Vocabulary
may/me
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exist or have
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mayroon/meron
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exist or have
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walá
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not exist or not have
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gubat
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forest
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bayan
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town
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masahe
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massage
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Grammar
May/me and meron/mayroon roughly mean exist or have. We will use may and meron since they are most common in colloquial speech. Wala roughly means not exist or not have. Anything you can express with may you can express with meron, but they use different grammar. Wala uses the same grammar as meron.
May needs to come before a noun, but meron and wala can stand on their own.
Ex: May kotse ka? / Meron kang kotse?
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= Do you have a car?
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Ex reply: Meron.
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= (I) have. (note – may can’t be used here)
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Ex reply: Wala.
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= (I) don’t have.
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Word orders of may and meron sentences are different.
For may:
May word order is <may, object, possessor>
The object has no marker
Possessor takes ang-form to indicate have, and sa-form to indicate exist in a location
Ex: May pera po ba kayo?
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= Do you have money sir?
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Ex: May pera ba sa bahay?
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= Is there money in the house?
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For meron/wala:
Meron/wala word order is <meron/wala, linker, object, possessor>
The object has no marker
Possessor takes ang-form to indicate have/not have, and sa-form to indicate exist/not exist in a location
Ex: Meron ring kotse si Pol.
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= Paul has a car too.
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Ex: Wala pa rin siyang kotse.
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= He still doesn’t have a car.
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Ex: Walang kotse sa kalye.
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= There are no cars in the street.
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Sample Sentences
Q1
1. Yes, she has.
Oo, meron siya.
Q2
They say there aren’t trees in the forest.
Wala raw mga puno sa gubat.
Q3
There’s already a hospital in town. (meron)
Meron nang ospital sa bayan.
Q4
Do you already have a dog? (po)(may)
May aso na po ba kayo?
Q5
Mr. Jones doesn’t have cat either.
Wala ring pusa si Mr. Jones.
Q6
We have a house in Cebu. (may)
May bahay kami sa Cebu.
Q7
They have.
Meron sila.
Q8
Do you have a massage tomorrow? (meron)
Meron ka bang masahe bukas?
Q9
There’s a dog in the street. (may)
May aso sa kalye.
Q10
There is.
Meron.