Learn Hardcore Hausa: Don Allah ku guji haɗari a titi. - Please avoid danger in the street.

In everyday speech it functions as a very common way to say please, appealing to someone “for God’s sake.” It sounds natural and polite in Hausa, not overly dramatic, and is used in many everyday requests and warnings, like in this sentence.

What is the role of ku in this sentence?

Ku is the second person plural subject pronoun (you plural) and also acts as the marker for a plural imperative here.

So:

ku guji = avoid! (said to more than one person)
It tells you the command is addressed to you (all), not just one person.

Without ku, the sentence would be ungrammatical in this form; Hausa imperatives usually need the appropriate subject pronoun (except in some special short forms).

How would this sentence change if I were speaking to only one person?

For a single person, you change ku to ka (to a man) or ki (to a woman):

To one man: Don Allah ka guji haɗari a titi.
To one woman: Don Allah ki guji haɗari a titi.
To several people: Don Allah ku guji haɗari a titi.

The rest of the sentence stays the same.

Is guji a special imperative form, or is it just the normal verb?

Guji is the normal verb form (the so‑called “simple” form) and it is also used after subject pronouns to make imperatives:

ku guji – you (pl.) should avoid / avoid!
ka guji – you (sg. masc.) should avoid / avoid!
ki guji – you (sg. fem.) should avoid / avoid!

So the imperative is formed by combining the subject pronoun (ka/ki/ku) with the plain verb form (guji).

What exactly does guji mean, and what kind of object does it take?

Guji means to avoid, to stay away from, to shun.

It usually takes a direct object:

guji haɗari – avoid accidents/danger
guji fada – avoid fighting
guji mugayen mutane – avoid bad people

In this sentence, haɗari is the direct object of guji.

Does haɗari mean accident or danger, and how strong is it?

Haɗari can mean both:

accident (like a car accident),
danger, risk, hazard.

In the context of roads and traffic, it naturally covers both danger in general and traffic accidents. The word is fairly strong: it implies something bad and potentially harmful, not just a minor inconvenience.

Why is it haɗari a titi instead of a titi haɗari?

Hausa generally keeps the pattern:

Subject – Verb – Object – (other phrases like place/time)

So here:

ku (subject) – you (pl.)
guji (verb) – avoid
haɗari (object) – danger/accidents
a titi (place phrase) – on the road

Placing a titi after haɗari follows normal word order: the location phrase typically comes after the verb’s object, just as in English: “avoid accidents on the road.”

What does the preposition a in a titi mean? Is it in, on, or at?

The preposition a is a general locative preposition. It can correspond to English in, on, or at, depending on context:

a gida – at home / in the house
a kasuwa – at the market
a titi – on the road / in the street

In a titi, English on the road or in the street are both natural translations, but Hausa just uses a.

Why is it titi and not something like titin or titin nan?

Hausa does not always mark definiteness with an ending like English the. Titi can mean a road or the road, depending on context.

You can make it more explicitly definite if needed:

titin nan – this road
titin mu – our road

But in a general warning like this, simple titi is normal and naturally understood as the road in context.

What is the difference between titi and hanya for road?

Both can refer to roads, but there is a nuance:

titi – street/road, often a constructed road, especially in towns or cities.
hanya – way, route, path, road in a broader sense (could be a path, a route to a goal, or even figurative “way”).

In a traffic warning, titi is very natural because it evokes a street/road with vehicles.

How polite or strong does Don Allah ku guji haɗari a titi sound? Is it more like a request or an order?

The combination of Don Allah with an imperative gives a polite but serious request/warning.

Nuance:

Ku guji haɗari a titi. – more direct command: Avoid danger on the road.
Don Allah ku guji haɗari a titi. – more like Please, avoid danger on the road, polite but still quite serious, often used in public-safety contexts (announcements, advice, etc.).

Could I leave out Don Allah and still be correct?

Yes.

Ku guji haɗari a titi. is grammatically correct and clearly understood.

Dropping Don Allah makes it:

more straightforward and directive,
less explicitly polite.

Adding Don Allah softens it and adds politeness or an emotional appeal.

How would I say Please don’t cause accidents on the road instead of Please avoid accidents on the road?

To focus on not causing accidents, you’d typically use a negative imperative with kar or kada plus a verb meaning to cause/do:

Don Allah kada ku yi haɗari a titi.
Literally: Please do not have/make accidents on the road.

Don Allah kar ku haddasa haɗari a titi.
(haddasa = to cause; this is more formal/literary.)

Your original sentence, Don Allah ku guji haɗari a titi, focuses on staying away from danger/accidents rather than on the idea of causing them.