Tagalog grammar
Encyclopedia
This article describes the grammar of Tagalog
(the language of the Tagalog region of the Philippines) and Filipino
(the national language of the Philippines).
, they are usually preceded by case-marking particles. These follow an Austronesian alignment
(also known as a 'trigger' system) which is unique to the Philippines and neighboring islands. There are three basic cases: direct
(or absolutive
, often inaccurately labeled the nominative), indirect (which may function as an ergative
, accusative
, or genitive), and oblique
.
The direct case is used for intransitive clauses. In the default grammatical voice of Tagalog, the direct marks the patient
(direct object) and the indirect marks the agent
(corresponding to the subject in English). In the more marked
voice the reverse occurs, with the direct marking the agent and the indirect marking the patient. Because the base form of the clause is superficially similar to the passive voice
in English, this has led to a misconception that Tagalog is spoken primarily in the passive voice. It is also superficially similar to ergative languages such as those of Australia, so Tagalog has also been analyzed as an ergative language. However, the English passive clause is intransitive, and likewise in ergative languages one of the voices forms an intransitive clause, whereas in Tagalog both voices are transitive, and so align well neither with nominative–accusative languages such as English nor with ergative languages.
One of the functions of voice in Tagalog is to code definiteness
, analogous to the difference between "a" and "the" in English. When the patient is marked with the direct case particle, it is generally definite ("the"), whereas when it is marked with the indirect case it is generally indefinite ("a").
The oblique particle, and the locative
derived from it, are similar to prepositions in English, marking things such as location and direction.
The case particles fall into two classes
: one used with names of people (proper
) and one for everything else (common).
The common ergative marker is spelled ng but pronounced [naŋ]. Mgá, pronounced [maˈŋa], marks the common plural.
Examples:
"The man arrived."
"John saw Mary."
Note that in the Philippine languages, even proper nouns require an article.
"Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house."
"Where are the books?"
"Father has the key."
"That baby is healthy."
Examples:
Sumulat ako.
"I wrote."
Sinulatan ako ng liham.
"He/She wrote me a letter."
Note: If "ng liham" is removed from the sentence, it becomes "I was written on"
Ibibigay ko sa kaniyá.
"I will give it to him/her."
Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.
Ang bahay ko.
Ang aking bahay.
"My house."
The 1st-2nd person dual pronoun kata/kita has largely disappeared in Manila though it may be used in other Tagalog dialects, particularly those spoken in the rural areas. However kita is used to replace the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you).
The 1st-2nd dual pronoun "kata/kita" referring to "you and I" is traditionally used as follows:
Magkaibigan kita. (In Manila, "Magkaibigan tayo")
"You and I are friends." (In Manila, "We are friends")
As previously mentioned, the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you) may be replaced by kita.
Mahál kitá.
"I love you."
Bibigyan kitá ng pera.
"I will give you money."
Nakita kitá sa tindahan kahapon.
"I saw you at the store yesterday."
Kaibigan kitá.
"You are my friend."
The inclusive pronoun tayo refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).
The exclusive pronoun kamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.
Walâ tayong bigás.
"We (you and me) don't have rice."
Walâ kaming bigás.
"We (someone else and me, but not you) don't have rice."
The second person singular has two forms. Ikáw is the non-enclitic form while ka is the enclitic which never begins a sentence. The plural form kayó is also used politely in the singular, similar to French vous. (See below)
The nouns are gender neutral, hence siya means either he or she.
and other Romance languages
, when addressing a singular 2nd person in polite/formal/respectful settings, pronouns from either the 2nd person plural or the 3rd person plural group are used. They can be used with, or in lieu of, the po/ho iterations without losing any degree of politeness, formality or respect:
Example:
English: "What's your name?"
Casual: Anó'ng pangalan mo?
Respectful: Anó'ng pangalan niyo? or Anó'ng pangalan nilá?
Using such pluralized pronouns is quite sufficient for expressing politeness, formality or respect particularly when an affirmative (or negative) pô/hô iteration isn't necessary.
I LOVE YOU which means "MAHAL KITA"
* For the most part, iré/aré has disappeared from the vocabulary of most Tagalog speakers. In its place, itó is used.
Examples:
Anó itó?
"What's this?"
Sino ang lalaking iyon?
"Who is that man?"
Galing kay Pedro ang liham na itó.
"This letter is from Pedro."
Nandito akó.
"I am here."
Kakain silá roón.
"They will eat there."
Saán ka man naróroon.
"Wherever you are."
Kumain niyán ang batà.
"The child ate some of that."
Ayón palá ang salamín mo!
"So that's where your glasses are!"
Heto isang regalo para sa iyó.
"Here's a gift for you."
es, which consist of a variety of prefixes, suffix
es, infix
es, and circumfix
es.
In the chart, CV stands for the reduplicated
first syllable of a rootword, which is usually the first consonant and the first vowel of the word. N stands for a nasal consonant which assimilates to ng, n, or m depending on the consonant following it. 0 means that the verb root is used, so no affixes are added.
The dashes indicate the type of affix a particular morpheme
is. For example -um- is an infix that is placed between the first consonant and the first vowel of a rootword. The word sumulat (actor focus and completed aspect or infinitive) is composed of the rootword sulat and the infix -um-. Its other conjugations
are sumusulat and susulat.
With object-focus verbs in the completed and progressive aspects, the infix -in- frequently becomes the infix -ni- or the prefix ni- if the rootword begins with /l/, /r/, /w/, or /y/; e.g., linalapitan or nilalapitan and inilagay or ilinagay.
The imperative affixes are not often used in Manila, but they do exist in Tagalog-speaking provinces.
(agent, patient, or oblique) of the noun marked by the direct-case particle is encoded in the verb.
In its default (unmarked
) form, the verb triggers a reading of the direct noun as the patient (object) of the clause. In its second most common form it triggers an agentive reading. Other triggers are location, beneficiary, instrument, reason, direction, and the reciprocal
.
-in is used for objects that are moved towards the actor; kainin (to eat something), bilhín (to buy something). Objects that are permanently changed; basagin (to crack something), patayín (to kill something). And things that are thought of; isipin (to think of something), alalahanin (to remember something).
i- is used for objects which undergo a change of state such as being moved away from an actor; ibigáy (to give something), ilagáy (to put something), itaním (to plant something).
-an is used for items undergoing a surface change (e.g., cleaning); hugasan (to rinse something), walisán (to sweep something off).
