“Which” is a very bewitching word to translate into Tagalog (pun intended). After all, It’s pretty useful high-frequency (commonly used) word in English. At the end of this lesson there is a 5-point test to check if you know how to translate “which” from English into Tagalog.
Continue reading How to say “which” in Tagalog
Adjectives, or Pang-uri in Tagalog, are words that modify the nouns or pronouns by giving some information about them.
Examples of this information could be somethings color, how many of them there are or how it looks like.
You probably already know what adjectives are.
If you say in English, “The apple is red.” the word “red” here is the adjective since this word describes the apple. Continue reading The Five Types of Tagalog Adjectives: Descriptive, Possessive, Demonstrative, Interrogative and Indefinite
Tagalog pronouns can be very confusing if you use a text book approach. A textbook chapter on pronouns will probably have a nice big chart with the persons (first person, second person, third person) and the different usages. This approach can be effective for those studying Tagalog in an academic setting.
However, if your immediate concern is to start communicating with native speakers using Tagalog pronouns, a more natural and effective way to learn pronouns is by familiarizing yourself with basic sentence structures, and building off from these basic sentences.
That’s what we’ll do in this article.
Then, after the different types of Tagalog pronouns are discussed, we’ll throw in a segment on making your pronouns more polite for speaking to strangers, older people and your bosses at work.
Oh, by the way, if you are a grammar hound, you can match this article with our other guides on Tagalog grammar (see article: Tagalog Prefixes, Infixes and Suffixes: Why Tagalog Verbs Drive Language Learners Crazy), and Tagalog nouns (see article: All You Have to Know About Tagalog Nouns).
Okay, ‘nuf said. Let’s dive right into it…
A good place to start is with the first person Tagalog pronouns. A first person pronoun is used when you are talking about yourself or you and your group.
In English first person pronouns would be: I, me, my, mine and myself. You are probably quite familiar with their basic usage, and from these words you can figure out what is a first person singular pronoun. Meanwhile, there are three first person singular Tagalog pronouns: ako, ko and akin. There is a bunch of grammar terminology associated with them which you can look up in your textbook, but it would be best to use examples.
This is when the pronoun refers to yourself and just yourself. It can be used at the start, middle or end of a sentence. When used in the middle of a sentence, the suffix ng is usually added. Here are some examples:
I am an American. = Ako ay Amerikano.
I am hungry. = Gutom na ako.
I went to the Philippines. = Pumunta ako sa Pilipinas.
I don’t have a spouse. = Wala akong asawa. (Don’t be confused by ako + ng)
The pronoun ko is very similar in usage to the English “my”. It can’t be used at the start of a sentence, but it can be used in the middle and the end of a sentence.
Here is my passport = Ito ang pasaporte ko.
These are my papers. = Mga papeles ko ito.
This is my cellphone. = Cellphone ko ito.
This is Anna, my lovely girlfriend. = Ito si Anna, ang maganda kong nobia. (Don’t be confused by ko + ng.)
(This sentence structure is rather formal for casual conversation.)
Akin is used to signify your possession over something.
I wish you were mine. = Sana akin ka na lang.
This wallet is mine. = Akin ang wallet na ito.
My heart hurts. = Masakit ang aking puso. (This sounds very formal, and would not be used for everyday speech. It would be more normal to say Masakit ang puso ko,)
Usually ko is used if it’s after the object it is referring to. Akin is used before the wallet.
This is my money. = Pera ko ito. = Akin ang pera na ito.
Ko is more often used for everyday speech, and akin is used if you want to emphasize ownership over something.
There are languages which have first person dual pronouns, meaning “I and you” (the example I can think of is the Mandarin Chinese 咱们 (zánmen)). If you look at an old stuffy textbook on Tagalog they might list these first person dual pronouns: kitá/kata, nita/nata, kanitá/kanata. News flash… People who speak Tagalog in the real world never use pronouns in first person dual form anymore. First person dual Tagalog pronouns are practically extinct. Kita is still used regularly, but not as second person pronouns, but the rest are absent in today’s Tagalog. There might be a couple of old folks in the far flung barrios which still use these forms of pronouns, but the vast majority of the Tagalog speaking world would, perhaps outside some linguist who studies archaic or obsolete Tagalog, would have no clue what they mean.
So how would you say “we” (you and I) in Tagalog? You can use the first person plural, such as natin or just specify you are referring to two people, speaker and lister, such as nating dalawa.
This is our (yours and mine) victory = Panalo natin ito. = Panalo nating dalawa ito.
Later towards the end of this article, the pronoun kita, the direct second person with indirect first person Tagalog pronoun, will be discussed.
First person plural inclusive pronouns? What are these? These would refer to you and the people you are with the listener or listeners. These pronouns are inclusive of all who the speech is directed at, not just the group the speaker is representing. This is an important point since lots of beginners Tagalog learners often mix up inclusive and exclusive pronouns. These pronouns are tayo, natin and atin. Let’s go straight to the examples to illustrate this.
Tayo mean “us” or “we”. It’s an inclusive pronoun so it refers to both you, the other people you represent and those of the people you are speaking with.
All of us (who are listening) are the owners of this roast pig. = Tayo ang may-ari ng lechon na ito.
Let’s both go to the beach. = Punta tayo sa tabing-dagat.
