Tagalog – Lesson 2
In this lesson, you will:
- learn a little bit more about the Tagalog sound system,
- learn how to use the particles “ng” (of the) and “mga” (the plural marker), and
- learn about personal pronouns in Tagalog (and how some of them differ from personal
pronouns in English!)
The Tagalog sound system: part two
In Lesson 1, the following features of the Tagalog sound system were described:



Consonants are pronounced almost exactly as they are pronounced in English.
There are only five vowel sounds in Tagalog: a, e, i, o, and u.
Vowel sounds are pronounced individually, even when beside another vowel.
However, there are exceptions to these rules.
1. Loanwords or words of foreign origin* may not follow conventional Tagalog
spelling/pronunciation rules.
For example, the word “Google” will always be spelled and read as “Google”. No one will ever
say or read it as “go.o.gle”.
2. The word “ng” is always pronounced as /nang/. It means “of/of the”.
Example:
estudyante ng klase
init ng araw
pagkain ng Pilipinas
student of the class
heat of the day/sun
food of the Philippines
3. The word “mga” is always pronounced as /manga/. It is used to make Tagalog nouns plural.
Plural form of nouns
Unlike English, which has multiple rules to show plurality in nouns, Tagalog has only one rule: just add
the word “mga” before the noun.
English
student  students
foot  feet
ox  oxen
mouse  mice
sheep  sheep
Tagalog
estudyante  mga estudyante
paa  mga paa
kapong baka  mga kapong baka
daga  mga daga
tupa  mga tupa
* Family names (usually derived from Spanish or Chinese—like “Bautista” or “Cojuangco”) and certain place names
(like “Quezon” or “Nueva Valencia”) do not follow conventional Tagalog sound system rules.
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
Pronouns
Most of the personal pronouns in Tagalog correspond directly to the personal pronouns in English.
There are, however, a couple of differences (highlighted below).
English
I
you (singular)
you (plural or polite singular)
he, she
we (us, not you)
we (all of us)
they
Tagalog
ako
ikaw, ka
kayo
siya
kami
tayo
sila
Explanation
1. ako, sila
These two words mean “I” and “they”, respectively.
Example:
Estudyante ako.
Mga estudyante sila.
I am a student.
They are students.
2. ikaw vs. ka
These two words both mean “you” in Tagalog. They only differ in usage.
-
“ikaw” is used i) at the beginning of a sentence or ii) as a one-word sentence.
Example:
-
Ikaw si Efren.
Ka si Efren.
You are Efren.
(incorrect)
Taga Amerika ako. Ikaw?
Taga Amerika ako. Ka?
I am from America. You?
(incorrect)
“ka” is used everywhere else.
Example:
Taga saan ka?
Taga saan ikaw?
Where are you from?
(incorrect)
Pilipino ka.
Pilipino ikaw.
You are Filipino.
(incorrect*)
* This construction is used in some special cases (for example, if you want emphasize that “You are Filipino”); however,
in most situations, it would be deemed incorrect.
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
3. kayo
Like “ikaw/ka”, this pronoun also means “you”. However, it is used i) when you are addressing
more than one person (i.e. “you all”), or ii) if you are speaking to one person, but you want to be
polite.
Example:
Taga saan ka?
Taga saan kayo?
Where are you from?
Where are you all from? / Where are you from? (polite)
4. siya
This pronoun can mean “he” or “she”—Tagalog does not make the distinction in gender.
Example:
Matalino siya.
He is intelligent. / She is intelligent.
5. kami vs. tayo
Translated into English, these two pronouns both mean “we”, but they refer to slightly different
things.
-
kami: “we, not you”
tayo: “we, all of us”
This is perhaps one of the trickier pronouns to learn, as English does not make the distinction
when using the word “we”.
Example:
Pilipino kami.
Pilipino tayo.
We are Filipino.
(for example, two Filipinos talking to a non-Filipino.)
We are Filipino.
(for example, two Filipinos talking to a fellow Filipino.)
Dialogue
Sa sumunod na araw, nagkita muli si Efren at si
Ligaya. Kasama ni Ligaya ang kaibigan niyang si
Ami.
The following day, Efren and Ligaya meet again.
Ligaya is with her friend, Ami.
Ligaya:
Efren:
Ligaya:
Efren:
Ligaya:
Ami:
Efren:
Ami:
Ligaya:
Efren:
Ligaya:
Efren:
Ligaya:
Ami:
Efren:
Ami:
Efren!
O, Ligaya. Magandang araw.
Magandang araw din.
Sino kasama mo?
A, oo nga pala, ito si Ami.
Magandang araw.
Kamusta?
Mabuti. Salamat.
Efren!
Oh, Ligaya. Hello.
Hello (to you), too.
Who’s with you?
Oh, that’s right, this is Ami.
Hello.
How are you?
I’m good. Thank you.
(Tinawag ng isang guro si Ami.)
(Ami is called by a teacher.)
Efren: Mukhang mabait siya.