Binilí ng lalaki ang saging sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought the banana at the store for the monkey."
Affixes can be also used in nouns or adjectives: baligtaran (from baligtád, to reverse) (reversible), katamaran (from tamád, lazy) (laziness), kasabihán (from sabi, to say) (proverb), kasagutan (from sagót, answer), bayarín (from bayad, to pay) (payment), bukirín (from bukid, farm), lupaín (from lupa, land), pagkakaroón (from doón/roón, there) (having/appearance), and pagdárasál (from dasál, prayer). Verbs with affixes (mostly suffixes) are also used as nouns, which are differentiated by stress position. Examples are panoorin (to watch or view) and panoorín (materials to be watched or viewed), hangarín (to wish) and hangarin (goal/objective), aralin (to study) and aralín (studies), and bayaran (to pay) and bayarán (someone or something for hire).
ma- is used with only a few roots. Of those roots, they cannot take an object by their meaning. One of them is matulog (to sleep). ma- is not to be confused with ma-, the potentiative prefix for patient-triggered verb forms.
Bumilí ng saging ang lalaki sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought bananas at the store for the monkey."
trigger refers to the location or direction of an action or the area affected by the action.
Binilhan ng lalaki ng saging ang tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."
Compared with...
Bumili ang lalaki ng saging sa tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."
trigger refers to the person or thing that benefits from the action; i.e., the beneficiary of an action.
Ibinilí ng lalaki ng saging ang unggóy.
"The man bought bananas for the monkey."
trigger refers to the means by which an action is performed.
Ipinambilí ng lalaki ng saging ang pera ng asawa niyá.
"The man bought bananas with his wife's money."
trigger refers to the cause or reason why an action is performed.
Ikinagulat ng lalaki ang pagdatíng ng unggóy.
"The man got surprised because of the monkey's arrival."
trigger refers to the direction the action will go to.
Pinuntahan ng lalaki ang tindahan.
"The man went to the store."
Naghalikan ang magkasintahan
"The couple kissed (each other)."
Infinitive
Gustó kong matulog.
"I want to sleep."
Matulog ka na!
"Go to sleep now!"
An imperative
form can also be the verb root without any affix nor pronoun:
Tulog na!
"Sleep!"
Completed
Sinulatan ka ni Maria.
"Maria wrote to you."
Progressive
Sumasayáw siyá ngayón.
"He is dancing now."
Sumayáw siyá kanina.
"He was dancing earlier."
Noóng batà pa akó, umiinóm akó ng kapé.
"When I was a child, I used to drink coffee.
Contemplated
Hahanapin ba natin ang susì ko?
"Will we look for my keys?"
Maganda ka
" You are so beautiful"
; some examples are indicative, causative, potential, social, and distributed.
Indicative
Nagdalá siyá ng liham.
"He brought a letter."
Bumilí kamí ng bigás sa palengke.
"We bought rice at the market."
Kumain akó.
"I ate."
Hindî siyá nagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He/She does not speak Tagalog."
Causative
Nagpadalá siya ng liham sa kaniyáng iná.
"He sent (literally: caused to be brought) a letter to his mother."
Distributive
Namili kamí sa palengke.
"We went shopping at the market."
Social
Nakikain akó sa mga kaibigan ko.
"I ate with my friends."
Potential
Hindî siyá nakapagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He is not able to speak Tagalog."
Adjectives modify nouns by the linker na. However if na follows a word ending in a vowel or glottal stop or the letter N, then it becomes suffixed to that word as -ng. The adjective can either come before or come after the word it modifies.
Adverbs modify verbs by following the verb and being marked by nang or preceding the verb with the linkers na or -ng, which is optional.
The word mabilís (fast) is used as an example below:
Mabilís ang kabayo.
"The horse is fast."
Ang mabilís na kabayo.
Ang kabayong mabilís.
"The fast horse."
Mabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo.
Tumatakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.
"The horse runs fast."
Mabilís na tumakbó ang kabayo.
Tumakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.
"The horse ran fast."
But note also: Mabilís tumakbó ang kabayo.
"Horse runs fast."
Modifiers can be a stand-alone rootword or the rootword can be affixed: basâ (wet), buháy (alive), patáy (dead), hinóg (ripe), pangit (ugly), pulá (red), putî (white), and itím (black). The most common modifier prefix is ma-: matandâ (old), mataás (high), maliít (little), malakí (big), mabahò (smelly), masaráp (delicious), malakás (strong), and mapulá (reddish).
Other affixes denote different meanings. For example pinaká- is the superlative; pinakamalakás (strongest). Another is nakasalamín (bespectacled, wearing glasses).
Below is a list of Tagalog's enclitic particles.
The order listed above is the order in which the particles follow if they are used in conjunction with each other. A more concise list of the orders of monosyllabic particles from Rubino (2002) is given below.
The particles na and pa cannot be used in conjunction with each other as well as pô and hô.
Dumatíng na raw palá ang lola mo.
"Oh yeah, your grandmother supposedly arrived."
Palitán mo na rin.
"You change it also."
Note for "daw/raw and rin/din": If preceding letter is a consonant except y and w, the letter d is used in any word, vice versa for r. Although in everyday speech, this rule is often ignored. Example: Pagdarasal, instead of pagdadasal
Walâ pa yatang asawa ang kapatíd niyá.
"Perhaps his brother still doesn't have a wife."
Itó lang kayâ ang ibibigáy nilá sa amin
"I wonder if this is the only thing that they're going to give us."
Nag-aral ka na ba ng wikang Kastilà?
"Have you already studied Spanish?"
Batà pa kasí.
"It's because he's still young."
Pakisulat mo ngâ muna ang iyóng pangalan dito.
"Write your name here first, please."
The words daw and raw, which mean “he said”/“she said”/“they said”, are sometimes joined to the real translations of “he said”/”she said”, which is sabi niyá, and “they said”, which is sabi nilá. They are also joined to the Tagalog of “you said”, which is sabi mo. But this time, both daw and raw mean “supposedly/reportedly”.
Sabi raw niyá./Sabi daw niyá.
“He/she supposedly said.”
Sabi raw nilá./Sabi daw nilá.
“They supposedly said.”
Sabi mo raw./Sabi mo daw.
“You supposedly said.”