Let’s all go to the beach. = Punta tayo sa tabing-dagat.
Natin means “us” or “our” in English, inclusive of the person or persons being spoken to.
Let us go to the bank. = Puntahan natin and bangko.
Our mother cooked the rice. = Nanay natin ang nagluto ng bigas,
Atin means “us” in English, inclusive of the person or persons being spoken to. Atin signifies possession over something but it cannot directly modify a noun.
This money belongs to us = Atin ang pera na ito.
Tell Manuel to give money back to us. = Sabihin mo kay Manuel ibalik niya ang pera sa atin
Tip on sa atin: in rapid speak sa atin is usually pronounced “satin” but it is never spelled this way (like what I did just now).
These are pronouns that refer to you and one or more people you represent. Unlike the inclusive pronouns, the exclude the person being spoken to. These pronouns are kami, namin and amin.
Since kami is typically used as a subject you’ll typically see it at the front or middle of the sentence. It means “we” excluding the person being spoken to,
We (not you) will do the work. = Kami ang gagawa ng trabaho.
We have already eaten. = Kumain na kami.
Namin means “our” or “we” not including the person or persons being spoken to. It can be used either as a modifying word like “our” money, or as a straight out pronoun replacing the word “us”. These two usages might be a bit confusing so it is good to keep this is mind.
It was our mother who worked (not your mother). = Nanay namin ang nagtrabaho. (Whose mother? Our mother)
We are going to the moon tomorrow. = Pupuntahan namin ang buwan bukas. (Who is going? We are going)
Give the money to us. = Ibigigay mo ang pera sa amin.
The words aming and naming are amin plus the suffix ng and namin plus the suffix ng. Like the word ating (atin + ng) this is usually reserved for formal speech.
Our family is happy. (my and the people I represent’s family) = Masaya ang aming pamilya.
It’s much more casual to say: Our family is happy. = Masaya ang pamilya namin.
You’ll never find aming at the end of a sentence, as it always precedes the word it is expressing possession over. Meanwhile, the word namin comes right after the word it is expressing possession over.
Don’t be confused by the word naming. It is namin with an ng attached to it.
John is our (not your) kind friend. = Si John ay ang kaibigan naming mabait.
Second person Tagalog pronouns can be mind-bending to study. They are used used to replace words that refer to the person or persons you are speaking to. You gotta’ get a good grip of them, so you can say stuff like: I love you. = Mahal kita. They can be rather complex to the uninitiated so a good approach would be just to drive straight into some example.
Second person singular Tagalog pronouns are words used when referring to the person you are speaking to.The English second person singular Tagalog pronouns would be: you, your, yours and yourself. These awesomely useful Tagalog pronouns are: ikaw, ka, mo, and iyo. Here are some sentences you can use as guides in constructing your own.
Second person singular Tagalog pronouns can be a bit confusing, so studying some sentence patterns can be useful here. Ikaw is typically used at the start of the sentence as the subject. Sometimes, native speakers will use the word ikaw at the end of the sentence to emphasize that they are referring to the speaker.
You are my everything. = Ikaw ang lahat sa akin.
You are the only one I know here. = Ikaw lang kilala ko dito.
You are the biggest person here. = Ikaw ang pinakamalaking tao dito.
The most important person here is you. = Ang pinakamahalagang tao dito ay ikaw. (The sentences construction with the word ikaw at the end is used for emphasis, “it is you not someone else.”)
You’ll probably use ka the most of all Tagalog pronouns. It can help replace the word “you” in many instances. It’ll probably make its way to many of the sentences you’ll have in the natural course of speech.
Do you like fish? = Mahilig ka ba sa isda?
You are grown up now. = Malaki ka na.
The doctor is coming tomorrow to look at you. = Pupunta ang doktor bukas para tignan ka.
Are you coming along? = Sasama ka?
You aren’t with anyone here. = Wala kang kasama dito. (Kang is ka with the suffix ng)
Remember that ka is never used at the start of a sentence. This is in contrast with ikaw which is usually at the start of a sentence.
The Tagalog pronoun mo is never used at the start of a sentence, but can be practically anywhere else. It can act as a pronoun or can denote the ownership of the person you are speaking to over something.
Have you watched this movie? = Napanood mo na ba ang sine na ito?
Do you love me? = Mahal mo ba ako?
Get the food from the ref. = Kunin mo ang pagkain sa ref.
Do you understand? = Naiintindihan mo ba?
Ben wants to get to know you beautiful friend. = Gusto ni Ben makilala ang kaibigan mong maganda. (Mong is mo with the suffix ng)
Iyo is a second singular pronoun which means it refers to the person you are speaking to, like “you” or “yours” in English. This pronoun is used for emphasizing ownership of the person you are speaking to, that something is being giving or sent to that person. The single pronoun iyo can be made plural by turning into the plural niyo or ninyo which will be covered in later parts of this article.
This is yours. = Iyo ito.
My heart is yours. = Iyo ang puso ko.
James gave you the money. = Binigay ni James sa iyo yung pera.
Don’t be confused by the word sayo. Sayo is sa + iyo
These are your shoes. = Sa iyo ang sapatos na ito. = Sayo ang sapatos na ito.
