ITALIAN MARRIED TO A FILIPINA Italyanong Asawa ng Isang Pilipina

 POKUS NG PANDIWA Ang aspekto ng pandiwa ay ang madaling bahagi ng wikang Tagalog. Ang mahirap para sa aming mga foreigner na nagnanais matuto ng Tagalog ay ang dami ng mga panlapi na ikinakabit sa salitang ugat para bumuo ng isang pandiwa. Para sa aming mga foreigner ay talagang mahirap malaman kung kailan gamitin ang um, mag, -in,-an, magpa-, maka-, makapag- at iba pa. At ang problema ay na kapag tinatanong namin ang mga Pilipino (tulad halimbawa ang asawa ko) hindi nila alam kung papaano ipaliwanag ang mga bagay na ito. Kaya ginawa ko ang isang balangkas para maging maliwanag kung anu-anong mga panlapi ang dapat gamitin may kaugnayan sa mga pandiwa. Bukod sa mga panlapi na ikinakabit sa mga pandiwa mayroon din ibang uri ng mga panlapi pero sa ngayon ang pinag-uusapan ko ay ang pokus ng pandiwa. Ang uri ng panlapi na ginagamit sa bawat situwasyon ay nakadepende sa pokus. Ano ba ang pokus? Pokus ang tawag sa relasyong pansemantika (ang salitang semantika ay may kaugnayan sa kahulugan

 ASPEKTO NG PANDIWA Sa maraming wika may napakaraming mga "tense". Ang mga pandiwang Tagalog ay mas madali dahil wala talaga ang mga "tense" kundi mayroon lang ang mga aspekto. Ang mga aspekto ay nagsasabi lang kung ang isang kilos ay tapos na, nagpapatuloy pa o hindi pa ginawa. Sa Tagalog mayroon 3 pangunahing mga aspekto. Para maunawaan ito kunin nating halimbawa ang mga pandiwa na binubuo sa pamamagitan ng salitang ugat+ang panlaping (o "gitlapi")"-um-", halimbawa ang pandiwang uminom Aspektong naganap=tapos na ang kilos Halimbawa: "si Juan ay uminom ng isang buong bote ng Tanduay"=tapos na ang kilos... walang natitira sa bote (lasinggero si Juan).... Aspektong nagaganap o imperpektibo=ang kilos ay nagpapatuloy pa, hindi pa tapos Halimbawa: "si Juan ay umiinom ng Tanduay". Hindi pa ubos ang bote, may panahon pa para sa mga kainuman ni Juan na tamasahin ang isang tagay... Aspektong magaganap o kontemplatibo=ang kilos ay mang

 MGA PANG-URI Ang isang importanteng bahagi ng pagsasalita ay ang mga pang-uri. Ang mga pang-uri ay nagbibigay ng impormasyon tungkol sa isang pangngalan. Gaya ng binanggit ko sa post tungkol sa mga pangngalan, ang isang pangngalan ay ang isang salitang tumutukoy sa: Isang persona ex presidente Isang lugar ex kusina Isang ideya o konsepto ex katalinuhan Isang hayop ex aso Isang bagay ex mesa Ang mga pang-uri ay nagbibigay ng impormasyon tungkol sa isang pangngalan. Halimbawa ang isang mesa ay may iba't ibang katangian: may mga mesa na maganda, may mesa na pangit. Sa katulad na paraan may mga tao na pangit, maganda, matalino, bobo etc. Para bumuo ng isang pang-uri kadalasang ginagamit ang isang panlaping makauri. Mayroon din maraming pang-uri na hindi nangangailangan ng panlapi gaya ng bobo, pangit at marami pa. Ang iba naman ay nangangailangan ng panlapi tulad halimbawa ang pang-uring mabuti MGA PANLAPING MAKA-URI 1 ma- pagkakaroon ng katangian na nasa salitang-ugat Halimbawa: maga

 MGA PANGNGALAN Ang isang pangngalan ay ang isang salita na tumutukoy sa: Isang bagay-halimbawa mesa Isang persona-halimbawa presidente Isang lugar-halimbawa: tindahan Isang ideya-halimbawa: katalinuhan Ang karamihan ng mga salitang-ugat na walang panlapi ay mga pangngalan Ang ilan ay katutubong Tagalog na mga salita samantala marami ay nagmumula sa Espanyol (silya, mesa) o Ingles (kompyuter, gadyet) Bukod sa mga pangngalan na walang panlapi mayroon maraming uri na may isa o mahigit sa isang panlaping makangalan. Heto ang isang medyo kumpletong listahan ng mga halimbawa MGA PANLAPING MAKANGALAN Ka- kasama ex kainuman, katrabaho ka-....-an or ka-...-han: isang ideya o konsepto Ex: kagandahan, kaalaman, kaunawaan Pan-: instrumento Ex: pantulong "-an" at "-han" 1. lugar kung saan masusumpungan maraming mga bagay na tinutukoy ng salitang ugat. Ex: aklatan, bigasan 2. Ganapan ng isang kilos Ex: aralan, lutuan 3. Panahon na ang kilos ay nangyayari sa malaking antas Ex: pi

