Lesson 1: Introduction ang tinapay bread

Halo Hello ang karne meat

Kamusta ka? How are you? ang sopas soup
Mabuti naman, salamat. I'm fine, thank you.
ang prutas fruit
Ang pangngalan ko ay si Tanja. My name is Tanja.
Kinagagalak kitang makilala. Nice to meet you. ang salad salad
Paalam. Goodbye ang tsaa tea
Nakakapagsalita ka ba ng Inglis? Do you speak English?
Oo, nakakapagsalita ako ng Inglis. Yes, I speak English.
Hindi,di ako nakakapagsalita ng Inglis. No, I don't speak English. Lesson 3: Numbers (1-10)
Isa one

Lesson 2: Food (I) Dalawa two

Gutom hungry Tatlo three

Uhaw thirsty Apat four

Busog eaten enough Lima five

Almusal breakfast Anim six

panang-halian lunch Pito seven
hapunan dinner
Walo eight

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Siyam nine ang magka-ibigan friend

Sampu ten ang anak na lalaki son

Lesson 4: Colors ang anak na babae daughter

Puti white asawang babae wife

Itim black asawang lalaki husband

Pula red nanay mother

Dilaw yellow tatay father

Berde green ang lola grandma

Asul/bughaw blue lolo grandpa

Kayumanggi brown ang kuya older brother

Kahel orange nakaka-batang kapatid na babae younger sister

Abo grey nakaka-batang kapatid na lalaki younger brother

Rosas pink ang ate older sister

Murado/Lila purple
Lesson 7: Food (II)
ang kape coffee
Lesson 5: Family
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ang french fries french-fries ang kabayo horse

ang longganisa sausage ang baka cow

ang keyk cake ang elepante elephant

ang keso cheese ang tigre tiger

ang mansanas apple ang ahas snake

ang dalandan orange ang manok chicken

ang saging banana ang baboy pig

ang asukal sugar ang pato duck

ang asin salt ang toro buffalo

ang paminta pepper ang daga mouse

Lesson 8: Animals Lesson 9: Clothes

ang ibon bird Suot wear

ang isda fish Sinusuot put on

ang aso dog Tangalin take off

ang pusa cat ang damit clothes

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ang pantalon trousers Hunyo June

ang damit shirt/dress Hulyo July

ang kamiseta t-shirt Agosto August

ang pares ng medyas pair of socks Setyembre September

ang pares ng sapatos pair of shoes Oktubre October

ang sweatshirt sweatshirt Nobyembre November

ang jacket jacket Disyembre December

ang palda skirt

ang amerkana suit

Lesson 10: Months

Enero January

Pebrero February

Marso March

Abril April

Mayo May

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Table of Contents The affix -in, for instance, can be added to the verb
root kain (eat), to change it to its past or imperative
1General Rules form.
2Nouns

3Pronouns Root Past Imperative

kain kinain kainin
4Verbs and Tenses

5Adjectives Some Tagalog root words can also be combined to

craft a new word.
6Level Up Your Filipino With FilipinoPod101

araw (day) + gabi (night) araw-gabi (day and night)

1. General Rules
New words can also be formed by repeating certain
roots. In this case, a hyphen is used as a separator.
There are four general aspects of the Filipino
language you need to be familiar with before you can
begin studying the rest. Let’s start with how words are isa (one) isa-isa (one by one)
formed and connected in Filipino. gaya (imitate) gaya-gaya (a person who imitates)
halo (mix) halo-halo (a mixture of different things)
1 – Roots and Affixes araw (day) araw-araw (every day)

Roots and affixes are the main ingredients of Tagalog

words. Affixes are added to roots to change the Finally, affixes can be added to the beginning, middle,
meaning or aspect of a word, particularly of verbs. or end of a root word to form new nouns, verbs,
adjectives, or adverbs.

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  tag-ulan (rainy season) 3 – Pronunciation and Sounds
 kahapon (yesterday) Replaceable Sounds
 mahangin (windy)
 tumawid (crossed)
 mabenta (marketable) We’ve discussed Tagalog pronunciation in detail in
 iyakin (crybaby) one of our recent blog entries, but we haven’t yet
touched on the topic of replaceable sounds. Under
2 – Sentence Structure certain conditions, some Tagalog vowel sounds can be
replaced.