Also iyong is iyo with the suffix ng (iyong). Like used in a more formal register of speech.
Your friend is about to arrive. = Ang iyong kaibigan ay darating na.
But you could use a more casual mo instead of iyong the pronoun is signifiying possession over.
Your friend is about to arrive. = Ang kaibigan mo ay darating na.
The pronoun kita is sometimes lumped into its own catageory. This us because Kita is second person pronoun only used when the speaker (first person) is doing something wherein the object of his actions are the person he is speaking to (second person) . It can be translated into the word “you”. Of course, the best example of the word kita is:
I love you. = Mahal kita.
Well, here are some other samples.
You are my girlfriend. = Nobia kita.
I will give you money. = Bibigyan kita ng pera.
Can I kiss you? = Pwede ba kita halikan?
I’m going to port you to the police = Isususmbong kita sa pulis.
Beware that the pronoun kita is different from the the word kita (profits) and kita (to see); both of the later kita (profits) and kita (see) are homonyms/sound alike. In you can say Kita kita sa mall kahapon. (Shortened for Nakita kita….). Or you can say kita-kits (slang for kita kita (“to see” then the pronoun) meaning “see you around”).
I want to get to know you. = Gusto kitang makilala. (Kitang is kita plus the suffix ng)
There is a lot that we could do with second person plural Tagalog pronouns: kayo, ninyo/niyo, and inyo. You can you use it for addressing groups of people at parties, public speaking, at the bar, or an intimate gathering of friends or family.
This Tagalog pronoun kayo is a word that refers to two or more people you are speaking to.
You (plural) are blocking the way. = Nakaharang kayo sa daan.
You will decide what will happen. = Kayo ang magdedesisyon kung anong mangyayari.
(You, plural) Hold on tight. = Kapit kayo ng mabuti.
You (plural) are smart. = Kayo ay matalino. = Matalino kayo. The structure with kayo at the end is lot more natural sound. The one with kayo at the beginning sounds formal.
Take note that kayong is kayo + ng. Don’t (you) run. = Huwag kayong tumakbo.
You Filipinos are a happy people. = Kayong mga Pilipino ay masiyahin na tao.
Literally: Don’t you have hands? = Wala ba kayong mga kamay? (This vernacular set phrase is used in informal gatherings where an emcee or host will request for a group of people to clap after a speech or performance, similar to “Let’s give him/her a round of applause”.)
Note that there is an obsolete Tagalog word kayo which means cloth, which still comes up in the expression balat-kayo which means to pretend to be something else. This word has no relation to the pronoun.
Ninyo and niyo are the same word. They typically signify possession of the persons you are speaking to over something, though they can also stand in alone as a pronoun, such as during a command, request or imperative. The formal version is ninyo and is still widely used, but you may hear the contraction niyo more often during speech. Both pronouns are perfectly interchangeable with affecting much, if at all, the meaning or tone of speech. Both ninyo and niyo will be used interchangeably in this article as well. Perhaps, the only time one might consider favoring ninyo is over niyo is during a formal written message or public speech. Just note that you will never find these pronouns at the start of a sentence.
This is your food. = Pagkain ninyo ito.
Your (plural) money was lost. = Nawala ang pera niyo (No emphasis) = Pera niyo ang nawala. (Emphasizing it was their money which was lost)
You (plural) gave Frank a problem = Binigyan ninyo si Frank ng problema.
(You, plural) get the water on the table. = Kunin niyo yung tubig sa mesa.
You (plural) will look for the chicken tomorrow. = Hahanapin ninyo ang manok bukas.
Frank wants to buy your big dog. = Gusto ni Frank bilhin ang aso mong malaki. (Mong is mo with the suffix ng)
Inyo is the plural of iyo. If iyo is the second person singular pronoun often signifying possession, inyo is second person singular pronoun. These Tagalog pronouns could be translated into plural “your” or “yours” depending on the usage. Just like iyo which has iyong, the pronoun inyong is inyo plus the suffix ng.
Your things have been prepared. (talking to two or more people) = Nakahanda na ang inyong gamit.
This is yours. (talking to two or more people) = Inyo ito.
Jack and Jill, the ball is yours. = Jack and Jill, inyo ang bola.
I don’t know with you guys. = Hindi ko alam sa inyo.
Bring your umbrella. = Dahlin mo ang iyong payong. (Iyong is rather formal. Iyong is iyo plus the suffix ng. A more conversation way of saying this would be “Dalhin mo ang payong mo“.)
Inyo and niyo can be confusing for some learners.
Welcome to the world of third person Tagalog pronouns! They are called third person pronouns since they represent the third person being spoken to – the first person is the speaker and the people he or she represents; the second person is the person or persons being spoken to, and the third person is about the other people they are speaking about.
They’re quite useful in engaging in the favorite past-time of the human species – talking about others. Just like in first and second person Tagalog pronouns, third person Tagalog pronouns can be singular or plural, and have a lot of other variations.
The third person singular Tagalog pronouns are: siya, niya, and kaniya/kanya. In English, third person singular pronouns would be: he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, and itself. Unlike in English and many other languages, Tagalog pronuns have no gender. The same forms are used whether the subject is male or female.
The Tagalog pronoun siya is used to refer to another person or object. While spelled siya, out in the wild in actual speech the first vowel is often dropped and the word is pronounced as sya or sha. It will always be spelled as siya though.
