Vocabulary
oras
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hour
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mga
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about (when used with time)
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nang
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at
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segundo
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second
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petsa
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date
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gabi
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night
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ng
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of
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umaga
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morning
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taon
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year
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Grammar
The Time
If you aren’t familiar with the hours, days and months, which are borrowed from Spanish, please read Appendix E at this time and make a first pass at memorizing them.
Asking and Telling Time
You can tell time with Spanish, English or Tagalog numbers, but Tagalog is a bit rare so we’ll use Spanish here.
Ex: Anong oras na?
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= What time is it?
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Ans: Alas diyes na.
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= Ten o’clock./It’s ten o’clock.
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Saying about with mga
You’ve seen mga used to make things plural, but it can also be used to add the nuance of about with a time. It goes in front of the hour.
Ex: mga alas otso
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= about 8 o’clock
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Including Day of the Week
You can add on a day of the week to your response. Note that the word nang is used to join it:
Miyerkules nang alas tres.
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= Wednesday at 3 o’clock.
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Including Minutes and Seconds
You can add minutes and seconds in this format:
Miyerkules nang alas tres kinse at kinse segundo.
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= Wednesday at 3 o’clock 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
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Including Period of the Day
Period of the day, such as morning or evening, can be added using ng.
Miyerkules nang alas tres kinse at kinse segundo ng gabi.
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= Wednesday at 3:15:15 in the evening or Wednesday at 3:15:15 pm.
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Summary Notes for Time
use Anong oras na? to ask the time, and <hour(Sp), na> to answer
to say about, put mga in front of the hour
to include the day of the week, use <day, nang> + <time>
to include minutes and seconds, use <time> + <minutes(Sp), at, seconds(Sp), segundo>
to include period of day, use <time> + <ng, period>
everything together looks like <day, nang, mga, hour(Sp), minutes(Sp), at, seconds(Sp), segundo, ng, period>
The Date
You can give the date in Spanish, English or Tagalog numbers too, and Tagalog is pretty common so we’ll use it here.
Ex: Anong petsa ngayon?
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= What's the date today?
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Ans: Ikalabinlima ng Mayo.
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= The fifteenth of May.
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You can add a year if you’d like:
Ex: Ikalabinlima ng Mayo taong dalawang libo't lima.
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= The 15th of May, 2005.
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You can also add a day of the week:
Ex: Linggo ikalabinlima ng Mayo taong dalawang libo't lima.
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= Sunday the 15th of May, 2005.
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Summary Notes for Date
standard form for a full date in Tagalog is <day of the week, ordinal number for date, ng, month, taong, cardinal number for year>
Sample Sentences
Q1
It’s six o’clock.
Alas sais na.
Q2
The 3rd of January.
Ikatatlo ng Enero.
Q3
11am Wednesday
Miyerkules, alas onse ng umaga
Q4
July 4, 1776
Ikaapat ng Hulyo taong isang libo pitong daan pitumpu't anim
Q5
About 10:15pm.
Mga alas diyes kinse ng gabi.
Q6
December 25
Ikadalawampu’t lima ng Disyembre
Q7
Twelve o’clock
Alas dose
Q8
Friday the 13th
biyernes ikalabintatlo
Q9
It’s about 6:53 am.
Mga alas sais limampu't tatlo ng umaga na.
Q10
January 1, 2000
Una ng Enero taong dalawang libo