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Pronouns & Basic Sentence Structure
Personal pronouns, ang vs. ng forms, basic predicate-first word order
akin, iyo, kanya
mine, yours, his/hers (possessive pronouns)
ah-kin, ee-yoh, kahn-yah
Possessive pronouns replacing ng plus pronoun
amin, atin, inyo, kanila
ours(excl), ours(incl), yours(pl), theirs
ah-min, ah-tin, in-yoh, kah-nee-lah
Complete set of possessive pronouns
sa akin, sa iyo, sa kanya
to me, to you, to him/her
sah ah-kin, sah ee-yoh
Sa-form pronouns for indirect object or location
Akin ang kotse.
The car is mine.
ah-kin ahng koht-seh
Possessive pronoun as predicate
Ibinigay niya sa akin ang libro.
He/she gave me the book.
ee-bee-nee-guy nee-yah sah ah-kin
Double-object construction with sa-pronoun
Mayroon / Meron akong pera.
I have money.
may-rohn / meh-ron ah-kong peh-rah
Mayroon/meron plus ng-linked pronoun = have
Wala akong pera.
I have no money.
wah-lah ah-kong peh-rah
Wala plus ng-linked pronoun = lack/absence
Doktor si Juan.
Juan is a doctor.
dok-tor see hwahn
Equative sentence: no copula needed; predicate comes first
Ang mga bata ay masasaya.
The children are happy.
ahng mah-ngah bah-tah ay mah-sah-sah-yah
Ay-inversion used in formal or written sentences
Topic vs. non-topic participant roles
ang = topic; ng = non-topic agent/patient
varies
The focus system determines which participant is the topic