Breakdown of Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
Questions & Answers about Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
Idan is a common conjunction that usually means:
- if
- sometimes when / whenever, depending on context.
In this sentence, Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba = If we do not pay attention to cleanliness.
Notes:
- In conditional sentences like this, idan is very typical.
- You may also see in used for if, but idan is more common in everyday speech and is often slightly less formal/archaic than in in modern usage.
- Idan can also mean when in some contexts:
- Idan rana ta fito, zafi yana ƙaruwa. = When the sun rises, the heat increases.
Hausa usually marks negation with a two-part frame:
ba + (subject) + verb phrase + ba
So:
- mu kula da tsabta = we pay attention to cleanliness
- ba mu kula da tsabta ba = we do not pay attention to cleanliness
This double ba … ba is the normal standard way to negate many present/habitual statements.
- In careful / standard Hausa, you keep both ba’s.
- In fast or very colloquial speech, speakers sometimes drop the second ba, but as a learner you should use both to sound correct and clear.
In this kind of negative sentence, the pattern is:
ba + subject pronoun + verb phrase + ba
So the subject pronoun must come right after the first ba:
- ba ni tafiya ba = I am not going / I don’t go
- ba ka shan kofi ba = you (m.sg.) don’t drink coffee
- ba mu kula da tsabta ba = we don’t pay attention to cleanliness
Putting mu in other places such as:
- ✗ Idan mu ba kula da tsabta ba
- ✗ Idan ba kula da tsabta mu ba
is ungrammatical. The correct slot for mu in this pattern is immediately after ba.
The expression kula da functions like a phrasal verb:
- kula da X = to look after X, to take care of X, to pay attention to X, to be careful about X
So:
- kula da tsabta = care about / pay attention to cleanliness
- kula da yara = look after children
- kula da lafiya = take care of (one’s) health
Here, da is not just a simple, free “with”; it’s part of the idiomatic construction kula da. You generally need to keep da with kula when you mean “pay attention to / take care of” something.
Without da, kula on its own can have more restricted or different senses and will often sound incomplete in this meaning.
Tsabta (also commonly written tsafta, depending on dialect and spelling convention) means:
- cleanliness
- hygiene
- the state of being clean / neat / pure
In many contexts tsabta and tsafta are just spelling/pronunciation variants; both refer to cleanliness/hygiene.
Related words you might see:
- tsabtace / tsaftace – to clean (something)
- mugu / mara tsabta – dirty, unclean (person or thing)
Literally:
- kamu = to be seized, to catch (in the sense of “catch a disease” or be afflicted)
- kamu da cuta = to catch a disease / become ill
So the second clause:
- za mu kamu da cuta = we will catch a disease / we will become ill
kamu da is used with many conditions:
- ya kamu da zazzaɓi = he caught a fever
- ta kamu da mura = she caught a cold
- sun kamu da cutar suga = they came down with diabetes
- ya kamu da damuwa = he is afflicted with anxiety/pressure
Here da links the verb kamu to the thing you are “struck with” (illness, condition, etc.).
Hausa often marks future/irrealis with za (sometimes written zaa) before the subject pronoun:
za + subject pronoun + verb phrase
Examples:
- za ni tafi = I will go
- za ka zo = you (m.sg.) will come
- za ta ci abinci = she will eat
- za mu kamu da cuta = we will catch a disease
- za ku yi aiki = you (pl.) will work
- za su ga shi = they will see him
In your sentence, za mu kamu da cuta is the result clause: something that will happen in the future if the condition (not keeping clean) is met.
To negate the future with za, Hausa wraps the whole thing in ba … ba and places ba before za:
ba + za + subject pronoun + verb phrase + ba
So:
- ba za mu kamu da cuta ba = we will not catch a disease
Other examples:
- ba za ni tafi ba = I will not go
- ba za su zo ba = they will not come
So you could say:
- Idan muka kula da tsabta, ba za mu kamu da cuta ba.
= If we keep clean, we will not catch a disease.
Yes. Hausa allows you to switch the order of the clauses in this kind of conditional sentence.
Both are fine:
- Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
- Za mu kamu da cuta idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba.
The meaning is the same: If we do not pay attention to cleanliness, we will catch a disease.
Often the idan-clause comes first, but putting it second is also natural and common.
ba mu kula da tsabta ba here expresses a general / habitual idea:
- Something like we don’t care about cleanliness or we don’t usually pay attention to cleanliness.
In Hausa, this present/habitual aspect is normally used in the if-clause of a conditional when talking about general truths:
- Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
≈ If we (generally) don’t care about cleanliness, we will (then) catch disease.
So it’s less about a single moment (“right now”) and more about ongoing or repeated behavior.
In strict standard grammar, you should keep both ba’s:
- ✅ Idan ba mu kula da tsabta ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
In casual spoken Hausa, some speakers do sometimes drop the final ba, and people will still understand you. But:
- It can sound informal or sloppy.
- As a learner, it is best practice to always use the full ba … ba frame so your negation is clearly correct and natural in all contexts.
Yes, you can use verbs that mean to clean / to make clean, for slightly different nuances:
- tsabtace / tsaftace = to clean / to make clean
- wanke = to wash
Examples:
Idan ba mu tsabtace muhalli ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
= If we do not clean our environment, we will catch a disease.Idan ba mu wanke hannayenmu ba, za mu kamu da cuta.
= If we do not wash our hands, we will catch a disease.
Your original sentence with kula da tsabta is more about attitude and practice toward cleanliness in general, not just one act of cleaning.