Question Words

01

The Core Set

• ano — what
• sino — who
• saan — where (with an action)
• nasaan — where (something is located)
• tagasaan — where from (of a person)
• kailan — when
• bakit — why
• paano — how
• alin — which
• ilan — how many
• magkano — how much (money)

02

The 'ang' Pattern

Most questions are built as: question word + ang + the rest. Literally this is "what is the thing-you-are-doing" — the second part behaves like a noun phrase.

• Ano ang pangalan mo?

  What is your name?

• Ano ang ginagawa niyo ngayon?

  What are you doing now?

• Ano ang maipaglilingkod ko sa iyo?

  What can I do for you?

• Nasaan ang libro ko?

  Where is my book?

03

'anong' — the Contracted Form

Ano plus the linker gives anong, used directly before a noun or verb. It is extremely common in speech.

• Anong ginawa mo kahapon?

  What did you do yesterday?

• Anong oras na?

  What time is it?

• Anong oras ka matatapos sa trabaho?

  What time do you finish work?

04

'saan' and 'nasaan'

This pair follows the same logic as sa and nasa. Use saan when the sentence has a verb, and nasaan when you are simply asking where something sits.

• Saan ka pupunta?

  Where are you going? (there is a verb)

• Nasaan ang aso?

  Where is the dog? (no verb, pure location)

05

Question Words With Pronouns

Enclitic pronouns attach to the question word itself, exactly as they attach to any first word.

• Bakit mo ginawa iyon?

  Why did you do that?

• Paano kita matutulungan?

  How may I help you?

• Kailan ka magsisimulang magtrabaho?

  When do you start work?

06

'sino' and Possession

Like every noun-like word in Tagalog, sino comes in the three case forms. "Whose" is the sa-form — built the same way as kanya and kanila, and used wherever a sa phrase would go.

• ang-form: sino — who, as the one in focus
• ng-form: nino — by whom, of whom
• sa-form: kanino — to whom, and "whose"

• Sino ang guro?

  Who is the teacher?

• Kanino ang bag na ito?

  Whose bag is this?

07

'ilan' and 'magkano'

Keep these apart: ilan counts items, magkano asks a price.

• Ilan ang anak mo?

  How many children do you have?

• Magkano ito?

  How much is this?