2.) “Nasaan”(pronunciation: “Na-sa-an”) means “where(interrogative pronoun)”
Example:Where is ana?
Nasaan si Ana?

Where is the cat
Nasaan ang pusa?

Where is the school?
Nasaan ang paaralan(paaralan means school)
(Note: Always place “si” before the noun if it is NAME OF A PERSON. If it is improper noun use “ang”)

“Bakit” means “Why”.
Example: Why are you like that?
Bakit ka ganyan?

Why is it red?
Bakit pula ito?

“Kailan” (pronunciation: ka-i-lan) means “When” (interrogative).
Example:
When will you go?
Kailan ka aalis?

When should I go?
Kailan ako dapat umalis?

“Sino” means “Who”(interrogative).
Example:
Who is Ana?
Sino si Ana?

Who is the teacher?
Sino ang guro?

3.) “Ba” is use for interrogative sentences.
Example:
You are gorgeous
Maganda ka

Are you gorgeous?
Maganda ka ba?

4.)Tagalog has only 3 verb tenses. And these are Past, Future and Present Continuous.

To make verbs in future tense just double the first syllable of the word.
Example:
dance- will dance
sayaw- sasayaw

eat- will eat
kain- kakain

drink- will drink
inom- iinom

I will eat spaghetti
Kakain ako ng spaghetti

I will drink milk
Iinom ako ng gatas

To make verbs in past tense is complicated. Copy the first letter of the verb and then place “u” (If the first letter of the word is a vowel, just place “u”. Place “m” from the first vowel of the first syllable.( I hope that i clarify well it to you)
Example:
dance- danced
sayaw- sumayaw

eat- ate
kain- kumain

drink- drank
inom- uminom

I ate spaghetti
Kumain ako ng spaghetti

I drank milk
Uminom ako ng gatas

OR just add na- before the root word.
Example.

I already ate that
Nakain ko na iyan.

I already take/drink my vitamins.
Nainom ko na ang bitamina

I danced with Ana/ I danced Ana
Nasayaw ko si ana

To make verbs in present continuous is much complicated. Copy the first letter of the word and place “u” after it. Place “m” before the first step and add the first letter of the first syllable, after that place the root word after those two steps. (I hope that i clarified it well)
Example:
dance- dancing
Sayaw- Sumasayaw

eat- eating
kain- kumakain

drink- drinking
inom- umiinom

I am eating spaghetti
Kumakain ako ng spaghetti

I am drinking milk
Umiinom ako ng gatas

5.) If you heard the word “taga-”, it means that you are living
in a particular place.
Example:
Taga-Maynila (living in Manila)

I am living in Manila
Taga-Manila ako

I live in California
Taga-California ako

“Taga-” also means “the one who”.
Example
clean- linis
cleaner- taga-linis

read- basa
reader- taga-basa

I am the reader
Taga-basa ako

6.) “Naka-” means wearing something.
Example:
Naka-pula (wearing red. Pula means red)

I am wearing red
Naka-pula ako

I am wearing T-shirt
Naka-Tshirt ako

7.) Politeness. Use the word “po” for polite sentences.
Example
Where are you?
Nasaan ka? (impolite)
Nasaan po kayo? (polite)
(Note: Kayo is the plural form of “ka”. Whenever using the word “po”, you must pluralized the pronoun. So, “Nasaan po ka?” is incorrect!

8.) To make nouns in adjective form, just add ma- to the root word.
Example:
Beauty- Gorgeous
Ganda- Maganda

Noise- Noisy
Ingay- Maingay

Heat- Hot
Init- Mainit

It is hot today
Mainit ngayon (mainit- hot, ngayon- today)

Ana is gorgeous
Maganda si Ana

9.) English nouns ending in “-tion, -sion”, to translate in tagalog, just replace -tion, -sion to “-syon/siyon” and change the letter “c” to “k”, “v” to “b” if there is.
Example:
Population- Populasyon/ Populasiyon
Version- Bersyon/ Bersiyon
Nation- Nasyon/ Nasiyon

10.)”Na” means already done/already/already happened in the past.
Example.
I ate my breakfast
kumain na ako ng almusal.

I already take a bath.
Naligo na ako

“Rin/Din” means too/ also.
He also danced
Sumayaw rin siya

I also ate my breakfast
Kinain ko na rin ang almusal.

Me too.
Ako rin.

“Raw/Daw” is used when something is not yet proven or you are not sure of something. It is commonly used it interrogative sentences. “Raw/Daw” is also used in commanding.
Example:
Ana said you should eat at the canteen.
Sabi ni Ana kumain ka na raw sa kantin.

What did Ana told you?
Ano raw sabi sa ito ni Ana?

11.) “Pinaka-” is use for superlatives
Example:
Most gorgeous
Pinaka-maganda

Tallest
Pinaka-mataas

The tallest mountain in the world is the Mount. Everest.
Mount. Everest ang pinaka-mataas na bundok sa mundo.

Ana is the most gorgeous
Pinaka-maganda si Ana

“Mas” (means “than”) is use for comparatives
Example:
Mount. Everest is taller than K2.
Mas mataas ang bundok Everest sa K2

Ana is more gorgeous than Sarah
Mas maganda si Ana kay Sarah

Now, you nearly know on how to speak tagalog. The second step is to memorize some tagalog words.

Anyway, you should get them kid’s books in Filipino with english translation especially if they’re only starting out. National Bookstore is a excellent place to check out.

I was teaching English to korean kids before i left philippines but it’s sad to say i cannot find excellent books. So, what i did i questioned help from the University where i graduated (Elementary, HighSchool and College) and i just made some photocopy of each book.

I graduated Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education major in English.

If i were you, you better to buy original and not the revised but i don’t know if you can still find it.

If you are really interested just email me and il tell you:

God Bless You Always!

National Bookstore branches:=

Goodwill Bookstore branches:=

Powerbooks branches:=

You may also try eBay Philippines: