Learn Cebuano

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