Tagalog grammar

This article describes the grammar of Tagalog (the language of the Tagalog region of the Philippines) and Filipino (the national language of the Philippines).

Nouns (Pangngalan)

While Tagalog nouns are not inflected, they are usually preceded by case-marking particles. These follow an Austronesian alignment (also known as a 'trigger' system) which is unique to the Philippines and neighboring islands. There are three basic cases: direct (or absolutive, often inaccurately labeled the nominative), indirect (which may function as an ergative, accusative, or genitive), and oblique.

The direct case is used for intransitive clauses. In the default grammatical voice of Tagalog, the direct marks the patient (direct object) and the indirect marks the agent (corresponding to the subject in English). In the more marked voice the reverse occurs, with the direct marking the agent and the indirect marking the patient. Because the base form of the clause is superficially similar to the passive voice in English, this has led to a misconception that Tagalog is spoken primarily in the passive voice. It is also superficially similar to ergative languages such as those of Australia, so Tagalog has also been analyzed as an ergative language. However, the English passive clause is intransitive, and likewise in ergative languages one of the voices forms an intransitive clause, whereas in Tagalog both voices are transitive, and so align well neither with nominative–accusative languages such as English nor with ergative languages.

One of the functions of voice in Tagalog is to code definiteness, analogous to the difference between "a" and "the" in English. When the patient is marked with the direct case particle, it is generally definite ("the"), whereas when it is marked with the indirect case it is generally indefinite ("a").

The oblique particle, and the locative derived from it, are similar to prepositions in English, marking things such as location and direction.

The case particles fall into two classes: one used with names of people (proper) and one for everything else (common).

The common ergative marker is spelled ng but pronounced [naŋ]. Mgá, pronounced [maˈŋa], marks the common plural.

Cases

	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)
Common singular	ang, 'yung (iyong)	ng, n'ung (niyong)	sa
Common plural	ang mgá, 'yung mgá (iyong mgá)	ng mgá, n'ung mgá (niyong mgá)	sa mgá
Personal singular	si	ni	kay
Personal plural	sina	nina	kina

Common Noun Affixes

ka-	indicating a companion or colleague
ka- -an	collective or abstract noun
pan-	denoting instrumental use of the noun

Examples

Dumatíng	ang	lalaki.
(has) arrived	the	man

"The man arrived."

Nakita	ni Juan	si María.
saw	by John	(the) Mary

"John saw Mary."
Note that in the Philippine languages, even proper nouns require an article.

Pupunta	sina	Elena	at	Roberto	sa	bahay	ni	Miguel.
will go	plural nominal article	Elena	and	Roberto	to the	house	of	Miguel

"Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house."

Nasaan	ang mga	aklát?
Where	the (plural)	book

"Where are the books?"

Na kay	Tatay	ang	susi.
Is with	Father	the	key

"Father has the key."

Malusóg	iyóng	sanggól.
Healthy	that	baby

"That baby is healthy."

Pronouns (Panghalip)

Like nouns, personal pronouns are categorized by case. As above, the indirect forms also function as the genitive.

	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)
1st person singular	ako	ko	akin
1st person dual	kita/kata	nita/nata	kanitá/kanata (ata)
1st person plural inclusive	tayo	natin	atin
1st person plural exclusive	kamí	namin	amin
2nd person singular	ikáw (ka)	mo	iyó
2nd person plural	kayó	ninyó	inyó
3rd person singular	siya	niya	kaniya
3rd person plural	silá	nilá	kanilá

Examples:

Sumulat ako.
"I wrote."

Sinulatan ako ng liham.
"He/She wrote me a letter."
Note: If "ng liham" is removed from the sentence, it becomes "I was written on"

Ibibigay ko sa kaniyá.
"I will give it to him/her."

Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.

Ang bahay ko.
Ang aking bahay.
"My house."

The inclusive dual pronoun kata/kita has largely disappeared in Manila though it may be used in other Tagalog dialects, particularly those spoken in the rural areas. However kita is used to replace the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you).

The 1st-2nd dual pronoun "kata/kita" referring to "you and I" is traditionally used as follows:

Magkaibigan kita. (In Manila, "Magkaibigan tayo")
"You and I are friends." (In Manila, "We are friends")

As previously mentioned, the pronoun sequence [verb] ko ikaw, (I [verb] you) may be replaced by kita.