Tagalog word order is a bit different from that of

English, and is much simpler in a sense. For instance: The /i/ sound, for instance, can be changed to the /e/
sound:

English Sentence Filipino Translation Literal Meaning

The car is beautiful. Maganda ang kotse. Beautiful the car.  lalaki (man, male) → lalake
 hindi (no) → hinde
 mabuti (good) → mabute
 mabait (friendly) → mabaet
Here, the particle marker ang is used to mark the
 madami (plenty) → madame
noun that comes after it as the subject of the
sentence.
The /e/ sound can also be changed to the /i/ sound.
This usually happens when the last syllable is
You could also say, Ang kotse ay maganda, which is a
immediately followed by a word:
direct translation of the example. However, this
particular sentence pattern is used only in formal
writing and not in casual conversations.  sige na (come on, go ahead) → sigi na

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And then there’s the changing of the /o/ sound to The rules for syllable repetition are simple. If the
the /u/ sound: syllable begins with a vowel, the first vowel alone is
repeated.

 total (after all) → tutal

amin (admit) aamin (will admit)

iwan (leave behind) iiwan (will leave behind)

This also happens when the last syllable is not
followed by a pause: uwi (go home) uuwi (will go home)

 Ano pa? (What else?) → Anu pa?

Now, if the syllable begins with a consonant, the first
 Botika (Drugstore) → Butika
consonant and the first vowel are repeated.

Keep in mind that the change in sound is only applied

balik (return) babalik (will return)
to spoken language; they keep their original spelling
in written form. sayaw (dance) sasayaw (will dance)

kain (eat) kakain (will eat)

Syllable Repetition

One thing that’s unique about the Filipino language is

the repetition of syllables in words, particularly when
conjugating verbs. The word awit (to sing), for
instance, becomes aawit (will sing) in its future tense.

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4 – Markers
Nagbabasa si Denise sa loob ng kwarto Denise is reading inside her
niya. room.
Markers play an important role in Tagalog grammar.
Nasa opisina si Roxanne. Roxanne is in the office.
These are short words that indicate what role a word
is playing in a sentence. The three main markers
are ang, ng, and sa.
Take note that the si marker is only used to mark
singular names. To indicate the names of two or more
The Ang Marker people, we use sina.

The four ang markers are: ang, si, sina, and ang mga.
Nasa labas na sina Paul at
Paul and Aileen are already outside.
Aileen.

The ang marker is used to mark a word as the focus of
a sentence.
Dumating kanina sina Rudy. Rudy and company arrived earlier.
JR and Lisa were not able to make it
Hindi nakauwi sina JR at Lisa.
home.

Matalino ang babae. The woman is smart.

Magulo ang usapan. The discussion was a mess.

What about ang mga? Well, we use this marker to
May limang anak ang lalaki. The man has five children. mark a word that’s in its plural form.

Naglalaro ang mga bata. The kids are playing.

However, it’s not used to mark people’s names. We
use the si marker for that one. Nagliparan ang mga ibon. The birds have flown away.

Biglang nagsidatingan ang mga tao. The people suddenly started arriving.

Masipag si Marco. Marco is hardworking.

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 The Sa Marker

The Ng Marker
The sa markers are: sa, kay, kina, and sa mga.

The ng markers are: ng, ni, nina, and ng mga. Sa is used to mark location, direction, future time, and
the beneficiary of an action in a sentence.
Ng is used to indicate possession, with the name of
the possessor coming right after the marker. May pagtitipon sa bahay There’s a party at my
Location
ko. house.

bahay ng presidente home of the president Direction Pumunta siya sa Maynila. He went to Manila.

pagkain ng pusa food of the cat Mico will arrive on

aklat ng estudyante
Future time Dadating si Mico sa Martes.
Tuesday.
book of the student
Beneficiary of an Nagluto siya para sa asawa
He cooked for his wife.
action niya.

It’s also used to mark a direct object that is not the

focus.

Naghanap ng trabaho si Anton. Anton went looking for a job.

