An Explanation of Some Tagalog Grammar Terms

Linguist Bud Brown explains some grammatical terms used in Tagalog that might be confusing for studetns of Tagalog.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• tagalog
• bud brown
• languages
• language
• philippines

[wiretapperjoe]

A Tagalog verb aspect corresponds to several English verb tenses, which you're probably aware of. Thus,

Perfect = Past Perfect, Past, Present Perfect, Future Perfect

Imperfect = Past Perfect Progressive, Past Progressive, Present Progressive, Present, Future Progressive, Future Perfect Progressive

Contemplative = Future

E.g. I will have printed the report by the time you request it. =

Nakapag-print na ako ng report by the time na mag-request ka.

Hope this helps.

[MagicMaximo]

Thanks. I really appreciate your very informative input.

[rachelmier]

hi bud,

i'm filipino too. particularly cebuano.

but the way they teach us tagalog in schools here

is not the same way your book is teaching you.

we use the same terms "past", "present" and "future" for the tenses like the way we're taught the english language.

we also use the words "nouns", "pronouns", "verbs", "adverbs", etc.

maybe your book is an instructional to teach tagalog to non-english speakers.

[MagicMaximo]

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate it.

[welshdragon2008]

Bud

you sound very like u have a very sore throat in this tut.

late nights learning all those important tenses and such?

great tut anyway!

[MagicMaximo]

Thanks. Yeah I just returned from my long motorcycle trip (See "In the Wind")

[MrRathbun]

@wiretapperjoe Hi friend...In that you are correct, Tagalog (aka Filipino) grammar is not tense dependent but aspect/context dependent. The word changes depending on the aspect/context it is being used and not necessarily defined by time.

[getreallanguage]

@wiretapperjoe What about the Present Perfect Progressive? Would that also fall under the Imperfect?

[wiretapperjoe]

Hey there Bud!

I'm impressed by you having interest in our language. Kekekeke. Here are some things I wanna say about your tut vid.

Back in the early 90's, when I was in grade school, there were three Tagalog tenses: Past, Present, and Future. When I got to high school, the word tense was changed to "aspect" and the three aspects were called Perfect, Imperfect, and Contemplative (or volitional).

This change in grammar terms reflects the fact that there is really no tense in Tagalog. (cont)..

[rachelmier]

but really, tagalog is not an easy dialect to learn.

truth be said, filipinos from non-tagalog speaking regions in the phils speak better english than we do tagalog ; (

the agreed national language is called pilipino

which is, as much as possible, supposedly a fusion of the many philippine dialects.

it turns out though that this pilipino language is mostly still just tagalog dialect. hence the difficulty even for us.

[zencat]

Wow, so u speak Spanish as well- bravo!