Mahál kitá.
"I love you."

Bibigyan kitá ng pera.
"I will give you money."

Nakita kitá sa tindahan kahapon.
"I saw you at the store yesterday."

Kaibigan kitá.
"You are my friend."

The inclusive pronoun tayo refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).

The exclusive pronoun kamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.

Walâ tayong bigás.
"We (you and me) don't have rice."

Walâ kaming bigás.
"We (someone else and me, but not you) don't have rice."

The second person singular has two forms. Ikáw is the non-enclitic form while ka is the enclitic which never begins a sentence. The plural form kayó is also used politely in the singular, similar to French vous. (See below)

The nouns are gender neutral, hence siya means either he or she.

Polite or Formal Usage

As in Spanish and other Romance languages, when addressing a singular 2nd person in polite/formal/respectful settings, pronouns from either the 2nd person plural or the 3rd person plural group are used. They can be used with, or in lieu of, the po/ho iterations without losing any degree of politeness, formality or respect:

• ikaw or ka ("you" sgl.) becomes kayo ("you" pl.) or sila ("they")
• mo (post-substantive "your") becomes niyo (post-substantive "your" pl.) or nila (post-substantive "their")
• iyo(ng) ("yours" sgl. or pre-substantive "your" sgl.) becomes inyo(ng) ("yours" pl. or pre-substantive "your" pl.) or kanila(ng) ("theirs" or pre-substantive "their")

Example:

English: "What's your name?"

Casual: Anó'ng pangalan mo?

Respectful: Anó'ng pangalan niyo? or Anó'ng pangalan nilá?

Using such pluralized pronouns is quite sufficient for expressing politeness, formality or respect particularly when an affirmative (or negative) pô/hô iteration isn't necessary.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Tagalog's demonstrative pronouns are as follows.

	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)	Locative (nasa)	Existential
Nearest to speaker (this, here) *	iré, aré	niré	díne	nandine	ére
Near speaker and addressee (this, here)	itó	nitó	díto/ríto	nandíto/nárito	héto
Nearest addressee (that, there)	iyán	niyán	diyán/riyán	nandiyán/náriyan	ayán
Remote (yon, yonder)	iyón	niyón	doón/roón	nandoón/nároon	ayón

*For the most part, iré/aré has disappeared from the vocabulary of most Tagalog speakers. In its place, itó is used.

Examples: Template:Multicol Anó itó?
"What's this?"

Sino ang lalaking iyon?
"Who is that man?"

Galing kay Pedro ang liham na itó.
"This letter is from Pedro."

Template:Multicol-break Nandito akó.
"I am here."

Kakain silá roón.
"They will eat there."

Saán ka man naróroon.
"Wherever you are."

Template:Multicol-break Kumain niyán ang batà.
"The child ate some of that."

Ayón palá ang salamín mo!
"So that's where your glasses are!"

Heto isang regalo para sa iyó.
"Here's a gift for you." Template:Multicol-end

Verbs (Pandiwa)

Tagalog verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others.

Conjugation Chart

Below is a chart of the main verbal affixes, which consist of a variety of prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes.

In the chart, CV~ stands for the reduplicated first syllable of a rootword, which is usually the first consonant and the first vowel of the word. N stands for a nasal consonant which assimilates to ng, n, or m depending on the consonant following it. 0 means that the verb root is used, so no affixes are added.

The punctuation indicates the type of affix a particular morpheme is. For example, hyphens mark prefixes and suffixes, and ⟨um⟩ is an infix that is placed between the first consonant and the first vowel of a root word. The word sumulat (s⟨um⟩ulat) (actor focus and completed aspect or infinitive) is composed of the root word sulat and the infix ⟨um⟩. Its other conjugations are susulat (su~sulat) and sumusulat (s⟨um⟩u~sulat).

With object-focus verbs in the completed and progressive aspects, the infix -in- frequently becomes the infix -ni- or the prefix ni- if the rootword begins with /l/, /r/, /w/, or /y/; e.g., linalapitan or nilalapitan and inilagay or ilinagay.

The imperative affixes are not often used in Manila, but they do exist in Tagalog-speaking provinces.