2. Nouns
Bumili ng bahay ang pamilya ni Marc. Marc’s family bought a house.

Binigyan niya ako ng maraming pera. He gave me a lot of money. Nouns are the most important words you can learn when
you begin studying a language. But they can only benefit you
if you know how to use them! In this section, we’ll cover a

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couple of basic Filipino grammar rules concerning nouns and 2 – Plurals
their usage.
In English grammar, regular nouns in their singular
1 – Gender
form are changed into their plural form by adding -
s at the end of the word. In Filipino grammar, a word
Filipino is considered a gender-neutral language. That
is made plural by placing the marker mga before the
said, there are no equivalents for the words “he” and
word.
“she” in Tagalog.
English Filipino

Singular Plural Singular Plural

In the following sentences, siya is used to refer to both
bird birds ibon mga ibon
the male subject and the female subject.
car cars kotse mga kotse

tree trees puno mga puno

 Siya yung sinasabi ko. (He was the one I was
talking about.)
 Umalis siya para bumili ng pagkain para sa
amin. (She went to buy some food for us.) 3. Pronouns

In these examples, niya is used for the pronouns

In Filipino grammar, pronouns are categorized in the
“he” and “she,” serving as a substitute for an
same manner that English pronouns are. However, it’s
unfocused actor.
important to note that not all English pronouns have a
direct equivalent in Tagalog. Tagalog pronouns are
 Kinuha niya ang telepono ko. (He took my
unique in that they’re divided into three groups—the
phone.)
same groups that are used to classify markers—
 Hinugasan niya ang kanyang mga
ang, ng, and sa.
kamay. (She washed her hands.)
1 – Ang pronouns are the focus in a sentence.

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 3 – Sa indicates an unfocused direction and location in a
English Filipino Example sentence; it also indicates possession.

Ako ang nag-ayos ng

problema niya. English Filipino Example
“I” ako (singular first person)
“I am the one who fixed
Nasa akin ang anak
his problem.”
mo.
“me” / “my” akin (singular first person)
Ikaw ang hinahanap “Your daughter is with
nila. me.”
“you” ikaw (singular second person)
“You are the one they
Tatawag ako
are looking for.”
sa iyo bukas.
“you” / “your” iyo (singular second person)
Siya ang may pakana “I am going to call you
ng lahat. tomorrow.”
“he” / “she” siya (singular third person)
“She is the mastermind
English Filipino Nasa kanya ang
Example
of all this.”
“him” / “his” / mikropono.
kanya (singular third person)Natupad ang
tayo (inclusive) / kami (exclusive) Nanalo tayo. “her” / “hers” “The microphone is with
“we” “my” / “of me” ko (singular first person) kahilingan
him.” ko.
(plural first person) “We won.”
“My wish was granted.”
Dapat amin (exclusive) / atin (inclusive) Amin ito.
“us” / “our” Nasa“This
labasisang mga
pumunta kayo lahat (plural
mo first person)
(singular second ours.”
“your” / “of you” kaibigan mo. “Your friends
“you all” kayo (plural second person) dun. person)
Sa inyo yata ito.
are outside.”
“You all should go “you” / “your” inyo (plural second person)
“This is probably yours.”
there.” Nahanap niya ang
“his” / “her” / “of
niya (singular third person) nawawalaKanilakong
na lang
aso.yang
Umuwi na sila. him” / “of her”
“them” / “their” kanila (plural third person) “He found
pagkain.
my lost dog.”
“they” sila (plural third person) “They went home
“Give the food to them.”
already.” Isinauli namin ang kotse.
namin (exclusive) / natin (in
“our” / “of us” “The car was returned by
clusive) (plural first person)
us.”
2 – Ng pronouns replace unfocused nouns in a sentence.
Nariyan na ang mga
ninyo (plural second grado ninyo.
“your” / “of you”
person) “Your grades are now
available.” 11

Malayo ang opisina nila.

