Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri.

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Breakdown of Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri.

• sani: to know
• yi: to do
• cewa: that

Questions & Answers about Da na sani cewa jarabawa za ta yi wuya, da na shirya da wuri.

What does the first Da mean at the beginning of the sentence?

The first Da here is a conditional particle. In this context it means something like “if” in a past unreal / hypothetical sense:

• Da na sani... = If I had known...

So it is not the same as English “and” here, and not the same use as in phrases like da wuka (with a knife). In this type of sentence, Da + perfective verb introduces a condition that did not actually happen.

Why is da used twice: at the beginning and again before na shirya da wuri?

In Hausa, past unreal conditionals usually have da at the beginning of both clauses:

• Da na sani... = If I had known... (the condition)
• ..., da na shirya da wuri. = ..., I would have prepared early. (the result)

So the structure is:

Da + [perfective clause], da + [perfective clause].

Both da’s work together to give the meaning: “If X had happened, Y would have happened.”

If you remove the second da, it becomes more like a simple sequence in the past, not clearly a counterfactual “would have” statement.

Could I use idan instead of da, like ?