Location Words: 'dito', 'diyan', 'doon', and 'nasa'

01

Here and There, Three Ways

• dito — here, near me
• diyan — there, near you
• doon — over there, far from both

• Pumunta ka dito.

  Come here.

• Ilagay mo diyan.

  Put it there (by you).

• Pupunta ako doon bukas.

  I will go there tomorrow.

After a vowel these are often written and pronounced rito, riyan, roon — the same sound change that turns din into rin.

02

'nasa' — To Be Located At

Nasa means "is in / on / at". It is a single word that carries both the location and the idea of being there, so no other verb is needed.

• Nasa loob ng bag ang aking pera.

  My money is inside the bag.

• Nasa bahay ako.

  I am at home.

• Akin ang bag na nasa mesa.

  The bag on the table is mine.

03

'sa' vs 'nasa'

This pair confuses learners constantly, but the split is clean.

• sa — after a verb, marking direction or place of an action
• nasa — as the predicate itself, stating where something is

• Pupunta ako sa supermarket.

  I am going to the supermarket. (verb present, so sa)

• Nasa supermarket ako.

  I am at the supermarket. (no verb, so nasa)

If your sentence already has a verb, you want sa. If the sentence is only about location, you want nasa.

04

'nandito', 'nandiyan', 'naroon'

Combining the two gives the words for "is here", "is there".

• nandito (also narito) — is here
• nandiyan (also nariyan) — is there, by you
• naroon (also nandoon) — is over there

• Ang aking dyaryo ay nandito. Ang aking libro ay naroon.

  My newspaper is here. My book is there.

• Ang computer mo ay naroon.

  Your computer is over there.

05

Other Common Place Words

Slot a position noun between the marker and a ng phrase and you get a precise location. Which marker you need depends on the sentence: sa when it already has a verb, nasa when the location is the statement.

• sa loob ng — inside
• sa labas ng — outside
• sa ibabaw ng — on top of
• sa ilalim ng — under
• sa tabi ng — beside
• sa harap ng — in front of

• Nandito ako sa harap ng pinto.

  I'm in front of the door. (a verb-like predicate, so sa)

• Ang pusa ay nasa ilalim ng mesa.

  The cat is under the table. (pure location, so nasa)

06

Asking Where

• Nasaan ang libro ko?

  Where is my book? (asking for a location)

• Saan ka pupunta?

  Where are you going? (asking about an action)

Use nasaan when there is no verb, and saan when there is — the same split as nasa and sa.