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Introduction

Making Out in Tagalog is your passport to the living, breathing, colorful language spoken on the streets of the Philippines. It is the first easy book to give you access to the casual, unbuttoned Tagalog that will allow you to express yourself in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, in crowded marketplaces, and at train and bus stations. Here you will find the warm-hearted language that you can use with new acquaintances, good friends or perhaps, a potential significant other, and also the rough-and-tumble language you can fall back on when you are ready to either attack or defend yourself or someone else in certain situations.

This brand of Tagalog is simple and direct. It is spoken mainly in Metro Manila, large cities, provincial capitals, and town centers but can be understood in most places in the Philippines. It has shed the complex grammatical twists and turns of the highly formal language that textbooks and language courses strive so hard to teach.

Making Out in Tagalog will be a useful companion throughout the Philippines—whether in cities, traveling in remote barrios or talking with Filipinos anywhere in the world. So you want to meet people, make friends, eat out, go dancing, or just engage in friendly chitchat? A quick glance at Making Out in Tagalog and you’ll have the language at your fingertips.

OVERVIEW

If you have spent several years grappling with the complicated grammatical structures of French, German, Italian or Spanish, you will find Tagalog, especially the informal version in this book, a joy.

Tagalog is the main language in Manila, the capital of the Philippines and its surrounding areas. It is the lingua franca of Filipinos in the Philippines as well as in other parts of the world. With over 150 languages and their various dialects, Filipinos in the Philippines as well as in other parts of the world use Tagalog as their lingua franca. By the way, Tagalog is recently considered the most spoken Southeast Asian language in the U.S. One of the eight major Philippine languages, Tagalog belongs to the Austronesian family of languages which includes Malay, Indonesian, and Hawaiian.

An easy-going language spoken today on the streets of the Philippines, Tagalog is one of the many local languages in the country that developed over the centuries as traders from different ethnic groups mixed and mingled from all parts of the world. From as early as the 12th century, Chinese and Arab traders flooded the language with their own vocabularies, as did the neighboring islands of Indonesia and mainland Asia, and later the Spanish and the Americans. For the next 300 years after the Spanish colonization of the islands in 1565, the Philippines became a melting pot where the east met the west. The Philippines, particularly in its economy, society and culture, was forever changed. The west and its people brought with them distinctly new ways of living, believing, creating and relating to others that changed and eventually enriched the spoken language.

The almost 50 years of American occupation from 1898 onwards added to the western outlook of the Filipinos in dealing with one another, and particularly with the outside world.

TAGALOG ALPHABET

The Tagalog alphabet has 20 letters: 5 vowels and 15 consonants.

A	B	K	D	E	G	H	I	L	M
N	NG	O	P	R	S	T	U	W	Y

The five (5) vowels are:

a	(ah) as in “ask, far”	sabon (soap)
e	(eh) as in “end, way”	edad (age)
i	(ee) as in “eve, meet”	ilaw (light)
o	(aw) as in “obey, note”	lobo (balloon)
u	(oo) as in “food, moon”	tuhod (knee)

and 15 consonants:

b	as in “bat”	baboy (pig)
ng	as in “sing”	ngipin (teeth)
k	as in “king”	kasama (companion)
p	as in “patriot”	pera (money)
d	as in “day”	diwa (spirit)
r	as in “rat”	radyo (radio)
g	as in “give”	gamot (medicine)
s	as in “start”	silya (chair)
h	as in “hit”	hita (thigh)
t	as in “time”	tasa (cup)
l	as in “level”	lito (confused)
w	as in “way”	wika (language)
m	as in “mature”	mata (eyes)
y	as in “yard”	yelo (ice)
n	as in “nut”	nanay (mother)

If Tagalog has 15 letters in its alphabet, Filipino which is the Philippine national language has 28 letters—which includes all of the 26 letters of the English alphabet plus ng and ñ. The letters C, F, J, Ñ, Q, V, X, and Z are used mainly in names of people: Corazon, Josefa, Victoria; places: Quezon, Luzon, Zamboanga, Cebu; things: Kleenex, Xerox; and in English loanwords.

PRONUNCIATION

Tagalog words are relatively easy to pronounce. They are in fact read or pronounced as spelled or written except for ng (nang) and mga (ma-nga). All the letters in a word are sounded and there are no silent letters. If a word has two successive vowels, then each vowel is treated as separate syllable and pronounced.

For example: MA-A-A-LA-LA-HA-NIN. By the way, this seven-syllable word means “thoughtful.”

Oo (yes) is pronounced as aw-aw.

Saan (where) is pronounced as sah-ahn

Uwi (go home) is pronounced as oo-wee

Most of the time for non-native speakers, it is quite challenging to pronounce words with ng especially at the beginning of the word. For example, ngiti (smile), ngipin (teeth) or pangalan (name). A strategy to practice these words is to keep pronouncing “sing along” several times until it is pronounced as if it’s one word: singalong.

STRESSING OF WORDS

Tagalog (Ta-GA-log) is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. Correct pronunciation of Tagalog words depends on the stress, which is normally on the syllable before the last (called the penultimate stress) and unmarked, as in buhay “life;” but sometimes on the last syllable (known as the acute stress), which is marked by an accent, as in buháy “alive.” For most 3-syllable words, the stress is on the second syllable: Tagálog, Salámat.

A difference in stress (emphasis on a particular syllable) causes a difference in meaning of the same word. For example:

Báka (cow)	Baká (maybe, perhaps)
Hápon (afternoon)	Hapón (Japanese)
Búkas (tomorrow)	Bukás (open)
Táyo (we, us, inclusive)	Tayó’ (stand)

Unfortunately, there are no stress or accent marks when reading Tagalog materials. So meanings are actually taken in the context on how the word was used.

ASPIRATION

The letters, P, T, and K are not aspirated, meaning they are not pronounced with a puff of air like English. An easy way to test whether these letters are aspirated is to hold a paper in front of your mouth while pronouncing them. The paper should not move or air should not come out from your lips whenever these letters are pronounced, for example, papel (paper). T in Filipino is pronounced in the same way you would pronounce D in English, as in tatay (father) or takda (homework).

GLOTTAL STOP

The glottal stop (’) is produced when the opening between the vocal cords is slightly closed, stopping air coming from the lungs. The glottal stop provides a significant contrast with other sounds:

Non-glottal	Glottal
áso (dog)	aso’ (smoke)
báta (robe)	bata’ (child)
sála (living room)	sala’ (fault)

THE LETTER “R”

The Tagalog R is very different from the English R. It is sounded by flicking the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth. Some Filipinos really like to roll their R’s by rapidly repeating this action in a machine gun fashion. Others roll their Rs from the back of the throat. Now, try to say regalo (gift), relo (watch), turon (banana lumpia), tigre (tiger), … and if you get frustrated, say GRRRR!!!

BASIC GRAMMAR

PREDICATE BEFORE SUBJECT

In English, the sentence structure is subject followed by the predicate. In Tagalog, it’s the other way around: predicate before subject. Some books use different terms like comment + topic which is the same as predicate + subject. (The subject/topic refers to what the sentence is about, and the predicate/comment refers to what is said about the subject.) For example Tumakbo (predicate/comment) si Juan (subject/topic) = “John (topic) ran (comment).” Or Mabait (predicate/comment) ang kaibigan ko (subject/topic) which translates to “My friend is nice.” This is possibly the most striking difference between Tagalog and English, and takes a bit of getting used to.

MARKERS

Do not be confused with “si” in Spanish and in Tagalog! In Spanish, si means Yes. In Tagalog, si is a noun marker found before names of people (and pets) indicating the subject of the sentence. Markers are the most basic grammar items in Tagalog, specifically subject markers which are particles that mark or indicate the subject/topic of the sentence. There are two main subject markers: si and ang that are used before nouns (including names of people).

For example, in the sentence:

Maganda si Fiona.

(Fiona is beautiful.)

the subject of the sentence is Fiona because she is marked by the particle si.

Other examples:

Masipag si Olivia.

(Olivia is hardworking.)

Matalinong guro si Dr. Ramos.

(Dr. Ramos is an intelligent teacher.)

Mabait at mapagbigay si Lola Olive.

(Grandma Olive is kind and generous.)

Si and its plural form, sina, mark the names of people including pets. They appear before personal names.

So, if si/sina are used to mark personal names, when do we use the other marker, ang?

We use ang as a marker for all others, for all non-personal names. For example:

Guwapo ang siyota niya.

(Her boyfriend is handsome.)

Salbahe ang kuya ko.

(My older brother is mean.)

There’s also what is called non-subject markers: ni (for personal names) and ng (all others). Examples as follows:

Sino ang kapatid ni Joseph?

(Who is the sister of Joseph?)

Bastos ang kaibigan ng kaklase ko.

(The friend of my classmate is rude.)

PLURALIZING

Tagalog nouns do not show the difference between singular and plural by altering the form of the word, as English does by adding “s” to the end of most nouns. Instead the word mga (pronounced as MA-NGA) is used before the noun, e.g. mga aklat “books,” mga bata “children.”

THE INVERSION MARKER: “AY”

Sentences do sometimes use the same order as English, meaning the subject comes before the predicate, and in this case the subject/topic is connected to the predicate/comment by the particle ay (pronounced like the English vowel “I”) For example, Si Juan (topic) ay (particle) tumawag (comment) vs. Tumawag si Juan (Juan called).

We refer to “ay” as the inversion marker.

Native speakers tend to use the particle “ay” in their conversations especially in formal situations. There is no direct translation of this particle except that it inverts a predicational sentence to an identificational sentence. For example, to introduce oneself:

Predicational	Identificational
Maria ang pangalan ko. (My name is Maria.)	Ang pangalan ko ay Maria.
Taga-Maynila ako. (I’m from Manila.)	Ako ay taga-Maynila.
May trabaho ako sa ospital. (I have a job at the hospital.)	Ako ay may trabaho sa ospital.

PRONOUNS

Tagalog pronouns are as follows in the subject case:

Singular	Plural
Ako (I, me)	Kami (we, exclusive, excluding the person addressed to) Tayo (we, inclusive, including the person addressed to)
Ikaw, Ka (you) Note: Ka cannot be used at the beginning of a sentence	Kayo (You)
Siya (he/she)	Sila (they)

Examples of this set of pronouns which serves as a subject of a sentence are as follows:

Filipino ako.

(I’m Filipino.)

Ako rin.

(Me too.)

Saan ka pupunta?

(Where are you going?)

Tanga siya.

(He/She is stupid.)

Another set of pronouns is considered non-subject pronouns or possessive pronouns depending on how they are used. This include: ko, mo, niya and their plural forms, natin/namin, ninyo, nila. Some examples are:

Eva ang pangalan ko.

(My name is Eva.)

Ano ang palayaw mo?

(What is your nickname?)

Malayo ang bahay namin.

(Our house is far.)

Gusto niya ng kape.

(She likes coffee.)

Ayaw nila ng gatas.

(They don’t like milk.)

A third set of pronouns includes akin, iyo, kaniya and their plural counterparts, amin/atin, inyo and kanila.

For examples:

Akin ka.

(You are mine.)

Iyo ba itong kotse o kaniya?

(Is this car yours or hers/his?)

Pupunta si Jemi sa amin bukas.

(Jemi will come to our place tomorrow.)

There is also a cool pronoun called kita which is referred to as a double pronoun replacing ko (I) and ka (you). The most common example is Mahal kita (I love you).

QUESTION MARKER: “BA”

To ask questions, use the particle ba, e.g.

Nagsasalita ba kayo ng Ingles?

Do you speak English?

Maaari ba akong manigarilyo dito?

Can I smoke here?

Mayroon ba kayong…?

Do you have…?

Usually, questions with ba are answered with Oo or Hindi (Yes or No).

THE NEGATIVES

Hindi (No)

Wala (None)

Huwag (Don’t)

To make a sentence negative, use the word hindi, e.g.

Hindi ako naninigarilyo. (I don’t smoke.)

Hindi maganda ito. (This is no good.)

To express the non-existence of someone or something which is the opposite of may(roon), use wala, e.g.

Wala siya rito. (She/He is not here.)

Wala kami nito. (We didn’t have this.)

Wala akong gana. (I don’t feel like it.)

To translate the word, Don’t, use Huwag! as in the example:

Huwag kang umiyak! (Don’t cry!)

Huwag kang matulog! (Don’t sleep!)

Huwag maingay! (Don’t be noisy!)

Huwag hawakan! (Don’t touch.)

VERBS

Just a reminder that there is no translation of the English verb “is” or “are” in Tagalog. Tagalog verbs in their base or root form can be used in conversations. However, there is quite a number of affixes that are added to the root verbs and change the focus and aspect of the sentence. These affixes can either be a prefix, an infix or a suffix. In English, it‘s mostly suffixes that are added.

For the verb, aral “to study”

Mag-aral kayo para sa eksam.

([You] study for the exam.)

Nag-aral kami kagabi.

(We studied last night.)

Ano ang pinag-aaralan ninyo?

(What are you studying?)

Fortunately, it is easy to make requests in Tagalog. Just add the request affix paki to the base form or root of the verb. So for example, Paki-bigay ito sa kanya (Please give this to her), or Paki-hintay ako (Please wait for me).

OTHER LANGUAGE FEATURES

• Versatile Preposition: The most common Tagalog preposition is the virtually all-purpose sa, which is used as an equivalent of English “in,” “on,” “at,” etc, e.g. sa Enero “in January;” sa gabi “at night,” sa kanto “at the corner.”

• Polite Particle: Get it? Po, to indicate politeness or respect. Always remember to use the polite particle po when speaking with older people and those in higher authority. A variation of po is ho which is a little bit less formal. Examples:

Magandang umaga po, Bb. Santos.

(Good morning, Ms. Santos.)

Pwede ho bang magtanong?

(Can I ask a question?)

• Enclitics or Particles: Aside from a number of affixes that are added onto Tagalog words, there is also a quite a list of what we call enclitics or some call it ligatures or particles to add more spice or flavor to the language. This includes lang, na, pa, rin/din, raw/daw, naman. Examples:

Diyan lang.

(Just there.)

Wala pa akong siyota.

(I don’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend yet.)

Oo raw.

(Yes, according to someone.)

BORROWINGS AND NEW DIALECTS

Although Tagalog is influenced by Sanskrit, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, and English, the majority of the loanwords come from Spanish and English. Because of this, there is a tendency among Filipinos, particularly in Manila, to speak in the slang language commonly known as Taglish (Tagalog + English) or Engalog (English + Tagalog). Aside from this slang language, some other sociolect languages have also evolved such as Conyo (language of rich kids) or gay or swardspeak/bekinese (language of gay people).