Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yau ɗanɗano na abinci yana daɗi sosai. - Today the taste of the food is very good.

Yau – today
ɗanɗano – taste, flavour (a noun, related to the verb ɗanɗana “to taste”)
na – of (linking two nouns: “X of Y”)
abinci – food
yana – it is (currently); literally “he/it is (in the -na aspect)”
daɗi – sweetness, pleasantness, deliciousness (here: tasty / delicious)
sosai – very, really, a lot

So structurally it is: Today taste of food it-is tasty very.
Natural English: Today the taste of the food is very good/delicious.

What exactly does ɗanɗano mean, and is it a verb or a noun?

ɗanɗano is a noun meaning:

taste, flavour (as in “the taste of the food”)
it can also mean a little taste / sample, depending on context

It is related to the verb ɗanɗana, which means to taste (something).

Examples:

Na ɗanɗana abincin. – I tasted the food.
ɗanɗanon abinci – the taste of the food

In your sentence, ɗanɗano is clearly a noun: ɗanɗano na abinci = taste of the food.

What is the function of na in ɗanɗano na abinci?

Here na is the genitive linker, meaning “of”. It links two nouns in a relationship similar to English “X of Y” or “Y’s X”:

ɗanɗano na abinci – taste of the food / the food’s taste
sunan yarinya or suna na yarinya – the girl’s name / name of the girl

So ɗanɗano na abinci literally means “taste of food”.

Note that this na is not “my” (1st person singular). It is a separate word that marks the possessive/genitive relationship between nouns.

Is this na the same word as na meaning “my”? How can I tell the difference?

They are pronounced the same, but they behave differently:

Genitive/linker na (as in your sentence)
- Links two nouns.
- Roughly means “of”.
- Example: ɗanɗano na abinci – taste of (the) food.
Possessive “my” na
- Attaches to nouns to mean “my X”.
- Often follows a pause or comes at the end of a phrase.
- Example: abinci na – my food.

In your sentence:

ɗanɗano na abinci: after na there is another noun (abinci), so na is clearly the linker “of”, not the possessive “my”.

Why is the order ɗanɗano na abinci and not like English “food taste”?

Hausa typically uses the pattern:

[head noun] + (na/-n/-r) + [noun that defines it]

So:

ɗanɗano na abinci = taste of food / the food’s taste
- ɗanɗano is the main thing being talked about (head noun).
- abinci specifies what kind of taste.

Other examples:

ƙofar gida – door of the house / the house door
sunan mutum – name of the person / the person’s name

So the pattern is more like “taste of food” rather than “food taste”.

Could we also say ɗanɗanon abinci instead of ɗanɗano na abinci? Is there a difference?

Yes, ɗanɗanon abinci is also correct and very common.

There are two main ways to form this genitive:

Using linker na:
- ɗanɗano na abinci
Using the attached linker -n/-r:
- ɗanɗano + n + abinci → ɗanɗanon abinci

They both mean “the taste of the food”, and in many contexts they’re interchangeable.
Stylistically, the attached linker (-n/-r) form (ɗanɗanon abinci) often sounds a bit more compact and is very natural in speech. The separate na can sound slightly more careful or explicit.

Your sentence chooses the separate na, but Yau ɗanɗanon abinci yana daɗi sosai would also be fine.

Who or what is the subject of yana in this sentence?

The subject of yana is ɗanɗano (na abinci), i.e. “the taste (of the food)”.

ɗanɗano is grammatically masculine in Hausa.
The 3rd person masculine singular subject pronoun is ya (“he/it”).
In the imperfective/progressive aspect, you get yana (“he/it is …‑ing / is (in a state)”).

So:

ɗanɗano na abinci → “the taste of the food”
yana daɗi sosai → “is very delicious”

Together: (The food’s taste) is very delicious.

What does yana mean exactly here? Is it like the English verb “to be”?

Yes, in this sentence yana works roughly like “is”, but with aspect information:

ya – “he/it (masculine subject pronoun)”
-na – imperfective/progressive aspect marker
yana – “he/it is (doing/being)”

With stative words like daɗi, kyau, tsawo, Hausa often uses yana to express a current state:

Abincin yana daɗi. – The food is tasty.
Gidan yana da kyau. – The house is beautiful/nice.
Ruwan yana sanyi. – The water is cold.