Although the word kasí is native Tagalog for “because” and NOT slang, it is still not used in literary writing. The Tagalog word for this is sapagká’t or sapagkát. Thus, the literary form of Batà pa kasí is Sapagká’t batà pa or Sapagkát batà pa. This is sometimes shortened to pagká’t or pagkát, so Sapagká’t batà pa is also written as Pagká’t batà pa or Pagkát batà pa. In both writing (whether literary or ordinary) and speech, dahil sa (the oblique form of kasí; thus, its exact translation is “because of”) is also synonymous to sapagká’t (sapagkát), so the substitute of Sapagká’t batà pa for Batà pa kasí is Dahil sa batà pa. Most of the time in speech and writing (mostly ordinary and probably literary), dahil sa as the Tagalog of “because” is reduced to dahil, so Dahil sa batà pa is spoken simply as Dahil batà pa.
with the direct noun triggering the verb appearing last: verb - indirect - direct, referred to in Tagalog grammar as Tuwirang Anyo).
Kumantá ang batà.
"The child sang."
Iinumín nilá ang serbesa.
"They will drink the beer."
Magandá ang mga dalaga.
"The young women are beautiful."
Malakás ang ulán.
"The rain is strong."
A change in word order and trigger generally corresponds to a change in definiteness ("the" vs "a") in English:
Word order may be inverted (referred to in Tagalog grammar as Kabalikang Anyo) by way of the inversion marker ay ( 'y after vowels). Contrary to popular belief, this is not the copula to be. A slight, but optional, pause in speech or a comma in writing may replace the inversion marker. This construction is often viewed by native speakers as formal or literary.
Below are the sentences from above but in inverted form.
Ang batà ay kumantá.
Ang batà, kumantá.
Ang serbesa'y iinumín nilá.
Ang serbesa, iinumín nilá.
Ang mga dalaga'y magagandá.
Ang mga dalaga, magagandá.
Ang ulán ay malakás.
Ang ulán, malakás.
May pera ako.
Mayroón akóng pera.(unusual construction)
"I have money."
May libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.
Mayroóng libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.(unusual construction)
"There is a book inside his house.
There are two "existentials" that are conjugated:
"Magkaroón" (to have): magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón.
Magkákaroón na raw ng kuryente bukas./Magkákaroón na daw ng kuryente bukas. (It is said that there will already be electricity {power} tomorrow.) In some Tagalog dialects, a redundant form combines "mayroón" with the prefix "magka-" (infinitive "magkamayroón" or magkaméron"). The words magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón, and mayroón are derived from roón, the variation of doón, meaning "there."
"Magíng" (to become): magíng, nagíng, nagíging, magíging. Note that the stress is shifted from the ultimate to the penultimate in both the progressive and contemplative.
Nagíng gabí ang araw nang pumutók ang Pinatubò dahil sa dami ng abó sa himpapawíd! (Day became night when Mt. Pinatubo erupted because of the quantity of ash in the air!)
Hindî negates verbs and equations. It is sometimes shortened to dî.
Hindî akó magtatrabaho bukas.
"I will not work tomorrow."
Hindî mayaman ang babae.
"The woman is not rich."
Walâ is the opposite of may and mayroón.
Walâ akóng pera.
Waláng pera akó.
"I do not have money."
Waláng aklat sa loób ng bahay niyá.
"There are no books in his house."
Huwág is used in expressing negative commands. It can be used for the infinitive and the future aspect.
Huwág kang umiyák.
"Don't cry."
Huwág kayóng tatakbó rito.
"Don't run here."
There are two (or more) special negative forms for common verbs:
Gustó/Ibig/Nais ko nang kumain. "I would like to eat now." (Positive)
Ayaw ko pang kumain. "I don't like to eat yet." (Negative)
With the exceptions of bakit, kamustá, and nasaán, all of the interrogative words have optional plural forms which are formed by reduplication. They are used when the person who is asking the question anticipates a plural answer.
Alín means which.
Alín ang punong-lungsód ng Estados Unidos - Washington, D.C. o New York?
"Which is the capital of the United States - Washington, D.C. or New York?"
Alíng palda ang gustó mo?
"Which skirt do you like?"
Alín sa mga iyán ang bíbilhin ni Canuto?
"Which of those will Canuto buy?"
Anó means what.
Anó ang ginagawâ nilá?
"What are they doing?"
Anó ang kumagát sa kaniyá?
"What bit him?"
Anóng oras daratíng si Luisa?
"What time will Luisa arrive?"
Anú-anóng klaseng inumín ang pipiliin ninyó?
"What kind of drink will you guys choose?"
Bakit means why.
Bakit nasa Barcelona silá?
"Why are they in Barcelona?"
Bakit ba sila kumakanta ng Boom Tarat Tarat?
"Why are they singing Boom Tarat Tarat?"
Gaano means how but is used in inquiring about the quality of an adjective or an adverb. The rootword of the modifier is prefixed with ka- in this construction.
Gaanong kalayo ang bahay ni Nicomedes?
"How far is Nicomedes' house?"
Gaano kang katagal sa Montréal?
"How long will you be in Montréal?"
Gaano kayáng kahahabà ang mga ahas na iyón?
"I wonder how long those snakes are?"
Gaanong kabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo?
"How fast is the horse running?"
Ilán means how many.
Ilán ang anák nina Arsenio at Edilberta?
"How many children do Arsenio and Edilberta have?"
Iláng taón ka na?
"How old are you?"
Kailán means when.
Kailán uuwî si Victor?
"When will Victor come home?
Mulâ kailán ka nag-aaral ng Tagalog?
"Since when have you been learning Tagalog?
Kanino means whom or whose. It is the oblique form of sino (who).
Kanino itó?
"Whose is this?"
Para kanino ang pagkaing iyán?
"Whose food is that?"
Ibibigáy ko ang pera kanino?
"I will give the money to whom?"
Kaninong sapatos iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"
Kumustá is used to inquire how something is (are). It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?.
Kumustá ang iná ninyó?
"How is your mother?"
Kumustá ang trabaho mo?
"How is your work?"
Kumustá ka?
"How are you?"
Magkano means how much and is usually used in inquiring the price of something.
Magkano ang kotseng iyón?
"How much is that car?"
Magkano ang mga saging?
"How much are the bananas?"
Nakanino means with whom. It is the locative form of sino (who).
Nakanino ang panyó ko?
"With whom is my handkerchief?"
Nakanino raw ang ate ko?/Nakanino daw ang ate ko?
"With whom reportedly is my older sister?"
