Tagalog grammar

Tagalog grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the Tagalog language, the language of the Tagalog region of the Philippines.
In Tagalog, there are nine basic parts of speech: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, ligatures and particles. Tagalog is a slightly inflected language. Pronouns are inflected for number; and verbs, for focus, aspect and voice.

Verbs

Tagalog verbs are morphologically complex and are conjugated by taking on a variety of affixes reflecting focus/trigger, aspect, voice, and other categories. Below is a chart of the main verbal affixes, which consist of a variety of prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes.
Conventions used in the chart:

CV~ stands for the reduplicated first syllable of a root word, which is usually the first consonant and the first vowel of the word.
N stands for a nasal consonant which assimilates to ng, n, or m depending on the consonant following it. ∅ means that the verb root is used, therefore no affixes are added.
Punctuation marks indicate the type of affix a particular bound morpheme is; hyphens mark prefixes and suffixes, and ' is an infix that is placed between the first consonant and the first vowel of a root word. The word sumulat is composed of the root word sulat and the infix '. Its other conjugated forms are susulat and sumusulat .

With object-focus verbs in the completed and progressive aspects, the infix -in- frequently becomes the infix -ni- or the prefix ni- if the root word begins with,,, or ; e.g., linalapitan or nilalapitan and inilagay or ilinagay.
With the suffixes -in and -an, if the root word ends in a vowel, the suffixes insert an h at the beginning to become -hin and -han to make speaking more natural. This does not usually happen with root words ending in pseudo-vowels such as w and y. An example of this is basa which becomes basahin rather than basain.
The imperative affixes are not often used in Manila, but they do exist in other Tagalog speaking provinces.

	Complete	Progressive	Contemplative	Infinitive	Imperative
Actor trigger I	bumasa	CV~ bumabasa	CV~ babasa	bumasa	∅
Actor trigger II	nag- nagbasa	nag-CV~ nagbabasa	mag-CV~ magbabasa	mag- magbasa	pag- pagbasa
Actor trigger III	na- nabasa	na-CV~ nababasa	ma-CV~ mababasa	ma- mabasa	∅
Actor trigger IV	nang- nangbasa	nang-CV~ nangbabasa	mang-CV~ mangbabasa	mang- mangbasa	pang- pangbasa
Object trigger I	binasa	CV~ binabasa	CV~... -in babasahin	-in basahin	-a basa
Object trigger II	i- ibinasa	i-CV~ ibinabasa	i-CV~ ibabasa	i- ibasa	-an basaan
Object trigger III	... -an binasahan	CV~... -an binabasahan	CV~... -an babasahan	-an basahan	-i basai
Locative trigger	... -an binasahan	CV~... -an binabasahan	CV~... -an babasahan	-an basahan	∅
Benefactive trigger	i- ibinasa	i-CV~ ibinabasa	i-CV~ ibabasa	i- ibasa	∅
Instrument trigger	ipaN- ipinabasa	ipaN-CV~ ipinababasa	ipaN-CV~ ipababasa	ipaN- ipabasa	∅
Reason trigger	ika- ikinabasa	ika-CV~ ikinababasa	ika-CV~ ikababasa	ika- ikabasa	∅

Aspect

The aspect of the verb indicates the progressiveness of the verb. It specifies whether the action happened, is happening or will happen. Tagalog verbs are conjugated for time using aspect rather than tense.

	Complete ''	Progressive	Contemplative	Recently Complete
Tagalog	Nagluto ang babae	Nagluluto ang babae	Magluluto ang babae	Kaluluto lang ng babae
English translation	The woman cooked The woman has cooked	The woman cooks The woman is cooking	The woman will cook The woman is going to cook	The woman has just cooked

Infinitive ''(Pawatas)''

This is the combination of the root word and an affix. This is the basis for most verbs.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Verb
tuka '	+ um	= tumuka '	= tumuka ', tumutuka ', tutuka '
palit '	+ mag	= magpalit '	= nagpalit ', nagpapalit ', magpapalit ''

Complete ''(Naganap/Perpektibo)''

This states that the action has been completed.
An infinitive with the affix um and a complete aspect are the same.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Complete '
alis '	+ um	= umalis '	= umalis '
kain '	+ um	= kumain '	= kumain '

An infinitive with the affixes ma, mag and mang will become na, nag and nang in the complete aspect.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Complete '
tuwa '	+ ma	= matuwa '	= natuwa '
sulat '	+ mag	= magsulat '	= nagsulat '
hingi '	+ mang	= manghingi '	= nanghingi '

The affix in in an infinitive will be a prefix if the root word begins with a vowel and an infix if the root word begins with a consonant. If the affix is hin, then hin will become in.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Complete '
alis '	+ in	= alisin '	= inalis '
mahal '	+ in	= mahalin '	= minahal '
basa '	+ hin	= basahin	= binasa

Progressive ''(Nagaganap/Imperpektibo)''

