Learn Hardcore Hausa: Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, ka tsaya nan da nan. - If you masculine hear a warning from the teacher, stop immediately.

The first ka (in ka ji) marks the subject “you” in the if-clause:
- Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami = If you hear a warning from the teacher…
The second ka (in ka tsaya) again marks the subject “you” in the main clause:
- ka tsaya nan da nan = you should stop immediately.

In Hausa, it is very common (and usually required) to repeat the subject pronoun in both parts of a conditional sentence:

Idan ka ga shi, ka kira ni.
If you see him, call me.

So the repetition is normal grammar, not emphasis. It simply keeps the subject explicit in each clause.

Can this sentence be addressed to a woman, and if so, what changes?

Yes. For a female addressee, Hausa uses ki for “you (singular feminine)” instead of ka.

So you would say:

Idan ki ji kashedi daga malami, ki tsaya nan da nan.

In everyday speech, however, some speakers still use ka generically, especially when speaking quickly or informally. But the “textbook-correct” feminine form is ki in both clauses:

masculine: Idan ka ji …, ka tsaya …
feminine: Idan ki ji …, ki tsaya …

Why is the verb ji used here? Does it mean only “to hear”?

Ji is a very common Hausa verb that can mean:

to hear
to feel
to experience
sometimes even to understand (depending on context)

In this sentence:

Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami…

ji mainly means “to hear” (a warning), but it can carry the idea of “receive / experience” a warning as well. So the meaning can be understood as:

If you *hear/receive a warning from the teacher…*

Other examples:

Na ji sanyi. – I feel cold.
Kin ji labari? – Did you hear the news?
Ka ji? – Do you understand? / Got it? (in context)

What exactly does kashedi mean? Is it the same as “warning”?

Kashedi is usually translated as “warning”, but it often has a stronger tone than a neutral English “warning”. It can imply:

a stern warning
a rebuke or scolding
a serious caution against doing something

Compare:

gargadi – “warning” in a more neutral, preventive sense.
kashedi – warning with a sharper, more serious or reproachful nuance.

In many contexts, kashedi suggests that you are being told off or strongly cautioned:

Na ba ka kashedi. – I have warned you (seriously).

Could this sentence also be understood as “If you get a warning from the teacher, stop immediately,” not just “hear a warning”?

Yes. Because ji is flexible, Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami can be understood more broadly as:

If you *hear a warning from the teacher,*
or
If you *receive / get a warning from the teacher.*

The core idea is: as soon as the teacher warns you in any way, you must stop.

The sentence doesn’t limit the warning to just sound; it’s natural to interpret it as any kind of communicated warning.

Why is it ka tsaya and not just tsaya! for “stop!”?

Hausa often uses the subject pronoun + verb form (ka tsaya) instead of a bare verb imperative in instructions, especially when giving:

softer commands,
conditional instructions,
or more “polite” directives.

Compare:

Tsaya! – Stop! (can sound abrupt or more like a direct command)
Ka tsaya nan da nan. – You should stop immediately. / Stop immediately. (grammatically still imperative, but often feels slightly less abrupt)

In conditional sentences like this one, using the pronoun + verb form is standard:

Idan ka ga shi, ka kira ni. – If you see him, call me.
Idan kuka gama, ku tafi. – When you (pl.) finish, go.

So ka tsaya fits the normal pattern of giving an instruction in the result clause of an “if” sentence.

What does nan da nan literally mean, and does it always mean “immediately”?

Literally, nan means something like “here / this place / this point”, and nan da nan is an idiomatic expression.

Nan da nan is best translated as:

“immediately”
“right away”
“at once”

So:

ka tsaya nan da nan = stop immediately / stop right away.

Yes, in modern usage nan da nan reliably means “immediately”. It is a fixed phrase and is very common.

It normally comes after the verb:

Ka yi hakan nan da nan. – Do that immediately.
Mu tafi nan da nan. – Let’s go right away.

Can I change the word order, for example: Idan ka ji daga malami kashedi?

No, that word order would be unusual and sound wrong to native speakers.

In Hausa, the common pattern here is:

Verb + object
- ji kashedi – hear a warning
Then the prepositional phrase (e.g. daga malami – from the teacher)

So the natural order is:

Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami…
(If you hear a warning from the teacher…)

Placing daga malami between ji and kashedi breaks up the normal verb-object relationship. You generally keep verb + its direct object together, then add daga X / a wurin X / ga X etc. afterwards.

What does daga malami mean exactly? Why daga and not something else?

Daga is a preposition that usually means:

from (source, origin, starting point)

So:

daga malami = “from the teacher”

Here it marks the source of the warning:

kashedi daga malami – a warning from the teacher

Other examples:

Na zo daga gida. – I came from home.
Sako daga mahaifinka. – A message from your father.

You could also hear daga wurin malami (literally “from the place of the teacher”), which can sound a bit more explicit, but daga malami is already clear and natural.

Does malami only mean “school teacher,” or can it refer to other kinds of teachers?

Malami is a general word for “teacher” / “learned person”, and can refer to:

a school teacher
a religious teacher or scholar (especially an Islamic scholar)
a lecturer / instructor in various settings

The exact nuance depends on context. If you’re talking about school, malami normally means a school teacher. In a religious context, it can mean an Islamic scholar / cleric.

In this sentence, without extra context, an English learner would most naturally understand it as:

“teacher” (in a school or educational setting)

Is there any difference between Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, ka tsaya nan da nan and a version with sai, like Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, sai ka tsaya nan da nan?

Yes, there is a small nuance:

Without sai: > Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, ka tsaya nan da nan.
This is a straight conditional instruction:
If this happens, do that.
It is already clear and natural.
With sai: > Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, sai ka tsaya nan da nan.
Sai adds a sense of “then / at that point / in that case”, slightly emphasizing the consequence:
- If you hear a warning from the teacher, *then you must stop immediately.*

Both are correct, and both are used. The version with sai often feels a bit more explicit about the sequence (first X, then Y), but in everyday speech they are very close in meaning.