Nasaán means where but is used to inquire about the location of an object and not used with verbs. In speech it is reduced to asan.
Nasaán si Antonia?
"Where is Antonia?"
Nasaán ang susì ko?
"Where are my keys?"
Nino means: who, whose, and whom. It is the indirect and genitive form of sino.
Sapatos nino iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"
Nakita ka nino?
"Who saw you?"
Ginawâ nino?
"Who did it?"
Paano is used in asking how something is done or happened.
Paano mo gagawín?
"How will you do this?"
Paano siyá nasaktán?
"How did he get hurt?"
Papaano ako makakatulong sa mga biktimá?
"How (in what ways) will I be able to help the victims?"
Saán means where but it is used to inquire about the location of where an action was performed. It is also the oblique form of anó.
Saán ka nag-aaral?
"Where do you study?"
Saán mamimilí si Estelita?
"Where will Estelita go shopping?"
Taga-saán siyá?
"Where is she from?"
Para saán ba itó?
“What is this for?”
Sino means who and whom and it is in the direct form.
Sino siyá?
"Who is he/she?"
Sino ang nakita mo?
"Whom did you see?"
Sinu-sino ang mga dating pangulo ng Pilipinas?
"Who were the former presidents of the Philippines?"
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
(the language of the Tagalog region of the Philippines) and Filipino
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
(the national language of the Philippines).
Nouns (Pangngalan)
While Tagalog nouns are not inflectedInflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
, they are usually preceded by case-marking particles. These follow an Austronesian alignment
Austronesian alignment
Austronesian alignment, commonly known as the Philippine- or Austronesian-type voice system, is a typologically unusual morphosyntactic alignment that combines features of ergative and accusative languages...
(also known as a 'trigger' system) which is unique to the Philippines and neighboring islands. There are three basic cases: direct
Direct case
In Indo-Aryan languages, and Eastern Iranian languages, the direct case is the name given to a grammatical case used with all three core relations: the agent of transitive verbs, the patient of transitive verbs, and the argument of intransitive verbs...
(or absolutive
Absolutive case
The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:...
, often inaccurately labeled the nominative), indirect (which may function as an ergative
Ergative case
The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:...
, accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
, or genitive), and oblique
Oblique case
An oblique case in linguistics is a noun case of synthetic languages that is used generally when a noun is the object of a verb or a preposition...
.
The direct case is used for intransitive clauses. In the default grammatical voice of Tagalog, the direct marks the patient
Patient (grammar)
In linguistics, a grammatical patient, also called the target or undergoer, is the participant of a situation upon whom an action is carried out. A patient as differentiated from a theme must undergo a change in state. A theme is denoted by a stative verb, where a patient is denoted by a dynamic...
(direct object) and the indirect marks the agent
Agent (grammar)
In linguistics, a grammatical agent is the cause or initiator of an event. Agent is the name of the thematic role...
(corresponding to the subject in English). In the more marked
Markedness
Markedness is a specific kind of asymmetry relationship between elements of linguistic or conceptual structure. In a marked-unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one...
voice the reverse occurs, with the direct marking the agent and the indirect marking the patient. Because the base form of the clause is superficially similar to the passive voice
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
in English, this has led to a misconception that Tagalog is spoken primarily in the passive voice. It is also superficially similar to ergative languages such as those of Australia, so Tagalog has also been analyzed as an ergative language. However, the English passive clause is intransitive, and likewise in ergative languages one of the voices forms an intransitive clause, whereas in Tagalog both voices are transitive, and so align well neither with nominative–accusative languages such as English nor with ergative languages.
One of the functions of voice in Tagalog is to code definiteness
Definiteness
In grammatical theory, definiteness is a feature of noun phrases, distinguishing between entities which are specific and identifiable in a given context and entities which are not ....
, analogous to the difference between "a" and "the" in English. When the patient is marked with the direct case particle, it is generally definite ("the"), whereas when it is marked with the indirect case it is generally indefinite ("a").
The oblique particle, and the locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
derived from it, are similar to prepositions in English, marking things such as location and direction.
The case particles fall into two classes
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
: one used with names of people (proper
Proper noun
A proper noun or proper name is a noun representing a unique entity , as distinguished from a common noun, which represents a class of entities —for example, city, planet, person or corporation)...
) and one for everything else (common).
The common ergative marker is spelled ng but pronounced [naŋ]. Mgá, pronounced [maˈŋa], marks the common plural.
| Direct (ang) | Indirect (ng) | Oblique (sa) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common singular | ang, 'yung (iyong) | ng, n'ung (niyong) | sa |
| Common plural | ang mgá, 'yung mgá (iyong mgá) | ng mgá, n'ung mgá (niyong mgá) | sa mgá |
| Personal singular | si | ni | kay |
| Personal plural | sina | nina | kina |
Examples:
| Dumatíng | ang | lalaki. |
| (has) arrived | the | man |
"The man arrived."
| Nakita | ni Juan | si María. |
| saw | by John | (the) Mary |
"John saw Mary."
Note that in the Philippine languages, even proper nouns require an article.
| Pupunta | sina | Elena | at | Roberto | sa | bahay | ni | Miguel. |
| will go | plural nominal article | Elena | and | Roberto | to the | house | of | Miguel |
"Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house."
| Nasaan | ang mga | aklát? |
| Where | the (plural) | book |
"Where are the books?"
| Na kay | Tatay | ang | susi. |
| Is with | Father | the | key |
"Father has the key."
| Malusóg | iyóng | sanggól. |
| Healthy | that | baby |
"That baby is healthy."
Pronouns (Panghalip)
Like nouns, personal pronouns are categorized by case. As above, the indirect forms also function as the genitive.| Direct (ang) | Indirect (ng) | Oblique (sa) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | ako | ko | akin |
| 1st person dual | kita/kata | nita/nata | kanitá/kanata (ata) |
| 1st person plural inclusive | tayo | natin | atin |
| 1st person plural exclusive | kamí | namin | amin |
| 2nd person singular | ikáw (ka) | mo | iyó |
| 2nd person plural | kayó | ninyó | inyó |
| 3rd person singular | siya | niya | kaniya |
| 3rd person plural | silá | nilá | kanilá |
Examples:
Sumulat ako.
"I wrote."
Sinulatan ako ng liham.
"He/She wrote me a letter."
Note: If "ng liham" is removed from the sentence, it becomes "I was written on"
Ibibigay ko sa kaniyá.