This states that the action is still ongoing and still not done.
If the infinitive has the affix um, the first syllable or the first two letters of the root word will be repeated.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Progressive '
ulan '	+ um	= umulan '	= umuulan '
kanta '	+ um	= kumanta '	= kumakanta '

If the infinitive has the affixes ma, mag and mang, change it to na, nag and nang and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Progressive '
iyak '	+ ma	= maiyak '	= naiiyak '
linis '	+ mag	= maglinis '	= naglilinis
bunggo '	+ mang	= mangbunggo '	= nangbubunggo '

If the infinitive has the affixes in or hin and the root word starts with a vowel, put the affix at the start and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Progressive '
alis '	+ in	= alisin '	= inaalis '
unat '	+ in	= unatin '	= inuunat '

If the infinitive has the affixes in or hin and the root word starts with a consonant, make the affix into an infix and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Progressive '
mahal '	+ in	= mahalin '	= minamahal '
gamot '	+ in	= gamutin '	= ginagamot '

Contemplative ''(Magaganap/Kontemplatibo)''

This states that the action has not yet started but anticipated.
If the infinitive has the affix um, remove the um and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Contemplative '
asa '	+ um	= umasa '	= aasa '
lakad '	+ um	= lumakad '	= lalakad '

If the infinitive has the affixes ma, mag and mang, retain it and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Contemplative '
tanaw '	+ ma	= matanaw '	= matatanaw '
suot '	+ mag	= magsuot '	= magsusuot '
hingi '	+ mang	= manghingi '	= manghihingi '

If the infinitive has the affixes in or hin, retain it and repeat the first syllable or first two letters of the root word.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Contemplative '
yakap '	+ in	= yakapin '	= yayakapin '
suklay '	+ in	= suklayin '	= susuklayin '
bili '	+ hin	= bilihin '	= bibilihin '

Recently Complete ''(Katatapos)''

This states that the action has just been completed before the time of speaking or before a specified time.
Usually the prefix ka is used and the first syllable or the first two letters of the root word will be repeated.

Root Word '	+ Affix '	= Infinitive '	= Recently Complete '
mano '	+ mag	= magmano '	= kamamano '
parusa '	+ mag	= magparusa '	= kapaparusa '
ligpit '	+ mag	= magligpit '	= kaliligpit

Trigger

The central feature of verbs in Tagalog and other Philippine languages is the trigger system, often called voice or focus. In this system, the thematic relation of the noun marked by the direct-case particle is encoded in the verb.
In its default unmarked form, the verb triggers a reading of the direct noun as the patient of the clause. In its second most common form it triggers the noun as the agent of the clause. Other triggers are location, beneficiary, instrument, reason, direction, and the reciprocal.
There are three main patient-trigger affixes:

-in is used for:
* Items that are moved towards the actor: kainin, bilhín.
* Items that are permanently changed: basagin, patayín.
* Items that are thought of: isipin, alalahanin.
i- is used for items which undergo a change of state such as being moved away from an actor: ibigáy, ilagáy, itaním.
-an is used for items undergoing a surface change : hugasan, walisán.

Affixes can also be used in nouns or adjectives: baligtaran , katamaran , kasabihán , kasagutan, bayarín , bukirín, lupaín, pagkakaroón , and pagdárasál. Verbs with affixes are also used as nouns, which are differentiated by stress position. Examples are panoorin and panoorín, hangarín and hangarin, aralin and aralín, and bayaran and bayarán.
The agent-trigger affixes are -um-, mag-, man-, and ma-. The difference between mag- and -um- is a source of confusion among learners of the language. Generally speaking there are two main distinctions among many; mag- refers to externally directed actions and -um- for internally directed actions. For example, bumilí means to buy while magbilí means to sell. However this isn't writ law for these affixes; there are exceptions for example, mag-ahit means to shave oneself while umahit means to shave someone. magbili and umahit are rarely used; in southern dialects of Tagalog na- is used instead of -um-.
ma- is used with only a few roots which are semantically intransitive, for example, matulog. ma- is not to be confused with ma-, the potentiative prefix for patient-triggered verb forms.

Bumilí ng saging ang lalaki sa tindahan para sa unggóy.

Compared with:

Binilí ng lalaki ang saging sa tindahan para sa unggóy.

The locative trigger refers to the location or direction of an action or the area affected by the action.

Binilhan ng lalaki ng saging ang tindahan.

The benefactive trigger refers to the person or thing that benefits from the action; i.e., the beneficiary of an action.

Ibinilí ng lalaki ng saging ang unggóy.

Compared with:

Binilihan ng lalaki ng saging ang tindahan.

The instrumental trigger refers to the means by which an action is performed.

Ipinambilí ng lalaki ng saging ang pera ng asawa niyá.

The reason trigger refers to the cause or reason why an action is performed.

Ikinagulat ng lalaki ang pagdatíng ng unggóy.

The man got surprised because of the monkey's arrival.
The directional trigger refers to the direction the action will go to.

Pinuntahan ng lalaki ang tindahan.

The reciprocal trigger refers to the action being done by the subjects at the same time. The subject is usually compound, plural or collective.

