Ni dama ina son Hausa.

Actually, I like Hausa.

Breakdown of Ni dama ina son Hausa.

• ni: I
• ne: to be
• so: to like
• Hausa: Hausa
• dama: right-hand

Questions & Answers about Ni dama ina son Hausa.

Why are there two “I” words, ni and ina, in the same sentence?

Hausa splits the idea of “I” into two different forms here:

• ni is an independent pronoun. It means “I / me” on its own and is often used for emphasis or to mark the topic:

  • Ni = “as for me”, “me personally”.

• ina is the subject pronoun + tense marker used with present / continuous / habitual actions. In practice you can treat ina as “I (am / do)” in the present:

  • ina son Hausa ≈ “I like Hausa / I love Hausa”.

So in Ni dama ina son Hausa, ni adds emphasis (“Me, actually, I like Hausa”), while ina is the normal subject marker needed for the verb part (“I like”).

You could think of the whole sentence as:
“Me, actually, I like Hausa.”

What exactly does dama mean here?

dama is an adverb with a meaning that depends on context, but in this sentence it suggests something like:

• “actually”
• “already”
• “in fact”
• “anyway / as it happens”

In Ni dama ina son Hausa, it implies that liking Hausa is not new information; it’s something that has been true, or it’s being contrasted with something else. Possible English renderings:

• “Me, I actually like Hausa.”
• “As for me, I’ve always liked Hausa anyway.”
• “Well, I like Hausa, actually.”

So dama adds a nuance: it softens, emphasizes, or slightly contrasts the statement, rather than changing the basic meaning “I like Hausa.”

Can I leave out dama and still be correct?

Yes.

• Ni ina son Hausa. – grammatically correct, means “I like Hausa.”

Without dama, the sentence is more neutral and straightforward. You lose the “actually / anyway / already” flavor, but the core message stays the same.

So:

• Ni dama ina son Hausa. – “Me, I actually / already / anyway like Hausa.”
• Ni ina son Hausa. – “I like Hausa.” (plain statement)

Can I leave out ni and just say Dama ina son Hausa?

Yes, that’s also correct and very natural:

• Dama ina son Hausa. – “(Well,) I actually like Hausa.” / “I’ve always liked Hausa anyway.”

Here:

• Dama gives the “actually / anyway” nuance.
• ina already tells us the subject is “I”, so ni is not required.

Using ni plus dama together (Ni dama ina son Hausa) adds an extra bit of personal emphasis:
“As for me personally, I actually like Hausa.”

Why is it son Hausa and not just so Hausa?

This is a very common point of confusion.

• so is the verb meaning “to want / to like / to love”.
• son is the verbal noun (a noun-like form) from so, roughly “liking / love / wanting”.

In the pattern ina son X, Hausa uses the verbal noun:

• ina son Hausa
  literally something like: “I am in (a state of) liking of Hausa”
  idiomatically: “I like Hausa / I love Hausa.”

You do not say *ina so Hausa for “I like Hausa” in standard usage. You use:

• ina son Hausa (with -n).

So, remember:

• ina son Hausa = “I like Hausa.”
• so by itself appears more in patterns like ina so in koyi Hausa – “I want to learn Hausa.”

What kind of tense or aspect is ina son Hausa? Is it only “right now”?

ina marks the imperfective aspect, which in Hausa covers:

• ongoing actions (“am doing”), and
• habitual / general states (“usually do”, “like”, “know”, etc.).

In ina son Hausa, it is describing a general state or habit, not just a momentary feeling. Natural translations are:

• “I like Hausa.”
• “I love Hausa.”
• “I (generally) want Hausa.” (depending on context)

If you used the perfective pronoun na instead:

• Na so Hausa.
  This would usually mean “I liked/wanted Hausa (at some specific time / on a specific occasion)” rather than a general, ongoing preference.

So ina son Hausa is your default way to say “I like Hausa (in general).”

How would I say “I don’t like Hausa” with this pattern?

The usual negative form of ina son Hausa is:

• Ba na son Hausa. – “I don’t like Hausa.”

You can emphasize the subject with ni if you want:

• Ni ba na son Hausa. – “Me, I don’t like Hausa.”

If you also want the dama nuance:

• Ni dama ba na son Hausa. – “Me, actually, I don’t like Hausa.” (context-dependent, a bit strong)

Structure of the basic negative:

• Ba
  • subject+tense form (na for “I”) + rest of the sentence + (final) ba often appears in full sentences:
    • Ba na son Hausa ba. – also possible and common in speech/writing.

For a learner, Ba na son Hausa is a good, clear model to remember.

Why is there no word like “the” before Hausa? Should it be “the Hausa”?

Hausa does not use articles (“a / an / the”) the way English does. You simply say:

• Hausa = “Hausa / the Hausa language”

Whether you would say “Hausa” or “the Hausa language” in English depends on context, but in Hausa the word Hausa alone is enough.

So:

• Ina son Hausa.
  can correspond to:
  • “I like Hausa.”
  • “I like the Hausa language.”

No extra article is needed or added in Hausa.

Can I move dama somewhere else, like Ina son Hausa dama?

You might occasionally hear dama later in the sentence in some speech, but the most natural and safest position for learners is near the beginning, before the verb phrase:

• Ni dama ina son Hausa.
• Dama ina son Hausa.

These are very natural.

Ina son Hausa dama is not the usual basic pattern and can sound odd or at least very colloquial / context‑dependent. Until you have a strong feel for Hausa word order, keep dama:

• at or near the front of the sentence,
• usually before the main verb phrase (ina son Hausa).

Could I say something like Hausa nake so instead of ina son Hausa?

Yes, but it changes the focus and is a bit more advanced.

• Hausa nake so.
  literally: “It is Hausa that I like.”
  This is a focus construction, highlighting Hausa (as opposed to something else), for example:
  • “It’s Hausa that I like (not another language).”

By contrast:

• Ina son Hausa. – neutral statement: “I like Hausa.”

And your original:

• Ni dama ina son Hausa. – “Me, actually, I like Hausa.” (emphasizing the speaker and adding the “actually” nuance)

So Hausa nake so is grammatically fine but stylistically different: it strongly focuses on the word Hausa.