Easy Tagalog. Joi Barrios
na babae
To talk about the gender and age, you can use the following words, phrases and sentences.
| babae | woman/female |
| lalaki | man/male |
| bakla | gay |
| lesbiana | lesbian |
| transgender | transgender |
| Babae ang anak ko. | Female + ang + child + my. My child is female. |
| bata | young (adjective) (this can also mean child) |
| matanda | old |
| pa | still or yet (in this chapter) |
| bata pa | still young |
| mga anak | children |
| Bata pa ang mga anak ko. | Young + still + ang + children + my.My children are still young. |
| na | already (in this chapter) |
| matanda na | already old |
| Matanda na ang mga magulang ko. | Old + already + ang + parents + my.My parents are already old. |
| nasa | at, in, or on (in this chapter) |
| sapat | sufficient |
| gulang | age |
| nasa sapat na gulang | adult (literally, at sufficient age) |
| nasa sapat na gulang na | already an adult (literally, adult already) |
| Nasa wastong gulang na ako. | Adult + already + I. I am an adult. |
| bata | child (in this chapter) |
| Bata siya. | Child + he/she. He/she is a child. |
Here are some adjectives, phrases, and sentences that you can use when talking about your family members:
| maganda | beautiful; pretty (used for women) |
| guwapo/makisig | handsome (used for men) |
| mabait | good |
| masungit | grouchy |
| matalino | intelligent |
| matulungin | helpful |
| mahiyain | shy |
| masipag | hard-working |
| mayaman | rich |
| mahirap | poor |
| madaldal | talkative |
| matangkad | tall (used for people) |
| palakaibigan | friendly |
| Matangkad ang nanay ko. | Tall + ang + mother + my. My mother is tall. |
| Matulungin ang tatay ko. | Helpful + ang + father + my.My father is helpful. |
SENTENCE PRACTICE
Study the following sentence patterns, and then try to fill in the blanks.
Ako si Melissa. Cynthia ang pangalan ng nanay ko. Matalino siya.
Siya si Sarah. Arnold ang pangalan ng kapatid niya. Mabait si Arnold.
Ako si _________________. _____________ ang pangalan ng ___________
ko. ______________________ siya.
Now, try to write more sentences describing the members of your family.
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VOCABULARY AND CULTURE TIP (Familiarity) When you go shopping in the Philippines, some vendors or salespeople may call you ate (elder sister) or kuya (elder brother). Meanwhile, some news reporters call their audiences kapamilya (of the same family). Filipinos try to build personal connections by using words that refer to family members. Don’t be offended if someone calls you Elder Brother or Elder Sister!
VOCABULARY AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Review the adjectives you learned earlier in this chapter, and see how comparatives are used:
| mas | more |
| bata | young |
| mas bata | younger (literally, more young) |
| mas bata siya | younger + he/she. he/she is younger |
| akin | I, me, or my |
| sa | preposition used to mean in, on, or at |
| kaysa | than |
| kaysa sa akin | than me |
| Mas bata siya kaysa sa akin. | Younger + he/she + than + me.He/she is younger than me. |
| mas matangkad | taller |
| Mas matangkad siya kaysa sa akin. | Taller + he/she + than + I. He/she is taller than me. |
| pero | but |
| Mas bata siya kaysa sa akin pero mas matangkad. | Younger + he/she + than + me + but + taller.He/she is younger than me but taller. |
| pinaka- | prefix, most |
| pinakamatangkad | tallest (literally, most tall) |
| Pinakamatangkad ang tatay ko. | Tallest + ang + father + my.My father is the tallest. |
| pinakamaganda | most beautiful |
| sa pamilya | in the family |
| Pinakamaganda ang nanay ko sa pamilya. | Most beautiful + ang + mother + my + in + family.My mother is the most beautiful in the family. |
GRAMMAR
Comparatives and Superlatives
For comparatives, we use the words mas (more) before the adjective and kaysa (than) between the two people/objects being compared. In the sentence patterns below, note the use of the object marker kay (used when comparing people), and the preposition sa (used after kaysa with pronouns or when comparing objects). Kaysa can be omitted in conversational Tagalog.
| kay | object marker used before names or proper nouns |
| kaysa kay Sarah | than Sarah |
| sa | preposition used to mean in, an, on, |