Naghalikan ang magkasintahan.

The couple kissed.

Mood

Tagalog verbs also have affixes expressing grammatical mood; Some examples are indicative, potential, social, and distributed.
Indicative
Nagdalá siyá ng liham.
"He brought a letter."
Bumilí kamí ng bigás sa palengke.
"We bought rice at the market."
Kumain akó.
"I ate."
Hindî siyá nagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He/She does not speak Tagalog."
Distributive
Namili kamí sa palengke.
"We went shopping at the market."
Social
Nakikain akó sa mga kaibigan ko.
"I ate with my friends."
Potential naka-
Hindî siyá nakapagsásalitâ ng Tagalog.
"He was not able to speak Tagalog."

Nouns

While Tagalog nouns are not inflected, they are usually preceded by case-marking particles. These follow an Austronesian alignment, also known as a trigger system, which is a distinct feature of Philippine languages. There are three basic cases: direct ; indirect ; and oblique.
The direct case is used for intransitive clauses. In transitive clauses using the default grammatical voice of Tagalog, the direct marks the patient and the indirect marks the agent, corresponding to the subject in English. In the more marked voice the reverse occurs, with the direct marking the agent and the indirect marking the patient. Because the base form of the clause is superficially similar to the passive voice in English, this has led to a misconception that Tagalog is spoken primarily in the passive voice. It is also superficially similar to ergative languages such as those of Australia, so Tagalog has also been analyzed as an ergative language. However, the English passive clause is intransitive, and likewise in ergative languages one of the voices forms an intransitive clause, whereas in Tagalog both voices are transitive, and so align well with neither nominative–accusative languages such as English nor with ergative languages.
One of the functions of voice in Tagalog is to code definiteness, analogous to the use of definite and indefinite articles in English. When the patient is marked with the direct case particle, it is generally definite, whereas when it is marked with the indirect case it is generally indefinite.
The oblique particle and the locative derived from it are similar to prepositions in English, marking things such as location and direction.
The case particles fall into two classes: one used with names of people and one for everything else.
The common ergative marker is spelled ng and pronounced. Mgá, pronounced, marks the common plural.

Cases

Common noun affixes

Examples

"The man arrived."
"Juan saw María."
Note that in the Philippine languages, even proper nouns require a case marker.

Pupunta	siná	Elena	at	Roberto	sa	bahay	ni	Miguel.
will go	plural nominal article	Elena	and	Roberto	at	house	of	Miguel

"Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house."
"Where are the books?"
"Father has the key."
"That baby is healthy."

Pronouns

Like nouns, personal pronouns are categorized by case. As above, the indirect forms also function as the genitive.

	Direct	Indirect	Oblique
1st person singular	ako	ko	akin
1st person dual	kitá/kata	nita/nata	kanitá/kanata
1st person plural inclusive	tayo	natin	atin
1st person plural exclusive	kamí	namin	amin
2nd person singular	ikáw	mo	iyó
2nd person plural	kayó	ninyó	inyó
3rd person singular	siyá	niyá	kaniyá
3rd person plural	silá	nilá	kanilá

Examples:
Sumulat ako.
"I wrote."
Sinulatan ako ng liham.
"He/She wrote me a letter."
Note: If "ng liham" is removed from the sentence, it becomes "I was written on"
Ibíbigay ko sa kaniyá.
"I will give it to him/her."
Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.
Ang bahay ko.
Ang aking bahay.
"My house."
The inclusive dual pronoun kata/kitá has largely disappeared from the Manila Dialect. It survives in other Tagalog dialects, particularly those spoken in the rural areas. However kitá is used to replace the pronoun sequence ko ikaw,.
The 1st-2nd dual pronoun "kata/kitá" referring to "you and I" is traditionally used as follows:
Mágkaibigan kitá.
"You and I are friends."
As previously mentioned, the pronoun sequence ko ikáw, may be replaced by kitá.
Mahál kitá.
"I love you."
Bíbigyan kitá ng pera.
"I will give you money."
Nakita kitá sa tindahan kahapon.
"I saw you at the store yesterday."
Kaibigan kitá.
"You are my friend."
The inclusive pronoun tayo refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person.
The exclusive pronoun kamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.
Walâ tayong bigás.
"We have no rice."
Walâ kaming bigás.
"We have no rice."
The second person singular has two forms. Ikáw is the non-enclitic form while ka is the enclitic which never begins a sentence. The plural form kayó is also used politely in the singular, similar to French vous.
Nouns are gender neutral, hence siyá means both he or she.

Polite or formal usage

Tagalog, like many languages, marks the T–V distinction: when addressing a single person in polite/formal/respectful settings, pronouns from either the 2nd person plural or the 3rd person plural group are used instead of the singular 2nd person pronoun. They can be used with, or in lieu of, the pô/hô iterations without losing any degree of politeness, formality or respect:

ikáw or ka becomes kayó or silá
mo becomes niyó or ninyó, or nilá
iyó becomes inyó or kanilá

Example:
English: "What's your name?"
Casual: Anó'ng pangalan mo?
Respectful: Anó'ng pangalan ninyo? or Anó'ng pangalan nilá?
Using such pluralized pronouns is quite sufficient for expressing politeness, formality or respect, particularly when an affirmative pô/hô iteration isn't necessary.