I heard that she has already separated with her spouse. = Balita ko nakipaghiwalay na siya sa asawa niya.
It is big. = Malaki siya.
He bought a car. = Bumili siya ng kotse.
I only like her. = Siya lang ang gusto ko.
Like many other Tagalog pronouns, you can also add ng as a suffix to siya.
It doesn’t have gasoline. = Wala siyang gasolina.
It’s real gold. = Totoo siyang ginto.
This third person singular pronoun can describe possession or replace a person or object. Niya can replace: he, she, him, her or it. Just like in the pronoun siya, the first vowel of niya is not often pronounced in rapid everyday speech.
This is her bag. = Ito ang bag niya. = Bag niya ito.
He knows what he is doing. Alam niya ang ginagaw niya.
He is so handsome. = Ang guwapo niya!
Just like many of the pronouns, the suffix ng can be added to niya.
Paul is his Filipino friend. = Si Paul ang kaibigan niyang Pilipino.
James wore his read clothes. = Sinuot ni James and pula niyang damit.
Kaniya and kanya are interchangeable.The situation with kaniya and kanya is similar to ninyo and niyo. The formal spelling of the word is kaniya but spelling kanya is widely accepted. During everyday speech, the middle vowel “i” is often dropped and the word is pronounced kanya. You might note that in siya, in speech is also usually pronounced sya with the “i” dropped in pronunciation. In this article I’ll use both.
This is his. = Kaniya ito.
The money is his. = Kanya ang pera.
This is not his. = Hindi ito sa kaniya.
I saw his dog. = Nakita ko ang kanyang aso.
You can also add the suffix ng, to make kanya into kanyang.
Maria placed the watch in her pocket. = Linigay ni Maria ang relo sa kanyang bulsa.
Tom found his child. = Natagpuan ni Tom ang kaniyang anak.
Third person plural Tagalog person pronouns are: sila, nila and kanila. They are used to refer to two or more people or objects other than the speaker and the person being spoken to. In English, third person plural pronouns would be: they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.
Use sila when talking about groups of people or objects.
They are fast. = Mabilis sila.
They like rolling in the mud. = Mahilig sila gumulong sa putik.
They are Filipino. = Pilipino sila. = Sila ay Pilipino. (“Pilipino sila.” is more natural in this case, “Sila ay Pilipino.” would be used to emphasize it is they who are Filipinos.)
They are the people caught by the police/They were caught be the police. = Sila ang hinuli ng pulis. = Hinuli sila ng pulis. (Like in the above example, “Hinuli sila ng pulis.” is more natural.)
Adding ng in some cases will add fluency to the sentence. This will make turn sila into silang, but is not to be confused with the Tagalog word silang which means “to be born.”
They are fond of dancing. = Mahilig silang sumayaw. (Mahilig sila sumayaw. is also acceptable)
They went to the Philippines. = Pumunta silang Pilipinas. (Pumunta sila sa Pilipnas)
Nila is another second person plural pronoun you would want to know how to use. This pronoun can mean: they, them or their.
They are getting the papers. = Kinukuha nila ang papeles
Jack and Jill rode their car. = Sumakay si Jack and Jill sa kotse nila.
They have to get the from the bank. Kailangan nila kunin ang pera sa bangko.
Their house burned. = Nasunog ang bahay nila.
This is their land. = Lupa nila ito.
The sibling asked for money from their rich father. = Humingi ang magkapatid ng pera sa tatay nilang mayaman. (Nilang is nila plus the suffix ng)
Kanila is a third person plural pronoun. It can also mean their, theirs or them in English, depending on its usage.
This is theirs. = Kanila ito.
This house is theirs. = Kanila ang bahay na ito.
Give the money to them. = Ibigay mo ang pera sa kanila.
Their house got damaged. = Nasira ang kanilang bahay.
Maria went to their house. = Pumunta si Maria sa kanilang bahay. (Kanilang is kanila with ng attached to it)
Their project was chosen by the leader. = Kanilang proyekto ang pinili ng pinuno. (Pinili ang proyeko nila ng pinuno. would be a more conversational way of saying this sentence.)
Like many other languages, the level of politeness you want to convey can affect the way you use Tagalog pronouns. You may want to use different Tagalog pronouns in situations where you want to keep a respectful distance or want to avoid coming of as overfamiliar, such as speaking to a stranger on the street. As foreign speaker, you may be forgiven for not conveying formality through pronouns, but never-the-less, it is good to be aware of them, since Tagalog might speakers might use them on you as well.
By the way, you may want to also use the word “po” (or the variant “ho“) if you want to add another indication of politeness. In this article, we’ll place the word po in parenthesis to indicate that the sentence will be grammatically correct without it. Remember that po can be in several possible locations in a sentence so don’t be take the suggested locations of po in the examples below as a hard and fast rule.
When speaking to a person to whom you want to convey politeness, instead of using the second person singular, such as: mo, ikaw, ka or iyo. Instead, use second or third person plural pronouns, such as, kayo, sila, or ninyo/niyo.
Using the word mo can sound overly-familiar or even confrontation to a native speaker, especially to someone older, uniformed personnel, a work superior, a public official or someone with a higher perceived status in society. You can swap out the word mo with nila, niyo or ninyo.
