Kada ka karya alƙawari da ka yi wa abokinka.

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Breakdown of Kada ka karya alƙawari da ka yi wa abokinka.

• ka: you (masculine)
• yi: to do
• wa: to

Questions & Answers about Kada ka karya alƙawari da ka yi wa abokinka.

What does kada mean, and what kind of structure is it?

Kada is a negative imperative particle; it means “don’t”.

In Hausa, negative commands are usually formed with:

• kada
  • subject pronoun
    • verb

Examples:

• Kada ka tafi. – Don’t go. (to a man)
• Kada ki tafi. – Don’t go. (to a woman)
• Kada ku tafi. – Don’t go. (to several people)

So in the sentence:

• Kada ka karya alƙawari…
  kada = don’t (negative command)

Why do we need both kada and ka? Could I just say Kada karya alƙawari?

You cannot drop ka here; you need both.

• kada gives the negative imperative (“don’t”)
• ka is the subject pronoun “you (male, singular)” in this construction

The pattern is:

• kada + ka/ki/ku + verb

So:

• Kada ka karya… – Don’t (you, masc. sg.) break…
• Kada ki karya… – Don’t (you, fem. sg.) break…
• Kada ku karya… – Don’t (you, plural) break…

❌ Kada karya alƙawari… – ungrammatical (missing the pronoun).