Is the "Ay" Marker in Tagalog the Same as the English Verb "To be"?

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One of the most common markers in the Tagalog language is ay. It may appear as if ay  is the equivalent of the English verb "to be", because, for example, the literal translation of a phrase like ako ay Pilipino is "I am  Filipino". However, in reality, far from being a verb, let alone the verb "to be", which doesn't really exist in Tagalog, the function of ay is simply to invert the order of a phrase, and in the example above ako ay Pilipino is merely the inverted form of Pilipino ako. In other words, because in Tagalog there is no such thing as the verb "to be", such phrases as "I am Italian", "she is beautiful" or "Mario is a doctor" in Tagalog have no verb and are literally rendered as "Italian I" ("Italiano ako"), "beautiful she" ("maganda siya") and "doctor Mario" ("doktor si Mario"). The "ay" marker simply switches the order of such phr
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Existentials and Negations in Tagalog

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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 sa kusina ang TV=the TV set is not in the kitchen


MAY/MAYROON


To talk about the existence of something, Filipinos use may or mayroon (sometimes Filipinos use the more colloquial form meron).


Difference between may and mayroon


Mayroon, must be followed by an adverb of place or a personal pronoun


For example, if I am using the personal pronoun ako immediately after mayroon, I can't use may


I can say mayroon akong pera but I can't say may akong pera. If I want to use the may instead of mayroon I have to move the personal pronoun to the end of the sentence and say: may pera ako


Mayroon is a full word that can standalone, while may has to be followed by a noun, verb, adverb, adjective.


For example, if I ask the question:


May pera ba si Mario?


I can answer with mayroon siya 


If I wanted to use the may instead, I would have to say may pera si Mario

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