Learn Cebuano

Vocab:

Di-li – no (future tense)
Ka-on – eat
Pa-ni-ud-to – lunch
pa – Still / yet
na – Now / Already

Mokaon ka ba a imong paniudto? – Will you eat your lunch?

Explanation:

“mo” prefix in front of kanon marks it as future tense.
“ka” personal pronoun for YOU
“ba” is a question marker asking
“imong” is YOUR

As with any yes or no question the respondent can provide more information.

Here are two possible answers:

Dili pa – No but but there is a possiblity that he/she will eat later
Dili na – No and the person is expressing that he/she has no plan to eat

Vocab:

Wa-la – nothing / absence of (used for past / progressive tense)
Ka-on – eat
Pa-ni-ud-to – lunch
pa – Still / yet
na – Now / Already

eg.

Mikaon ka ba sa imong paniudto? – Did you eat your lunch?

Explanation:

“mi” prefix in front of kanon marks it as past tense.
“ka” personal pronoun for YOU
“ba” is a question marker asking
“imong” is YOUR

As with any yes or no question the respondent can provide more information.

Here are two possible answers:

Wala pa – Not yet but probably will later
Wala na – No and the person is expressing that he/she has no plan to eat anymore

These are two of the most misunderstood and confused words in Cebuano for a student of the language.

If you look up the meaning of the words you will usually see it explained thus:

Wala – nothing / absence of

Dili – No

This simplistic translation will get you by most of the time and most Cebuano’s will not correct you if you use the wrong word.   If you pick up on the fact that this explanation does not fit the way the words are used then you will become very confused.  Try asking your average Cebuano or even many highly educated Cebuano’s why and they will be unable to tell you.

I have yet to find any book or reference that provides an explanation of the correct use of Wala and Dili.

Here it is

Wala – nothing / absence of (used for past / progressive tense)

Dili – no (future tense)

Eg.

In these examples we will assume a negative answer.

May kwarta ka ba? – Do you have money?

using the simplistic example you would expect to be able to answer with DILI

After all that means NO?

WRONG

The correct answer is WALA

Mokuha ka ba ug kwarta? – Will you get money?

If you had already learnt that the correct answer for the first question asking if you have money is WALA then be might be tempted to answer WALA.

WRONG

The correct answer is DILI

The above is a good example of why you really need access to a teacher when learning this language.

The next to lessons about PA and NA will provide more examples.

As a general rule QUESTION MARKER “BA” will precede a personal pronoun

Amerikano ba ko – Am I an American?

Amerikano ka ba – Are you an American?   (note the placement of ba)

Amerikano ba siya  – Is he an American?

Amerikano ba kita – Are we American?   (inclusive of who you are talking to)

Americaon ba kami – Are we American? (exclusive of who you are talking to)

Amerikano ba kamo – Are you all American?

Amerikano ba sila  – Are they American?

The “BA” precedes the personal pronouns except for “you”

Amerikano ba ka sounds very bad to Filipino ears.

Compared to English Cebuano has very few such exceptions.

Vocab:

Ba – Marker for a YES or NO question
Mahal – expensive
Balay – house
Abang – rent (more common)
Arkila – rent

You may have noticed Filipinos appending ba to English sometimes when they say something and expect a response that is either agreement or disagreement.

Mahal ang abang sa balay  -  The rent of the house is expensive

The addition of the ba question marker turns this statement into a question.

Mahal ba ang abang sa balay – Is the rent of the house expensive?

The ba question marker can only be used in YES or NO questions.
Vocab:

Maot – ugly
Salida – Show / Exit

The word maot translate to ugly but in Cebuano it can be used in a broader sense to describe something you did not like.

The word Salida is commonly used for show (TV or some live theater) but can also be used for exit.

So the following statement is a little ambiguous:

Maot ang salida

- The show was bad
- The exit is ugly

Both are correct translations but the first translation would be the most commonly used and understood in the absence of some contextual reference.  If you were standing in front of an ugly exit then the second meaning would be understood.

We can easily turn it into a question by adding ba

Maot ba ang salida – Is the show bad (ugly)

Revision:

Ako ( a-ko ) – FIRST CLASS for I

Nako ( na-ko ) – SECOND CLASS for I

Si – FIRST CLASS marker for proper noun

Ni – SECOND CLASS marker for proper noun

We will now add the FIRST & SECOND CLASS markers

Higala nako si John – John is my friend

Nako is a SECOND CLASS personal pronoun that denotes possession

Si is a FIRST CLASS marker for a proper noun.

As you can see the rule of one FIRST CLASS per sentence still applies.

The meaning changes if we change around the FIRST & SECOND CLASS

Higala Ako ni John – I am a friend of John

Here is an example using FIRST & SECOND CLASS markers for proper nouns

Asawa ni Joseph si Mary – Mary is Joseph’s wife

Change them around and the meaning changes

Asawa si Joseph ni Mary – Joseph is the wife of Mary ( because asawa in Cebuano is wife)

To make the above sentence correct we would also need to change asawa to bana (husband)

Bana si Joseph ni Mary – Joseph is the husband of Mary

 You need to learn about FIRST CLASS and SECOND CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUNS before commencing to this lesson.

