Easy Tagalog. Joi Barrios
ang Manhattan?
Answer: ____________________________________________________.
9. Question: ____________________________________________________?
Answer: Nasa isla ng Mindanao ang Davao.
10. Question: ____________________________________________________?
Answer: Nasa probinsiya ng Bulacan ang bayan ng Malolos.
11. Question: Taga-saan ka?
Answer: ____________________________________________________.
12. Question: Saan ka nakatira ngayon?
Answer: ____________________________________________________.
GRAMMAR
In this chapter, we are learning/reviewing the following:
1. The following question words:
| ano | what |
| alin | which |
| saan | where (used only when there is a verb, for example, nakatira) |
| nasaan | where (used when there are no verbs) |
2. The linker na
In general, na is used to link words, phrases and clauses. In this chapter, in particular we learned how to use it with question words, and in forming contracted question words.
| anong | ano + na |
| anong lungsod | what city |
| aling (alin + na) | which |
| aling probinsiya | which province |
| saan | where |
| saang (saan + na) | where |
| saang probinsiya | which place (literally, where place) |
We do not link na with nasaan. Nasaan is usually followed by the marker ang.
Nasaan ang lungsod ng Quezon? Where is Quezon city?
3. The word isa for the English articles a/an
There are no articles in Tagalog. Instead, we use the word isa, which literally means one.
| isa | one (used as an article) |
| isang | one (contraction of isa + na) |
| isang lungsod | one + LINKER + city |
| Isang lungsod ang Calamba. | One + LINKER + city + ang + Calamba. Calamba is a city. |
4. The words noon (then, previously, in the past), ngayon (now) and the affix naka-
Review the following sentences:
| Nakatira ako sa Manhattan noon. | Live + I + in + Manhattan + previously.I used to live in Manhattan. |
| Nakatira na ako sa Quezon City ngayon. | Live + already + I + in + Quezon City + now. I now live in Quezon City. |
Nakatira is formed by the affix naka- and the root word tira (live). The affix naka- shows a person’s state or condition. For example: nakatayo (standing), nakaupo (sitting), nakasuot (wearing).
This brings us to the question: Are there tenses—past, present, and future—in Tagalog?
There are two schools of thought when it comes to Tagalog verbs. Some grammarians, such as Paraluman Aspillera, use tenses (absolute location of an event or action in time) in explaining Tagalog grammar. Other grammarians, such as Paul Schacter and Teresita Ramos, believe that there are aspects (refers how an action is to be viewed in respect to time)—completed action, incompleted action, and contemplated action. It may be better to think of Tagalog verbs in terms of aspects because there is no absolute concept of time in both the Tagalog language and Filipino culture.
There are three ways of saying “I used to live in Manhattan.”
| 1. | Nakatira ako sa Manhattan noon. | Live + I + in + Manhattan + previously. (literally, I living in Manhattan previously.) |
| 2. | Tumira ako sa Manhattan noon. | Lived + I + in + Manhattan + previously. (literally, I lived in Manhattan previously.) |
| 3. | Tumitira ako sa Manhattan noong nag-aaral ako. | Living + I + in + Manhattan + previously + when + studying. (literally, I was living in Manhattan when I was studying.) |
in the first sentence, the affix naka- is used to show a state or condition. In the second sentence, the word tira is conjugated by inserting the prefix um- before the first vowel in order to express completed action. In the third sentence, we can observe that in Tagalog, it is fine to use the incompleted aspect. In this sentence, tumitira is translated as was living, but the same word can also be used to mean live/living (present tense).
We will learn more of verbs in other chapters.
What is your nationality?
Finally, let’s study nationality, ethnicity, and names of countries. Study these words, phrases and sentences, then the dialogue.
| nasyonalidad | nationality |
| ano ang | what is |
| Ano ang nasyonalidad mo? | What + ang + nationality + your?What is your nationality? |
| etnisidad | ethnicity |
| Filipino | Filipino |
| Filipino ang etnisidad ko | Filipino + ang + ethnicity + my.My ethnicity is Filipino. |
| Filipino American ako. | Filipino American + II am Filipino American. |
| mamamayan | citizen |
| Estados Unidos | United States |
| mamamayan ng Estados Unidos | citizen of the United States. |
| Mamamayan ako ng Estados Unidos. | Citizen + I + of + United States.I am a citizen of the United States. |
| Amerikano | American |
| Amerikano ako | American + I. I am American. |
| pero | but |
| Amerikano ako pero Filipino ang etnisidad ko. | American + I + but + Filipino + ang + ethnicity + my.I am American but my ethnicity is Filipino. |
Read the following dialogue between Ralph and Melissa.
RALPH : Ano ang nasyonalidad mo, Melissa? What