The Tagalog prefix nag- is used to verbalize nouns in the past tense. You can translate it as ‘did’ in most cases, but the meaning depends on the context.
This prefix is very useful because you can put it in front of English nouns. Filipinos do this all the time! That’s why when you hear them speaking Tagalog, there seems to be a lot of English words sprinkled in.
Nag-tennis ako.
I ‘did’ tennis.
(I played tennis.)
I ‘did’ shopping.
(I went shopping.)
Nag-hamburger sila.
They ‘did’ hamburgers.
They ate hamburgers.
Nag-McDo sila.
They ‘did’ McDonalds.
They ate at McDonald’s.
Nag-Pizza Hut sila.
They ‘did’ Pizza Hut.
They ate at Pizza Hut.
Nag-Wendy’s sila.
They ‘did’ Wendy’s.
They ate at Wendy’s.
Nag-ice cream sila.
They ‘did’ ice cream.
They ate ice cream.
Nag-sapatos sila.
They ‘did’ shoes.
They wore shoes.
Nag-T-shirt ako.
I ‘did’ T-shirt.
I wore a T-shirt.
Of course you can use nag in front of Tagalog nouns too. For example, the Tagalog noun for the word ‘study’ is aral and the Tagalog verb for ‘studied’ is nag-aral.
studied
Nag-aral ako.
I studied.
nag-Tagalog
used Tagalog
(spoke or wrote)
nag-Ingles
used English
Nag-Ingles ako.
I ‘did’ English.
I spoke English.
nag-sabon
used soap
Nag-sabon ako ng kamay.
I soaped my hands.
nag-shampoo
shampooed
Nag-shampoo ka ba?
Did you use shampoo?
Even if there is a native Tagalog word, oftentimes Filipinos will mix in English.
For example, the English word “swam” (past tense of “swim”) is the Tagalog word lumangoy.
Lumangoy ako.
I swam.
You will hear Filipinos instead say:
Nag-swimming ako.
I went swimming.
You have to remember what the focus of the sentence is. You have to match the pronoun with the focus of the sentence. Ako only means “I” and ko means me/my. If ako is the subject, it should be in the POD part of the sentence which is at the very end and you wouldn’t need to add ng. Both sentences to me seem grammatically incorrect.
Nagsabon ng kamay ako.
I have a question. Is the meaning of these 2 sentences same?
1) nag sabon ako ng kamay
2) nag sabon akong kamay
Ako ng and akong are same?
✓ Nagsabon ako ng kamay.
The first is correct.
The second is wrong.
In this case, “ako ng” and “akong” are not the same.
In everyday situations, you may hear someone say 2), that’s because they skip over the vowel in ng to speak faster, and written down 2) may reflect this. It’s not really ‘correct’ though.