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

the teacher

Breakdown of Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, ka tsaya nan da nan.

• ka: you (masculine)
• idan: if
• daga: from

Questions & Answers about Idan ka ji kashedi daga malami, ka tsaya nan da nan.

What does ka mean here, and why does it appear twice in the sentence?

Ka is the second person singular masculine subject pronoun in Hausa: “you (singular masculine)”.

In the sentence:

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

• 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?