What is your name? = Anong pangalan mo? = More polite: Anong (pong) pangalan nila/ninyo? or Anong pangalan nila/niyo/ninyo po? (The pong here is po plus ng, while it is not necessary to make the sentence grammatically correct, it is always good to add the po to sentences when speaking someone respectfully, such as someone older.
Where is your house? = Saan ang bahay mo? = More polite: Saan (po) ang bahay nila? or Saan (po) ang bahay niyo/ninyo?
(You) get the money tomorrow. = Kunin mo ang pera bukas. = More polite: Kunin (po) nila/niyo/ninyo ang pera bukas.
You can pay for the drinks tomorrow. = Pwede mong bayaran yung inumin bukas. = More polite: Pwede (po) niyong/ninyong/nilang bayaran ang inumin bukas.
Likewise, the second person singular pronouns ka or ikaw can sound confrontational. Swap these pronouns with kayo or sila to add some a respectful verbal space between you and the person you are speaking to.
Are you already hungry? = Gutom ka na ba? = More polite: Gutom na (po) kayo?
Where do you live? = Saan ka nakatira? = More polite: Saan (po) sila nakatira?
You are too tall for these pants. = Masyado kang matangkad para sa pantalon na ito. = More polite: Masyado kayong matangkad para sa pantalon na ito.
Are you lost? = Nawawala ka ba? = More polite: Nawawala (po) ba kayo/sila?
Are you the person I looking for? = Ikaw ba ang hinahanap ko? = More polite: Kayo/Sila (po) ba ang hinahanap ko?
You got my bag. = Ikaw ang kumuha ng bag ko. = More polite: Kayo/Sila po ang kumuha ng bag ko.
So this is it guys! Good luck with learning Tagalog pronouns. I hope this guide provided a good bird’s eye view on these pronouns. Throw caution to the wind and learn by using them, getting corrected and laughed at. Listen closely to native speakers and never be afraid to ask.
Start with simple sentence sentences structures, such as the ones you have here, and build up on them. Don’t just rely on what you find here, but keep your eyes and ears open to Tagalog spoken or written by native speakers. Learning isn’t always easy, but it’s in learning what is challenging that you get something valuable.
Tagalog nouns – learning a language would not be complete without knowing nouns. Tagalog is no exception to this. But with Tagalog nouns, there is more than meets the eye.
Okay, just to set your expectations, this article is for the layman and is explained in layman’s terms meant for the Tagalog language learner. If you want something textbookish with all those fancy college linguistics terms like “ergative-absolutive”, this article isn’t for you. I’m not saying that studying these advanced linguistics grammar stuff isn’t important, since it they are for language scholars with thick glasses who study thicker books on grammar.
(Ergative-absolutive languages are languages, such as Tagalog where the single argument or “subject” of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb, and differently from the agent of a transitive verb. Uhmm… yeah, I didn’t just look that up right now.)
So here it is folks. Here are the stuff you have to know about Tagalog nouns…
First of all, let’s get things straight. The word noun in Tagalog is “pangngalan“. But the word “pangalan” is the word for name, as in “Ano ang pangalan mo?” (What is your name? ) or “Ang pangalan ko ay si Datu.” (My name is Datu.)
“Pang” meaning it for something + “ngalan” a root word connoting a name. It’s a word for naming something.
Pangalan = Name
Pangngalan = Noun
They are pronounced alike but don’t confuse the word “pangalan” with “pangangalan”. The shorter one means “noun” or the longer one means “name”. Okay, just wanted to get that out of the way.
Of course some nouns can be turned into a verbs or adjectives. But don’t worry, learning about nouns won’t even be half as crazy as learning about Tagalog verbs, (see article: Tagalog Prefixes, Infixes and Suffixes: Why Tagalog Verbs Drive Language Learners Crazy), which is absolute madness to non-native speakers. Tagalog nouns aren’t half as crazy as Tagalog pronouns either (see article: The Beginner’s Guide to Tagalog Pronouns). So no worries, hombre!
In fact many, Tagalog nouns however are often the root words themselves. Let’s take the word Tagalog noun “kamay” meaning “hand”. You can make it a verb “kinamay” which will make it mean to have “used one hands”, such as “Kinamay niya ang pagkain” meaning “He used his hands on the food (such as to eat).” or “Kamayin mo na.” meaning “(Go ahead and) Use your hands”.
So before we go too far. let’s het this out of the way and talk about writing Tagalog nouns. The convention for writing Tagalog nouns, at least what they teach in school, is that just like English, Tagalog proper nouns are capitalized, and common nouns are written in small caps. So that means you will write some thing like:
“Siya ay isang presidente. Siya ay si Presidente Duterte.”
Of course, the first time the word presidente is used it’s written in small caps since presidente here is a common noun. It refers to any president. in the second one, Presidente is capitalized since it’s a proper noun refering to a specific person. Just the same as English, m’kay?
There are Tagalog words have no gender will be. Don’t be confused, about what I mean by this. What I mean is Tagalog nouns don’t have any grammatical gender, like they do in Spanish, French, German or Russian.
Some Tagalog words, especially those of Spanish origin, might give you the impression that they have grammatical gender, but they don’t. For example, a male doctor would be “doktor” and a female doctor would be a “doktora“. But in Tagalog they grammatically would have no gender.