Demonstrative pronouns

Tagalog's demonstrative pronouns are as follows.

	Direct	Indirect	Oblique	Locative	Existential
Nearest to speaker *	iré, aré	niré	díne	nandine	ére
Near speaker and addressee	itó	nitó	díto/ríto	nandíto/nárito	héto
Nearest addressee	iyán	niyán	diyán/riyán	nandiyán/náriyan	ayán
Remote	iyón	niyón	doón/roón	nandoón/nároon	ayón

*Many Tagalog speakers may use itó in place of iré/aré.
Examples:
Anó itó?
"What's this?"
Sino ang lalaking iyon?
"Who is that man?"
Galing kay Pedro ang liham na itó.
"This letter is from Pedro."
Nandito akó.
"I am here."
Kakain silá roón.
"They will eat there."
Saán ka man naróroon.
"Wherever you are."
Kumain niyán ang batà.
"The child ate some of that."
Ayón palá ang salamín mo!
"So that's where your glasses are!"
Heto isang regalo para sa iyó.
"Here's a gift for you."

Adjectives

Just like English adjectives, Tagalog adjectives modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Forms

Simple (''Payak'')

These consists of only the root word.
Examples: hinog, sabog, ganda

Affixed (''Maylapi'')

These consists of the root word and one or more affixes.
Examples: tinanong, kumakain, nagmamahal

Repeating (''Inuulit'')

These are formed by the repetition of the whole or part of the root word.
Examples: pulang-pula, puting-puti, araw-araw, gabi-gabi

Compound (''Tambalan'')

These are compound words.
Examples: ngiting-aso, balat-sibuyas

Types

Descriptive (''Panlarawan'')

This states the size, color, form, smell, sound, texture, taste and shape.
Examples: munti, biluhaba, matamis, malubha

Proper (''Pantangi'')

This states a specific noun. This consists of a common noun and a proper noun. The proper noun is modifying the type of common noun.
Examples: wikang Ingles, kulturang Espanyol, pagkaing Iloko

''Pamilang''

This states the number, how many or a position in an order. This has multiple types.

Sequence - This states the position in an order. Examples: ikatlo, una, pangalawa
Quantitative - This states the actual number. Examples: isa, apat, limang libo
Fraction - This states a part of a whole. Examples: kalahati, limang-kawalo, sangkapat
Monetary - This states a price of a thing or any bought item. Examples: piso, limampung sentimo, sandaang piso
Collective - This states a group of people or things. This identifies the number that forms that group. Examples: dalawahan, sampu-sampu, animan
Patakda - This states the exact and actual number. This cannot be added or subtracted. Examples: iisa, dadalawa, lilima
Degrees of Comparison

Just like English adjectives, Tagalog adjectives have 3 degrees of comparison.

Positive (''Lantay'')

This only compares one noun/pronoun.
Example: maliit, kupas, mataba

Comparative (''Pahambing'')

This is used when 2 nouns/pronouns are being compared. This has multiple types.

Similar - This is the comparison when the traits compared are fair. Usually, the prefixes ga-, sing-/kasing-, and magsing-/magkasing- are used.
Dissimilar - This is the comparison if it shows the idea of disallowance, rejection or opposition.
* Palamang - the thing that is being compared has a positive trait. The words "higit", "lalo", "mas", "di-hamak" and others are used.
* Pasahol - the thing that is being compared has a negative trait. The words "di-gaano", "di-gasino", "di-masyado" and others are used.
Superlative (Pasukdol)

This is the highest degree of comparison. This can be positive or negative. The words "sobra", "ubod", "tunay", "talaga", "saksakan", and "hari ng ___" are used, as well as the repetition of the adjective.

Degrees of Description

These degrees has no comparison.

''Lantay''

This is when the simple/plain form of the adjective is being used for description.
Halimbawa: matalino, palatawa

''Katamtaman''

This is when the adjective is accompanied by the words "medyo", "nang kaunti", "nang bahagya" or the repetition of the root word or the first two syllables of the root word.
Examples: medyo mataba, malakas nang bahagya, malakas-lakas, matabang nang kaunti

''Masidhi''

This is when the adjective is accompanied by the words "napaka", "ubod ng", "saksakan ng", "talagang", "sobrang", "masyadong" or the repetition of the whole adjective. The description in this degree is intense or excess.
Examples: napakalakas, ubod ng bait, talagang mabango, sobrang makinis

Number

There are rules that are followed when forming adjectives that uses the prefix "ma-".

Singular (''Isahan'')

When the adjective is describing only one noun/pronoun, "ma-" and the root word is used.
Examples: masaya, malungkot

Plural (''Maramihan'')

When the adjective is describing two or more noun/pronoun, "ma-" is used and the first syllable or first two letters of the root word is repeated.
Examples: maliliit, magaganda
The word "mga" is not needed if the noun/pronoun is right next to the adjective.
Example: Ang magagandang damit ay kasya kina Erica at Bel.