	Infinitive	Contemplative	Progressive	Completed	Imperative
Object trigger I	-in	CV~ ... -in	C⟨in⟩V~	⟨in⟩	-a (or verb root)
Object trigger II	i-	i-CV~	i-C⟨in⟩V~	i⟨in⟩-	i-
Object trigger III	-an	CV~ ... -an	C⟨in⟩V~ ... -an	⟨in⟩ ... -an
Actor trigger I	⟨um⟩	CV~	C⟨um⟩V~	⟨um⟩	0 (verb root)
Actor trigger II	mag-	mag-CV~	nag-CV~	nag-	pag-
Actor trigger III	ma-	ma-CV~	na-CV~	na-	0
Actor trigger IV	mang-	mang-CV~	nang-CV~	nang-	pang-
Locative trigger	-an	CV~ ... -an	C⟨in⟩V~ ... -an	⟨in⟩ ... -an	0
Benefactive trigger	i-	i-CV~	i-C⟨in⟩V~	i⟨in⟩-	0
Instrument trigger	ipaN-	ipaN-CV~	ip⟨in⟩aN-CV~	ip⟨in⟩aN-	0
Reason trigger	ika-	ika-CV~	ik⟨in⟩a-CV~	ik⟨in⟩a-	0

Trigger (voice / focus)

The central feature of verbs in Tagalog and other Philippine languages is the trigger system, often called voice or focus. In this system, the thematic role (agent, patient, or oblique) of the noun marked by the direct-case particle is encoded in the verb.

In its default (unmarked) form, the verb triggers a reading of the direct noun as the patient (object) of the clause. In its second most common form it triggers an agentive reading. Other triggers are location, beneficiary, instrument, reason, direction, and the reciprocal.

Patient (Layon)

There are three main patient-trigger affixes.

-in is used for objects that are moved towards the actor; kainin (to eat something), bilhín (to buy something). Objects that are permanently changed; basagin (to crack something), patayín (to kill something). And things that are thought of; isipin (to think of something), alalahanin (to remember something).

i- is used for objects which undergo a change of state such as being moved away from an actor; ibigáy (to give something), ilagáy (to put something), itaním (to plant something).

-an is used for items undergoing a surface change (e.g., cleaning); hugasan (to rinse something), walisán (to sweep something off).

Binilí ng lalaki ang saging sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought the banana at the store for the monkey."

Affixes can be also used in nouns or adjectives: baligtaran (from baligtád, to reverse) (reversible), katamaran (from tamád, lazy) (laziness), kasabihán (from sabi, to say) (proverb), kasagutan (from sagót, answer), bayarín (from bayad, to pay) (payment), bukirín (from bukid, farm), lupaín (from lupa, land), pagkakaroón (from doón/roón, there) (having/appearance), and pagdárasál (from dasál, prayer). Verbs with affixes (mostly suffixes) are also used as nouns, which are differentiated by stress position. Examples are panoorin (to watch or view) and panoorín (materials to be watched or viewed), hangarín (to wish) and hangarin (goal/objective), aralin (to study) and aralín (studies), and bayaran (to pay) and bayarán (someone or something for hire).

Agent (Tagagawa)

The agent-trigger affixes are -um-, mag-, man-, and ma-. The difference between mag- and -um- is a source of confusion among learners of the language. Generally speaking there are two main distinctions among many; mag- refers to externally directed actions and -um- for internally directed actions. For example bumilí means to buy while magbilí means to sell. However this isn't writ law for these affixes; there are exceptions for example, mag-ahit means to shave oneself while umahit means to shave someone. magbili and umahit are rarely used; in southern dialects of Tagalog na- is used instead of -um-.

ma- is used with only a few roots. Of those roots, they cannot take an object by their meaning. One of them is matulog (to sleep). ma- is not to be confused with ma-, the potentiative prefix for patient-triggered verb forms.

Bumilí ng saging ang lalaki sa tindahan para sa unggóy.
"The man bought bananas at the store for the monkey."

Location (Ganapan)

The locative trigger refers to the location or direction of an action or the area affected by the action.

Binilhan ng lalaki ng saging ang tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."

Compared with...

