Learn Hardcore Hausa: Baba ya koya min kada in gaya wa kowa lambar sirri ta katin banki. - Father taught me not to tell anyone the PIN of the bank card.

Baba ya koya literally: “Father he-taught” → “Father taught”.
In Hausa, even if you say the noun subject (Baba), you still need the appropriate subject pronoun (ya). You can’t just say ✗ Baba koya min....
Ya also marks aspect/tense here: perfective (a completed action in the past).

Compare:

Baba ya koya min... – “Dad taught me...” (a completed teaching event)
Baba yana koya min... – “Dad is teaching me...” (ongoing/imperfective)
Baba yakan koya min... – “Dad usually teaches me...” (habitual)

What exactly does min mean, and how is it different from ni?

Min means “to me”. It is the short/combined form of mani (to me).

koya min = “teach to me” → “teach me”
koya mani = same meaning, slightly longer form

Difference from ni:

ni is an independent pronoun (“I / me”), used on its own or for emphasis:
- Ni ne ɗalibi. – “I am the student.”
min/mani are indirect object pronouns (“to me”):
- Ya koya min. – “He taught me.”
- Ya ba ni littafi. – “He gave me a book.” (here ni is direct object, not dative)

So here, min is required because koya takes someone to whom you teach something.

How does kada in gaya work? Why in, not na or ni?

Kada in gaya is the standard way to say “that I should not tell / don’t let me tell / not to tell”.

kada = “don’t / so that not / lest”
in = 1st person singular subjunctive subject marker
gaya = “tell”

The subjunctive series of subject pronouns is:

1sg in
2msg ka
2fsg ki
3msg ya
3fsg ta
1pl mu
2pl ku
3pl su

After kada, you must use the subjunctive form:

kada in gaya – “that I not tell”
kada ka gaya – “don’t (you, masc.) tell”
kada su gaya – “that they not tell”

So:

in = “I” in subjunctive
na is 1sg perfective (“I did”)
ni is the independent pronoun (“I/me”)

That’s why kada in gaya, not ✗ kada na gaya or ✗ kada ni gaya.

Why is it gaya wa kowa, not just gaya kowa?

The verb gaya (“tell”) normally takes its recipient with the preposition wa (“to”):

gaya wa kowa – “tell to everyone / anyone”
gaya wa shi – “tell him”
gaya wa su – “tell them”

So wa works like English “to” in “tell to someone”.

In everyday speech you might hear people drop wa sometimes (e.g. gaya kowa), but gaya wa X is the standard and clearer form, especially in careful or written Hausa.

What does kowa mean here, and why does it translate as “anyone” in English?

Kowa by itself means “everyone / everybody”.

However, in a negative environment in Hausa, kowa often corresponds to English “anyone / anybody”:

Kada in gaya wa kowa...
literally: “Don’t let me tell everyone...”
idiomatic meaning: “Don’t let me tell anyone...”
Ban ga kowa ba. – “I didn’t see anybody.”

So:

Positive: Kowa ya san wannan. – “Everyone knows this.”
Negative context: Kada ka gaya wa kowa. – “Don’t tell anyone.”

Why is it lambar and not just lamba in lambar sirri?

Lamba means “number” and is grammatically feminine.

When a noun directly modifies another noun in a genitive/possessive or compound-like way, Hausa often adds a linking consonant:

-r after feminine nouns ending in -a
-n after many masculine nouns or others

So:

lamba + sirri → lambar sirri = “secret number”
mace + aure → matar aure – “married woman” (literally “woman of marriage”)

This -r marks that lamba is “linked” to sirri to form one noun phrase.

Is sirri here an adjective (“secret”) or a noun (“secret” as a thing)?

In Hausa, sirri is a noun, meaning “secret”.

So lambar sirri is literally:

lamba = number
r = linker (feminine)
sirri = secret

→ “number of secret” → “secret number”.

In English we treat “secret” here as an adjective, but in Hausa it’s a noun in a genitive-like construction.

What does ta do in ta katin banki?

Here ta is the genitive linker meaning “of”, and it agrees in gender/number with the preceding noun phrase.

Structure:

lambar sirri – “the secret number / PIN”
ta katin banki – “of the bank card”

So lambar sirri ta katin banki = “the secret number of the bank card”.

Why ta (feminine) and not na (masculine/general)?
Because the head noun of this big phrase is lamba, which is feminine. The linker agrees with that head:

Feminine: lamba ta...
Masculine: suna na... (name of…)

So ta = feminine “of” linking lambar sirri to katin banki.

How does katin banki work? Why katin, not kati na banki?

Katin banki is a standard genitive/possessive construction:

kati – “card” (loanword, masculine)
-n – genitive linker for many masculine nouns
banki – “bank”

So:

kati + n + banki → katin banki – “bank card”

You could in some contexts find kati na banki, using the na/ta linker type, but for short, tight noun–noun compounds like this, suffix -n/-r is very common and natural: katin banki.

Can the order of the objects around gaya change? Could I say the “secret number” first and “to anyone” later?

Yes, Hausa allows some flexibility here.

In the sentence:

gaya wa kowa lambar sirri ta katin banki
- wa kowa – indirect object (“to anyone”)
- lambar sirri ta katin banki – direct object (“the PIN of the bank card”)

You can also say:

gaya lambar sirri ta katin banki wa kowa

Both are understood. Putting wa kowa immediately after gaya is very natural, like English “tell everyone the secret number...”. Putting the long direct object last can also sound clearer in speech.

What aspect/tense nuance does ya koya min have? Is it “taught” once, or “has taught”, or “usually teaches”?

Ya koya min is perfective aspect: a completed action in the past.

It most naturally reads as:

“Dad taught me (once or as a completed act) not to...”

If you wanted to stress habit or repeated teaching, you would typically use:

Baba yakan koya min... – “Dad (usually / often) teaches me...”
Or: Baba yana koya min... – “Dad is teaching me / keeps teaching me...”

So in this sentence, we understand that at some point (or several times, viewed as a completed lesson), he taught you that rule.

Could the sentence use cewa (“that”)? For example, something like “Dad taught me that I should not tell...”?

Yes, Hausa can introduce reported content with cewa (“that”), but after koya it’s also very natural to omit it.

Possible variants:

Baba ya koya min kada in gaya wa kowa...
(as given; very natural)
Baba ya koya min cewa kada in gaya wa kowa...
“Dad taught me that I should not tell anyone...”

Both are grammatical. In everyday speech, Hausa often drops cewa when the clause following the verb koya, faɗa, san (“know”), etc. is clearly a content clause.