Ya yi ƙuduri ya ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki.

Ya is the 3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun in the perfective (completed) aspect. Roughly, it corresponds to “he” + past tense (as in “he did”).

In Ya yi ƙuduri ya ajiye…:

• The first ya = “he (did)” for yi ƙuduri – he made a decision
• The second ya = “he (did)” for ajiye – he put/saved

In Hausa, each finite verb normally needs its own subject pronoun, even if it’s the same subject. So you don’t say:

• ✗ Ya yi ƙuduri ajiye rabin albashinsa…

You say:

• ✓ Ya yi ƙuduri ya ajiye rabin albashinsa…

This is like saying in English: “He made a decision, he (would) put half his salary in the bank”, which is understood as “He decided to put…”.

Here yi is the main verb meaning “do / make”.

• yi ƙuduri is a fixed expression meaning “to make a decision / to decide”
  
  • yi = do / make
  • ƙuduri = a decision, a resolution

So ya yi ƙuduri literally means “he made a decision”, and by extension “he decided”. Yi in this sentence is not just a helping (auxiliary) verb; it carries its own meaning.

ƙuduri means a firm decision, resolution, or resolve—often with a sense of determination.

Nuances:

• It’s a noun: ƙuduri = a decision / resolution
• With yi: yi ƙuduri = to decide / to resolve to do something

There are other common Hausa ways to say “decide,” such as:

• yanke shawara – “to cut a plan/opinion” → to make a decision
• yi niyya – to intend

In your sentence, ya yi ƙuduri suggests a deliberate, firm decision.

Formally, the structure is:

• ya yi ƙuduri – he made a decision
• ya ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki – he put half his salary in the bank

Hausa often links two perfective clauses with the same subject like this to express:

• result: He did X and (then) did Y, or
• purpose/intention: He decided he would do Y → He decided to do Y

Because the second action (ya ajiye…) is clearly the content of his decision, English translates this naturally as:

• “He decided to put half his salary in the bank.”

So the second ya ajiye functions like English “to put” in this context.

• ajiye is a verb: to put away, to deposit, to store, to keep safe.
  
  • ya ajiye = he deposited / he put away

Related forms:

• ajiya – a noun, often meaning deposit, savings, storage
  
  • e.g. ajiyar kuɗi – money kept/savings
• ajiyewa – a verbal noun / gerund-like form: the act of keeping/saving/depositing
  
  • e.g. ajiyewar kuɗi a banki – the act of saving money at the bank

In your sentence we need a finite verb, so ya ajiye (“he put/saved”) is correct, not ya ajiya or ya ajiyewa.

rabin means “half (of)” when it comes before another noun.

• rabi = a half (basic form)
• rabin = half of… (with the genitive/“of” ending -n)

So:

• rabi – a half (on its own)
• rabin albashi – half of a salary
• rabin albashinsa – half of his salary

The typical pattern is:

rabin + [noun] = half of [noun]

albashinsa means “his salary”.

Breakdown:

• albashi – salary, wages
• -n- – a linker that often appears before possessive pronouns
• -sa – enclitic pronoun meaning his

So conceptually you have: albashi + n + sa → albashinsa = his salary.

Other examples:

• albashina – my salary
• albashinka – your (masc. sg.) salary
• albashinki – your (fem. sg.) salary
• albashinmu – our salary
• albashinsu – their salary

Hausa usually expresses “of” by:

1. Putting the quantifier/owner word first, and
2. Using a linking sound (often -n or -r) on that first word.

In rabin albashinsa:

• rabi + -n → rabin = half of
• albashinsa = his salary

So rabin albashinsa literally is “half-of his-salary”, and the -n at the end of rabin is doing the job of “of”. You don’t add an extra separate word for “of.”

a is a preposition that commonly means “in / at / on” (location).

• a banki = in/at the bank

Hausa does not have articles like English “a, an, the.” Definiteness (whether it’s “a bank” or “the bank”) is usually understood from context. So:

• a banki can mean:
  • in a bank
  • in the bank

Depending on the situation.

In this sentence, a banki is best understood as “in/at the bank” (location of where the money is kept).

For movement to a place, Hausa more often uses:

• zuwa – to, towards
  
  • ya kai kuɗi zuwa banki – he took money to a bank
• Or just a bare noun after a verb of movement:
  • ya je banki – he went to the bank

So:

• ya ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki → he put/saved half his salary in/at the bank, not “to the bank.”

You mainly change the subject pronoun(s):

1. Feminine singular (“she”)

• Ta yi ƙuduri ta ajiye rabin albashinta a banki.
  
  • ta = she (perfective)
  • albashinta = her salary

2. Plural (“they”)

• Sun yi ƙuduri su ajiye rabin albashinsu a banki.
  
  • sun = they (perfective)
  • su ajiye = they (should) put/save
  • albashinsu = their salary

Notice for plural, the second verb often takes su instead of another sun, because it’s moving into a subordinate / intention-like clause:
sun yi ƙuduri su ajiye… → they decided (that) they will save…

Yes, you can make the “decide” and the “to” relationship more explicit, for example:

• Ya yi ƙudurin ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki.
  
  • Here ƙuduri takes the linker -n → ƙudurin, followed directly by the verbal noun ajiyE / ajiyewa (variant forms: many speakers would say ajiyewa):
    
    • ƙudurin ajiyewar rabin albashinsa a banki – the decision to save half his salary in the bank.

Or use a common idiom:

• Ya yanke shawara zai ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki.
  
  • ya yanke shawara – he made a decision
  • zai ajiye – he will save/put

Your original sentence Ya yi ƙuduri ya ajiye rabin albashinsa a banki is already natural; these are just slightly more explicit stylistic options.