Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ni ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu.

Ni is the independent pronoun “I / me”. It’s used for emphasis, contrast, or when the pronoun stands alone.
ina is the subject form used with the progressive (continuous) aspect: ina + verb ≈ “I am (verb‑ing)”.

So:

Ina karanta labarai… = I am reading news… (neutral)
Ni ina karanta labarai… = Me, I am reading news… (emphasizing I, maybe contrasting with someone else)

In everyday speech, people often add Ni for emphasis or clarity, but it’s not required for the grammar.

Can I just say Ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu without Ni?

Yes, and that is perfectly correct and very common.

Ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu.
I am reading news on a website now.

Adding Ni just adds emphasis to the subject; removing Ni keeps the same basic meaning.

What exactly does ina karanta mean in terms of English grammar? Is it like “I read” or “I am reading”?

ina karanta corresponds to English “I am reading” (present continuous / progressive).

ina = “I am (doing…)” (progressive subject form)
karanta = “to read / reading (something)” (verb)

So:

Ina karanta labarai ≈ I am reading news (right now / around this time).

If you wanted a simple past like “I read / I have read”, you would normally use na with the verb:

Na karanta labarai. = I read / I have read news.

Why is it karanta and not karatu? Don’t they both have to do with reading?

They are related but not the same:

karanta is a verb meaning “to read (something)”.
- Ina karanta jarida. = I am reading a newspaper.
karatu is more like a noun or general activity, meaning “reading; study; schoolwork”.
- Ina karatu. = I am studying / doing my reading / going to school.

So in your sentence:

You are doing the action to read news → you need the verb karanta.
If you just said Ina karatu, without an object, it would sound more like I am studying / I am in school rather than I am reading news.

What does labarai mean exactly? Is it singular or plural?

labarai is the plural form of labari.

labari = a story, a piece of news, a report
labarai = stories, (news) items, news

In practice, labarai is often used the way English uses uncountable “news”, i.e., for the news in general:

Ina karanta labarai.
Literally: I am reading news items.
Idiomatically: I am reading the news.

So in everyday speech, if you want to say “the news”, you will usually hear labarai, not labari.

What does the preposition a in a shafin intanet mean? Is it “on”, “at”, or “in”?

The preposition a is a very general locative preposition. It can translate as “in, on, at” depending on the context.

In your sentence:

a shafin intanet ≈ “on a web page / on the website”

Some other examples:

a gida = at home / in the house
a kasuwa = at the market
a tebur = on the table

So you choose a for the idea of being in / on / at a place, and English chooses “in” or “on” according to its own rules.

Why is it shafin intanet and not something with a clear word for “of”, like shafi na intanet?

Hausa usually marks “of” relationships with a linking sound attached to the first noun, rather than a separate word like English of.

shafi = page
-n (attached) = linker/possessive (roughly “of (the)”)
intanet = internet

So:

shafin intanet literally is “page‑(of) internet” → “internet page, web page, website”.

You can sometimes use separate na / ta for “of”, especially with pronouns or where the structure demands it, for example:

shafi na farko = the first page
motar su / mota ta su = their car

But with a simple noun + noun combination like shafi + intanet, the usual form is:

shafin intanet (linker -n on the first noun)

What exactly is the -n at the end of shafin doing?

The -n in shafin is:

A linker that connects shafi (page) to intanet (internet), expressing an “of” / “belonging to” relation.
It also tends to give a more definite feel to the noun: “the page (of the internet)” rather than just “a page”.

So we have:

shafi = (a) page
shafin intanet = (the) page of the internet → “the internet page / the web page / the website”

In Hausa, this little linker comes in different shapes (-n, -r, -ar, -an etc.) depending on the noun, but the idea is the same: it links the first noun to what comes after it.

Could I just say a intanet instead of a shafin intanet? What difference does it make?

Yes, you can say:

Ina karanta labarai a intanet yanzu.
= I’m reading news on the internet now.

The difference is in how specific you are:

a intanet = “on the internet” (general; anywhere on the internet)
a shafin intanet = “on (an / the) web page / website” (more specific: on a particular site or page)

Both are natural. a intanet is shorter and very common in conversation. a shafin intanet sounds a bit more explicit about the place.

Can yanzu go at the beginning of the sentence, like “Now I am reading the news on a website”?

Yes, yanzu is flexible in position. All of these are possible:

Ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu.
Yanzu ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet.
Yanzu, ni ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet.

Putting yanzu at the beginning makes “now” more prominent, similar to English:

Now I am reading the news on a website.

The basic meaning stays the same.

Can I omit yanzu? What changes in meaning?

If you omit yanzu, the sentence is still correct:

Ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet.

This still generally refers to the present time because of ina + verb (progressive), but:

With yanzu, you explicitly say “right now / at this moment”.
Without yanzu, it can mean “these days / at this time (currently)” or simply “I am reading (right now)”, and context will decide.

So yanzu sharpens the time reference to “now”.

How would I say “I read the news on the website” in the past tense, and how is that different from Ni ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu?

For a simple past (“I read / I have read”), you normally use na + verb:

Na karanta labarai a shafin intanet.
= I read / I have read the news on the website.

Difference:

Ni ina karanta labarai… = I am reading news… (action in progress now; continuous)
Na karanta labarai… = I read / I have read news… (completed action in the past)

So ina karanta = progressive “am reading”, while na karanta = perfective “read / have read”.

Are tones important in this sentence? How would it look with tone marks?

Hausa is a tonal language, and tones are important for correct pronunciation and for distinguishing some words. However:

In everyday writing, tones are almost never marked.
The sentence Ni ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu is exactly how you would normally see it in books, news sites, messages, etc.

Linguists and some advanced textbooks do mark tones (and sometimes vowel length) with accents, but there are different conventions, and ordinary learners don’t need them at the beginning.

So for practical purposes:

Learn to say: Ni ina karanta labarai a shafin intanet yanzu by listening and repeating.
Don’t worry that you don’t see tone marks in the spelling; that is normal for Hausa.