Sa Tagalog maraming mga salita ay binubuo sa pamamagitan ng isang saligang salita na tinatawag na ugat at isa o mahigit pang panlapi, o "affix" sa wikang Ingles. Ang isang halimbawa ay ang salitang ugat ganda. Batay sa uri ng panlapi na idinidikit ng isa sa salitang ugat pwedeng bumuo ng isang Pandiwa (verb): halimbawa g um anda Sa ganitong halimbawa ang uri ng panlapi, ibig sabihin ang -um- ay tinatawag na gitlapi dahil nasa gitna ng salitang ugat Pang-uri (adjective): ma ganda Ang panlaping ma- ay tinatawag na unlapi dahil nasa unahan ng salitang ugat Pangngalan (noun): ka ganda han Ang ka- ay, syempre pa, ang isang unlapi, samantala ang -(h)an ay ang isang hulapi dahil nasa huling dako ng salita. Syempre naman, sa wikang Tagalog di-hamak na mas marami ang mga panlapi kaysa sa -um-, ma- at ka-....-an. Kaya sa darating na mga post ay magpopokus ako sa iba't ibang uri ng  1 panlaping makangalan 2 panlaping makauri 3 panlaping makadiwa

  Ang Tagalog ay bahagi ng malaking pamilya ng mga wikang Austronesyano.   Ang Austronesyano ay ang isang pamilya ng mga wika na sinasalita sa isang malawak na bahagi ng daigdig: sa Madagascar, sa Malaysia, sa Pilipinas, sa Taiwan, sa mga Isla ng Pasipiko at iba pa (pati dito sa Roma.... maraming Pilipino kasi dito...)   Ang isa sa pangunahing mga katangian ng mga wikang Austronesyano ay ang aglutinasyon.   Sa madaling salita ang aglutinasyon ay ang pagdidikit ng iba't ibang mga morpema.   Ang isang morpema naman ay ang pinakamaliit na yunit ng isang salita na may sariling kahulugan.   Halimbawa sa wikang Ingles ang salitang breakable ay binubuo ng dalawang morpema (break at able) at bawat isa ay may sariling kahulugan   Sa wikang Tagalog mayroon ang mga tinatawag na morpemang malaya at ang mga morpemang di-malaya.   Ang unang kategorya ay ang mga morpema na pwedeng bigkasin nang mag-iisa at na hindi lagi nangangailangan ng ibang morpema na nakakabit.   Ang ilang halimbawa ay:   T

 An adverb (pang-abay) is a word that modifies a verb (pandiwa). Adverbs tell the listener How (paano) the action described by the verb is done: these are known as adverbs of manner (pamaraan) When (kailan) the action takes place: these are known as adverbs of time (kapanahunan) Where (saan) it takes place: adverbs of place (lugar) Adverbs of manner In Tagalog they are usually formed by placing nang before ma+root word Example: I run fast: tumatakbo ako nang mabilis Adverbs of time The most common Tagalog words that are used to talk about when a certain action takes place are: Kanina earlier Mamaya later Ngayon now or today Kahapon yesterday Bukas tomorrow Example: Bukas pupunta ako sa dagat=tomorrow I'll go to the beach Adverbs of place Are used to talk about the place where the action occurs. They are usually formed by putting sa before the place. Example Nag-aaral ako sa bahay=I am studying at home Pupunta ako sa beach=I am going to the beach

 An adjective describes a noun Adjectives are words like beautiful, awesome and any other word that gives some information about the thing, the place, the person, the idea or the animal described by a noun. In Tagalog there are adjectives that are formed by a root word+an affix (like maganda=beautiful) and adjectives that don't require an affix (like bobo=stupid). Here is a list of affixes that are used to form compound adjectives 1 ma- having a certain quality Example: maganda=beautiful 2. maka- having a certain inclination Example: makalaman=fleshly 3. maka- having a certain ability Example: makadurug-puso=having the ability to break one's heart 4. mala- being like Example: malasibuyas=like an onion 5. mapag- having a certain habit Example: mapagbiro=having the habit to joke 6. mapang~ mapan~ mapam~ one who does on a regular basis the thing described by the root word Example: mapang-away= one who regularly engages in a quarrel 7. pala- one who is constantly doing the thing de

