Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki.

Zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki. = I will cut yam in the kitchen. (neutral)
Ni zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki. = I (as opposed to someone else) will cut yam in the kitchen.

So Ni here is like stressing “I” in English: “I will cut the yam in the kitchen.”

Can I leave Ni out and just say Zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki?

Yes.

Zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki. is fully correct and is actually the more common neutral sentence.

Adding Ni in front usually signals that you’re highlighting the subject:

answering “Who will cut the yam?”
correcting someone: “Not him; *I will cut the yam in the kitchen.”*

What is the basic word order of this Hausa sentence?

The order is roughly:

Subject – (Future marker+pronoun) – Verb – Object – Place

Ni – I
zan – will (I)
yanka – cut
doya – yam
a ɗakin girki – in the kitchen

So: “I will cut yam in the kitchen.”

Hausa generally prefers Subject–Verb–Object, with adverbs and places (like a ɗakin girki) coming after the object.

What does the preposition a mean in a ɗakin girki?

A usually means “in / at / on”, depending on context.

In a ɗakin girki, it means “in the kitchen” or “at the kitchen”, but natural English translation is “in the kitchen.”

What does ɗakin girki literally mean?

Literally, ɗakin girki is:

ɗaki – room
-n – a linking ending (genitive marker, like “of”)
girki – cooking

So ɗakin girki is “room of cooking”, i.e. “kitchen.”

Why is it ɗakin and not just ɗaki?

When ɗaki (“room”) is followed by another noun that describes or possesses it (girki, “cooking”), Hausa adds a linking consonant at the end of the first noun.

So:

ɗaki
- girki → ɗakin girki (room-of cooking)

This -n is a genitive linker, similar to “of” or to the way English joins nouns (“cooking room” → kitchen).

Is there a word for “the” in ɗakin girki, like “the kitchen”? Where is it?

Hausa does not use a separate word for “the”.

Definiteness (“the” vs “a”) is usually understood from context, word order, and sometimes from suffixes, but here:

ɗakin girki can mean either “a kitchen” or “the kitchen”
depending on what has already been mentioned in the conversation.

In most contexts, an English speaker would translate it as “the kitchen.”

What does doya mean exactly? Is it singular, plural, or mass like “yam” in English?

Doya basically means “yam (tuber)”.

As a singular noun, doya = one yam tuber.
In everyday speech, people also use doya generically to mean “yam” in general, like a mass noun (“some yam”).
The common plural is doyoyi (“yam tubers”).

In Zan yanka doya, it is understood as “some yam / a yam tuber” unless context makes it clear it’s a specific one.

How would I say “I will cut the yam in the kitchen”, with the yam being specific?

One natural way is to mark the noun as definite:

Zan yanka doyar a ɗakin girki.

Here doyar is doya + -r, a definiteness/possessive-type ending that often corresponds to “the” in translation. Context still matters, but doyar is more clearly “the yam.”

What does the verb yanka mean? Is it only “to cut food”?

Yanka means “to cut / slice / chop,” but also “to slaughter (an animal)” in many contexts.

Examples:

yanka doya – cut/slice yam
yanka kifi – cut up fish
yanka akuya – slaughter a goat

In this sentence, with doya, it clearly means cut/slice rather than “slaughter.”

How do I pronounce the letter ɗ in ɗakin?

ɗ is an implosive “d”, a sound that doesn’t exist in standard English.

Approximation tips:

Put your tongue where you’d put it for an English “d.”
Start to say “d”, but slightly draw air inward rather than pushing it out strongly.
It has a “heavier,” more emphatic quality than normal d.

If that’s hard, learners often start by pronouncing it like a strong “d”, but native speakers clearly distinguish d and ɗ.

How would I say “I am cutting yam in the kitchen” (present, happening now) instead of “I will cut”?

Use the progressive with ina:

Ina yanka doya a ɗakin girki.

Breakdown:

Ina – I am (progressive)
yanka – cutting
doya – yam
a ɗakin girki – in the kitchen

So this means “I am cutting yam in the kitchen (right now).”

How would I ask “Will you cut yam in the kitchen?” using this pattern?

Replace the 1st person with 2nd person future:

To a man (singular):

Za ka yanka doya a ɗakin girki?

To a woman (singular):

Za ki yanka doya a ɗakin girki?

Za ka / za ki = “you will” (m./f. singular). The rising question intonation usually suffices; no extra question word is needed here.

How do I make this sentence negative: “I will not cut yam in the kitchen”?

Use the standard Hausa future negation pattern:

Ba zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki ba.

Structure:

Ba … ba – the negation frame
zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki – the positive sentence inside it

So literally: “Not I-will cut yam in the kitchen not.”
Natural English: “I will not cut yam in the kitchen.”

Is Ni zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki exactly the same as Ni ne zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki?

They are close but not identical in nuance.

Ni zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki. – already focuses “I”, but still sounds like a normal future sentence with emphasis on I.
Ni ne zan yanka doya a ɗakin girki. – is a clear focus construction: “It is *me who will cut yam in the kitchen.”*

For many contexts, Ni zan… is enough to show emphasis, but Ni ne zan… is a stronger, more explicit “It is I who…” structure.

Could I say “a cikin ɗakin girki” instead of just “a ɗakin girki”?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

a ɗakin girki – in/at the kitchen, a general location.
a cikin ɗakin girki – literally “in the inside of the kitchen”, emphasizing inside the room.

In many everyday contexts, a ɗakin girki is enough and more common.

Is the future marker always joined to the pronoun like zan, or can I say za ni?

Both forms exist, but in regular speech:

Joined forms are most common:
- zan = za + ni (I will)
- za ka (you.m.sg will)
- za ki (you.f.sg will)
Separated forms (like za ni) can appear in slow, careful, or emphatic speech, but learners are usually taught and most often hear zan.

So for everyday usage, zan yanka doya… is the standard choice.