Learn Hardcore Hausa: Uwa ta ce farauta a daji tana da haɗari, musamman idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata. - Mother said hunting in the bush is dangerous, especially if a camel or a monkey gets angry.

Uwa = mother, which is grammatically feminine.
So the verb must agree in gender:
- Uwa ta ce … = Mother said …
- Baba ya ce … = Father said … (here ya is masculine)

If you said Uwa ya ce, it would sound wrong to a native speaker, because the gender agreement is off.

What exactly does ce mean in ta ce? Is it like English said or said that?

Ce is the perfective form of the verb cewa (to say, to say that).

Uwa ta ce … literally: Mother, she-said …
In English that usually corresponds to “Mother said (that) …”

So ta ce functions like “she said” or “she said that”.

There is also another common verb faɗa (to say, to tell):

Uwa ta ce farauta a daji tana da haɗari.
Uwa ta faɗa cewa farauta a daji tana da haɗari.

Both mean roughly the same; ce is very common for introducing reported speech or a reported statement.

Can I also say Uwa ta ce cewa farauta a daji tana da haɗari? What is the difference between ce and cewa here?

Yes, you can say that, and it is grammatical.

ce is the verb “to say” in the past/perfective: ta ce = she said.
cewa is like the conjunction “that” introducing the content of what was said.

So:

Uwa ta ce farauta a daji tana da haɗari.
→ literally: Mother said hunting in the bush is dangerous.
Uwa ta ce cewa farauta a daji tana da haɗari.
→ literally: Mother said that hunting in the bush is dangerous.

In everyday speech, cewa is often dropped after ce, so your original sentence (without cewa) is the more natural, shorter version.

Is farauta a noun or a verb here? How is “hunting” normally expressed in Hausa?

In this sentence, farauta is a verbal noun (a noun made from a verb), so it behaves like “hunting” in English.

As a noun:
- Farauta tana da haɗari. = Hunting is dangerous.
To say to hunt / do hunting, Hausa very often uses yin farauta:
- Ina yin farauta. = I hunt / I go hunting.

So:

farauta on its own = the activity hunting (as a noun)
yin farauta = doing hunting → to hunt

Why do we say farauta a daji tana da haɗari with tana, even though we already said farauta a daji? What is tana doing?

The tana is a resumptive subject pronoun that links the subject to the predicate da haɗari.

In Hausa, when you use da in this kind of construction (“X has Y / X is with Y” → often meaning X is Y-ish), you normally put a pronoun before da:

Farauta a daji tana da haɗari.
= Hunting in the bush, it has danger → Hunting in the bush is dangerous.
Yaro yana da kuɗi.
= The boy has money / the boy is rich.

You usually can’t just say:

✗ Farauta a daji da haɗari. (ungrammatical in standard Hausa)

So that tana is required by the grammar pattern:
[Subject] + [agreeing pronoun] + da + [noun].

The pronoun agrees in gender and number with the subject (farauta, which is feminine, takes tana, not yana).

Why is it tana da haɗari and not yana da haɗari or na da haɗari?

Because farauta is treated as feminine in Hausa, so it takes the feminine form:

tana = 3rd person singular feminine (she/it is / she/it has)
yana = 3rd person singular masculine (he/it is / he/it has)

So:

Farauta tana da haɗari. = Hunting (feminine noun) is dangerous.
Daji yana da haɗari. = The bush (masculine noun) is dangerous.

You may also hear na da haɗari (with na) in some dialects or casual speech, but tana da haɗari is the clear form that shows agreement with a feminine subject.

Could I just say farauta a daji haɗari ce instead of farauta a daji tana da haɗari? What is the difference in meaning or style?

Yes, Farauta a daji haɗari ce is grammatical and understandable.

Two common patterns:

tana da haɗari
- Literally: it has danger / it is with danger
- Idiomatic meaning: it is dangerous
- Farauta a daji tana da haɗari.
haɗari ce / mai haɗari ce
- haɗari ce = it is a danger
- mai haɗari ce = it is dangerous (adjectival pattern with mai)
- Farauta a daji haɗari ce.
- Farauta a daji mai haɗari ce.