Ligaya: Oo. Mabait si Ami. Maganda at matalino
siya.
Efren: She looks kind.
Ligaya: Yes. Ami is kind. She is beautiful and
intelligent (too).
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
Explanation
1. Sino kasama mo?
This sentence means “Who is the person with you?” For now, learn this as a set expression. The
grammar behind the sentence will be explained in a future lesson.
* “sino” means “who”; so, including what you have learned from Lesson 1, you should now
know two question words in Tagalog: “saan” (where) and “sino” (who).
2. A, oo nga pala …
This phrase can loosely be translated as “Oh yes, by the way …” or “Oh, I forgot to mention …”.
Again, please learn this as a set expression for now.
3. ito
This word means “this” in Tagalog, so the sentence “Ito si Ami.” means “This is Ami.”
Plural forms aside, English has two basic words which are used to “point” to other things:
- this
- that
Tagalog, by contrast, has three words:
- ito
this
- iyan
that
- iyon
that one over there (yonder?)
4. kamusta*
Coming from the Spanish “¿Cómo está (Usted)?”, the Tagalog greeting means the exact same
thing: “How are (you)?”
The usual answer is “Mabuti”, which means “good” or “fine”.
A couple of other common answers:
- pagod
tired
- gutom
hungry
- “okey lang” a combination of the English “OK” and the Tagalog “lang” (just/only)
5. mukhang …
This word is added before a noun/adjective/phrase to give a speaker’s impression of what
someone or something looks like.
Example:
- Estudyante siya.
- Mukhang estudyante siya.
- Taga Japan sila.
- Mukhang taga Japan sila.
He/She is a student.
He/She looks like a student.
They are from Japan.
They look like they are from Japan.
* Other sources list the spelling of this word as “kumusta”. Kumusta is more commonly used in written language;
kamusta is the variant more often used in spoken language.
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
Checklist
Expressions
Sino kasama mo?
A, oo nga pala …
Kamusta (ka/kayo)?
Salamat.
Mukhang …
Mabuti.
Vocabulary
ng
mga
pagkain
Pilipinas
ako
ikaw, ka
kayo
siya
kami
tayo
sila
Pilipino
ito
iyan
iyon
sino
pagod
gutom
… lang
mabait
maganda
matalino
Review
Part 1: Refer to the mini-dictionary at the end of this lesson, and translate the phrases below into
Tagalog.
- behaviour of a person
-
colour of a tomato
-
glow of love
-
name of the country
-
shape of the face
Part 2: Refer to the mini dictionary at the end of this lesson, and translate the words below into
Tagalog.
- cats
-
vegetables
-
children
-
books
-
stars
Part 3: Substitution drill. Please modify the sentences as indicated.
- Taga Canada ako.
 (sila)
-
Taga Canada sila.
 (taga Amerika)
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
-
.
 (siya)
-
.
 (maganda)
-
.
 (kami)
-
.
 (ikaw/ka)
-
.
 (taga Cebu)
-
.
 (tayo)
-
.
 (Pilipino)
-
.
Part 4: Translate the sentences in Part 3 into English.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
Part 5: Provide the necessary English/Tagalog translations to complete the tables.
She is beautiful.
She looks beautiful.
We look like we are tired.
Efren is hungry.
They are from California.
They look like they are from California.
Maganda siya.
Pagod tayo.
Mukhang pagod tayo.
Gutom si Efren.
Mukhang gutom si Efren.
Mukhang taga California sila.
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Tagalog – Lesson 2
Cultural notes
Travellers to the Philippines will note that many people use the English system of Mr./Mrs./Ms. for
address in polite situations.
Example:
A: Magandang araw.
B: Magandang araw. Ito si Mr. de la Cruz.
A: Kamusta po?
However, this is not to say that Tagalog does not have its own system of address. The following terms
are still used (though some may say that they have taken on an old-fashioned—and perhaps, even more
formal nuance—than Mr./Mrs./Ms.)
-
-
-
Ginoo
Often abbreviated to “G.” in writing, the word means “sir” or “gentleman”. It is placed before
the last name, with the linker –ng in between. (So, G. Aquino would be pronounced “Ginoong
Aquino”.)
Ginang
Often abbreviated to “Gng.” in writing, the word is the female equivalent of “Ginoo”. It is used
to refer to married women.
Binibini
Often abbreviated to “Bb.” in writing, the word comes from bini, which means modesty.
(Conjugated as binibini, it therefore means someone who acts in a modest behaviour or
someone to whom one should act in a modest behaviour.) It is used to refer to unmarried
women.
Random phrase
Ay! ‘susmaryosep!
(casual) Oh, for heaven’s sake!
Dictionary
-
behaviour
book
cat
child
colour
country
face
glow
love
name
person
shape
star
tomato
vegetable
: ugali
: aklat or libro
: pusa
: bata
: kulay
: bansa
: mukha
: liwanag
: pag-ibig
: pangalan
: tao
: hugis
: bituin
: kamatis
: gulay
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