Learn Hardcore Hausa: Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi.

Don – for, because of, for the sake of (short form of domin)
Allah – God
→ Don Allah – for God’s sake → idiomatically: please
ka – you (2nd person singular, masculine) subject marker used in requests / commands
tafi – go, leave, depart
a – in / at / on (general preposition)
hankali – mind, sense, awareness
→ a hankali – in (a state of) calmness / awareness → idiomatically: slowly, carefully, gently
a – in / at / on (again)
titi – road, street

So a very literal version is:
“For God (please), you go slowly on (the) road.”
Natural English: “Please go slowly on the road.” (often used as “Please drive slowly on the road.”)

What exactly does Don Allah mean, and how is it used as “please”?

Don is a reduced form of domin, meaning “for (the sake of), because of.”
Allah is “God.”

Together, Don Allah literally means “for God’s sake.” In everyday Hausa, this is the most common, natural way to say “please” when you are asking someone to do (or not do) something.

Usage notes:

It’s very common and normal, not overly dramatic the way “for God’s sake” can sound in English.
Both Muslims and Christians use it; it’s just a standard politeness formula.
In fast speech you’ll often hear “Dan Allah” instead of “Don Allah.” It’s the same phrase.

You can put it:

At the beginning: Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi.
In the middle or end: Ka tafi a hankali, don Allah.

All of these feel like “please” in English.

Why do we need ka before tafi? Why not just Don Allah tafi a hankali a titi?

Ka is the 2nd person singular (masculine) subject marker used with this kind of command / request.

Ka tafi ≈ “(you) should go / go (please).”

If you say just Tafi!, that’s the bare imperative:

Tafi! – “Go!” (quite direct, can be blunt depending on tone)
Ka tafi. – “Go (you should go).” This often feels a bit softer or more “sentential.”

With Don Allah:

Don Allah, ka tafi a hankali… – a polite request, natural, everyday speech.
Don Allah, tafi a hankali… – possible, but can sound a bit sharper, like adding “please” to a direct order.

So in this sentence, ka makes the command more like a full sentence addressed to “you”, which usually comes across as more polite / less abrupt.

How does this sentence change if I’m speaking to a woman or to several people?

The verb tafi stays the same, but the subject marker (ka) changes.

To one man (original sentence):

Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi.
→ “Please (you, male) go slowly on the road.”

To one woman:

Don Allah ki tafi a hankali a titi.
- ki = you (2nd person singular, feminine)

To more than one person (male, female, or mixed):

Don Allah ku tafi a hankali a titi.
- ku = you (2nd person plural)

So the pattern with tafi is:

ka tafi – you (1 man) go
ki tafi – you (1 woman) go
ku tafi – you (several people) go

Can tafi mean “drive” here, or only “go (walk)”?

Tafi is a general verb for “go/leave/travel”, regardless of the means:

tafi aiki – go to work
tafi gida – go home
tafi Lagos – go to Lagos

In context, Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi can easily be understood as:

To a driver: “Please drive slowly on the road.”
To a pedestrian: “Please go/walk slowly on the road.”

If you want to be explicit about driving, you can say:

Don Allah ka tuƙa mota a hankali. – “Please drive the car slowly.”
Don Allah ki tuƙa motar a hankali. – (to a woman)
Don Allah ku tuƙa mota a hankali. – (to several people)

Why is the preposition a used twice: a hankali a titi? Does a just mean “in / at / on”?

Yes, a is a very common, broad preposition in Hausa that often corresponds to “in, at, on” in English, depending on context.

Here it’s used twice because it is introducing two different adverbial phrases:

a hankali – “slowly, carefully” (literally “in calmness / in carefulness”)
a titi – “on the road / in the street”

You cannot just say hankali titi or drop one a; each noun phrase (hankali, titi) needs its own preposition:

✅ ka tafi a hankali a titi – correct
❌ ka tafi hankali a titi – wrong
❌ ka tafi a hankali titi – wrong

Other examples of a:

a gida – at home
a kasuwa – at the market
a lokaci ɗaya – at the same time

Is a hankali an idiom? What does hankali mean by itself?

Yes, a hankali functions like an adverbial idiom meaning:

slowly
carefully
gently
sometimes quietly, softly depending on context

The noun hankali by itself means:

mind, sense, awareness, reason
(e.g. ba shi da hankali – “he has no sense / he’s not sensible.”)

