Vocabulary
manók
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chicken
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tsokolate
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chocolate (noun or adj)
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bahay
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house
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anák
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child (son or daughter)
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gusali
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building
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Phrases are groups of two or more words. They may act as, and be substituted for, a specific kind of word in a sentence. For example, noun phrases act as nouns and can be substituted for nouns in a sentence. Adverb phrases act as adverbs, and can be substituted for adverbs in a sentence, etc.
In this lesson, we will show possession using ng form and sa form phrases. If you do not know them, or need a refresher, please go to Appendix A and memorize ng form noun markers, ng form personal pronouns and sa form personal pronouns before attempting this lesson.
Possessive Phrases using ng form
These are of the form “noun of noun”; ng means something like “of” in this construction.
possession + possessor (Tag.) = possessor’s possession (Eng.)
Note: Possessor takes ng form.
Ex: manok ko
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= my chicken (chicken of me)
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Ex: piso ng lalaki
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= man’s peso (peso of man)
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Ex: tsokolate ni Maria
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= Maria’s chocolate (chocolate of Maria)
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Ex: mga bahay nina Jessica at Joshua
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= Jessica and Joshua’s houses (houses of Jessica and Joshua, which they own together)
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Keep in mind that the result is a noun phrase and can be used anywhere a noun is used.
Possessive Phrases using sa form
There is an alternate way of forming possessive phrases when the possessor is a personal pronoun (pp):
pp + linker + possession (Tag.) = possessor’s possession (Eng.)
Note: Pp takes sa form without the sa.
Ex: aking manok
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= my chicken
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Ex: kanilang anak
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= their child
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Warning: sa possessive phrases are much less common than ng, so your goal should be to recognize and understand these when you encounter them, but I recommend you do not use these in colloquial speech when starting out. You will not be wrong or misunderstood if you do, but you will not be talking like a native if you frequently use these. And because native English speakers often find these easier to produce due to their English-like “Possessor’s Possession” structure, there is a great temptation to do just that. So to discourage that habit, I will limit their use to this lesson.
Chaining Possessive Phrases
We know how to say “president’s chicken”.
Ex: manok ng pangulo
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= president’s chicken
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And “my president”.
Ex: pangulo ko
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= my president
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But how do we say “my president’s chicken”? Remember that these noun phrases can be used anywhere a noun is. So, I will take the first phrases and replace the noun pangulo with the noun phrase pangulo ko.
Ex: manok ng (pangulo ko)
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= my president’s chicken
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In other words:
noun1 + noun2 + noun3 +... = chain of possessive phrases
Note: Noun2 and on take ng form.
Remember that pronouns are a class of nouns, so they can also be used in the equation above.
Ex: bahay ng manok ng pangulo ko
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= my president’s chicken’s house
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That is literally “the house of the chicken of my president”.
Personal Pronoun Possessive Phrases with Adjectives
Consider the phrase:
Ex: magandang manok ni Maria
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= Maria’s beautiful chicken
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This is fine, but if I try this with a personal pronoun, as in:
Ex: magandang manok ko = my beautiful chicken
The word order is not very common. So, for personal pronoun possessive phrases with adjectives, please use this order:
adj + pp + linker + possession (Tag.) = possessor adj possession (Eng.)
Note: Pp takes ng form.
Ex: maganda kong manok
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= my beautiful chicken
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Ex: tunay niyang piso
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= his real peso
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Ex: mura nilang tsokolate
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= their cheap chocolate
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Sample sentences.
Sa possessives noted; for all others assume ng possessives.
Q1
Who is your child? (sa possessive)
Sino ang iyong anak?
Q2
What is your president's car?
Ano ang sasakyan ng pangulo mo?
Q3
It is his white house.
Ito ang puti niyang bahay.
Q4
Their food is delicious chocolate.
Masarap na tsokolate ang pagkain nila.
Q5
This is my beautiful and tired chicken. (sa possessive)
Ito ang aking maganda at pagod na manok.
Q6
Those are my child's pesos and chocolates.
Yun ang mga piso at tsokolate ng anak ko.
Q7
Who is Angel and Maria's teacher?
Sino ang guro nina Angel at Maria?
Q8
This is our happy chicken.
Ito ang masaya naming manok.
Q9
Mother's student's pesos are many.
Marami ang mga piso ng estudyante ni Nanay.
Q10
That is his cheap house and famous building. (sa possessive)
Yun ang kaniyang murang bahay at sikat na gusali.
Drills - Lesson 6