Uwa ta ce ɗanɗano na miya ya fi kyau idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci.

Mother said the taste of the soup is better if it is left in the bowl for a short time.

Breakdown of Uwa ta ce ɗanɗano na miya ya fi kyau idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci.

• na: of
• idan: if
• uwa: the mother
• a cikin: inside
• ce: to say
• fi: to be more than
• miya: the soup
• ta: it
• kyau: good
• bar: to leave
• kwano: the bowl
• ɗanɗano: the taste
• na ɗan lokaci: for a short time

Questions & Answers about Uwa ta ce ɗanɗano na miya ya fi kyau idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci.

What does ɗanɗano na miya literally mean, and how is it put together?

ɗanɗano means taste / flavor.
miya means soup / stew / sauce (the common Hausa “soup” that goes with tuwo, etc.).

The na in the middle links the two nouns, like “of” in English:

• ɗanɗano na miya = the taste of the soup/stew

So the structure is:
Noun1 + na + Noun2 → “Noun1 of Noun2”
Here: ɗanɗano (taste) + na (of) + miya (soup)

Why is Uwa written just as “Uwa” and not “Uwar” or “Uwata” (“my mother”)?

Uwa is the basic word for mother. In everyday speech it often implies “my mother” from context, especially if you just say Uwa ta ce… (“Mother said…”), the way English speakers sometimes say “Mom said…” without saying my.

• Uwa ta ce… ≈ “(My) mother said…”
• Uwata ta ce… would be more explicitly “my mother said…”, but it’s not necessary if the context is clear.

So using bare Uwa here sounds natural and already feels personal.

What exactly does ta ce mean in Uwa ta ce? Is it a tense?

ta ce is made of:

• ta – 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun: she
• ce – past form of faɗi (“to say”), so roughly “said”

So ta ce = “she said”.

Grammatically, this is the perfect aspect / simple past in Hausa. It’s used for completed actions, so Uwa ta ce… = “Mother said…” (something she already said).

In ɗanɗano na miya ya fi kyau, what does ya refer to?

ya is the 3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun in Hausa. It refers back to ɗanɗano:

• ɗanɗano (taste) is grammatically masculine, so it takes ya.

So the structure is:

• ɗanɗano na miya – the taste of the soup
• ya fi kyau – it is better

Altogether: “The taste of the soup, it is better…” → “The taste of the soup is better…”

How does ya fi kyau work? What does fi mean here?

fi is the Hausa verb for “to surpass / to be more than”, and it’s used to form comparatives:

• ya fi kyau = literally “he/it surpasses (in) goodness” → “it is better”

Basic pattern:

• Subject pronoun (or noun) + fi + adjective
  
  • shi ya fi tsawo – he is taller
  • abincin nan ya fi daɗi – this food is tastier

For a superlative (“the best”), Hausa often uses mafi:

• mafi kyau – the best / most beautiful / nicest

What does idan mean here – is it “if” or “when”?

idan can mean “if” or “when”, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci

The idea is more like “when it is left … for a while”, but English often still uses “if you leave it…” for a general rule.

So you can understand idan here as:

• “if/when” in the sense of “whenever this condition is met, this result happens.”

What kind of construction is an bar ta? Who is the subject?

an bar ta is an impersonal / passive-like construction in Hausa.

• bar = leave
• ta = her/it (feminine object pronoun), referring to miya (which is grammatically feminine)
• an is a special marker (short for an yi) showing a general, unspecified subject in the perfect aspect: “(one) has done X”, “X is done”.

So:

• an bar ta = “it is left / one leaves it”

There’s no explicit “who”; it’s like English “when it is left…” or “when you leave it…” in a general rule.

Why is the pronoun ta used for the soup (miya) in an bar ta, not shi?

In Hausa, nouns have grammatical gender.

• miya is a feminine noun.
• ta is the feminine object pronoun (“her/it” for feminine things).
• shi is masculine.

So:

• an bar ta = “it (fem.) is left” → referring to miya.

  If the noun were masculine, you would use shi instead, e.g.:

• an bar shi – “it (masc.) is left”

What’s the difference between na in ɗanɗano na miya and na ɗan lokaci? Are they the same word?

Yes, it’s the same word, the genitive linker na, which often translates as “of” or can show a relationship like “for”, “belonging to”, etc.

1. ɗanɗano na miya

   • ɗanɗano (taste) + na (of) + miya (soup)
   • “the taste of the soup”

2. kwano na ɗan lokaci

   • Literally “bowl of a little time”, but idiomatically it means “for a short time”
   • Here na links kwano (bowl) with ɗan lokaci (a little time), giving the idea “in the bowl for a short time.”

So na is doing the same grammatical job in both: linking two elements in a “X of Y” relationship.

What does ɗan lokaci mean, and is this the same ɗan that means “small”?

Yes, it’s related.

• ɗan – from ɗan/ɗaya/ƙaramin → often used to mean “a little / small amount of” when used like this.
• lokaci – time

So ɗan lokaci literally = “a little (bit of) time” → “a short while / a little while”.

Together with na:

• na ɗan lokaci – “for a short while / for a little time”

Why do we have both a and cikin in a cikin kwano? Would just cikin kwano also be correct?

a and cikin are both location-related words, but they’re often used together:

• a – general preposition, often “at / in / on”
• ciki / cikin – “inside / in(ner part) of”

a cikin kwano literally = “in the inside of the bowl” → “in the bowl”.

You can say:

• a cikin kwano – very common and natural
• cikin kwano – also possible, and often used
• a kwano – possible in some contexts, but less specific (could be “at/on the bowl” depending on context)

Here, a cikin kwano is the most natural, precise way to say “in the bowl.”

Why does the sentence use na ɗan lokaci after kwano instead of something like na ɗan lokaci kaɗan?

na ɗan lokaci by itself already clearly means “for a short while / for a little time”. Adding kaɗan (a little) is possible, but not necessary.

• na ɗan lokaci – “for a little while”
• na ɗan lokaci kaɗan – “for just a little while” (more emphatic)

In normal speech, na ɗan lokaci is enough to express the idea that the soup is left in the bowl for some short time, which is all you need here.

Could you rephrase the whole sentence in simpler Hausa but keep the same meaning?

One natural, slightly simpler rephrasing is:

• Uwa ta ce miya tana yin daɗi idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci.

Differences:

• ɗanɗano na miya ya fi kyau → miya tana yin daɗi
  
  • “the taste of the soup is better” → “the soup is tasty/nice”
• Everything else (idan an bar ta a cikin kwano na ɗan lokaci) is kept the same.

Meaning is essentially:
“Mother said the soup tastes better when you leave it in the bowl for a little while.”