So literally a hankali is like “in (a state of) sense/mind/calmness,” which naturally extended to mean “carefully, slowly, calmly.”

Some related expressions:

sannu a hankali – slowly, gradually; take it easy
a hankali, a hankali – (repetition for emphasis) “very slowly / carefully”

Where is the word for “the” in a titi (“on the road”)? How do you say “a road” vs “the road” in Hausa?

Hausa does not have articles like English “a / an / the.”

titi can mean “a road,” “the road,” or just “road” generically, depending on context.
a titi can be translated as:
- “on the road”
- “on a road”
- “in the street”

Definiteness is understood from context, not from a separate word. If you’ve been talking about a specific road, then titi will be understood as “the road.” If not, it may sound more general.

There are other ways to specify if you really need to:

a kan titi – literally “on top of the road” (more spatially explicit)
a kan wannan titin – “on this road” (very clearly “this particular road”)

Can I change the word order, for example say Ka tafi a titi a hankali or move Don Allah to the end?

Some movement is natural; some is strange.

Very natural variations:

Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi.
Ka tafi a hankali a titi, don Allah.
Don Allah, a titi ka tafi a hankali. (possible in more careful / formal speech)

Less natural / odd:

Ka tafi a titi a hankali.
- Understandable, but Hausa speakers usually expect a hankali right after the verb or at the end.
- Ka tafi a hankali a titi sounds smoother and more idiomatic.

General tendencies:

Don Allah can go at the beginning or end for “please.”
a hankali often comes right after the verb:
- ka tafi a hankali
a titi is usually at the end when it’s just specifying location:
- ka tafi a hankali a titi

How would I make this sentence negative, like “Please don’t go fast on the road”?

To make negative commands / requests in Hausa, you usually use kada (or kar in some dialects) + the subject marker.

To say “Please don’t go fast on the road”, you would typically contrast a hankali with da sauri (“fast”):

Don Allah, kada ka tafi da sauri a titi.
- kada ka tafi – don’t go (you, male)
- da sauri – quickly / fast
  → “Please don’t go fast on the road.”

Other persons:

To a woman: Don Allah, kada ki tafi da sauri a titi.
To several people: Don Allah, kada ku tafi da sauri a titi.

If you literally wanted “don’t go slowly” (less common as advice), it would be:

Don Allah, kada ka tafi a hankali a titi. – “Please don’t go slowly on the road.”

How do I pronounce Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like spelling):

Don – like “dawn” but shorter; often nasalized: don / dong
Allah – AL-lah (first syllable stressed, both l’s pronounced)
ka – kah (short a, as in cup but a bit more open)
tafi – TAH-fee (stress on ta)
a – ah (short)
hankali – han-KA-lee (stress on ka)
a – ah
titi – TEE-tee (both t’s pronounced, equal ti syllables)

Very rough IPA-like transcription:

Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi
→ /dɔ̃̀n állàh ka táfì a hankálì a títì/

In natural speech it might sound like:

Donallah ka tafi a hankali a titi.
(with Don Allah flowing together)

How polite or strong does this sentence sound? Could it sound rude?

Don Allah ka tafi a hankali a titi is generally heard as:

polite, because of Don Allah (“please”)
concerned / advising, not aggressive, especially with a calm tone

Possible interpretations:

To a driver: “Please drive slowly on the road” – could be out of concern for safety.
To a child: “Please go slowly on the road” – concern for danger / traffic.

It could sound a bit firm if:

you stress it strongly,
or use a sharp tone,
or omit Don Allah and just say Ka tafi a hankali a titi.

But with a normal tone and Don Allah, it is polite and acceptable in most everyday situations.

Is there a softer or more formal way to say the same idea?

Yes, you can soften the request by:

Using a “wish” or “hope” construction:
- Da fatan za ka tafi a hankali a titi.
  - da fatan – hopefully / I hope
  - za ka tafi – you will go
    → “I hope you (will) go slowly on the road.”
Combining both forms:
- Don Allah, da fatan za ka tafi a hankali a titi.
  → Very polite, quite soft.
To a driver, very natural short forms are also used:
- Don Allah, a hankali. – “Please, (go) slowly.” (context tells it’s about driving)
- Don Allah, a hankali a titi. – “Please, slowly on the road.”

These versions can sound less like an order and more like a polite request / hope.