Ligatures

Ligatures are particles that connect/link modifiers and the words that they are modifying. There are 3 ligatures in total.

''na''

This is used if the preceding word is ending on a consonant except n. This is not written on the preceding word but separated. It is between the modifier and the word it's modifying.
Example: mapagmahal na tao

''-ng''

This is used if the preceding word is ending on a vowel. It is placed at the end of the preceding word.
Example: mabuting nilalang ng Diyos

''-g''

This is used if the preceding word is ending in n. It is placed at the end of the preceding word.
Example: huwarang mamamayan

Conjunctions

Tagalog uses numerous conjunctions, and may belong to one of these possible functions:

separate non-contrasting ideas
separate contrasting ideas
give explanations
provide circumstances
indicate similarities
provide reasons
indicate endings
Modifiers

Modifiers alter, qualify, clarify or limit other elements in a sentence structure. They are optional grammatical elements but they change the meaning of the element they are modifying in particular ways. Examples of modifiers are adjectives, adjectival clauses, adverbs and adverbial clauses. Nouns can also modify other nouns. In Tagalog, word categories are fluid: a word can sometimes be an adverb or an adjective depending on the word it modifies. If the word being modified is a noun, then the modifier is an adjective, if the word being modified is a verb, then it is an adverb. For example, the word 'mabilis' means 'fast' in English. The Tagalog word 'mabilis' can be used to describe nouns like 'koneho' in 'konehong mabilis'. In that phrase, 'mabilis' was used as an adjective. The same word can be used to describe verbs, one can say 'tumakbong mabilis' which means 'quickly ran'. In that phrase, 'mabilis' was used as an adverb. The Tagalog word for 'rabbit' is 'koneho' and 'ran' is 'tumakbo' but they showed up in the phrases as 'koneho-ng' and 'tumakbo-ng'. Tagalog uses something called a "linker" that always surfaces in the context of modification. Modification only occurs when a linker is present. Tagalog has the linkers -ng and na. In the examples mentioned, the linker -ng was used because the word before the linker ends in a vowel. The second linker, na is used everywhere else. Seeing the enclitics -ng and na are good indications that there is modification in the clause. These linkers can appear before or after the modifier. The next sections discuss the distribution of linkers in different contexts.
Discussion of Syntactic Trees: For the creation of the syntactic trees, X-bar theory is applied and the addition of ModP as Scontras & Nicolae suggested. ModP stands for Modifier Phrase and it presents the unique distribution of linkers in Tagalog. It is an adjunct to an XP and requires a complement XP. It is an adjunct because modifiers are optional but adds meaning to a phrase. It needs a complement because by itself, it is no longer a modifier. It needs either the word being modified or the modifier as a complement.

Tagalog linker

Adjectival modifiers

In Tagalog, when a noun composes with an adjective, adverb or another noun in attributive position, a linker is obligatory. In, the linker na is used to connect the noun 'bahay' and the adjective 'maganda' to create the noun phrase 'bahay na maganda'. The linker na demonstrates that the adjective 'maganda' is modifying the noun 'bahay'. The linker na is used instead of -ng because the noun preceding the linker, 'bahay' ends with a consonant. Without the linker na, the phrase is ungrammatical as shown in. There is no modification because the linker is missing: the adjective 'maganda' is not modifying 'bahay'. The asterisk indicates the missing linker and the ungrammatical phrase. The tree shows the grammatical phrase in. The highest XP is an NP because the head of the phrase is a noun. ModP is an adjunct to NP because both the linker and the adjective are modifying NP. AP 'maganda is a complement to Mod na because the linker needs the adjective to modify NP 'bahay'.
In, the linker -ng connected the adjective ‘maganda’ and the noun ‘bahay’ to create the grammatical phrase ‘magandang bahay’. In the previous example, the noun came before the adjective. In this example, the adjective came before the noun. Despite the order being different, the meaning is the same. The linker -ng is still needed to show that there is modification, that 'maganda' is modifying 'bahay'. The linker -ng is used in this example because the word before the linker, 'maganda' ends with a vowel. Without the linker -ng, the phrase is ungrammatical as shown in. In, there is no modification because the linker is missing. It is just like listing the words 'house' and 'beautiful'. The symbol * represents the missing modifier and the ungrammatical phrase. The following tree shows the grammatical phrase in. The tree is very similar to the tree in except that this time, NP 'bahay' is the complement and AP 'maganda is in the specifier position of NP.
However, if the adjective appears in predicative position, linker is prohibited. It is when the property of being 'beautiful' is ascribed to the 'house' using a verb. In other words, when an adjective is a predicate. If you add a linker, it results into an ungrammatical sentence as shown in . When the verb is assigning the adjective to the noun, a linker should not be placed. The symbol represents the error when a linker is incorrectly placed. The tree shows the grammatical phrase in. AP 'maganda' is assigned to 'bahay' by the verb 'ang and ModP is not included.
→
In the examples, adjectives were used to show the distribution of linker. The distribution of the linker is similar in adverbs and modifier nouns. We can easily replace the adjective in the examples with an adverb and the noun with a verb to turn it into a context of adverbial modification. The examples can be replaced with the adverbial phrases 'tumakbong mabilis' or 'mabilis na tumakbo' which both means. If the adjective and the noun are replaced with two nouns, it will turn into nominal modification. The examples can be replaced with phrases that have nominal modifiers like 'babaeng doktor' and 'doktor na babae. The same linkers are used and they pattern the same way in adverbial and nominal modification: linkers are obligatory in attributive position but are prohibited in predicate position.