"I will give it to him/her."
Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.
Ang bahay ko.
Ang aking bahay.
"My house."
The 1st-2nd person dual pronoun kata/kita has largely disappeared in Manila though it may be used in other Tagalog dialects, particularly those spoken in the rural areas. However kita is used to replace the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you).
The 1st-2nd dual pronoun "kata/kita" referring to "you and I" is traditionally used as follows:
Magkaibigan kita. (In Manila, "Magkaibigan tayo")
"You and I are friends." (In Manila, "We are friends")
As previously mentioned, the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you) may be replaced by kita.
Mahál kitá.
"I love you."
Bibigyan kitá ng pera.
"I will give you money."
Nakita kitá sa tindahan kahapon.
"I saw you at the store yesterday."
Kaibigan kitá.
"You are my friend."
The inclusive pronoun tayo refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).
The exclusive pronoun kamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.
Walâ tayong bigás.
"We (you and me) don't have rice."
Walâ kaming bigás.
"We (someone else and me, but not you) don't have rice."
The second person singular has two forms. Ikáw is the non-enclitic form while ka is the enclitic which never begins a sentence. The plural form kayó is also used politely in the singular, similar to French vous. (See below)
The nouns are gender neutral, hence siya means either he or she.
Polite or Formal Usage
It should be noted that, as in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and other Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, when addressing a singular 2nd person in polite/formal/respectful settings, pronouns from either the 2nd person plural or the 3rd person plural group are used. They can be used with, or in lieu of, the po/ho iterations without losing any degree of politeness, formality or respect:
- ikaw or ka ("you" sgl.) becomes kayo ("you" pl.) or sila ("they")
- mo (post-substantive "your") becomes niyo (post-substantive "your" pl.) or nila (post-substantive "their")
- iyo(ng) ("yours" sgl. or pre-substantive "your" sgl.) becomes inyo(ng) ("yours" pl. or pre-substantive "your" pl.) or kanila(ng) ("theirs" or pre-substantive "their")
Example:
English: "What's your name?"
Casual: Anó'ng pangalan mo?
Respectful: Anó'ng pangalan niyo? or Anó'ng pangalan nilá?
Using such pluralized pronouns is quite sufficient for expressing politeness, formality or respect particularly when an affirmative (or negative) pô/hô iteration isn't necessary.
I LOVE YOU which means "MAHAL KITA"
Demonstrative Pronouns
Tagalog's demonstrative pronouns are as follows.| Direct (ang) | Indirect (ng) | Oblique (sa) | Locative (nasa) | Existential | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest to speaker (this, here) * | iré, aré | niré | díne | nandine | ére |
| Near speaker and addressee (this, here) | itó | nitó | díto/ríto | nandíto/nárito | héto |
| Nearest addressee (that, there) | iyán | niyán | diyán/riyán | nandiyán/náriyan | ayán |
| Remote (yon, yonder) | iyón | niyón | doón/roón | nandoón/nároon | ayón |
Examples:
Anó itó?
"What's this?"
Sino ang lalaking iyon?
"Who is that man?"
Galing kay Pedro ang liham na itó.
"This letter is from Pedro."
Nandito akó.
"I am here."
Kakain silá roón.
"They will eat there."
Saán ka man naróroon.
"Wherever you are."
Kumain niyán ang batà.
"The child ate some of that."
Ayón palá ang salamín mo!
"So that's where your glasses are!"
Heto isang regalo para sa iyó.
"Here's a gift for you."
Verbs (Pandiwa)
Tagalog verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others.Conjugation Chart
Below is a chart of the main verbal affixAffix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es, which consist of a variety of prefixes, suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
es, infix
Infix
An infix is an affix inserted inside a word stem . It contrasts with adfix, a rare term for an affix attached to the end of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix.-Indonesian:...
es, and circumfix
Circumfix
A circumfix is an affix, a morpheme that is placed around another morpheme. Circumfixes contrast with prefixes, attached to the beginnings of words; suffixes, that are attached at the end; and infixes, inserted in the middle. See also epenthesis...
es.
In the chart, CV stands for the reduplicated
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
first syllable of a rootword, which is usually the first consonant and the first vowel of the word. N stands for a nasal consonant which assimilates to ng, n, or m depending on the consonant following it. 0 means that the verb root is used, so no affixes are added.
The dashes indicate the type of affix a particular morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
is. For example -um- is an infix that is placed between the first consonant and the first vowel of a rootword. The word sumulat (actor focus and completed aspect or infinitive) is composed of the rootword sulat and the infix -um-. Its other conjugations
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
are sumusulat and susulat.
With object-focus verbs in the completed and progressive aspects, the infix -in- frequently becomes the infix -ni- or the prefix ni- if the rootword begins with /l/, /r/, /w/, or /y/; e.g., linalapitan or nilalapitan and inilagay or ilinagay.
The imperative affixes are not often used in Manila, but they do exist in Tagalog-speaking provinces.
| Infinitive | Contemplative | Progressive | Completed | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Object trigger I | -in | CV- ... -in | CinV- | -in- | -a (or verb root) |
| Object trigger II | i- | iCV- | iCinV- | i-in- | -an |
| Object trigger III | -an | CV- ... -an | CinV- ... -an | -in- ... -an | -i |
| Actor trigger I | -um- | CV- | CumV- | -um- | 0 (verb root) |
| Actor trigger II | mag- | magCV- | nagCV- | nag- | pag- |
| Actor trigger III | ma- | maCV- | naCV- | na- | |
| Actor trigger IV | mang- | mangCV- | nangCV- | nang- | pang- |
| Locative trigger | -an | CV- ... -an | CinV- ... -an | -in- ... -an | |
| Benefactive trigger | i- | iCV- | iCinV- | i-in- | |
| Instrument trigger | ipaN- | ipaNCV- | ipinaNCV- | ipinaN- | |
| Reason trigger | ika- | ikaCV- | ikinaCV- | ikina- | |
Trigger (voice / focus)
The central feature of verbs in Tagalog and other Philippine languages is the trigger system, often called voice or focus. In this system, the thematic roleThematic relation
In a number of theories of linguistics, thematic relations is a term used to express the role that a noun phrase plays with respect to the action or state described by a sentence's verb. For example, in the sentence "Susan ate an apple", Susan is the doer of the eating, so she is an agent; the...