Bumili ang lalaki ng saging sa tindahan.
"The man bought bananas at the store."

Benefactive (Tagatanggap)

The benefactive trigger refers to the person or thing that benefits from the action; i.e., the beneficiary of an action.

Ibinilí ng lalaki ng saging ang unggóy.
"The man bought bananas for the monkey."

Instrument (Gamit)

The instrumental trigger refers to the means by which an action is performed.

Ipinambilí ng lalaki ng saging ang pera ng asawa niyá.
"The man bought bananas with his wife's money."

Reason (Sanhi)

The reason trigger refers to the cause or reason why an action is performed.

Ikinagulat ng lalaki ang pagdatíng ng unggóy.
"The man got surprised because of the monkey's arrival."

Direction (Direksyunal)

The directional trigger refers to the direction the action will go to.

Pinuntahan ng lalaki ang tindahan.
"The man went to the store."

Reciprocal (Resiprokal)

The reciprocal trigger refers to the action being done by the subjects at the same time. The subject is usually compound, plural or collective.

Naghalikan ang magkasintahan
"The couple kissed (each other)."

Aspect

Tagalog verbs conjugate for aspect rather than for tense. There are four types of aspect: infinitive (including imperative), completed (perfective), progressive (imperfective), and contemplated (usually future).

Infinitive
Gustó kong matulog.
"I want to sleep."

Matulog ka na!
"Go to sleep now!"

An imperative form can also be the verb root without any affix nor pronoun: Tulog na! "Sleep!"

Completed
Sinulatan ka ni Maria.
"Maria wrote to you."

Progressive
Sumasayáw siyá ngayón.
"He is dancing now."

Sumayáw siyá kanina.
"He was dancing earlier."

Noóng batà pa akó, umiinóm akó ng kapé.
"When I was a child, I used to drink coffee.

Contemplated
Hahanapin ba natin ang susì ko?
"Will we look for my keys?"

Maganda ka " You are so beautiful"

Mood

Tagalog verbs also have affixes expressing grammatical mood; some examples are indicative, causative, potential, social, and distributed.

Indicative
Nagdalá siyá ng liham.
"He brought a letter."

Bumilí kamí ng bigás sa palengke.
"We bought rice at the market."

Kumain akó.
"I ate."

Hindî siyá nagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He/She does not speak Tagalog."

Causative pa-
Nagpadalá siya ng liham sa kaniyáng iná.
"He sent (literally: caused to be brought) a letter to his mother."

Distributive
Namili kamí sa palengke.
"We went shopping at the market."

Social
Nakikain akó sa mga kaibigan ko.
"I ate with my friends."

Potential naka-
Hindî siyá nakapagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He is not able to speak Tagalog."

Modifiers

Tagalog word categories are fluid and a word can take the role of both an adverb and an adjective depending on the word it modifies.

Adjectives modify nouns by the linker na. However, if na follows a word ending in a vowel or glottal stop or the letter n, then it becomes suffixed to that word as -ng. The adjective can either come before or come after the word it modifies.

Adverbs modify verbs by following the verb and being marked by nang. Optionally, they may precede the verb with the linkers na or -ng. Like adjectives above the end of the word determines whether the linker is na or -ng.

The word mabilís (fast) is used as an example below:

Mabilís ang kabayo.

"The horse is fast."

Ang mabilís na kabayo.

Ang kabayong mabilís.

"The fast horse."

Mabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo.

Tumatakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.

"The horse runs fast."

Mabilís na tumakbó ang kabayo.

Tumakbó ang kabayo nang mabilís.

"The horse ran fast."

But note also: Mabilís tumakbó ang kabayo. "Horse runs fast."

Modifiers can be a stand-alone rootword or the rootword can be affixed: basâ (wet), buháy (alive), patáy (dead), hinóg (ripe), pangit (ugly), pulá (red), putî (white), and itím (black). The most common modifier prefix is ma-: matandâ (old), mataás (high), maliít (little), malakí (big), mabahò (smelly), masaráp (delicious), malakás (strong), and mapulá (reddish).

Other affixes denote different meanings. For example pinaká- is the superlative; pinakamalakás (strongest). Another is nakasalamín (bespectacled, wearing glasses).

