Markers What are markers? And Why are they Important

What are markers? Tagalog markers function in much the same way as articles in English. These words come before nouns or noun phrases to indicate their roles in a sentence. They may mark nouns as subject, object, location, direction, etc. Si Ben/ni Ben Sina Ben at Mila/nina Ben at Mila Ang bata/ng bata Ang mga Bata/ng mga bata Sa Chicago

What do markers indicate? A marker tells you something about the noun that follows it. In Tagalog, markers tell you something about what role the word plays in the sentence. – Kumain si Ben. – Kinain ni Ben ang mansanas.

Words and Markers 1. Focus words - the markers that identify these words are called ANG markers. 2. Relational words - the markers that identify these words are called NG markers. 3. Locative (direction or location) words - the markers that identify these words are called SA markers. *Note that a single word can be in any one of the categories depending on how the speaker wants to use it in the sentence or depending on the affix of the verbs.

ANG ANG marks a word as the focus of the sentence except for nouns that are the names of people (like Bob, Sarah, etc.). Abogado ang babae. Masaya ang piknik. Nasa mesa ang kape.

2. ANG is a noun definitizer (i.e., it functions like the definite article the, as opposed to a or an, in English), especially in sentences using pseudo-verbs.

The following examples illustrate the contrast between definite and indefinite noun phrases. I like mangoes. I like the mangoes Gusto ko ng mangga. Gusto ang mangga

Si- Singular and Sina - Plural The markers SI and SINA are used to indicate that the name of a person is the focus of the sentence. ANG is not used with personal names like Bob, Mary, Jose, Rita, etc. If the name is the focus of the sentence, used si/sina

Si/Sina Si Ben ang tatay ko. Sina Mila at Ben ang mga kaibigan ko. Pumunta si Mila sa Klase. Kumain sina Mila at Ben ng adobo at pansit.

Ng/Ng Mga/ni/nina Noun is not the focus of the sentence Ng is for inanimate nouns Ni is for animate nouns No exact translation in English Marks the direct object in the sentence in an actor focus sentence Indicate possession

Non- Focus Kinain ni Ben ang mansanas sa mesa. Binasa ng lalake ang libro. Nagluto si Ben ng pizza. Naglinis siya ng bahay.

Possession The possessor noun comes after the noun possessed. Or in other words, the noun before NI/nina is the noun that is possessed or owned. The noun after NI/nina is the possessor or owner. Ito ang bahay ni ate Rhoda. This is ate Rhoda’s house. Si Ben ang kapatid ni Mila. Ben is Mila’s sibling.