Adjectives: The 'ma-' Prefix and Describing Nouns

01

'ma-' Means "Having a Lot of"

Take a noun naming a quality, prefix ma-, and you get an adjective meaning "full of that quality".

• ganda (beauty) → maganda (beautiful)
• init (heat) → mainit (hot)
• lamig (coldness) → malamig (cold)
• sarap (deliciousness) → masarap (delicious)
• bilis (speed) → mabilis (fast)
• ingay (noise) → maingay (noisy)

This is why so much of the adjective vocabulary begins with ma-: malaki, maliit, mabait, masaya, mahaba, matalino, marumi.

02

Not Every Adjective Takes It

Plenty of common adjectives have no ma- at all, and you simply learn them whole: bago (new), luma (old, of things), matanda (old, of people), bata (young), pangit (ugly), mura (cheap), mahal (expensive).

03

As a Predicate: No Linker, and It Comes First

To say "X is Y", put the adjective first and the thing described after, with ang. There is no word for "is" and no linker.

• Huli na ang bus.

  The bus is late.

• Mahal ang mga gulay.

  The vegetables are expensive.

• Luma na ang librong ito.

  This book is old.

04

As a Modifier: Linker Required

To attach the adjective to a noun inside a phrase, you must use the linker na or -ng. Either order works.

• Ito ang bago kong bahay.

  This is my new house.

• 'Yan ay isang lumang radyo.

  That is an old radio.

• Malinis na tubig

  clean water

• Bahay na maliit

  a small house

05

Making Adjectives Plural

When the noun is plural, the adjective can agree by doubling its first syllable. This is optional but very natural.

• maganda → magaganda (beautiful, plural)
• malaki → malalaki (big, plural)
• maliit → maliliit (small, plural)

• Magaganda ang mga bulaklak.

  The flowers are beautiful.

Notice the doubling lands on the syllable after ma-, not on ma- itself.

06

Adjectives Behave a Little Like Verbs

Because an adjective can be a complete predicate on its own, it sits in the same slot a verb would. This is why enclitics like na, pa, and ba attach to adjectives exactly as they attach to verbs.

• Gabi na.

  It is late already.

• Mahal ba ito?

  Is this expensive?