You heard that right. Don’t get confused. Tagalog nouns have no grammatical gender. You might even hear the word “lamesa” used interchangeably with the word “mesa” which means table in Spanish and Tagalog (“la” is the feminine form of “the” in Spanish). But that doesn’t mean the noun has gender. Speaking of Spanish, let talk about loan words.
Lots of Tagalog nouns are loan words, particularly in English and Spanish. Yup, loan words are everywhere in Tagalog. However, this is especially pronounced when learning Tagalog nouns. In fact, once you start learning nouns the loan words are just going to jump out at you.
Let’s have a look at some examples.
Tagalog – Spanish
kabayo – caballo
tinidor – tenedor
plato – plato
Tagalog – English
kompyuter – computer
karot – carrot
nars – nurse
There are just too many examples of loan words in English and Spanish so I’m going to leave it at that. It’s good noting though that even though English and Spanish make the majority of loan words in Tagalog, there are lots of loan words in other languages too such as Malay, Sanskrit, Tamil, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, and Nahuatl (languages of the native Mexicans).
Don’t mind what your Tagalog text book or your Tagalog teacher says. If you don’t know what a noun is in Tagalog, just use the English equivalent. It will be 100% okay in everyday natural speech. Filipinos do it all the time.
For example: Masakit ang stomach ko kasi ang dami kong kinain. (My stomach hurts because I ate so much)
So obviously the seemingly offending word here is the English word “stomach”. Of course, in Tagalog, the word stomach is “tiyan” but swapping it with the word stomach is perfectly okay, and a very natural way to talk in Tagalog Trust me on this, m’kay.
Ah! That weirdly spelled word “mga“. Stick it in front of Tagalog words to make them plural. Yup, that all there is to it.
For example:
Kumain ako ng saging. (“I ate a banana.” or “I ate banana”).
Kumain ako ng mga saging. (I ate (more than one) bananas).
Grammatically, mga refers to more than one, but usually you’ll use it for more than two.
Try add the letter S to pluralize, when using Tagalog nouns, even when using loan words. It just sounds funny to native speaker.
For example:
“May nakita akong jaguars mga jaguar sa zoo.” (I saw some jaguars at the zoo.)
All cool, huh?
There’s a lot more I would love to add, but I’d rather not lump on all that textbookish grammar on Tagalog nouns. Just learning this you’ve got most of your bases covered. Nouns aren’t particularly the hardest part of learning Tagalog. Quite unlike Tagalog verbs which can really be a challenge. After all, when in doubt, just swap in the Tagalog noun with the English noun and it’s going to be understandable. Just don’t forget to slap on “mga” if you’re referring to more than one.
Did you like this article on Tagalog nouns? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Check out our article on Tagalog verbs. Tagalog verbs are absolutely nuts.
We also have a number of Tagalog lessons and tests to test your mettle. Just scroll down on our home page to see them.
We also have an absolutely free no email required e-book called Your First 100 Tagalog Sentences. This link links to the page.
What’s up with Tagalog verbs? To the language learner, Tagalog verbs can be plain crazy. It’s just all those crazy prefixes, infixes and suffixes which turn Tagalog verbs into a massive and messy mental exercise.
Here’s the deal. Tagalog, like most Austronesian languages, is what you call an “agglutinative language”, which in layman’s terms mean you can slap on certain sounds, which we shall call affixes (such as repeated syllables, prefixes, infixes and suffixes) to root words to change their meaning.
Think of a Tagalog verb as a sticky ball of rice on to which you can keep slapping on more rice, meat and vegetables making something new, but it’s still basically a ball of rice. If you’ve already started studying Tagalog you are probably familiar with what I mean… for example tawa (to laugh) + (repeat first syllable) = tatawa (will laugh).
Scared yet? Don’t worry at the end of the article, I’m also going to give you five tips to help you start your journey to mastering Tagalog verbs at the end of the article.
By the way, if you are a grammar hound, this article will go with our other guides on Tagalog pronouns (see article: The Beginner’s Guide to Tagalog Pronouns), and Tagalog nouns (see article: All You Have to Know About Tagalog Nouns). As I was saying…
These affixes – the repeated syllables, prefixes, infixes and suffixes which you slap on to your root word – seem reasonably simple at first glace. Sounds like nag-, -um-, -in which seem straightforward in their use. However, as soon as one starts digging deeper their complexity can baffle the unprepared. You can get one verb and slap on all sorts of prefixes, infixes and suffixes and that will change the tense, usage, and conotation of the word (there are more technical terms for this but let’s leave these out for now).
For example, the verb takbo (meaning to run) + the infix um can be made into the word tumakbo, which equates to the simple past tense past tense ran. However you can also make that same verb takbo into a monster: nakikipagtakbuhan. Nakikipagtakbuhan means to “run at the same time with someone or something else, at a period of time in the past or the present, with the connotatation that the subject of the verb is running together or racing with the original runner”. A word like nakikipagtakbuhan is the kind of word that makes you want to run away from grammar doesn’t it?