(agent, patient, or oblique) of the noun marked by the direct-case particle is encoded in the verb.
In its default (unmarked
Markedness
Markedness is a specific kind of asymmetry relationship between elements of linguistic or conceptual structure. In a marked-unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one...
) form, the verb triggers a reading of the direct noun as the patient (object) of the clause. In its second most common form it triggers an agentive reading. Other triggers are location, beneficiary, instrument, reason, direction, and the reciprocal
Reciprocal
-In mathematics:*Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/x, which multiplied by x gives the product 1, also known as a reciprocal*Reciprocal rule, a technique in calculus for calculating derivatives of reciprocal functions...
.
Patient (Layon)
There are three main patient-trigger affixes.-in is used for objects that are moved towards the actor; kainin (to eat something), bilhín (to buy something). Objects that are permanently changed; basagin (to crack something), patayín (to kill something). And things that are thought of; isipin (to think of something), alalahanin (to remember something).
i- is used for objects which undergo a change of state such as being moved away from an actor; ibigáy (to give something), ilagáy (to put something), itaním (to plant something).
-an is used for items undergoing a surface change (e.g., cleaning); hugasan (to rinse something), walisán (to sweep something off).
Binilí ng lalaki ang saging sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought the banana at the store for the monkey."
Affixes can be also used in nouns or adjectives: baligtaran (from baligtád, to reverse) (reversible), katamaran (from tamád, lazy) (laziness), kasabihán (from sabi, to say) (proverb), kasagutan (from sagót, answer), bayarín (from bayad, to pay) (payment), bukirín (from bukid, farm), lupaín (from lupa, land), pagkakaroón (from doón/roón, there) (having/appearance), and pagdárasál (from dasál, prayer). Verbs with affixes (mostly suffixes) are also used as nouns, which are differentiated by stress position. Examples are panoorin (to watch or view) and panoorín (materials to be watched or viewed), hangarín (to wish) and hangarin (goal/objective), aralin (to study) and aralín (studies), and bayaran (to pay) and bayarán (someone or something for hire).
Agent (Tagagawa)
The agent-trigger affixes are -um-, mag-, man-, and ma-. The difference between mag- and -um- is a source of confusion among learners of the language. Generally speaking there are two main distinctions among many; mag- refers to externally-directed actions and -um- for internally-directed actions. For example bumilí means to buy while magbilí means to sell. However this isn't writ law for these affixes; there are exceptions for example, mag-ahit means to shave oneself while umahit means to shave someone. It should be noted that magbili and umahit are rarely used,in southern dialects of tagalog na- is used instead of -um-.ma- is used with only a few roots. Of those roots, they cannot take an object by their meaning. One of them is matulog (to sleep). ma- is not to be confused with ma-, the potentiative prefix for patient-triggered verb forms.
Bumilí ng saging ang lalaki sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought bananas at the store for the monkey."
Location (Ganapan)
The locativeLocative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
trigger refers to the location or direction of an action or the area affected by the action.
Binilhan ng lalaki ng saging ang tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."
Compared with...
Bumili ang lalaki ng saging sa tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."
Benefactive (Tagatanggap)
The benefactiveBenefactive case
The benefactive case is a grammatical case used where English would use "for", "for the benefit of", or "intended for", e.g...
trigger refers to the person or thing that benefits from the action; i.e., the beneficiary of an action.
Ibinilí ng lalaki ng saging ang unggóy.
"The man bought bananas for the monkey."
Instrument (Gamit)
The instrumentalInstrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
trigger refers to the means by which an action is performed.
Ipinambilí ng lalaki ng saging ang pera ng asawa niyá.
"The man bought bananas with his wife's money."
Reason (Sanhi)
The reasonCausal case
The causal or causative case is a grammatical case that indicates that the marked noun is the cause or reason for something.-External links:*...
trigger refers to the cause or reason why an action is performed.
Ikinagulat ng lalaki ang pagdatíng ng unggóy.
"The man got surprised because of the monkey's arrival."
Direction (Direksyunal)
The directionalLative case
Lative is a case which indicates motion to a location. It corresponds to the English prepositions "to" and "into". The lative case belongs to the group of the general local cases together with the locative and separative case...
trigger refers to the direction the action will go to.
Pinuntahan ng lalaki ang tindahan.
"The man went to the store."
Reciprocal (Resiprokal)
The reciprocal trigger refers to the action being done by the subjects at the same time. The subject is usually compound, plural or collective.Naghalikan ang magkasintahan
"The couple kissed (each other)."
Aspect
Tagalog verbs conjugate for aspect rather than for tense. There are four types of aspect: infinitive (including imperative), completed (perfective), progressive (imperfective), and contemplated (usually future).Infinitive
Gustó kong matulog.
"I want to sleep."
Matulog ka na!
"Go to sleep now!"
An imperative
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
form can also be the verb root without any affix nor pronoun:
Tulog na!
"Sleep!"
Completed
Sinulatan ka ni Maria.
"Maria wrote to you."
Progressive
Sumasayáw siyá ngayón.
"He is dancing now."
Sumayáw siyá kanina.
"He was dancing earlier."
Noóng batà pa akó, umiinóm akó ng kapé.
"When I was a child, I used to drink coffee.
Contemplated
Hahanapin ba natin ang susì ko?
"Will we look for my keys?"
Maganda ka
" You are so beautiful"
Mood
Tagalog verbs also have affixes expressing grammatical moodGrammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
; some examples are indicative, causative, potential, social, and distributed.
Indicative
Nagdalá siyá ng liham.
"He brought a letter."
Bumilí kamí ng bigás sa palengke.
"We bought rice at the market."
Kumain akó.
"I ate."
Hindî siyá nagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He/She does not speak Tagalog."
Causative
Nagpadalá siya ng liham sa kaniyáng iná.
"He sent (literally: caused to be brought) a letter to his mother."
Distributive
Namili kamí sa palengke.
"We went shopping at the market."
Social
Nakikain akó sa mga kaibigan ko.
"I ate with my friends."
Potential
Hindî siyá nakapagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He is not able to speak Tagalog."
Modifiers
In Tagalog, a word can take the role of both an adverb and an adjective.Adjectives modify nouns by the linker na. However if na follows a word ending in a vowel or glottal stop or the letter N, then it becomes suffixed to that word as -ng. The adjective can either come before or come after the word it modifies.
Adverbs modify verbs by following the verb and being marked by nang or preceding the verb with the linkers na or -ng, which is optional.