“their” / “of them” nila (plural third person)
“Their office is quite far.”
4 – Kita Filipino grammar, tenses work pretty much the same
way as those in English.
In instances when “I” (ko) acts as the doer and “you”
(ka) functions as the object, the pronoun kita is used.
Basically, Tagalog verbs are made up of a verb root
The best example is the statement, Mahal kita (“I love
and an affix. In order to change the meaning or tense
you”), or literally, “You are loved by me.”
of the verb, an affix can be added to the beginning,
middle, or end of the verb root.
Here are more examples where kita (“I…you”) is used:

 Nakita kita sa TV. (I saw you on TV.) 1 – Verb Groups

Lit. “You were seen on TV by me.”
Tagalog verbs are grouped according to how they’re
 Tinatawag kita kanina. (I was calling you earlier.) conjugated. They can either
Lit. “You were called by me earlier.”
be mag-, ma-, um-, in-, or i- verbs.
 Kaibigan kita. (You are my friend.)
 Tuturuan kita. (I will teach you.) Below are examples of how words are conjugated in
 Bibigyan kita ng pabuya. (I will give you a each group:
reward.) -Mag Verb
Root Verb Past Present Future Imperative

4. Verbs and Tenses aral (to nag-aral (studi nag-aaral (studyi mag-aaral (will mag-aral (stu
study) ed) ng) study) dy)

Verbs are arguably the most difficult aspect of Tagalog

grammar. Non-Tagalog speakers might find them -Ma Verb
complicated at first as they don’t work the same way Root
Past Present Future Imperative
Verb
that English verbs do. The good news is that, in

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kinig (t nakinig (listened nakikinig (listening makikinig (wil makinig (listen 2 – Verb Repetition
o listen) ) ) l listen) )

Tagalog verbs can be repeated when expressing a

prolonged action. This is a unique characteristic of
-Um Verb
Filipino grammar. When verbs are repeated in this
Root Verb Past Present Future Imperative
manner, the two words are linked by nang.
kain (to eat) kumain (ate) kumakain (eating) kakain (will eat) kumain (eat)
Kain nang kain si Raul. Raul keeps on eating.

Sumigaw nang sumigaw si Tanya. Tanya kept on shouting.

-In Verb
Root Iyak nang iyak si Joy. Joy keeps on crying.
Past Present Future Imperative
Verb

tawag (t tumawag (called tumatawag (calling tatawag (wil tumawag (call

o call) ) ) l call) )
5. Adjectives

-I Verb Adjectives are the spice of language. This section will

Root Verb Past Present Future Imperative
teach you what you should know before using them
inom (to uminom (was iniinom (being iinumin (will be inumin (drink yourself.
drink) drank) drank) drank) )

1 – Adjective-Noun Identical

Some Tagalog adjectives are identical to nouns in both

spelling and meaning, although they differ in
pronunciation with the noun having a long vowel
sound.
Noun Adjective
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 3 – Degrees of Adjectives

buhay (life) buhay (alive)

In Tagalog grammar, adjectives are sometimes
gutom (hunger) gutom (hungry)
repeated when describing a noun in the intensive
hirap (poverty) hirap (struggling) degree.
pagod (tiredness) pagod (tired)
 In the superlative degree, pinaka is usually
sunog (fire) sunog (burnt) added before the word, as
in pinakamaganda (the most beautiful).
 Meanwhile, napaka is used to describe
2 – Adjective Gender
something to an intensive degree, as
There are a number of Tagalog adjectives used to in napakaganda (very beautiful).
describe female individuals. These words usually end
This can also be achieved by repeating the root
in /a/.
word, as in magandang-maganda or ang ganda-
Male Female ganda.
ambisyoso (ambitious) ambisyosa

bobo (stupid) boba Take note that if the root word ends in a vowel, -ng is
attached to it—but only to the first appearance of the
bungangero (vociferous) bungangera
word, and not the repetition.
luku-luko (crazy) luka-luka

suplado (snobbish) suplada

batang-bata very young

basang-basa very wet

litong-lito very confused

sirang-sira extremely worn out

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tuwang-tuwa very happy

On the other hand, if the root word ends in a

consonant, the two words are linked by na.

atat na atat very eager

gutom na gutom very hungry

laos na laos very obsolete

malinis na malinis very clean

pagod na pagod very tired

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