Learn Hardcore Hausa: Likita ya ba shi magani don tari, ya ce mura za ta wuce idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi. - The doctor gave him medicine for the cough and said the cold will pass if he drinks hot water.

Likita ya ba shi magani…
- ya = he, referring to Likita (the doctor).
- Meaning: The doctor gave him medicine…
…, ya ce…
- Again ya = he, still referring to Likita.
- Meaning: …, and he said… (the doctor is the one speaking).
…idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi.
- ya = he, now understood as the patient (the person who must drink the hot water), not the doctor.
- Context tells us that it’s the sick person who should drink, not the doctor.

So ya always means he, but who he refers to depends on context.

What is the difference between tari and mura?

Both are illness-related, but they’re not the same:

tari = cough, the specific symptom of coughing.
mura = (common) cold, the illness (runny nose, sore throat, maybe cough, etc.).

So in the sentence:

magani don tari = medicine for cough
mura za ta wuce = the cold will pass

How does ba shi work in ya ba shi magani?

ba shi literally means give him.

Breakdown:

ba = give (verb)
shi = him (3rd person singular masculine object pronoun)

So:

ya ba shi magani = he gave him medicine
- ya = he (doctor)
- ba = gave
- shi = him (patient)
- magani = medicine

Note: in writing you will often see ba shi separated. Writing bashi as one word usually means debt, so the space matters.

What does don mean in magani don tari? Could I use something else?

In magani don tari, don means for or because of.

magani don tari = medicine for cough / medicine because of cough

You can often replace don with domin (slightly more formal) or with saboda (more like because of), though there are small nuance differences:

magani don tari – medicine for cough
magani domin tari – same meaning, a bit more formal/literary
magani saboda tari – medicine because of the cough (emphasises the cause)

In everyday speech, don here is perfectly natural and common.

Why is it mura za ta wuce, not mura za ya wuce?

In Hausa, most non-human nouns are grammatically feminine, so they take feminine pronouns and agreement.

mura (cold) is treated as feminine.
Feminine future marker is za ta = she/it (fem) will.
Masculine future marker is za ya = he/it (masc) will.

So:

mura za ta wuce = the cold will pass, literally she/it (fem) will pass
Using za ya wuce with mura would be ungrammatical.

What does wuce mean in za ta wuce?

wuce is a verb meaning to pass, to go past, or to be over.

za ta wuce = it will pass / it will go away

In the context of an illness:

mura za ta wuce = the cold will pass / the cold will go away

What does idan mean in idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi? Is it “if” or “when”?

idan can mean both if and when, depending on context.

Here, it’s best understood as if:

idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi = if he drinks hot water

In other contexts, especially for repeated or expected actions, it can also be when:

idan rana ta fito – when the sun comes out

But for medical advice like this, translating idan as if fits best.

What does sha mean in ya sha ruwa mai zafi?

sha is a very common verb meaning:

to drink, but also
to take (as in take medicine),
and in some contexts to smoke (e.g. sha taba – smoke tobacco).

Here, with ruwa (water):

ya sha ruwa mai zafi = he drinks hot water or he takes hot water

In medical contexts, sha magani = take medicine.

How is ruwa mai zafi constructed, and why not just say “hot water” some other way?

ruwa mai zafi literally means water that has heat or water that is hot.

Structure:

ruwa = water
mai zafi = having heat / that has heat / hot

In Hausa, one common way to express an adjective-like meaning is:

noun + mai + noun
- ruwa mai zafi = water that has heat = hot water
- gida mai tsabta = house that has cleanliness = clean house
- mace mai hankali = woman that has sense = sensible woman

So ruwa mai zafi is the standard, natural way to say hot water.

What is the basic word order in Likita ya ba shi magani don tari?

The word order is essentially Subject–Verb–Object, with the object pronoun right after the verb:

Likita – subject noun (doctor)
ya – subject pronoun (he) agreeing with Likita
ba – verb (give)
shi – object pronoun (him)
magani – direct object (medicine)
don tari – prepositional phrase (for cough)

So you can see it as:

[Likita ya] [ba shi] [magani] [don tari]
[The doctor he] [gave him] [medicine] [for cough]

You can’t normally move shi far away from ba here; ba shi functions tightly together as give him.

How do the tenses/aspects work in this sentence? Why do we have ya and za?

There are two main time frames here: completed past and future/conditional.

Completed past (perfective), marked by ya before the verb:
- Likita ya ba shi magani – The doctor gave him medicine (completed action)
- ya ce – he said (completed speech)
Future or hypothetical, marked by za before the subject pronoun:
- mura za ta wuce – the cold will pass
  - za ta = she/it (fem) will
- idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi – if he drinks hot water
  - Here ya sha is under the scope of idan (if), giving it a conditional/future-like sense: if he drinks / if he will drink.

So ya is the perfective subject marker (past/completed), and za is the future marker that combines with pronouns (za ta, za ya, za su, etc.).

If I want to say “if you drink hot water” instead of “if he drinks”, how would I change idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi?

You just change the subject pronoun from 3rd person (ya) to 2nd person (ka or ki):

To a man or general “you” (informal/masculine):
- idan ka sha ruwa mai zafi – if you drink hot water
To a woman (informal/feminine):
- idan ki ka sha ruwa mai zafi or more simply idan kin sha ruwa mai zafi

So the pattern is idan + [appropriate “you” form] + sha ruwa mai zafi.

Why doesn’t the sentence use a conjunction like kuma or sannan between the two main parts?

The sentence:

Likita ya ba shi magani don tari, ya ce mura za ta wuce idan ya sha ruwa mai zafi.

is effectively two clauses joined with just a comma. In Hausa, this is very common in both speech and writing.

You could explicitly add a conjunction, and it would still be correct:

Likita ya ba shi magani don tari, sannan ya ce… – The doctor gave him medicine for cough, then he said…
Likita ya ba shi magani don tari, kuma ya ce… – …and he also said…

The version without kuma/sannan is simply a bit more compact and still natural.