Lesson 2 Notes

Kilala = acquaintance

Ipakilala (“to introduce”) and Makilala (“to meet”) are formed from Kilala (“acquaintance”).

Inyo

The Tagalog word inyo is the plural of iyo. (“you”);  sa inyo means “to you” (plural or formal).  Remember, the singular form is sa iyo.  Example: Magandang umaga sa inyo  (“Good morning to you”).  You can also say Magandang umaga sa iyo (“Good morning to you”).

 

Ang

Many people translate ang as “the”.  However that is not correct.  It is better to understand that Ang is used to mark the topic (subject) of the sentence.
Here are some examples.

Malinis ang bahay. (Clean ang house.)   What is clean?  The house is clean.   Another example.  Kumakain ang lalaki ng tinapay. (Eating ang man ng bread).  Is the bread eating the man?  No!  The man (marked by ang) is eating the bread.   For more information about Ang see this page.

 

Mga

Mga is pronounced “manga”.  It is used to indicate “more than one”.   For example,  lalaki means man and mga lalaki means men.  Similarly, the Tagalog word for dog is aso, therefore mga aso means dogs.   The word mga is used before the noun.

Take a look at this example.  We learned about ito in Lesson 1.  You may recall Bob Turner introduced his wife like this “Ito po si
Anne, asawa ko“, (“This is Anne, my wife.”)    The word ito means this.   How do we say “these” in Tagalog.  We use the pluralizer “mga”.  For  example.  Mga ito (these).   Mga ito po ang mga anak ko.  (“These po ang children mine”)  These are my children.

  Sina

Sina is the plura of si.   Si is the subject marker used when referring to someone’s name.  For example: Kumakain si Ruth.  (“Eating si Ruth“).  In this case, we use si because Ruth is only one person.  What if Ruth and Mary are eating?  Then, you will use sina instead of si.  Example: Kumakain sina Ruth at Mary.  (“Eating sina Ruth and Mary”).

Sina can refer to more than one person even if only one name is referred to. Look at this example:  Kumakain sina Ruth.  (“Eating sina Ruth [and others with her]”).  In this example, even though we only referred to Ruth, it implies “others with her” because we used the plural form sina.

 

Kaming

Kaming is actually kami (“we”) plus the linker -ng.    In the opening conversation for Lesson 2, Bob Turner said Nagagalak kaming makilala kayo. (“We are pleased to meet you”).    We saw the –ng linker used in the opening dialog of Lesson 1 when Anne Turner said Nagagalak din po akong makilala kayo. (“I am also pleased to meet you”).  In the Lesson 1 example, the word Ako (“I”) was connected with the linker –ng (ako +  –ng).

 

Nagagalak kami

Nagagalak kami means (“we are pleased”).  Compare it with Nagagalak ako (“I am pleased”).  Note the use of kami (“we”) and ako (“I”).  Also note, the form of the verb “nagagalak” does not change.

 

Gayon din

gayón means “like that” or “in that manner”.   Din means “too”  or “also” in English.  Therefore, “gayon din” means like that too, or also in that manner.   In the opening dialog of this lesson, Bob Turner said that he was pleased to meet Mr. and Mrs. Ramos.  Mr. Ramos replied “Gayon din kami”.  Kami means “we”.  Tagalog has two versions of “we.   One is tayo which is “we” and includes the person you are speaking to.  Contrast that with kami, which also means “we” but refers to two or more persons but not including the person being spoken to.  Mr. Ramos said “Gayon din kami”.  Basically he was saying “We are also like that”, or more simply “We are too”.

 

Matagal na

 The word matagal is derived from the root word, tagal (length of time).   The “ma” in front of “tagal” implies “a lot of”.  Therefore we have “matagal” which means “a lot of time” or more simply “a long time”.   The word “na” can mean several things in Tagalog depending on the context in which it is used.  In this case, you can think of it as “already”.  Therefore “matagal na” can be translated as “Long time already”.  Mr. Ramos asked Bob Turner “Matagal na ba kayo sa Pilipinas?”   (Long-time already ? you in Philippines)  “Have you been in the Philippines long (a long time)?”.

(Note: Technically, “ma-” means that the item described is a possessor of a quality.  For example, “maganda (beautiful) means “possesses beauty”.  I like to thing of it as “full of” or “has a lot of” (full of beauty).

 

Na

 As stated above in the “matagal na” description, the Tagalog word “na” can have several meanings depending on the context in which it is used.  In this case, it is used to express “already”.     Another example of using “na” to mean “already” can be “gabi na”.  Gabi means “evening”. Gabi na can mean “It’s evening already”.

1. Na can express a recent change (as contrasted with “pa” (yet, still).   Therefore, you may think of it as expressing “now” in some sentences.  Umuulan na.  (It is raining now).

2. It is used in place of the linker “ng” when the preceding word ends with a consonant.  (Asul na kotse, Blue car),  (Pulang kotse,  Red car), (Dilaw na kotse, Yellow car),  (Berdeng kotse, green car).

 

Ninyo

 “Ninyo” is the plural form of “mo” which means “yours”, or as I like to think of it sometimes “of-you”.   Example:  “Pangalan mo” Singular (Name of-you; your name).  If you are referring to more than one person’s name:  “Pangalan ninyo.”  Plural (Name of-you-all; your names).

However, keep in mind, we often use plural words when speaking formally with another. Therefore, even though “ninyo” is a plural word, it could be used when speaking to a single person of authority.

Another example. Let’s say you meet a group of people and wish to ask their names. You can say “Ano ang pangalang ninyo?”  (What the name of you-all).

 

Ba

 The word “ba” is powerful word. It is a “verbal question mark”.  It can be used to convert a statment of fact into a question.  For example, we can say “Asul ang kotse” (Blue the car) The car is blue.   We can change it to “Asul ba ang kotse?”   (Blue ? the car)  Is the car blue?

I find that the placement of “ba” is often after the quality that you are asking about.  However, it is also used after pronouns.  “Kumain ka ba?”  (Eat you ba?  (Did you eat? or Have you eaten?)

Namin

 Námin, is ofen translated as “our”.   It is exclusive of the person you are speaking to.  For example, if I am speaking to somebody that does not live in my house, I may say “Bahay namin” (House our) Our house.   Conversely, if I am speaking to somebody that lives in my house too, I can say “Bahay natin” (House our) Our house.  Note the difference in the word usage “namin” vs “natin”.

I also like to think of “namin” as meaning “by us”.  For example, to say “We like” I can say “Gusto namin” (Like by-us).   “Gusto namin ang Pilipinas” (Like by-us the Philippines)  We like the Philippines.

Taga

From, as in Taga-Pilipinas siya. He/She is from the Philippines.  There are other words that mean “from” in Tagalog. However, when asking where someone originates from, you use the word “taga”.   Here is another example: Taga saan ka?  (From where you?) Where are you from.

Contrast “taga” with “gáling” which also means “from”.  “Galing” is used when asking where someone is coming from directly, as coming from the store, or coming from the library, or from the mall.  “Saan ka galing?”   (Where you coming-from?).  Where are you coming from? or Where have you been?  Get it?

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