What worsens your despair is hearing how native Tagalog speakers use these “mutated” verbs in rapid succession without giving them a split second’s thought. It’s hard to give a definitive list with all the possible prefixes, infixes, and suffixes which you can slap on a verb, nor will I attempt such a mind-bending exercise. I’ll leave that job to linguists with thick glasses who have devoted much of their lives studying and writing thick grammar books.
While studying the grammar of a foreign language has its own essential role, this site is more about learning Tagalog the natural way. Instead, what I’ll do is I’ll take a verb and just start shooting as many possible variations off the top of my head and see how far I can go.
I’ll choose the Tagalog verb kain or to eat and see how many permutations of this verb I can make by slapping of prefixes, infixes and suffixes.
KAIN (TO EAT)
kain (to eat, used as an invitation), tiga-kain / taga-kain (one designated to eat), kumakain (present progressive is/are eating or ability to eat something), kakain (will eat), kumain (imperative, simple past), kainan (a place or event where you eat), pakain-kain (to eat sporadically), pakain (an event where you can eat, asking permission to eat), ipakain (make someone eat something), pinapakain (feed regularly), kinain (past), papakainin (will feed), pagkain (infinitive, noun for food), pagpapakain (gerund), kakainin (something to eat in the future), papakainin (to allow to eat), magpapakain (to serve food or feed in the future), papakain (shortened informal form of magpapakain, used to connote it will be done in the near future), kinakain-kain (something has been eaten sporadically in the past), kinainan (eating happened at a location), kinakainan (a place where people habitually eat), kinakain (it can be eaten, currently eating), Nakakain (has experienced eating something), Nagsikain (they began to eat, connotes, they weren’t eating before than suddenly they started eating), Magsikain (imperative, to a group of people asking them to eat), Pagkakain (having recently completed eating), kakainan (a place where eating will happen), kinakainkainan (eating sporadically happens at the location), nagpakain (past tense of pakain, to feed), nagpapakain (someone who habitually feeds something or someone else), magkainan (imperative, asking two or more people to have an eating event), nagkakainan (two or more were eating something or each other), nangangain (someone or something that eats something being referred to), nagsisikain (were in the process of eating, connoting they started eating at the time), magkakainan (two or more will eat each other, oh… sounds sexy, if stress is on the second syllable, if stress is on the penultimate syllable an eating event will happen), magkakainkainan (will pretend to eat, or mock eating), and kainin (will eat, a direct imperative).
Just to put things into context, let me throw up a chart with a few of the variations I just made. You can also download the PDF of the chart of these samples sentences with some color coding here: PDF of Kain (To Eat) with Tagalog Prefixes, Infixes, Suffixes and Sample Sentences (1298 downloads ) . The sample sentences will be a lot easier to view on the PDF.
| KAIN – to eat | ||
| kain | used as an invitation, or an instruction. | Tara, kain tayo.
Come one. Let’s eat. ‘Wag kayo mahiya, kain lang kayo diyan. Don’t be shy, have something to eat. |
| tiga-kain / taga-kain
(used interchangeably) |
Noun – one designated to eat | May baboy kami sa bukaran ang tiga-kain namin ng panis na pagkain.
We have a pig out back (beside or behind the house) that (is designated to) eats our spoiled food. Allegic ako sa hipon, kaya paglumalabas kami at may hipon yung hinain, ang asawa ko ang taga-kain. I’m allergic to shrimp so when I’m out of the house and there’s shrimp in the food served, my husband/wife eats it for me. |
| kumakain | Present or
Present progressive, an ongoing action |
Hindi ako Muslim, kumakain ako ng baboy.
I’m not a Muslim, I eat pork. Kumakakain si Mark sa ilalim ng puno. Mark is eating under the tree. |
| Kakain | Future tense | Pagdating ko sa bahay, kakain ako.
When I get home, I’m going to eat. Kakain ako ng lechon pagdating ng Pasko. I will eat roast pig on Christmas. |
| Kumain | imperative when combined with a pronoun, simple past | Kumain ka, kailangan mo magpalakas.
Eat, you need to build up your strength. Kumain ako kaninang umaga. I ate this morning. |
| kainan | Noun – a place or event where you eat
Connotes an event where the main activity is to eat |
Nagbukas yung tatay ko ng maliit na kainan sa kanto.
My father opened a small eatery at the street corner. May kainan bukas sa munisipyo kasi bertday ng mayor. There will meals served at city hall tomorrow since it will be the mayor’s birthday. |
| pakain-kain | to eat sporadically, connotes there is no strong intent, or it was done without much effort | Wala siyang ginawa sa opisina ngayon, pakain-kain lang buong araw.
He didn’t do anything in the office today, he just munched on snacks the whole day. Madalas ‘pag Linggo sa bahay lang ako, pakain-kain at patulog-tulog lang. Usually on Sundays I just say at home, and eat and sleep (sporadically) the whole day. |
| pakain | Noun – event where you can eat usually connoting it will be done for free, or used when asking permission to eat, or asking someone to do something as short for ‘ipakain’ | Kapag pista dito, lahat ng bahay may pakain, kahit sino pwedeng makisalo.
When it’s fiesta time here, all houses serve food for guests, anyone can come and eat. Pakain ka naman sa bagong bukas mong restawran. You should treat us to some food at your newly-opened restaurant. Pakain mo sa mga baboy ang natirang kanin. Feed the leftover rice to to the pigs. |
| ipakain | makes someone or something eat something | Ipakain mo sa mga baboy ang natirang kanin.
