Learn Hardcore Hausa: Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai.

Buri – goal, wish, ambition, aspiration
na – my
yana – he/it is (3rd person masculine singular, progressive form of to be)
da – with / has
muhimmanci – importance
sosai – very, a lot

So the structure is roughly:

Buri na – my goal (subject)
yana da – is with / has (functions like “is” or “has”)
muhimmanci sosai – a lot of importance / is very important (predicate)

What exactly does buri mean? Is it like “dream”?

Buri means a goal, wish, ambition, or aspiration—something you strongly want to happen or achieve.

It is close to English “dream” in the sense of life dream / ambition, not “dream” when you’re asleep.
Examples:
- Ina da buri na zama likita. – I have the ambition to become a doctor.
- Burinsa ya cika. – His wish/goal came true.

So in this sentence, buri na is “my goal / my ambition” in that sense.

Why is it written buri na and not burina? Are both correct?

Both forms are used, and they mean the same thing: “my goal / my wish.”

Burina – written as one word, using the usual possessive suffix -na “my” attached to the noun:
- buri + -na → burina = my goal
Buri na – written as two words. You will often still hear it this way in speech, and you can see it in writing, especially when the speaker wants to emphasize “my” a bit more, or just in looser orthography.

In careful / standard writing, burina (one word) is very common.
Your sentence:

Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai.

is perfectly understandable and natural in speech; many speakers might also write:

Burina yana da muhimmanci sosai.

What does yana da literally mean, and why is it used here?

Literally, yana da is:

yana – “he/it is” (progressive form of to be)
da – “with”

Together, yana da is “he/it is with …” and functions as “he/it has …” or “there is … (for him/it)”.

In this sentence:

yana da muhimmanci sosai = “it has a lot of importance” → “it is very important.”

Hausa often uses “be + da” instead of a separate “have” verb:

Ina da kudi. – I have money. (lit. I am with money.)
Yana da yara. – He has children.

So you use yana da muhimmanci to mean “(it) is important / has importance.”

Why is it yana and not tana or suna here?

Because buri is grammatically masculine singular, so it takes the 3rd person masculine singular verb form:

yana – he/it is (masculine singular)
tana – she/it is (feminine singular)
suna – they are (plural)

Some examples:

Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai. – My goal (masculine) is very important.
Mace tana da ƙwarewa sosai. – The woman has a lot of skill. (mace “woman” is feminine → tana)
Burina suna da muhimmanci sosai. – My goals (plural) are very important. → would use suna.

So buri behaves like a masculine noun, so you say yana da …

Is muhimmanci an adjective or a noun? What’s the difference between muhimmi and muhimmanci?

Muhimmi is basically an adjective: “important.”
Muhimmanci is a noun: “importance.”

So:

muhimmi ≈ important
muhimmanci ≈ importance

Your sentence uses muhimmanci (the noun):

yana da muhimmanci sosai
it has a lot of importance → it is very important.

You could also make a sentence with the adjective:

Buri na muhimmi ne sosai.
My goal is very important.

Both patterns are correct; the given sentence chooses the “has importance” structure with the noun.

Could I say “Buri na muhimmi ne sosai” instead? Is it natural?

Yes, this is grammatically correct and understandable:

Buri na muhimmi ne sosai. – My goal is very important.

Here:

muhimmi – adjective “important”
ne – a copula particle used with masculine singular subjects (“is”)

The nuance:

Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai.
– literally, “My goal has a lot of importance.”
Buri na muhimmi ne sosai.
– “My goal is very important.”

Both would sound natural. The “yana da muhimmanci” pattern is extremely common when talking about importance, value, advantages, etc., so your original sentence is very idiomatic.

What does sosai mean exactly, and where does it go in the sentence?

Sosai is an intensifier meaning “very, really, a lot.”

In your sentence, it comes after the phrase it intensifies:

yana da muhimmanci sosai – it has a lot of importance / it is very important.

Typical positions:

After adjectives or quality expressions:
- Yana da muhimmanci sosai. – It is very important.
- Ya yi kyau sosai. – It’s very nice.
You can sometimes move it earlier for emphasis, but the most neutral and common position is at the end of the clause, as in your sentence.

Other common intensifiers you might also hear: ƙwarai, matuƙa, sosai-sosai (even stronger).

Is there another very natural way a native speaker might say this?

Several very natural variants are:

Burina yana da matuƙar muhimmanci.
– My goal is extremely important. (matuƙar = “extreme/utmost”)
Burina muhimmanci ne sosai.
– My goal is of great importance.
Burina muhimmi ne ƙwarai.
– My goal is very important indeed.

Your original:

Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai.

is already perfectly natural and something you could hear in everyday speech.

How would I say “Our goal is very important” and “Their goals are very important” with this same pattern?

Using the same “yana da muhimmanci sosai” pattern:

Our goal is very important.
- Burinmu yana da muhimmanci sosai.
  - burinmu – our goal (buri
    - -nmu “our”)
  - still singular → yana
Their goals are very important.
- Burinsu suna da muhimmanci sosai.
  - burinsu – their goals
  - plural subject → suna (they are)

If you want an explicit plural noun, you can say:

Burukansu suna da muhimmanci sosai. – Their goals are very important.
(Here buruka is a plural form of buri in some usage; many speakers still use the singular form for an abstract collective “goals”.)

Does Hausa use a separate verb “to be” like English “is” in this sentence?

Not in the same way as English.

In your sentence, Hausa expresses “is important” through:

yana da muhimmanci – “it is with importance / it has importance.”

There is no simple standalone “is” verb. Instead, Hausa typically:

Uses “be + da” to express “have / possess / have (a quality)”:
- Yana da muhimmanci. – It is important / It has importance.
Or uses a copula particle like ne/ce with adjectives or nouns:
- Buri na muhimmi ne. – My goal is important.

So Hausa doesn’t say “buri na is important” with a separate “is” verb; it uses these patterns instead.

Any tips on pronouncing Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai?

A rough syllable breakdown (not marking tones):

Bu-ri – /BU-ri/ (both vowels like “oo” in “book” but shorter; English speakers often say /BOO-ree/)
na – /na/ (like “na” in “nacho”)
ya-na – /YA-na/ (y like “y” in “yes”)
da – /da/ (like “da” in “data” but shorter, no diphthong)
mu-him-man-ci – /mu-HIM-man-chi/
- h is clearly pronounced.
- ci is like “chee”.
so-sai – roughly /SO-sai/ (“so” like English “saw” or “so,” sai like “sigh”)

Natural speech tends to run the words together smoothly:

Buri na yana da muhimmanci sosai.

Aim for a steady rhythm, and don’t over‑stress any one word the way English often stresses content words; Hausa tends to be more even.