The Linker: 'na' and '-ng'

01

The Sound Rule

• Use -ng, attached to the end of the first word, when that word ends in a vowel or in -n.
• Use the separate word na when the first word ends in any other consonant.

• Bumili ako ng mga grocery at bagong relo.

  I bought groceries and a new watch. (bago ends in a vowel, so bagong)

• Ang babaeng iyon ay naglalakad.

  That woman is walking. (babae + -ng)

• 'Yan ay isang lumang radyo.

  That is an old radio.

• Ang lalaking iyon ay tumatakbo.

  That man is running.

A word that already ends in -n does not add the whole -ng. It adds only the g, so the n it already has becomes part of the linker.

• Noong nakaraang linggo, nakarating ako sa New York.

  Last week, I arrived in New York. (nakaraan + g = nakaraang)

When the first word ends in a consonant other than n, the linker stands alone:

• Mahal na kotse

  an expensive car

• Malinis na tubig

  clean water

02

Either Order Works

The describing word may come before or after the thing it describes. The meaning is the same; the linker simply sits between them either way.

• Bagong bahay

  a new house

• Bahay na bago

  a house that is new

03

Numbers and Amounts Need It Too

This is where beginners meet the linker most often, because counting anything requires it.

• Bibili ako ng isang saging at anim na itlog.

  I am buying one banana and six eggs.

• Mayroon akong dalawang anak.

  I have two children.

• Mayroon akong dalawang kotse, dalawang bisikleta, at tatlong motorsiklo.

  I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.

Notice isang (from isa), dalawang (from dalawa), tatlong (from tatlo) — all vowel-final, so all take -ng. But anim ends in -m, so it takes the separate na.

04

Pronouns Slide In Between

A possessive pronoun often lands between the describing word and the noun. The linker then attaches to the pronoun, since that is now the word directly before the noun.

• Ang bago kong bahay

  my new house (lit. the new my house)

05

No Linker in the Predicate

The linker joins a modifier to a noun inside a phrase. It is not used when the adjective is the predicate — that is, when it is the statement itself.

• Bagong bahay ang bahay ko.

  My house is a new house. (linker inside the phrase)

• Bago ang bahay ko.

  My house is new. (predicate — no linker)