 There are three types of pronouns in Tagalog: Ang pronouns (personal and demonstrative) Ng pronouns (personal and demonstrative) Sa pronouns (personal and demonstrative) ANG PRONOUNS: These are the pronouns in focus, or, in other words, the pronouns that are used with mag-, -um-, maka-, makapag- and some ma- verbs Personal (panao) Ako: I Ikaw (used at the beginning of the sentence)/ka (used in other parts of the sentence): you Siya: he/she Kami (we exclusive: excludes the hearer or the person being addressed)/tayo (we inclusive): we Kayo: You Sila: They Example: pumunta ako sa bahay ni Mario, pumunta ka sa bahay ko etc. Demonstrative (pamatlig) Ito this Iyan that (near the hearer or the person being addressed) Iyon that (far from the speaker and the hearer) Example: ano ba ito? (What is this?), Ano ba iyan/iyon? (What is that?) NG PRONOUNS: These are the pronouns that are not in focus and go with ng verbs (i-, -in, ma-, -an) Personal (panao) Ko my Mo your Niya his/her Namin (esclusive

 In the English language there are the so-called modal verbs that are used to talk about needs and wants (must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might). In Tagalog there are the so-called pseudo-verbs that have a more or less similar function. The reason why they are called pseudo-verbs is because they have no verbal aspect, so they are not conjugated (in Tagalog there are only verbal aspects not tenses like in English), nor do they have any affixes attached to them indicating focus. These verbs are: Gusto like Ayaw dislike Kailangan need Pwede can Maaari might Dapat must PWEDE-DAPAT-MAAARI These 3 pseudo-verbs can be used both in sentences where the doer of the action is in focus and in sentences where the actor is not in focus Examples: Actor in focus: Pwede akong pumunta sa bahay ni Mario Maaaring tumawag ang asawa ko sa akin (in this case, because the pseudo-verb comes before the verb, it is linked to it by -ng) Dapat akong bumili ng pagkain Actor not in focus Examp

There are two words to negate something in Tagalog: hindi and wala HINDI The word hindi, meaning no or not, and the word wala, indicating non-existence or absence. Hindi is the opposite of oo meaning yes, and it is also used to talk about what a person or something is not Examples Pilipino ka ba? (are you Filipino?) Two possible answers: Hindi ako Pilipino=I am not Filipino; hindi=no Hindi ako Amerikano=I am not American Hindi siya maganda=she is not beautiful Gusto mo bang pumunta sa Jollibee?=would you like to go to Jollibee? Answer: hindi=no WALA Wala is the opposite of mayroon meaning there is (example mayroon maraming Pilipino sa Roma=there are many Filipinos in Rome) or to have (mayroon akong panahon ngayon=I have time today). Here are few examples: Wala maraming Pilipino sa mga maliit na bayan ng Italya=there are not that many Filipinos in small Italian towns Wala akong pera=I haven't got any money nasa kusina ba ang TV?=is the TV set in the kitchen? Answers: wala=no; wala s

 Markers in Tagalog play a role similar to that of articles and prepositions in English. A marker is, in fact, a word that comes before a noun. Depending on the focus of the verb a marker indicates the role that the noun plays in the sentence: a marker may mark a noun as actor, object, location, direction etc. ANG and SI/SINA These markers are used to point out the focus of the sentence. 1. ANG (or ANG MGA if the focus of the sentence is a plural) marks a word as the focus of the sentence except for nouns that are the names of people that are marked by SI (singular) or SINA (plural) Examples: Pumunta ang empleyado sa opisina (singular)=the office worker went to his office Pumunta ang mga empleyado sa opisina Pumunta si Mario sa opisina Pumunta sina Mario at Grace sa opisina NG and NI/NINA These markers are used when the noun is not the focus of the sentence Example: Binasa ng estudiante ang libro=the book is what the student read (the student is not the focus of the sentence, rather it

