Learn Hardcore Hausa: Karatu yana da amfani ga kowa. - Studying is useful for everyone.

karatu (study/reading/education) is treated as masculine in Hausa, so it pairs with yana.
tana would be for a feminine noun (e.g., mota tana… “the car is…” if mota is feminine).
yake is typically used in a different construction (often with a following noun phrase as a “copula-like” structure in certain contexts), but yana da… is the normal pattern for “has/is with” + noun.

What exactly is yana doing here—does it mean “is,” “does,” or “is doing”?

In this sentence, yana functions like a present/imperfective linker that often corresponds to English is/are in meaning. It helps form a predicate with what follows.
So karatu yana da amfani is literally along the lines of study is with usefulness, i.e. study is useful.

Why is da used—doesn’t da mean “and”?

Yes, da can mean and, but it also commonly means with / having. Context tells you which one it is.
Here yana da + noun is a very common structure meaning has / possesses / is characterized by:

yana da amfani = it is useful (literally: it has usefulness)

What is amfani grammatically, and how does it relate to “useful”?

Amfani is a noun meaning use, benefit, usefulness. Hausa often expresses English adjectives using a noun like this:

yana da amfani = it is useful (literally “it has usefulness/benefit”)

You can think of it as a “noun-based” way to make an adjective-like meaning.

Why is there ga in ga kowa? What does ga mean here?

Ga is commonly used to mark the person(s) something is for/to/beneficial to.
So:

amfani ga kowa = benefit for everyone / useful to everyone

It’s very common to use ga after words like amfani to show who receives the benefit.

What does kowa mean, and is it always used with ga?

Kowa means everyone / everybody.

In this sentence, ga kowa means for everyone.
Kowa can also appear in other roles without ga, depending on the sentence (e.g., as a subject or object), but with “benefit/usefulness,” ga kowa is a natural fit.

Is Karatu “reading” or “studying” or “education”?

Karatu covers a range: reading, studying, learning, schooling/education, depending on context.
In a general statement like this, it often means studying/education broadly: “Learning/education is useful for everyone.”

Could I also say Karatu na da amfani ga kowa? What’s the difference?

Yes, Karatu na da amfani ga kowa is also common.

na da is another widely used way to say has/is with in the present.
yana da and na da often overlap in everyday usage; which one sounds more natural can depend on dialect, style, and what exactly is being emphasized. In many contexts, both are acceptable and mean the same thing.

Is there any “the/a” in Hausa here? How do I know if it’s “Study” or “The study”?

Hausa doesn’t have English-style articles (a/the) in the same way. Karatu on its own can be understood as:

the general concept “study/learning” (as in English “Study is useful…”), or
“(the) studying/education” depending on context.

Here it reads naturally as a general truth: “Studying is useful for everyone.”

What’s the word order doing—why isn’t it something like “useful is study”?

Hausa commonly uses Subject + (yana/ta/… ) + predicate patterns. With da + noun, the structure is:

Subject + yana da + noun (+ complements)
So:
Karatu (subject) + yana da (linker + “with/has”) + amfani (noun) + ga kowa (for everyone)

This is one of the standard ways to express “X is useful (to/for Y).”

How should I pronounce amfani and kowa if tones aren’t written?

Standard spelling doesn’t mark tone, so you usually learn it by listening. Rough pronunciation guides:

amfani: sounds like am-fa-ni (three syllables)
kowa: sounds like ko-wa (two syllables)

In real speech, tone and vowel length help distinguish meanings, so it’s worth hearing native audio for the exact melody.