Likita ya ba ni magani kyauta.

The doctor gave me medicine for free.

Breakdown of Likita ya ba ni magani kyauta.

• ni: me
• likita: the doctor
• magani: the medicine
• ba: to give
• kyauta: for free

Questions & Answers about Likita ya ba ni magani kyauta.

Why do we have both Likita and ya? Don’t they both refer to the doctor?

In Hausa, a verb normally needs a subject pronoun (like ya, ta, na, etc.), even if you already mentioned the subject as a noun.

• Likita = doctor (a full noun)
• ya = he (3rd person masculine singular subject pronoun, perfective)

So Likita ya… is literally like saying “The doctor, he …”.
This is normal Hausa structure:

• Ali ya zo. – Ali came.
• Uwa ta tafi. – Mother left.

The full noun (Likita) is the topic; ya is the grammatical subject marker on the verb. You usually need both when you explicitly name the subject.

What tense/aspect does ya ba express here?

Ya in this form is the 3rd person masculine singular perfective subject marker. With ba (give), it mainly shows a completed action in the past.

So Likita ya ba ni magani kyauta is best understood as:

• The doctor gave me medicine for free (a completed event).

In some contexts, Hausa perfective can have present relevance (like English “has given”), but the most straightforward reading here is simple past.

What does ba mean here? Is it the same as the negative particle ba?

In this sentence, ba is the verb meaning “to give”.

Hausa also has a negative particle written the same way (ba … ba pattern), but they are different words:

• Likita ya ba ni magani. – The doctor gave me medicine. (ba = give)
• Ba likita ba ne. – He is not a doctor. (ba … ba = negation)
• Ba ya zuwa. – He does not come / is not coming. (ba = negative marker)

Context (and often tone in spoken language) tells you which ba it is.
Here, because ba is followed by ni (me) and then an object (magani), it clearly functions as “give”.

Why is it ba ni and not something like ga ni or zuwa gare ni for “to me”?

With the verb ba (give), Hausa usually uses a direct object pronoun for the recipient, not a preposition:

• ya ba ni – he gave me (something)
• ya ba shi – he gave him (something)
• ya ba mu – he gave us (something)

So the pattern is:

Subject pronoun + ba + recipient pronoun + thing given

There is no preposition like ga or zuwa gare here.
Compare:

• Ya ba ni magani. – He gave me medicine.
• Ya ba shi kuɗi. – He gave him money.

Using ga ni in this structure would be ungrammatical with ba.

Could ba ni also be written as bani?

Yes. In many texts you will see the object pronoun written attached to the verb:

• ya bani magani instead of ya ba ni magani

Both styles occur. It’s a matter of orthographic convention, not meaning:

• ba ni / bani – give me
• ba shi / bashi – give him
• ba mu / bamu – give us

Your sentence written another common way:

• Likita ya bani magani kyauta.

The grammar and meaning stay the same.

What exactly does ni mean here?

Ni is the 1st person singular object pronoun: “me”.

In ya ba ni magani:

• ya = he (subject)
• ba = give
• ni = me (recipient)
• magani = medicine (thing given)

So ba ni together is “give me”.
If the recipient changed, you would change this pronoun:

• ya ba ka magani – he gave you (masc. sg.) medicine
• ya ba ki magani – he gave you (fem. sg.) medicine
• ya ba mu magani – he gave us medicine

Why is the order ba ni magani (give me medicine) and not ba magani ni?

With ba (give), the recipient pronoun comes immediately after the verb, and the thing given comes after that:

• ba ni magani – give me medicine
• ba shi kuɗi – give him money
• ba su littafi – give them a book

So the fixed order is:

ba + recipient (pronoun) + thing given

Saying ba magani ni would sound wrong in standard Hausa for this meaning.

What does magani mean here? Is it only “medicine”?

Magani basically means “medicine, remedy, cure, treatment”.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• physical medicine (pills, injections, syrup, etc.)
• treatment in a broader sense
• sometimes remedy for a problem (even metaphorical)

In this sentence it most naturally means medicine (as given by a doctor).

Hausa does not usually mark plural on magani in the same way English does with medicines; magani can cover medicine in general or specific doses, depending on context.

What does kyauta mean here? Is it a noun “gift” or an adverb “for free”?

Kyauta is originally a noun meaning “gift, present”, but it is often used adverbially to mean “for free / as a gift / free of charge”.

So:

• magani kyauta = medicine given as a gift / free medicine
• Ya yi min aiki kyauta. – He did the work for me for free.

In your sentence, kyauta is best understood as “for free” or “free of charge”.

Why is kyauta at the end? Can it go somewhere else?

The most natural position is after the object it describes:

• Likita ya ba ni magani kyauta.
  – The doctor gave me medicine for free.

Other common patterns:

• Ya sayar min da kaya kyauta. – He sold me goods for free. (i.e., he gave them)
• Ya ba mu abinci kyauta. – He gave us food for free.

Putting kyauta before magani (… kyauta magani) is not standard for this meaning.
Think of kyauta as an adverbial element that usually comes after the verb’s object.

How would I say “The doctors gave me medicine for free” instead?

You change the subject from singular Likita / ya to plural Likitoci / sun:

• Likitoci sun ba ni magani kyauta.

Breakdown:

• Likitoci – doctors (plural)
• sun – they (3rd plural perfective subject marker)
• ba ni – gave me
• magani – medicine
• kyauta – for free

So: Likitoci sun ba ni magani kyauta. – The doctors gave me medicine for free.

How would I say “The doctor didn’t give me medicine for free”?

You need the negative form. A natural way is:

• Likita bai ba ni magani kyauta ba.

Breakdown:

• Likita – the doctor
• bai … ba – he did not … (3rd masc. sg. perfective negative)
• ba ni – give me
• magani kyauta – free medicine / medicine for free

So the pattern is:

Likita bai ba ni magani kyauta ba. – The doctor did not give me medicine for free.