So yana here is very similar to “is (right now / generally)”.

What does daɗi mean? Is it only about sweetness?

daɗi is broader than just “sweet”. It means:

pleasantness, enjoyment, deliciousness, tastiness, comfort

It’s used for:

Food/drink: Abincin nan yana daɗi. – This food is tasty/delicious.
Experiences: Yawon ya yi daɗi. – The trip was enjoyable.
Feelings: Zancen ya yi min daɗi. – The talk pleased me / I enjoyed the conversation.

So in your sentence yana daɗi sosai means “is very pleasant/tasty/delicious”.
English translations might be:

really tasty
very delicious
tastes really good

What does sosai add to the sentence? Can it go somewhere else?

sosai is an intensifier, roughly “very, really, a lot, extremely”.

Abincin yana daɗi. – The food is tasty.
Abincin yana daɗi sosai. – The food is very tasty / really tasty.

Typical position is after the word or phrase it intensifies:

yana daɗi sosai
sun gaji sosai – they are very tired
ya yi kyau sosai – it is very beautiful

You might sometimes hear people put sosai earlier for emphasis, but the most natural and neutral place is just as in your sentence: after daɗi.

How would the meaning change if we used yayi daɗi sosai instead of yana daɗi sosai?

This is a tense/aspect difference:

yana daɗi sosai – imperfective/progressive
- Focus on a current or ongoing state:
  It is (now) very delicious / it tastes very good (now, these days).
ya yi daɗi sosai – perfective (ya yi)
- Focus on a completed event/experience:
  It was very delicious / it turned out very nice.

So:

Yau ɗanɗano na abinci yana daɗi sosai.
– Today the food’s taste is very good (right now).
Yau ɗanɗanon abinci ya yi daɗi sosai.
– Today the food’s taste was very good (we’ve eaten it, and it turned out great).

Could I say Yau abincin yana daɗi sosai instead? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, Yau abincin yana daɗi sosai is natural and very common.

The difference is subtle:

Yau ɗanɗano na abinci yana daɗi sosai.
Literally highlights “the taste of the food”.
Yau abincin yana daɗi sosai.
Talks about “the food” in general as being tasty.

In everyday conversation, people often just say:

Yau abincin yana daɗi sosai. – The food is very tasty today.

Your version is a bit more explicit about “the taste”, but the practical meaning is almost the same.

Why is it yana and not tana? When would I use tana instead?

Hausa has grammatical gender (masculine vs feminine), and the subject pronoun changes:

ya / yana – for masculine nouns
ta / tana – for feminine nouns

In your sentence:

ɗanɗano is a masculine noun → use yana.

If the subject were feminine, you’d use tana:

Mace tana daɗi sosai. – The woman is very pleasant (to be with).
Gida is usually masculine: Gidan yana daɗi. – The house is comfortable/pleasant.

So you choose yana / tana based on the grammatical gender of the subject noun.

How do you pronounce the letter ɗ in ɗanɗano? Is it the same as English “d”?

ɗ is not the same as plain d. It’s an implosive d‑sound:

For d: you push air out while making a normal English d.
For ɗ: you briefly pull air in slightly as you pronounce a d‑like sound.

A simple learner’s tip:

Put your tongue where you would for d in “do”.
Instead of pushing air out strongly, relax and slightly “gulp” in a tiny bit of air as you voice it.
Keep the sound short: ɗanɗano ≈ ḍan-ḍa-no, with that “swallowed d”.

In real conversation, many learners get away with pronouncing ɗ close to a normal d, but native speakers do hear the difference, especially in minimal pairs (e.g. daki vs ɗaki).

Does starting the sentence with Yau (“today”) have any special emphasis?

Yes. Putting Yau at the beginning:

sets “today” as the time frame,
often implies contrast with other times (yesterday, usually, etc.).

So:

Yau ɗanɗano na abinci yana daɗi sosai.
Suggests: Today, (unlike other days, maybe), the food’s taste is really good.

If you wanted a different emphasis, you could move yau:

ɗanɗano na abinci yana daɗi sosai yau. – possible, but less typical; sounds more like afterthought.
Starting with Yau is the most natural and neutral way to say Today the food is very tasty.