally takes two objects directly, without a preposition:

ya ba ni kuɗi = he gave me money
- ni = indirect object (recipient)
- kuɗi = direct object (thing given)

Similarly:

yana ba abinci ɗanɗano
- abinci = food (recipient of taste)
- ɗanɗano = taste (thing being given)

No preposition like da is needed between the two objects. The order typically is:

ba + [indirect object / recipient] + [direct object / thing given]

Could I say Ni bana so barkono da yawa instead of Ni bana son barkono da yawa?

No, that would sound ungrammatical in standard Hausa.

With so (“to like, to love, to want”), the common pattern in this kind of present/habitual sentence is:

na son X = I like X / I want X
bana son X = I don’t like X / I don’t want X

You need the verbal noun son, not the bare verb so, after na / bana in this pattern.

Correct options:

Ni bana son barkono da yawa.
Bana son barkono da yawa.

Saying bana so barkono is not standard in this structure.

Is Ni bana son barkono da yawa, sai dai gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano one sentence or could it be two sentences?

It is written as one sentence connected by sai dai, which functions like “but / except that.”

However, in speech or writing you could also split the ideas into two sentences if you change the structure slightly:

Ni bana son barkono da yawa. Amma gishiri yana ba abinci ɗanɗano.
→ I don’t like a lot of pepper. But salt gives food taste.

With sai dai specifically, it is most natural to treat it as a connector inside one sentence (as in the original), showing a contrast or exception in the same breath.