Word Order: The Predicate Comes First — Filipino Grammar

Tagalog builds a sentence the other way round from English. The predicate — the part that says something — comes first, and the thing it is said about comes last. English says "The man is eating"; Tagalog says the equivalent of "Is-eating the man".

Verb First, Subject After

The verb opens the sentence. The phrase marked with , which names who or what the sentence is really about, follows it.

Kumakain ang lalaki.
The man is eating. (lit. is-eating the man)
Dumarating ang mga bus sa hintuan ng bus.
The busses are arriving at the bus stop.
Sumasakay ang mga bata sa bus.
The children are getting on the bus.

No Word for "Is"

A predicate does not have to be a verb. An adjective or a noun can open a sentence just as well, and when it does, Tagalog uses no linking verb at all. There is simply nothing between the description and the thing described.

Huli na ang bus.
The bus is late. (lit. late already the bus)
Mahal ang mga gulay.
The vegetables are expensive.
Guro ang kaibigan ko.
My friend is a teacher.

Pronoun Subjects Jump Forward

When the subject is a short pronoun, it does not wait until the end. It attaches right after the first word of the predicate. This is why ("I") and ("you") so often appear as the second word of a sentence.

Nanonood ako ng pelikula.
I am watching a movie.
Kumakain kami ng pananghalian.
We are eating lunch.
Isa siyang estudyante.
She is a student.

What the 'ang' Phrase Really Is

It is tempting to call the phrase "the subject", but that can mislead you. It is better thought of as the item in focus — the one the sentence is shining a light on. It is not necessarily the doer of the action. In the sentence below, the doer is , while the thing in focus, marked by , is the apple.

Kinain ng bata ang mansanas.
The child ate the apple. (in focus: the apple)
Kumain ang bata ng mansanas.
The child ate an apple. (in focus: the child)

Both sentences describe the same event. Which noun gets is decided by the shape of the verb: points at the eater, points at the thing eaten. That system is the heart of Tagalog grammar.

Rearranging for Emphasis

Predicate-first is the neutral order, but Tagalog can front the focused phrase to give it weight. Doing so requires the marker between the two parts.

Ang lalaki ay kumakain.
The man is eating. (fronted, more formal)

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Filipino course

216 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Word Order: The Predicate Comes First” is about in bold:

Ito ang kaibigan ko, si Anna. Isa siyang estudyante.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Kamusta ang pakiramdam mo? Mabuti o masama?
How are you feeling? Good or bad?
Lesson 61
Maganda ang pakiramdam ko! Wala akong sakit. Malusog ako.
I feel great! I am not sick. I am healthy.
Lesson 64

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