Easy Tagalog. Joi Barrios
si Sarah. Fine. I am Sarah.
RALPH : Ralph Woods ang pangalan ko. My name is Ralph Woods.
SARAH : Ikinagagalak* kong makilala ka. Pleased to meet you.
RALPH : Ikinagagalak kong makilala ka. Pleased to meet you.
Now practice the dialogue.
SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Let’s study the following words and how to formulate questions.
| Sino | Who |
| Sino ka? | Who + you? Who are you? |
| po | honorific; used to show politeness and respect |
| kayo | you (plural) |
| Sino po kayo? | Who + honorific + you? |
| Who are you? (formal; polite) | |
| ano | what |
| Ano ang pangalan mo? | What + ang + name + your? What is your name? |
There is no equivalent of the verb “to be” (are, is) in Tagalog. Thus, if you look at “Sino ka?” the literal translation is just “Who you?” Similarly, the literal translation for Ano ang pangalan mo? is “What marker name your?”
A brief culture note – the question “Sino ka?” is not considered to be polite. Unless you are speaking to someone much younger, it is best to use Sino po kayo?
Let’s study how to answer these questions. One important characteristic of the Tagalog language is flexibility. We can change the order of the sentence. The subject (person, place, thing, or idea of doing something) can come before the predicate (tells something about the subject), or the predicate can come before the subject.
In Tagalog, the predicate–subject order is more commonly used, especially in conversations. The subject–predicate order is considered formal and less common. Thus, it is called an “inverted order” by grammarians.
Here are two ways to construct sentences.
Question: Sino po kayo? Who are you?
| Predicate–Subject | Subject–Predicate | |
| Answers: | Si Sarah ako.Si +Sarah + I. (Sarah I.) | Ako si Sarah.I + si + Sarah. (I Sarah.)I am Sarah. |
Question: Ano ang pangalan mo? What is your name?
| Predicate–Subject | Subject–Predicate | |
| Answers: | Ralph ang pangalan ko.Ralph + ang + name + my. | Ang pangalan ko ay Ralph.Ang + name + my + ay + Ralph.My name is Ralph. |
Now, practice asking and answering questions.
QUESTION AND ANSWER PRACTICE
Now, let us practice some of the words you learned by asking and answering questions:
1. Question: Kumusta ka?
Answer: ____________________________________________________.
2. Question: Ano ang pangalan mo?
Answer: ____________________________________________________.
3. Question: ____________________________________________________?
Answer: Mabuti.
4. Question: ____________________________________________________?
Answer: Sarah ang pangalan ko.
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE TIP (Tongue-Twisters): Ikinagagalak kong makilala ka is a tongue-twister. It also sounds very formal. If you forget it, don’t let this bother you. Just plunge into the conversation by saying your name, and then say “Kumusta ka?” You’ll be fine.
Introducing Oneself to an Older Person
At the same party, Ralph later meets Mr. Tolentino, a lawyer. Mr. Tolentino is in his late 40s, and is older than Ralph. Thus, Ralph greets him politely, using the honorific words po and pong, and plural pronouns.
Here are a few words for polite speech and more pronouns.
| pong | contraction of the honorific po + na (linker) |
| ho | honorific; used to show politeness and respect; less formal than po |
| ikaw | you (second person singular; used only either alone or at the beginning of a sentence) |
| kayo | you (second person plural) |
Study how polite language is used.
RALPH : Kumusta po kayo? How are you?
MR. TOLENTINO : Mabuti. Ikaw? Fine. And you?
RALPH : Mabuti po. Ako ho si Ralph. Fine. I am Ralph.
MR. TOLENTINO : Ako si Richard Tolentino. I am Richard Tolentino.
RALPH : Ikinagagalak ko pong makilala kayo. Pleased to meet you.
MR. TOLENTINO : Ikinagagalak kong makilala ka. Pleased to meet you.
Practice using polite language when introducing yourself.
GRAMMAR
Using Honorifics
You have learned two words that express politeness and respect: po and ho. While po is considered to be more formal than ho, these two words are interchangeable in conversations.
In general, po/ho is inserted after the first word of a sentence. For example,
| Ako po si Ralph. | I am Ralph. |
| Ralph po ang pangalan ko. | My name is Ralph. |
| Ano po ang pangalan ninyo? | What is your name? |
However, there are two exceptions.
• First, when the pronoun ko (singular object pronoun I) follows the verb, po is placed after ko. For example, Ikinagagalak ko pong makilala kayo. Pleased to meet you.
• Second, when po follows a set phrase used together, we put po after the full greeting instead of inserting it between magandang and gabi. For example, Magandang gabi po (Good evening po).
Pronouns
In the dialogues above, pronouns were introduced. Here is a chart of subject pronouns and singular possessive