Breakdown of Likita ya ce jinin Hauwa bai yi ƙasa sosai ba duk da cutar maleriya.
Questions & Answers about Likita ya ce jinin Hauwa bai yi ƙasa sosai ba duk da cutar maleriya.
In Hausa, you normally must have a subject pronoun before the verb, even if you already mentioned the noun.
- Likita = “(the) doctor”
- ya = “he” (3rd person singular masculine subject pronoun + perfective marker)
- ce = “said” (verb cewa/ce)
So Likita ya ce is literally “The doctor, he-said…”. The ya both marks the subject and shows the perfective (completed) aspect, which in English is usually translated with a simple past: “The doctor said…”.
Ya ce is perfective aspect, most often translated as a past: “he said / he has said”.
However, Hausa perfective can also be used for reported statements that are true now, especially in narratives or when passing on information, so in context it can sometimes be understood like English “he says”.
If you clearly want a “right now / ongoing” sense, you can use a progressive form like Likita yana cewa… = “The doctor is saying / says (regularly)…”. But Likita ya ce is the normal way to introduce reported speech.
Jinin Hauwa means “Hauwa’s blood”.
- jini = blood
- -n = a linking/possessive suffix (genitive linker) attached to the first noun
- Hauwa = the person’s name
So jinin Hauwa is literally “the blood of Hauwa”. In Hausa, possession or close noun–noun relationships are often shown by Noun + linker (-n / -r) + Noun, instead of using a separate word like English “of”.
Yes. Jininta means “her blood” (referring to a female previously mentioned).
- jini = blood
- -n- = linking element
- -ta = her (3rd person feminine possessive pronoun)
Jinin Hauwa is more specific: it names the person. Jininta just says “her blood” and relies on context for who “she” is. You might see jinin Hauwa the first time she’s mentioned, and later the speaker might switch to jininta once it’s clear who they’re talking about.
In Hausa, a common way to negate verbs is by “bracketing” the verb phrase with ba … ba.
Here:
- bai = ba + ya (negation + 3rd person masc. subject perfective)
- yi ƙasa sosai = “went down / became low a lot”
- ba (final) closes the negation
So bai yi ƙasa sosai ba literally means “he/it did-not go-down very much not.” English doesn’t repeat “not”, but Hausa typically uses ba before and after the verb phrase in this kind of negation.
Yi is a very common “light verb” in Hausa, a bit like “do/make” in English. It often combines with nouns or adjectives to create a verbal meaning.
- ƙasa can mean “low / down” (among other meanings)
- yi ƙasa literally, “do low / do down” → “to go down, to drop, to become low”
So bai yi ƙasa sosai ba = “it did not go down very much / it did not become very low.” The yi is what turns the idea of “low” into an actual verb phrase.
Ƙasa is polysemous in Hausa. It can mean:
- “ground, earth, soil”
- “country, land, nation”
- “low / downward / decrease” in certain expressions
In yi ƙasa and related phrases, it carries the “low / down / reduced” sense. In this medical context, jinin Hauwa bai yi ƙasa sosai ba means “Hauwa’s blood level has not gone very low.” It is not talking about ground or a country here.
Sosai is an intensifier, often translated as “very, really, a lot”.
Here, bai yi ƙasa sosai ba means “it did not go very low” or “it didn’t drop too much.” Without sosai, bai yi ƙasa ba would just mean “it didn’t go low / it didn’t go down.” Sosai qualifies the degree of change.
Duk da means “despite, in spite of, even with”. It introduces something that would normally be expected to cause the opposite result.
- duk da cutar maleriya = “despite the disease malaria / despite having malaria”
So the sentence contrasts: even though Hauwa has malaria (which usually lowers blood levels), her blood has not gone very low. Grammar-wise, duk da is followed by a noun or noun phrase; if you want to follow it with a full clause, you can say duk da cewa … (“even though …”).
Cutar maleriya is another noun + linker + noun structure, like jinin Hauwa.
- cuta = disease, illness
- -r = linking/possessive suffix for feminine nouns ending in -a
- maleriya = malaria
So cutar maleriya is literally “the disease of malaria / the malaria disease”, which we translate simply as “malaria (illness)”. The -r links cuta to maleriya and also often implies definiteness (“the disease”).
Hausa often introduces reported speech or subordinate clauses simply by juxtaposing the clauses—no separate word like English “that” is required.
- Likita ya ce jinin Hauwa bai yi ƙasa sosai ba…
literally: “The doctor he said Hauwa’s blood did not go very low…”
You can sometimes see cewa used, similar to “that”, e.g. Likita ya ce cewa…, but it’s not necessary here and can feel heavier or more formal. The natural everyday form is just ya ce + [clause].
Yes, if it’s already clear from context who is speaking, you can say Ya ce jinin Hauwa bai yi ƙasa sosai ba duk da cutar maleriya. = “He said Hauwa’s blood wasn’t very low despite the malaria.”
Likita is included here simply to specify that “he” is the doctor. Hausa usually still needs the ya before ce, but the noun Likita can be dropped if the subject is already known.