Clausal modifier

Linker is also obligatory when a clause is modifying a word. In, the linker -ng is needed for the clause 'binili ni Maria' to modify 'libro'. The linker -ng is used because 'libro ends with a vowel. Similar to the other types of modifiers, a linker is needed to say that the clause is modifying the noun. There is no modification if the linker is not present. The only difference here is that the word doing the modifying is a series of words, a clause instead of a single word. If the linker -ng is not included, the phrase is ungrammatical as shown in. In, the phrase cannot mean 'the book that Maria bought' because there is no element that produces modification. The asterisk represents the missing linker and the ungrammatical phrase.The following tree shows ModP as an adjunct to DP and the clause as a complement to Mod -ng.
The relative order of the word being modified and the clause is flexible like the other modifiers. Example shows the clause 'binili ni Maria' before the noun 'libro' as opposed to the previous example where the noun came before the modifying clause. The linker -ng is still used because 'Maria ends in a vowel as well. The order is different but the meaning of the two phrases is the same. The tree shows the grammatical phrase in, ModP is again an adjunct to a higher XP and now DP 'libro' is the complement of Mod '-ng'. If there is no linker, the phrase is ungrammatical as shown in.
For adjectival, adverbial, nominal modifiers, linkers are prohibited in predicate position. For clausal modifiers, linkers are prohibited in matrix clauses. In a matrix clause, adding a linker results in an ungrammatical sentence as shown in. The property of 'being seen' is ascribed to the noun 'house' using a verb. The sentence in is grammatical because the linker is not included in the sentence. The following tree shows the grammatical sentence without ModP. The example would be grammatical if -ng was not placed there. The symbol represents the error when a linker is incorrectly placed.
Summary of the distribution of linker:
The following table summarizes the distribution of linker that has been discussed in this section.

Required	Prohibited
Attributive Adjective	Predicative Adjective
Adverbial modifier	Predicative Adverbial
Nominal Modifier	Predicative Nominal
Relative Clause	Matrix Clause

Sequence of modifiers in a noun phrase

The following tables show a possible word order of a noun phrase containing a modifier. Since word order is flexible in Tagalog, there are other possible ways in which one could say these phrases. To read more on Tagalog word order, head to the Word Order section.

Enclitic particles

Tagalog has enclitic particles that have important information conveying different nuances in meaning. Below is a list of Tagalog's enclitic particles.

na and pa
*na: now, already
*pa: still, else, in addition, yet
man, kahit: even, even if, even though
bagamán: although
ngâ: indeed; used to affirm or to emphasise. Also softens imperatives.
din : too, also
lamang : limiting particle; only or just
daw : a reporting particle that indicates the preceding information as secondhand; they say, he said, reportedly, supposedly, etc.
pô : marker indicating politeness.
ba: used to end yes-and-no questions and optionally in other types of questions, similar to Japanese -ka and Chinese ma, but not entirely.
muna: for now, for a minute and yet.
namán: used in making contrasts; softens requests; emphasis
kasí: expresses cause; because
kayâ: expresses wonder; I wonder; perhaps ; also optionally used in yes-and-no questions and other forms of questions
palá: expresses that the speaker has realized or suddenly remembered something; realization particle; apparently
yatà: expresses uncertainty; probably, perhaps, seems
tulóy: used in cause and effect; as a result
sana: expresses hope, unrealized condition, used in conditional sentences.

The order listed above is the order in which the particles follow if they are used in conjunction with each other. A more concise list of the orders of monosyllabic particles from Rubino is given below.

na / pa
ngâ
din ~ rin
daw ~ raw
pô / hô
ba

The particles na and pa cannot be used in conjunction with each other as well as pô and hô.
Note for "daw/raw and rin/din": If preceding letter is a consonant except y and w, the letter d is used in any word, vice versa for r e.g., pagdárasal, instead of pagdádasal
Although in everyday speech, this rule is often ignored.
The words daw and raw, which mean “he said”/“she said”/“they said”, are sometimes joined to the real translations of “he said”/”she said”, which is sabi niyá, and “they said”, which is sabi nilá. They are also joined to the Tagalog of “you said”, which is sabi mo. But this time, both daw and raw mean “supposedly/reportedly”.
Although the word kasí is native Tagalog for “because” and not slang, it is still not used in formal writing. The Tagalog word for this is sapagká’t or sapagkát. Thus, the formal form of Batà pa kasí is Sapagká’t batà pa or Sapagkát batà pa. This is sometimes shortened to pagká’t or pagkát, so Sapagká’t batà pa is also written as Pagká’t batà pa or Pagkát batà pa. In both formal and everyday writing and speech, dahil sa is also synonymous to sapagká’t, so the substitute of Sapagká’t batà pa for Batà pa kasí is Dahil sa batà pa. Most of the time in speech and writing, dahil sa as the Tagalog of “because” is reduced to dahil, so Dahil sa batà pa is spoken simply as Dahil batà pa.

