When to use it
Use it when joining a cooking class or asking a grandmother to teach family recipes.
The sentence in English — “I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.”
In “I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.” each extra verb takes ‘to’, and the plural is the ‘-es’ of ‘dishes’.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- want
- verbwant · tense: present · person: first · number: singular · followed by "to" + verb
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- learn
- verblearn · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- cook
- verbcook · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- traditional
- adjectiveadjective
- dishes
- nounplural noun; prepared food
The sentence in Hausa — “Ina so in koyi dafa abincin gargajiya.”
In “Ina so in koyi dafa abincin gargajiya.” ‘Ina’ is not ‘where’ here: it means ‘I am’. The subjunctive ‘in’ (that I) replaces ‘to’, and ‘abincin gargajiya’ (food of tradition) needs no plural.
- Ina
- pronoun'I am' (continuous); not 'where' here
- so
- verbso · form: verbal noun · ina so = I want
- in
- pronoun'that I' (subjunctive)
- koyi
- verbkoya · form: subjunctive · 'learn'
- dafa
- verbdafa · form: base · 'cook'
- abincin
- nounabinci 'food' + linker -n; no plural
- gargajiya
- noun'tradition'; abincin gargajiya = traditional food
English × Hausa — What changes from one language to the other
English links verbs with ‘to’; Hausa with ‘in’, and keeps ‘food’ singular.
Example conversation
— Ina so in koyi dafa abincin gargajiya.
— I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.
— Mahaifiyata za ta iya koya maka tuwo.
— My mother can teach you tuwo.