The nuance:

tana da haɗari sounds like it involves danger / carries danger with it.
haɗari ce sounds like it is a danger (in itself).
mai haɗari ce sounds very close to English dangerous as an adjective.

All are acceptable; the original tana da haɗari is a very common everyday way to say something is dangerous.

What kind of word is musamman, and where can it appear in the sentence?

Musamman is an adverb meaning especially / particularly.

In your sentence, it is placed before the idan clause:

… tana da haɗari, musamman idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata.

You could also move it a bit without changing the meaning much:

… tana da haɗari sosai, musamman idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata.
Musamman farauta a daji tana da haɗari idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata.
(Here it emphasizes the whole idea even more.)

As long as musamman clearly modifies what is especially dangerous, the sentence will be understood. The position in your original sentence is very natural.

How is idan being used here? Does it mean if or when, and is there any difference from in?

In this sentence, idan introduces a conditional / time clause:

idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata
= if / when a camel or a monkey gets angry

Idan can mean both:

if (a real or likely condition)
when / whenever (repeated or general situation)

There is also a shorter form in used in many dialects:

in raƙumi ko biri ya fusata …

Broadly:

idan is a bit more standard, clear, and slightly more formal.
in is very common in speech and in informal writing.

In your sentence, you can safely treat idan as if / whenever.

In raƙumi ko biri ya fusata, why do we use the singular ya fusata instead of a plural form like suka fusata, since there are two animals mentioned?

Because the subjects are joined by ko (or), not da (and).

raƙumi ko biri = a camel or a monkey (one or the other)
→ conceptually singular, so:
- raƙumi ko biri ya fusata = if a camel or a monkey gets angry
raƙumi da biri = a camel and a monkey (both together)
→ conceptually plural, so:
- raƙumi da biri suna fusata or suka fusata = a camel and a monkey get / got angry

So with ko, you normally use a singular verb (ya here). With da, you use a plural verb (suna or suka).

Why is raƙumi written with ƙ and haɗari with ɗ? How do k / ƙ and d / ɗ differ?

Hausa uses special letters ƙ, ɗ, ɓ to represent implosive consonants, which are different from the plain k, d, b sounds.

k: an ordinary k sound (like in English cat)
ƙ: an implosive k, made with a slight inward movement of air; it is distinct from k and can change the meaning of words
- kasa and ƙasa are different words
- raƙumi must be written with ƙ
d: an ordinary d sound
ɗ: an implosive d, also made with a slight inward movement; again, it contrasts with d
- da and ɗa are different words
- haɗari must be written with ɗ

Pronouncing them exactly like a native takes practice, but for understanding and spelling, it is important to know that k ≠ ƙ and d ≠ ɗ in Hausa.

What does fusata mean exactly, and is it different from yin fushi?

Fusata is a verb meaning to get angry, to become enraged / to lose one’s temper.

biri ya fusata = the monkey got angry / flew into a rage

Yin fushi uses the noun fushi (anger) with yi (to do/make):

ya yi fushi = he was angry / he got angry

Nuance:

fusata often suggests a stronger or more sudden reaction: to flare up, to become furious.
yin fushi is more neutral: to be angry / to be upset.

In your sentence, fusata nicely conveys the idea that the animal loses its temper and becomes dangerous.

Why do we use ko between raƙumi and biri instead of da? Could we say raƙumi da biri here?

ko means or.
da means and.

Your sentence:

idan raƙumi ko biri ya fusata
= if a camel or a monkey gets angry (it’s enough for one of them to be angry)

If you said:

idan raƙumi da biri suka fusata
you would be saying if a camel and a monkey get angry (both together), which changes the meaning.

So ko is correct here because the idea is:
Hunting is dangerous, especially if *a camel or a monkey (any one of them) gets angry.*