Learn Hardcore Hausa: Da safe ina saka takalma kafin in fita waje. - In the morning I put on shoes before I go outside.

Da safe literally means “at morning / in the morning period.”
It’s the normal, idiomatic way to say “in the morning” in Hausa when talking about a regular time of day.

You’ll also see safiya (morning), but for this meaning – a general time expression like “in the morning” – Da safe is the most natural and common phrase.

Can I move Da safe to another place in the sentence?

Yes, but the most natural position is at the beginning, as in the original:

Da safe ina saka takalma kafin in fita waje.

You could say:

Ina saka takalma da safe kafin in fita waje.

That’s still understandable and acceptable, but putting Da safe first sounds a bit more typical in everyday speech when you’re setting the time frame.

What exactly does ina mean here?

In this sentence, ina is the 1st person singular continuous/habitual subject marker: it corresponds roughly to “I am / I (usually) do.”

So:

ina saka ≈ “I put on / I am putting on”

Don’t confuse this with in (without a at the end), which appears later in kafin in fita; they are different forms:

ina → continuous/habitual “I”
in → subjunctive “I” used in certain subordinate clauses (like after kafin “before”)

Does ina saka mean “I am putting on” (right now) or “I usually put on”?

On its own, ina saka can mean “I am putting on” (present progressive) or “I (typically) put on” (present habitual), depending on context.

In this sentence, Da safe (“in the morning”) makes it sound like a habitual action:

Da safe ina saka takalma…
→ “In the morning I (always/usually) put on shoes…”

If you were talking about what you’re doing right now, you’d normally add something in the context (like “right now / at this moment”) to make that clear.

What does saka mean, and how is it different from sa?

Both saka and sa can be translated as “to put on / to wear” when talking about clothing.

saka takalma – to put on / wear shoes
sa takalma – also acceptable: to put on / wear shoes

Nuance:

saka often has a sense of inserting / putting something into something, so it’s especially natural with things like shoes, socks, trousers.
sa is more general: “to put, to place, to make (someone do something), to wear”.

In everyday speech, saka takalma is very common and feels perfectly natural in this sentence.

Is takalma singular or plural, and how do I say “a shoe” vs “shoes”?

Takalma is plural: “shoes.”
The singular is takalmi: “a shoe / one shoe.”

So:

takalmi – a shoe
takalma – shoes

In practice, as in English, people nearly always talk about shoes in the plural, so takalma is what you usually see in sentences like this.

There is no word for “my” in ina saka takalma. How do we know it means “my shoes”?

Hausa often leaves possession implicit when context makes it obvious. In a sentence about your own routine, takalma will normally be understood as “my shoes.”

If you want to make the possession explicit, you can attach a possessive ending:

takalmīna / takalmaina – my shoes
takalminka – your (m.sg.) shoes
takalminki – your (f.sg.) shoes

So you could say:

Da safe ina saka takalmīna kafin in fita waje.
→ “In the morning I put on my shoes before I go outside.”

The original sentence simply relies on context to supply “my.”

What does kafin mean, and how does kafin in fita work grammatically?

Kafin means “before.” It introduces a clause about something that happens earlier than another action.

The structure here is:

kafin
- in (subjunctive “I”) + fita (go out)
  → kafin in fita – “before I go out.”

So the whole chunk kafin in fita waje means “before I go outside.”

The verb in this kind of clause often takes a subjunctive subject marker:

in – I (subjunctive)
ka – you (m.sg.)
ki – you (f.sg.)
ya, ta, etc.

That’s why we see in fita, not ina fita, after kafin.

What is the function of in in kafin in fita? Is it the same as ina?

No, in and ina are different forms.

ina = continuous/habitual “I” (as in ina saka – “I put on / I am putting on”)
in = subjunctive “I”, used especially in dependent clauses (after words like kafin “before”, idan “if/when”, etc.)

In kafin in fita, in marks that this is a subordinate/irrealis action:

kafin in fita – “before I (should / will / can) go out.”

So:

Da safe ina saka takalma – main clause, continuous/habitual
kafin in fita waje – subordinate clause with subjunctive.

What does fita mean exactly, and why is waje added after it?

Fita is the verb “to go out / to exit.”
Waje means “outside, outdoors, outside area / open space.”

Together fita waje literally looks like “go out outside,” but in Hausa this combination is very normal and idiomatic, and is best translated simply as “go outside.”

Similar patterns exist in Hausa, like:

shiga ciki – “go inside” (literally “enter inside”)

Could the sentence just be Da safe ina saka takalma kafin in fita without waje?

Yes, Da safe ina saka takalma kafin in fita is grammatically correct and understandable:
→ “In the morning I put on shoes before I go out.”

However, fita waje is more explicit and idiomatic when you specifically mean “go outside (outdoors)” rather than simply “go out (of some place).”
So the original kafin in fita waje is a very natural choice for “before I go outside.”

Can I say this sentence in a way that more strongly emphasizes that it’s a habit?

Yes. A very common way to emphasize habitual action is to use nakan with the verb:

Da safe nakan saka takalma kafin in fita waje.
→ “In the morning I usually/typically put on shoes before I go outside.”

Here:

nakan saka explicitly marks a repeated, habitual action. The original ina saka already suggests habitual action in this context, but nakan makes that nuance stronger and clearer.