Sequence of Modifiers in a Noun Phrase

Modifiers to the head noun follow the order below.

	Marker	Possessive	Quantity	Verbal Phrase	Adjectives	Noun	Head Noun
Example	ang	kaniyang	apat na	prinitong	mahabang	Vigang	lumpia
Gloss	the	her	four	fried	long	Vigan	spring roll
Translation	her four fried, long Vigan spring rolls
Example	iyang	inyong	limang kahong	puting	Insik na	pinggan	na binasag ng bata
Gloss	those	your	five boxes	white	Chinese	plates	that the children broke
Translation	those five boxes of yours of white Chinese plates that the children broke

However, the more common approach is to have one modifier before and the rest after.

ang pitong manok na kinain ng pamilia
the seven chickens that the family ate

Enclitic Particles

Tagalog has enclitic particles that have important information conveying difference nuances in meaning.

Below is a list of Tagalog's enclitic particles.

1. na and pa
   • na: now, already, yet
   • pa: still, else, in addition, yet
2. man, kahit: even, even if, even though
3. bagaman: although
4. ni: (From Spanish "ni") not even, nor, neither
5. ngâ: indeed; used in affirmations or emphasis. Also softens imperatives
6. din, rin: too, also
7. lamang (lang): limiting particle; only or just
8. daw, raw: a reporting particle that expresses that the information in the sentence is second-hand; they say, he said, reportedly, supposedly, etc.
9. hô and pô: politeness. pô being the most respectful.
10. ba: used in yes-and-no questions and optionally in other types of questions, similar to Japanese "ka" and Chinese "ma", but not entirely.
11. muna: for now, for a minute and yet (in negative sentences).
12. namán: used in making contrasts; softens requests; emphasis
13. kasí: expresses cause; because
14. kayâ: expresses wonder; I wonder; perhaps (we should do something) (also optionally used in yes-and-no questions and other forms of questions)
15. palá: expresses that the speaker has realized or suddenly remembered something; realization particle
16. yatà: expresses uncertainty; probably, perhaps, seems
17. tulóy: used in cause and effect; as a result
18. sana: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspect), used in conditional sentences.

The order listed above is the order in which the particles follow if they are used in conjunction with each other. A more concise list of the orders of monosyllabic particles from Rubino (2002) is given below.

1. na / pa
2. ngâ
3. din ~ rin
4. daw ~ raw
5. pô / hô
6. ba

The particles na and pa cannot be used in conjunction with each other as well as pô and hô.

Dumatíng na raw palá ang lola mo.
"Oh yeah, your grandmother supposedly arrived."

Palitán mo na rin.
"You change it also."

Note for "daw/raw and rin/din": If preceding letter is a consonant except y and w, the letter d is used in any word, vice versa for r. Although in everyday speech, this rule is often ignored. Example: Pagdarasal, instead of pagdadasal

Walâ pa yatang asawa ang kapatíd niyá.
"Perhaps his brother still doesn't have a wife."

Itó lang kayâ ang ibibigáy nilá sa amin
"I wonder if this is the only thing that they're going to give us."

Nag-aral ka na ba ng wikang Kastilà?
"Have you already studied Spanish?"

Batà pa kasí.
"It's because he's still young."

Pakisulat mo ngâ muna ang iyóng pangalan dito.
"Write your name here first, please."

The words daw and raw, which mean “he said”/“she said”/“they said”, are sometimes joined to the real translations of “he said”/”she said”, which is sabi niyá, and “they said”, which is sabi nilá. They are also joined to the Tagalog of “you said”, which is sabi mo. But this time, both daw and raw mean “supposedly/reportedly”.

Sabi raw niyá./Sabi daw niyá.
“He/she supposedly said.”

Sabi raw nilá./Sabi daw nilá.
“They supposedly said.”

Sabi mo raw./Sabi mo daw.
“You supposedly said.”