The word mabilís (fast) is used as an example below:
Mabilís ang kabayo.
"The horse is fast."
Ang mabilís na kabayo.
Ang kabayong mabilís.
"The fast horse."
Mabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo.
Tumatakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.
"The horse runs fast."
Mabilís na tumakbó ang kabayo.
Tumakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.
"The horse ran fast."
But note also: Mabilís tumakbó ang kabayo.
"Horse runs fast."
Modifiers can be a stand-alone rootword or the rootword can be affixed: basâ (wet), buháy (alive), patáy (dead), hinóg (ripe), pangit (ugly), pulá (red), putî (white), and itím (black). The most common modifier prefix is ma-: matandâ (old), mataás (high), maliít (little), malakí (big), mabahò (smelly), masaráp (delicious), malakás (strong), and mapulá (reddish).
Other affixes denote different meanings. For example pinaká- is the superlative; pinakamalakás (strongest). Another is nakasalamín (bespectacled, wearing glasses).
Enclitic Particles
Tagalog has enclitic particles that have important information conveying difference nuances in meaning.Below is a list of Tagalog's enclitic particles.
- na and pa
- na: now, already, yet
- pa: still, else, in addition, yet
- man, kahit: even, even if, even though
- bagaman: although
- ni: (From Spanish "ni") not even, nor, neither
- ngâ: indeed; used in affirmations or emphasis. Also softens imperatives
- din, rin: too, also
- lamang (lang): limiting particle; only or just
- daw, raw: a reporting particle that expresses that the information in the sentence is second-hand; they say, he said, reportedly, supposedly, etc.
- hô and pô: politeness. pô being the most respectful.
- ba: used in yes-and-no questions and optionally in other types of questions, similar to Japanese "ka" and Chinese "ma", but not entirely.
- muna: for now, for a minute and yet (in negative sentences).
- namán: used in making contrasts; softens requests; emphasis
- kasí: expresses cause; because
- kayâ: expresses wonder; I wonder; perhaps (we should do something) (also optionally used in yes-and-no questions and other forms of questions)
- palá: expresses that the speaker has realized or suddenly remembered something; realization particle
- yatà: expresses uncertainty; probably, perhaps, seems
- tulóy: used in cause and effect; as a result
- sana: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspect), used in conditional sentences.
The order listed above is the order in which the particles follow if they are used in conjunction with each other. A more concise list of the orders of monosyllabic particles from Rubino (2002) is given below.
- na / pa
- ngâ
- din ~ rin
- daw ~ raw
- pô / hô
- ba
The particles na and pa cannot be used in conjunction with each other as well as pô and hô.
Dumatíng na raw palá ang lola mo.
"Oh yeah, your grandmother supposedly arrived."
Palitán mo na rin.
"You change it also."
Note for "daw/raw and rin/din": If preceding letter is a consonant except y and w, the letter d is used in any word, vice versa for r. Although in everyday speech, this rule is often ignored. Example: Pagdarasal, instead of pagdadasal
Walâ pa yatang asawa ang kapatíd niyá.
"Perhaps his brother still doesn't have a wife."
Itó lang kayâ ang ibibigáy nilá sa amin
"I wonder if this is the only thing that they're going to give us."
Nag-aral ka na ba ng wikang Kastilà?
"Have you already studied Spanish?"
Batà pa kasí.
"It's because he's still young."
Pakisulat mo ngâ muna ang iyóng pangalan dito.
"Write your name here first, please."
The words daw and raw, which mean “he said”/“she said”/“they said”, are sometimes joined to the real translations of “he said”/”she said”, which is sabi niyá, and “they said”, which is sabi nilá. They are also joined to the Tagalog of “you said”, which is sabi mo. But this time, both daw and raw mean “supposedly/reportedly”.
Sabi raw niyá./Sabi daw niyá.
“He/she supposedly said.”
Sabi raw nilá./Sabi daw nilá.
“They supposedly said.”
Sabi mo raw./Sabi mo daw.
“You supposedly said.”
Although the word kasí is native Tagalog for “because” and NOT slang, it is still not used in literary writing. The Tagalog word for this is sapagká’t or sapagkát. Thus, the literary form of Batà pa kasí is Sapagká’t batà pa or Sapagkát batà pa. This is sometimes shortened to pagká’t or pagkát, so Sapagká’t batà pa is also written as Pagká’t batà pa or Pagkát batà pa. In both writing (whether literary or ordinary) and speech, dahil sa (the oblique form of kasí; thus, its exact translation is “because of”) is also synonymous to sapagká’t (sapagkát), so the substitute of Sapagká’t batà pa for Batà pa kasí is Dahil sa batà pa. Most of the time in speech and writing (mostly ordinary and probably literary), dahil sa as the Tagalog of “because” is reduced to dahil, so Dahil sa batà pa is spoken simply as Dahil batà pa.
Word Order
Tagalog has a basic verb-initial word orderWord order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
with the direct noun triggering the verb appearing last: verb - indirect - direct, referred to in Tagalog grammar as Tuwirang Anyo).
Kumantá ang batà.
"The child sang."
Iinumín nilá ang serbesa.
"They will drink the beer."
Magandá ang mga dalaga.
"The young women are beautiful."
Malakás ang ulán.
"The rain is strong."
A change in word order and trigger generally corresponds to a change in definiteness ("the" vs "a") in English:
| b⟨in⟩asa | ng | tao | ang | aklat. | ||||
| ⟨(patient)⟩read | (indirect) | person | (direct) | book |
- A person read the book / The book was read by a person.
| b⟨um⟩asa | ng | aklat | ang | tao. | ||||
| ⟨(agent)⟩read | (indirect) | book | (direct) | person |
- The person read a book.
Word order may be inverted (referred to in Tagalog grammar as Kabalikang Anyo) by way of the inversion marker ay ( 'y after vowels). Contrary to popular belief, this is not the copula to be. A slight, but optional, pause in speech or a comma in writing may replace the inversion marker. This construction is often viewed by native speakers as formal or literary.
Below are the sentences from above but in inverted form.
Ang batà ay kumantá.
Ang batà, kumantá.
Ang serbesa'y iinumín nilá.
Ang serbesa, iinumín nilá.
Ang mga dalaga'y magagandá.
Ang mga dalaga, magagandá.
Ang ulán ay malakás.
Ang ulán, malakás.
May pera ako.