 Vocab:

Asawa ( a-sa-wa ) – wife
Bata ( ba-ta ) – child 

Rules:

- Remember there can only be one first class personal pronoun per sentence.
- If more than one pronoun then the shorter one must come first.

Asawa ako (ko) nimo – I am your wife
ako is FIRST CLASS for I
nimo is SECOND CLASS for YOU

The literal translation is WIFE I YOU

The FIRST CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUN denotes the topic of the sentence while the SECOND CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUN is possessive. 

As the rules states you can not put to FIRST CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUNS in the same sentence.   Not only would it be confusing but sounds totally wrong to a Cebuano listener.

Without a FIRST CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUN the sentence is incomplete.

If you reverse the order of the FIRST and SECOND CLASS PERSONAL PRONOUNS then the meaning of the sentence will change.

Asawa nako ikaw – You are my wife

Note: In Cebuano they have a separate word for husband as we do in English.  In Tagalog Asawa is used for both and translates to spouse.

 Here are some more examples.

Asawa nako siya – She is my wife

Mga bata nako sila – They are my children 

Remember the rule about the shorter PERSONAL PRONOUN always coming first.

 Higala nako ikaw – You are my friend

 If we want to use the abbreviated form of ikaw which is ka then it will precede nako.

 Higala ka nako – You are my friend

si ( si ) – for proper noun

sila si ( si-la-si ) – same as above but plural

There is no direct English translation for the Marker Si / Sila Si 

In the lesson on the Use of Ang we learn how to say

Gwapa ang babaye. (The girl is beautiful)

Gwapo ang lalaki. (The boy is handsome)

In this lesson we replace girl and boy with a proper noun (name)

Gwapa si Mary. (Mary is beautiful)

Gwapo si John. (John is handsome)

Another example from the Use of Ang was

Magtutudlo ang lalaki.  - The man is a teacher

Magtutudlo ang babaye. – The women is a teacher

We can say

Magtutudlo si Mary. – Mary is a teacher

Magtutudlo si John. – John is a teacher

If we to say that Mary and John are teachers

Magtutudlo sila si Mary ug si John – Mary and John are teachers

You may have noticed in this and previous examples that when you pluralize a word in Cebuano the root word does not change as it does in English.  Instead a special word is used to signify that it is plural.  In the above example the special word is SILA.

To specify more than two people you just keep adding UG SI

Magtutudlo sila si Mary ug si John ug si Tony ug si Greg

Mary and John and Tony and Greg are Teachers

As in English we would simplify it to: 

Magtutudlo sila si Mary, John, Tony ug si Greg 

Mary, John, Tony and Greg are Teachers

sa  - of / to / on / in / with / at  (common noun)

sa mga – same as above but plural

Using the same example from the lesson on SECOND CLASS personal pronouns:

Gamay ang balay niya – His or Her house is small

We will replace the personal pronoun with common noun

Gamay ang balay sa lalaki – The house of the man is small

Negosyo ( ne-gos-yo ) – business

Ug ( ug ) – and

Bata ( ba-ta ) – Child

Mo-adto (mo-ad-to) – Will go (future)

Mo-uban (mo-u-ban) – Will go with (future)

Libro (lib-ro) – book

Lamesa (la-me-sa) – Table

Here is another example:

Negosyo niya – His or Her business

Negosyo sa babaye – Business of the girl  (Girls buisness) 

If we want to refer to a group of girls:

Negosyo sa mga babaye – The business of the girls

The prefix MGA is used to pluralize a noun.

Or refer to a house belonging to multiple children.

Balay sa mga bata – The house of the children

More examples

Moadto ko sa Manila – I will go to manila

Mouban ako sa imo – I will go with you

Ang Libro sa lamesa – The book on the table

Ang libro sa balay – The book at/in the house

Second class MARKERS for use with proper nouns – ni / nila ni

ni ( ni ) – of (proper noun)

nila ni ( ni-la-ni ) – same as above but plural

Using the same example from the lesson on SECOND CLASS personal pronouns:

Gamay ang balay niya – His or Her house is small

We will replace the personal pronoun with proper noun

Gamay ang balay ni John – The house of John is small (John’s house is small)

Negosyo ( ne-gos-yo ) – business

Ug ( ug ) – and

Here is another example:

Negosyo niya – The business of him or her (His or Her business)

Negosyo ni John – The business of John (John’s business)

If we want to include John’s business partner:

Negosyo nila ni John ug nila ni Peter – The business of John and Peter

Or refer to a house belonging to John and his wife Mary.

Balay nila ni John ug nila ni Mary – The house of John and Mary