Word order

Tagalog has a flexible word order compared to English. While the verb always remains in initial position, the order of noun phrase complements that follow is flexible. An example provided by Schacter and Otanes can be seen in.
The flexibility of Tagalog word order can be seen in. There are six different ways of saying 'The man gave the woman a book.' in Tagalog. The following five sentences, along with the sentence from, include the same grammatical components and are all grammatical and identical in meaning but have different orders.

'	Tagalog:	Nagbigay	ng=libro	ang=lalaki	sa=babae
'	Gloss:	gave	GEN=book	NOM=man	DAT=woman
'	Tagalog:	Nagbigay	sa=babae	ng=libro	ang=lalaki
'	Gloss:	gave	DAT=woman	GEN=book	NOM=man
'	Tagalog:	Nagbigay	sa=babae	ang=lalaki	ng=libro
'	Gloss:	gave	DAT=woman	NOM=man	GEN=book
'	Tagalog:	Nagbigay	ang=lalaki	sa=babae	ng=libro
'	Gloss:	gave	NOM=man	DAT=woman	GEN=book
'	Tagalog:	Nagbigay	ang=lalaki	ng=libro	sa=babae
'	Gloss:	gave	NOM=man	GEN=book	DAT=woman

The principles in help to determine the ordering of possible noun phrase complements. In a basic clause where the patient takes the nominative case, principles and requires the actor to precede the patient. In example, the patient, 'liham takes the nominative case and satisfies principles and. The example in shows that the opposite ordering of the agent and patient does not result in an ungrammatical sentence but rather an unnatural one in Tagalog.

' Actor phrase tends to precede all other arguments

' Noun phrase which bears nominative case tends to follow all other arguments

' "Heavier" noun phrases tend to follow "lighter" noun phrases

In example, the verb, 'binihag', is marked for active voice and results in the actor to take the nominative case. Example doesn't satisfy principles and. That is, principle requires the Actor to precede all other arguments. However, since the Actor also takes the nominative case, principle requires the phrase 'Kuya Louis to come last. The preferred order of agent and patient in Tagalog active clauses is still being debated. Therefore, we can assume that there are two "unmarked" word orders: VSO or VOS.
A change in word order and trigger generally corresponds to a change in definiteness in English. Example shows a change in word order, triggered by the indirect, "ng." Example shows a change in word order, triggered by the direct, "ang."
Word order may be inverted by way of the inversion marker 'ay '. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the copula 'to be' as 'ay' does not behave as an existential marker in an SVO structure and an inverted form VSO does not require 'ay since the existentiality is denoted by case marking. A slight, but optional, pause in speech or a comma in writing may replace the inversion marker. This construction is often viewed by native speakers as formal or literary.
In this construction, the 'ay appears between the fronted constituent and the remainder of the clause. The fronted constituent in the construction includes locations and adverbs. Example - shows the inverted form of the sentences in previous examples above.
In, and, the fronted constituent is the subject. On the other hand, in, the fronted constituent is the object. Another example of a fronted constituent in Tagalog is, wh-phrases. Wh-phrases include interrogative questions that begin with: who, what, where, when, why and how. In Tagalog, wh-phrases occur to the left of the clause. For example, in the sentence, 'Who are you?', which translates to, '''Sino ka? occurs to the left of the clause. The syntactic tree of this sentence is found in. As we can see in, the complementizer position is null. However, in the case where an overt complementizer is present, Sabbagh proposes that the wh-phrase lowers from Spec, CP and adjoins to TP when C is overt. The operation in is known as, WhP lowering.
This operation of lowering can also be applied in sentences to account for the verb-initial word order in Tagalog. The subject-lowering analysis states that, "the subject lowers from Spec, TP and adjoins to a projection dominated by TP.". If we use the example from,
Nagbigay ang lalaki ng libro sa babae. and applied subject lowering, we would see the syntax tree in.If we lowered the subject, ang lalaki, to an intermediate position within VP, we would be able to achieve a VOS word order and still satisfy subject lowering. This can be seen in.
Lowering is motivated by a prosodic constraint called, WeakStart. This constraint is largely based on the phonological hierarchy. This constraint requires phonological the first element within a phonological domain to be lower on the prosodic hierarchy than elements that follow it, within the same domain.
Negation
There are three negation words: hindî, walâ, and huwág.
Hindî negates verbs and equations. It is sometimes contracted to ‘dî.
Hindî akó magtatrabaho bukas.
Hindî mayaman ang babae.
Walâ is the opposite of may and mayroón.
Walâ akóng pera.
Akó ay walang pera.
Waláng libró sa loób ng bahay niyá.
Huwág is used in expressing negative commands. It can be used for the infinitive and the future aspect. It is contracted as ‘wag.
Huwág kang umiyák.
Huwág kayóng tumakbó rito.
There are two special negative forms for common verbs:
Gustó/Ibig/Nais ko nang kumain.
Ayaw ko pang kumain.
Interrogative words
Tagalog's interrogative words are: alín, anó, bákit, gaáno, ilán, kailán, kaníno, kumustá, magkáno, nakaníno, nasaán, níno, paáno, saán, and síno. With the exceptions of bakit, kamustá, and nasaán, all of the interrogative words have optional plural forms which are formed by reduplication. They are used when the person who is asking the question anticipates a plural answer and can be called wh-phrases. The syntactic position of these types of phrases can be seen in.
Gaano means how but is used in inquiring about the quality of an adjective or an adverb. The rootword of the modifier is prefixed with ka- in this construction.Ilán means how many. Kumustá is used to inquire how something is. It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?. Magkano means how much and is usually used in inquiring the price of something. Paano is used in asking how something is done or happened.
Nino means who, whose, and whom. It is the indirect and genitive form of sino. Sino means who and whom and it is in the direct form. Kanino means whom or whose. It is the oblique form of sino.

Popular articles
Javier Milei - Argentine libertarian economist, author, radio conductor and public speaker sympathetic to the Austrian School of economic thought. He became widely known for his regular ...
Jimmy Carter - American politician, philanthropist, and former farmer who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previ...
UEFA Euro 2024 - The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship , commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024 , will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial internationa...
Argentina - country located mostly in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the country is also b...
Sam Altman - American entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and blogger. He is the former president of Y Combinator and now the CEO of OpenAI. Early life and education. ...
Rosalynn Carter - American who served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For decades, she has been a leading advocate for numerou...
Next Argentine presidential election - Next Argentine presidential election - presidential election in Argentina....
Popular movies
The Hunger Games (film) - 2012 American dystopian action thriller science fiction-adventure film directed by Gary Ross and based on Suzanne Collins’s 2008 novel of the same name. It is the first insta...
untitled Captain Marvel sequel - part of Marvel Cinematic Universe....
Killers of the Flower Moon (film project) - Killers of the Flower Moon - film project in United States of America. It was presented as drama, detective fiction, thriller. The film project starred Leonardo Dicaprio, Robert De Niro. Director of...
Five Nights at Freddy's (film) - Five Nights at Freddy's - film published in 2017 in United States of America. Scenarist of the film - Scott Cawthon....
Popular video games
Minecraft - sandbox video game developed by Mojang Studios. Created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language and released as a public alpha for personal computers in 2...
Grand Theft Auto V - 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 2008's Grand Theft ...
Roblox - online game platform and game creation system that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Founded by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in...
Baldur's Gate III - upcoming role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios for Microsoft Windows and the Stadia streaming service. It is the third main game in the Baldur's ...
Alan Wake - action-adventure video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios, released for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The story follows best-selling thri...
Fortnite - online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ...
Super Mario RPG - is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996. It was directed by Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka and produced by...
Popular books
Book of Revelation - The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament, and consequently is also the final book of the Christian Bible. Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: apok...
Book of Genesis - account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, Israel's ancestors and the origins...
Gospel of Matthew - The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, rejected and executed in Israel, pronounces judgement on ...
Michelin Guide - Michelin Guides are a series of guide books published by the French tyre company Michelin for more than a century. The term normally refers to the annually published Michelin Red Guide , the oldest...
Psalms - The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms , the Psalter or "the Psalms", is the first book of the Ketuvim , the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and thus a book of th...
Ecclesiastes - Ecclesiastes is one of 24 books of the Tanakh , where it is classified as one of the Ketuvim . Originally written c. 450–200 BCE, it is also among the canonical Wisdom literature of the Old Tes...
The 48 Laws of Power - non-fiction book by American author Robert Greene. The book...
Popular television series
The Crown (TV series) - historical drama web television series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, created and principally written by Peter Morgan, and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Tel...
Friends - American sitcom television series, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast sta...
Young Sheldon - spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory and begins with the character Sheldon...
Modern Family - American television mockumentary family sitcom created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for eleven seasons, from September 23...
Loki (TV series) - upcoming American web television miniseries created for Disney+ by Michael Waldron, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, shar...
Game of Thrones - American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It...
Shameless (American TV series) - American comedy-drama television series developed by John Wells which debuted on Showtime on January 9, 2011. It...

'	Actor phrase tends to precede all other arguments
'	Noun phrase which bears nominative case tends to follow all other arguments
'	"Heavier" noun phrases tend to follow "lighter" noun phrases