 One of my goals in this blog is to share my knowledge of the Tagalog grammar and, in the process, study it again, as I studied it many years ago and never revisited it. I am publishing (and rivisiting and updating) posts about the Tagalog grammar in Tagalog, English and Italian because I want to master the Tagalog grammar terminology in these 3 languages. Tagalog is an agglutinative language. An agglutinative language is a type of language that uses agglutination. Agglutination means that words are formed by stringing together morphemes (the smallest meaningful unit in a language) without changing them in spelling or phonetics. As I have said in my first post about the Tagalog grammar, in Tagalog agglutination happens by combining one or more affixes with a root-word. There are 3 main categories of affixes in Tagalog being: Maka-uri: to form adjectives like maganda=beautiful Maka-ngalan: related to nouns like mag-kapatid or mag-asawa Maka-diwa: used to form verbs and to indicate verba

When I deeply immersed myself into the study of the Tagalog grammar I came across the abilitative forms of Tagalog verbs being maka- and makapag-. These forms convey the idea of ability. If, for example, I use the verb tumawa that verb means to laugh. If, instead of using the infix -um- (that goes between the first consonant and the first vowel of the root word tawa), I use the prefix maka- I am communicating the idea of being able to make someone laugh. So, whenever I use maka- or makapag-, I am conveying the idea of ability. Now, the mistake most native Filipino people make is that they use nakaka- as prefix (or unlapi) whenever they use the verb in the incompleted aspect (more or less the equivalent of the present tense in English, but to be precise there is no such thing as tenses in Tagalog, there are only aspects). Is that correct? Let's take for example the verb tumawa. We said that the abilitative form is makatawa. Now, because the incompleted aspect is formed by repeating

As I said in my previous post about "affixes" in Tagalog, depending on the affix that you stick to the "root word" you can turn a root-word into an adjective, a verb or a noun. In Tagalog there are nouns that don't need an affix, such as, for example: Silya Mesa Aparador Palengke Kotse Other nouns are formed by sticking one or more "panlaping makangalan" or "noun affixes". Here is a list of the most common "panlaping makangalan" NOUN AFFIXES OR PANLAPING MAKANGALAN ka -indicating a companion or colleague ex ka inuman:drinking buddy, ka trabaho: work colleague ka-....-an or ka-...-han : collective or abstract noun. Example: ka ganda han =beauty, ka alam an =knowledge, ka unawa an =insight Pan -: denoting instrumental use of the noun. Example: pan tulong=aid "- an " and "- han " 1. A place where you can find many of the things described by the root word. Example: aklat an (a place with many aklat or books=librar

 In Tagalog there is no such thing as the verb to be. In many Western languages we use the verb "to be" in such sentences as: "I am Italian" "I am an office worker" "I am a husband" "She is my wife" "Rodrigo Duterte is the president of the Philippines" "Mocha Uson is a politician" And so on In Tagalog these sentences would literally read: "Italian I"-Italyano ako "Office worker I"-Empleyado ako "Husband I"-Asawang lalaki ako "My wife she"-Asawa ko siya "President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte"-Presidente ng Pilipinas si Rodrigo Duterte (I have explained how to use the marker si before a personal name in my post about markers in Tagalog) "Politician Mocha Uson"-Pulitiko si Mocha Uson The order of all these sentences can be switched by using the marker ay. So, for example, the expression Italyano ako can be flipped like this: ako ay Italyano Pulitiko si M

Tagalog is one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines. It is spoken in Metro Manila and in its neighboring provinces, like Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan and others. A National Park in the province of Bulacan, one of the Tagalog speaking provinces of the Philippines Tagalog is an Austronesian language, a language family comprising languages spoken in the Malay Peninsula, in South East Asia, in Taiwan, in the islands of the Pacific Ocean and in Magadascar. Agglutination Tagalog, like most Austronesian languages, is an  agglutinative language. An agglutinative language is characterized by words that are made up of different morphems (morpema in Tagalog), a morphem being the smallest part of a word having a meaning of its own (like, for example, the English word  do able:  if I separate the two morphems, do and able each of them has a meaning of its own and can stand on its own) Agglutination in Tagalog: Root Words and Affixes Generally words in Tagalog are formed by c

My wife is Filipina and Filipino people have a lot of interactions with foreigners. Millions of Filipinos live and work overseas and many Filipinas marry Western guys. Why OFW should know the structure of their own language I think one of the reasons why OFW struggle with the local language is because they don't know the basic structure of their own language, or at least the structure of the English grammar, if they prefer to communicate in English, as many Filipinos do and as my wife does. For example my wife has been working in Italy for 20 years. She is very fluent in Italian and knows a lot of words but she just cannot write a letter, an email or, sometimes, even a text message in Italian without making big mistakes. And it is more or less the same with most Filipino immigrants whom I know. Whenever my wife or any other Filipino whom I know need to fill out a form in Italian or write something they ask me for help. I have only spent few months in the Philippines but I can write