Feed the leftover rice to to the pigs. Ipakain mo sa kasintahan mo ang mahiwagan isda na ito, iibigin ka niya habang buhay. Feed your sweetheart this magic fish, she will love you as long as she lives. |
| pinapakain | feed regularly, or was in the act of feeding | Pinapakain ko ang mga alagang ibon ng nanay ko araw-araw.
I feed my mother’s pet birds every day. Nakita ko si Anna kahapon sa kalsada, pinapakain niya anak niya ng kendi. I saw Anna on the street yesterday feeding her child candy. |
| kinain | past | Kinain mo ba ang manok ng kuya mo?
Did you eat your older brother’s chicken? Kinain ko ang masanas kahapon. I ate the apple yesterday. |
| papakainin | will feed | Papakainin kita ng totoong pagkaing pinoy kung sasama ka sa akin sa Pilipinas.
I’ll give you a taste of real Filipino food if you come with me to the Philippines. Papakainin ko ang aso pagdating ko sa bahay. I’ll feed the dog when I get home. |
| pagkain | Infinitive, present
Not to be confused with the noun for food |
Ang pagkain ng prutas at gulay araw at mabuti.
Eating fruits and vegetables is good. Ang pagkain (verb) ng masasarap na pagkain (noun) ay isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nabubuhay ang tao. To eat delicious food is one of the reasons man lives. (noun) Pahingi naman ng pagkain. Please give me some food. |
Just incase you missed the download link here’s the chart in PDF format: PDF of Kain (To Eat) with Tagalog Prefixes, Infixes, Suffixes and Sample Sentences (1298 downloads ) . They’ll be a lot easier to read and appreciate on PDF.
The road to tagalog verb mastery looks tough, but fear not, here are five tips to help you swing through the learning curve with flying colors!
There is no substitute to listening to native Tagalog speakers in a “natural environment” using these verbs. At first it may sound that you might as well be listening to a non-stop barrage of incomprehensible utterance, but you can start by focusing on just picking out one word at the time. Eventually, you’ll start picking out phrases. Then, entire sentences. You Tagalog will only progress the more you listen,.
I have to caution you that while it’s tempting to think we can pick up a foreign language totally from just from exposure or interaction with native speakers, doing some “book learning” or learning the rules behind language and looking at the language in a written form can greatly help you shorten the learning curve. I have a lot of transcribed excerpts in Tagalog just for the purpose of practicing to listen.
Learning a few examples of Tagalog verbs in the form of set phrases will help you get the ball rolling. I believe that a profound change happens in the mind once you take a language concept off the pages of a book, and throw it into a real live interaction or conversation. It helps you get the “feel” of the grammar point.
I am a big believer in phrase books and memorizing a few pre-formulated sentences. Confidence in a language is also something you develop over time, and is one of the most overlooked features of language learning.
Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing. These are four overlapping but different skills. The same goes with Tagalog verbs. As you start your progression in learning Tagalog, you’ll probably learn to understand what you hear and read, more than what you can say speak and write. This is perfectly normal. Go with the flow.
It’s a big pot of rice you have to eat, and you can’t humanly eat it all at once. Learn a few tenses at the time. Start with the tenses or affixes which come most natural to you. It’s not cheating. It’s leveraging what you already know or can easily understand.
Like any life skill, getting a grasp of Tagalog verbs and indeed the language itself takes time. You are only getting better at something the more you practice. And the great thing is native speakers will nine out of ten times (or more like ninety nine out of a hundred times) appreciate you for the effort, even if they will try to answer back in English. Just keep at it, tiger!
I’ll throw in a bonus tip for you, and perhaps on a deeper level this may be the most important tip of them all. Make mistakes. Probably they’ll understand you, maybe a few times they won’t, but you have to try and keep applying what you know.
The fear of looking stupid has kept many of us from achieving greater heights. We all want to have that perfect, witty Tagalog conversation with a native speaker, but believe me, it’s not just going to happen straight from a book to reality, no matter how much you practice alone in your room. You have to make mistakes. Many mistakes. In fact I believe in speaking Tagalog from day one.
So there it is folks. Tagalog verbs can be a scary, but a language is a beautiful thing, it’s a product of a people and a culture. You just have to get over our initial fear and jump in the deep end. While the road is long, there are many flowers along the way. Imagine all the sense of achievement and fun you can have it gems like nagkakainan or nangangain.
Feel free to leave a comment or question below if there’s something you’d like to add or ask. If there are any learners or native speakers out there who would like to add to my list of the different permutations of the Tagalog verb kain, please feel free to add those in the comments.
Booyah! Till next time TTT (Talk Tagalog Tribe)!
We just talked a lot about food. Now how about practicing your listening skills with this transcript of this news report about the Maginhawa Food Street or Filipino Cold Streets. There is a little neat quiz after each article you can take to test your learning.
Or you can something on the broader level like, Why Should You Learn Tagalog?
To see our other stuff and lessons, just visit our Home Page.
If you liked this article about Tagalog verbs, you might to check out this one on Tagalog nouns.
Or maybe, since you liked this article on Tagalog grammar, you might like this one on Tagalog pronouns:
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