root words: may, doon
may·ro·ón
there is, there are, has, have
Mayroon akong lapis.
I have a pencil.
Mayroon silang bagong kotse.
They have a new car.
MAYROON
there is, there are, has, have
TAGALOG GRAMMAR
there is, there are, has, have
Present Tense
There are only three tenses in the Tagalog language — past, present and future. The tenses of Tagalog verbs are only concerned with whether something happened, happens or will happen.
NAMIN
This word is what linguists call a “genitive pronoun.”
ná·min
our, we
our, we
Mahal ka namin.
We love you.
This is the exclusive “our” while natin is inclusive.
Continue reading “NAMIN”
MAPANG-
The word mapang is a conjugated form of mapa (map).
Separately, there is a frequently used prefix for Tagalog words (mapang- ) which means having an inclination to be a certain way.
Make Words Plural in Tagalog
To make a word plural in Tagalog, use mga before it.
It is pronounced “mah-nga.”
mga bata
children
children
mga tao
people
mga nanay
mothers
MALA-
This is a prefix expressing similarity.
It can be translated as “somewhat” or “semi-“.
mala-kolonyal
somewhat colonial
mala-anghel
like an angel
KASING-
Usage of ‘mag-‘ in Tagalog
The Tagalog prefix mag- is used to verbalize nouns. You can translate it as ‘do’ in most cases, but the meaning depends on the context. This 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.