Although the word kasí is native Tagalog for “because” and NOT slang, it is still not used in literary writing. The Tagalog word for this is sapagká’t or sapagkát. Thus, the literary form of Batà pa kasí is Sapagká’t batà pa or Sapagkát batà pa. This is sometimes shortened to pagká’t or pagkát, so Sapagká’t batà pa is also written as Pagká’t batà pa or Pagkát batà pa. In both writing (whether literary or ordinary) and speech, dahil sa (the oblique form of kasí; thus, its exact translation is “because of”) is also synonymous to sapagká’t (sapagkát), so the substitute of Sapagká’t batà pa for Batà pa kasí is Dahil sa batà pa. Most of the time in speech and writing (mostly ordinary and probably literary), dahil sa as the Tagalog of “because” is reduced to dahil, so Dahil sa batà pa is spoken simply as Dahil batà pa.

Word Order

Tagalog has a basic verb-initial word order with the direct noun triggering the verb appearing last: verb - indirect - direct, referred to in Tagalog grammar as Tuwirang Anyo).

Kumantá ang batà.
"The child sang."

Iinumín nilá ang serbesa.
"They will drink the beer."

Magandá ang mga dalaga.
"The young women are beautiful."

Malakás ang ulán.
"The rain is strong."

A change in word order and trigger generally corresponds to a change in definiteness ("the" vs "a") in English:

b⟨in⟩asa		ng		tao		ang		aklat.
⟨(patient)⟩read		(indirect)		person		(direct)		book

A person read the book / The book was read by a person.

b⟨um⟩asa		ng		aklat		ang		tao.
⟨(agent)⟩read		(indirect)		book		(direct)		person

The person read a book.

Word order may be inverted (referred to in Tagalog grammar as Kabalikang Anyo) by way of the inversion marker ay ( 'y after vowels). Contrary to popular belief, this is not the copula to be. A slight, but optional, pause in speech or a comma in writing may replace the inversion marker. This construction is often viewed by native speakers as formal or literary.

Below are the sentences from above but in inverted form.

Ang batà ay kumantá.
Ang batà, kumantá.

Ang serbesa'y iinumín nilá.
Ang serbesa, iinumín nilá.

Ang mga dalaga'y magagandá.
Ang mga dalaga, magagandá.

Ang ulán ay malakás.
Ang ulán, malakás.

May pera ako.
Mayroón akóng pera.(unusual construction)
"I have money."

May libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.
Mayroóng libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.(unusual construction)
"There is a book inside his house.

There are two "existentials" that are conjugated: "Magkaroón" (to have): magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón. Magkákaroón na raw ng kuryente bukas./Magkákaroón na daw ng kuryente bukas. (It is said that there will already be electricity {power} tomorrow.) In some Tagalog dialects, a redundant form combines "mayroón" with the prefix "magka-" (infinitive "magkamayroón" or magkaméron"). The words magkaroón, nagkaroón, nagkákaroón, magkákaroón, and mayroón are derived from roón, the variation of doón, meaning "there."

"Magíng" (to become): magíng, nagíng, nagíging, magíging. Note that the stress is shifted from the ultimate to the penultimate in both the progressive and contemplative. Nagíng gabí ang araw nang pumutók ang Pinatubò dahil sa dami ng abó sa himpapawíd! (Day became night when Mt. Pinatubo erupted because of the quantity of ash in the air!)

Negation

There are three negation words: hindî, walâ, and huwág.

Hindî negates verbs and equations. It is sometimes shortened to dî.

Hindî akó magtatrabaho bukas.
"I will not work tomorrow."

Hindî mayaman ang babae.
"The woman is not rich."

Walâ is the opposite of may and mayroón.

Walâ akóng pera.
Waláng pera akó.
"I do not have money."

Waláng aklat sa loób ng bahay niyá.
"There are no books in his house."

Huwág is used in expressing negative commands. It can be used for the infinitive and the future aspect.

Huwág kang umiyák.
"Don't cry."

Huwág kayóng tatakbó rito.
"Don't run here."

There are two (or more) special negative forms for common verbs:

Gustó/Ibig/Nais ko nang kumain. "I would like to eat now." (Positive)
Ayaw ko pang kumain. "I don't like to eat yet." (Negative)

Interrogative Words

Tagalog's interrogative words are: alín, anó, bákit, gaáno, ilán, kailán, kaníno, kumustá, magkáno, nakaníno, nasaán, níno, paáno, saán, and síno.

With the exceptions of bakit, kamustá, and nasaán, all of the interrogative words have optional plural forms which are formed by reduplication. They are used when the person who is asking the question anticipates a plural answer.

Alín means which.

Alín ang punong-lungsód ng Estados Unidos - Washington, D.C. o New York?
"Which is the capital of the United States - Washington, D.C. or New York?"

Alíng palda ang gustó mo?
"Which skirt do you like?"

Alín sa mga iyán ang bíbilhin ni Canuto?
"Which of those will Canuto buy?"

Anó means what.

Anó ang ginagawâ nilá?
"What are they doing?"

Anó ang kumagát sa kaniyá?
"What bit him?"

Anóng oras daratíng si Luisa?
"What time will Luisa arrive?"

Anú-anóng klaseng inumín ang pipiliin ninyó?
"What kind of drink will you guys choose?"

Bakit means why.

Bakit nasa Barcelona silá?
"Why are they in Barcelona?"

Bakit ba sila kumakanta ng Boom Tarat Tarat?
"Why are they singing Boom Tarat Tarat?"

Gaano means how but is used in inquiring about the quality of an adjective or an adverb. The rootword of the modifier is prefixed with ka- in this construction.

Gaanong kalayo ang bahay ni Nicomedes?
"How far is Nicomedes' house?"

Gaano kang katagal sa Montréal?
"How long will you be in Montréal?"

Gaano kayáng kahahabà ang mga ahas na iyón?
"I wonder how long those snakes are?"

Gaanong kabilís na tumatakbó ang kabayo?
"How fast is the horse running?"

Ilán means how many.

Ilán ang anák nina Arsenio at Edilberta?
"How many children do Arsenio and Edilberta have?"

Iláng taón ka na?
"How old are you?"

Kailán means when.

Kailán uuwî si Victor?
"When will Victor come home?

Mulâ kailán ka nag-aaral ng Tagalog?
"Since when have you been learning Tagalog?

Kanino means whom or whose. It is the oblique form of sino (who).

Kanino itó?
"Whose is this?"

Para kanino ang pagkaing iyán?
"Whose food is that?"

Ibibigáy ko ang pera kanino?
"I will give the money to whom?"

Kaninong sapatos iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"

Kumustá is used to inquire how something is (are). It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?.

Kumustá ang iná ninyó?
"How is your mother?"

Kumustá ang trabaho mo?
"How is your work?"

Kumustá ka?
"How are you?"

Magkano means how much and is usually used in inquiring the price of something.

Magkano ang kotseng iyón?
"How much is that car?"

Magkano ang mga saging?
"How much are the bananas?"

Nakanino means with whom. It is the locative form of sino (who).

Nakanino ang panyó ko?
"With whom is my handkerchief?"

Nakanino raw ang ate ko?/Nakanino daw ang ate ko?
"With whom reportedly is my older sister?"

Nasaán means where but is used to inquire about the location of an object and not used with verbs. In speech it is reduced to asan.

Nasaán si Antonia?
"Where is Antonia?"

Nasaán ang susì ko?
"Where are my keys?"

Nino means: who, whose, and whom. It is the indirect and genitive form of sino.

Sapatos nino iyón?
"Whose shoes are those?"

Nakita ka nino?
"Who saw you?"

Ginawâ nino?
"Who did it?"

Paano is used in asking how something is done or happened.

Paano mo gagawín?
"How will you do this?"

Paano siyá nasaktán?
"How did he get hurt?"

Papaano ako makakatulong sa mga biktimá?
"How (in what ways) will I be able to help the victims?"

Saán means where but it is used to inquire about the location of where an action was performed. It is also the oblique form of anó.

Saán ka nag-aaral?
"Where do you study?"

Saán mamimilí si Estelita?
"Where will Estelita go shopping?"

Taga-saán siyá?
"Where is she from?"

Para saán ba itó?
“What is this for?”

Sino means who and whom and it is in the direct form.

Sino siyá?
"Who is he/she?"

Sino ang nakita mo?
"Whom did you see?"

Sinu-sino ang mga dating pangulo ng Pilipinas?
"Who were the former presidents of the Philippines?"

See also

• Commission on the Filipino Language
• Filipino alphabet
• Filipino orthography
• Languages of the Philippines
• Philippine languages

External links

• Tagalog grammar Free and comprehensive Tagalog grammar reference