Mayroón akóng pera.(unusual construction)
"I have money."
May libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.
Mayroóng libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.(unusual construction)
"There is a book inside his house.
There are two "existentials" that are conjugated:
"Magkaroón" (to have): magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón.
Magkákaroón na raw ng kuryente bukas./Magkákaroón na daw ng kuryente bukas. (It is said that there will already be electricity {power} tomorrow.) In some Tagalog dialects, a redundant form combines "mayroón" with the prefix "magka-" (infinitive "magkamayroón" or magkaméron"). The words magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón, and mayroón are derived from roón, the variation of doón, meaning "there."
"Magíng" (to become): magíng, nagíng, nagíging, magíging. Note that the stress is shifted from the ultimate to the penultimate in both the progressive and contemplative.
Nagíng gabí ang araw nang pumutók ang Pinatubò dahil sa dami ng abó sa himpapawíd! (Day became night when Mt. Pinatubo erupted because of the quantity of ash in the air!)
Negation
There are three negation words: hindî, walâ, and huwág.Hindî negates verbs and equations. It is sometimes shortened to dî.
Hindî akó magtatrabaho bukas.
"I will not work tomorrow."
Hindî mayaman ang babae.
"The woman is not rich."
Walâ is the opposite of may and mayroón.
Walâ akóng pera.
Waláng pera akó.
"I do not have money."
Waláng aklat sa loób ng bahay niyá.
"There are no books in his house."
Huwág is used in expressing negative commands. It can be used for the infinitive and the future aspect.
Huwág kang umiyák.
"Don't cry."
Huwág kayóng tatakbó rito.
"Don't run here."
There are two (or more) special negative forms for common verbs:
Gustó/Ibig/Nais ko nang kumain. "I would like to eat now." (Positive)
Ayaw ko pang kumain. "I don't like to eat yet." (Negative)
Interrogative Words
Tagalog's interrogative words are: alín, anó, bákit, gaáno, ilán, kailán, kaníno, kumustá, magkáno, nakaníno, nasaán, níno, paáno, saán, and síno.With the exceptions of bakit, kamustá, and nasaán, all of the interrogative words have optional plural forms which are formed by reduplication. They are used when the person who is asking the question anticipates a plural answer.
Alín means which.
Alín ang punong-lungsód ng Estados Unidos - Washington, D.C. o New York?
"Which is the capital of the United States - Washington, D.C. or New York?"
Alíng palda ang gustó mo?
"Which skirt do you like?"
Alín sa mga iyán ang bíbilhin ni Canuto?
"Which of those will Canuto buy?"
Anó means what.
Anó ang ginagawâ nilá?
"What are they doing?"
Anó ang kumagát sa kaniyá?
"What bit him?"
Anóng oras daratíng si Luisa?
"What time will Luisa arrive?"
Anú-anóng klaseng inumín ang pipiliin ninyó?
"What kind of drink will you guys choose?"
Bakit means why.
Bakit nasa Barcelona silá?
"Why are they in Barcelona?"
Bakit ba sila kumakanta ng Boom Tarat Tarat?
"Why are they singing Boom Tarat Tarat?"
Gaano means how but is used in inquiring about the quality of an adjective or an adverb. The rootword of the modifier is prefixed with ka- in this construction.
Gaanong kalayo ang bahay ni Nicomedes?
"How far is Nicomedes' house?"
Gaano kang katagal sa Montréal?
"How long will you be in Montréal?"
Gaano kayáng kahahabà ang mga ahas na iyón?
"I wonder how long those snakes are?"
Gaanong kabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo?
"How fast is the horse running?"
Ilán means how many.
Ilán ang anák nina Arsenio at Edilberta?
"How many children do Arsenio and Edilberta have?"
Iláng taón ka na?
"How old are you?"
Kailán means when.
Kailán uuwî si Victor?
"When will Victor come home?
Mulâ kailán ka nag-aaral ng Tagalog?
"Since when have you been learning Tagalog?
Kanino means whom or whose. It is the oblique form of sino (who).
Kanino itó?
"Whose is this?"
Para kanino ang pagkaing iyán?
"Whose food is that?"
Ibibigáy ko ang pera kanino?
"I will give the money to whom?"
Kaninong sapatos iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"
Kumustá is used to inquire how something is (are). It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?.
Kumustá ang iná ninyó?
"How is your mother?"
Kumustá ang trabaho mo?
"How is your work?"
Kumustá ka?
"How are you?"
Magkano means how much and is usually used in inquiring the price of something.
Magkano ang kotseng iyón?
"How much is that car?"
Magkano ang mga saging?
"How much are the bananas?"
Nakanino means with whom. It is the locative form of sino (who).
Nakanino ang panyó ko?
"With whom is my handkerchief?"
Nakanino raw ang ate ko?/Nakanino daw ang ate ko?
"With whom reportedly is my older sister?"
Nasaán means where but is used to inquire about the location of an object and not used with verbs. In speech it is reduced to asan.
Nasaán si Antonia?
"Where is Antonia?"
Nasaán ang susì ko?
"Where are my keys?"
Nino means: who, whose, and whom. It is the indirect and genitive form of sino.
Sapatos nino iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"
Nakita ka nino?
"Who saw you?"
Ginawâ nino?
"Who did it?"
Paano is used in asking how something is done or happened.
Paano mo gagawín?
"How will you do this?"
Paano siyá nasaktán?
"How did he get hurt?"
Papaano ako makakatulong sa mga biktimá?
"How (in what ways) will I be able to help the victims?"
Saán means where but it is used to inquire about the location of where an action was performed. It is also the oblique form of anó.
Saán ka nag-aaral?
"Where do you study?"
Saán mamimilí si Estelita?
"Where will Estelita go shopping?"
Taga-saán siyá?
"Where is she from?"
Para saán ba itó?
“What is this for?”
Sino means who and whom and it is in the direct form.
Sino siyá?
"Who is he/she?"
Sino ang nakita mo?
"Whom did you see?"
Sinu-sino ang mga dating pangulo ng Pilipinas?
"Who were the former presidents of the Philippines?"
See also
- Commission on the Filipino Language
- Filipino alphabetFilipino alphabetThe Modern Filipino alphabet , otherwise known as the Filipino alphabet , is the alphabet of the Filipino language, the official national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines...
- Filipino orthography
External links
- Tagalog grammar Free and comprehensive Tagalog grammar reference