Ni bana son ciwo.

I

Breakdown of Ni bana son ciwo.

• ba … ba: not
• so: to like
• ciwo: pain

Questions & Answers about Ni bana son ciwo.

Why do we have Ni at the beginning? Could I just say Bana son ciwo?

Ni is the independent pronoun “I / me”.

In this sentence, bana already contains the “I” information (it comes from ba na, “I don’t / I am not [doing]”). So:

• Bana son ciwo. = I don’t like pain / illness.
• Ni bana son ciwo. = I don’t like pain / illness (as for me / I personally don’t).

Adding Ni puts extra emphasis or contrast on the subject, a bit like stressing I in English:

• I don’t like pain (maybe others do, but I don’t).

So yes, Bana son ciwo is fine and fully grammatical; Ni bana son ciwo is the emphatic version.

What exactly does bana mean? Is it one word or two words (ba na)?

Spoken Hausa usually pronounces this as one unit: [bána].

Grammatically, it comes from ba na:

• ba – negative particle (used to make negatives)
• na – first person singular subject (“I”) in this verb pattern

Together: ba na → “I do not [verb] / I am not [verb‑ing]” in the imperfective (ongoing / habitual) aspect.

In writing, you will see both:

• Ba na son ciwo. (more careful / textbook style)
• Bana son ciwo. (very common spelling, reflecting speech)

They mean the same thing here.