Tagalog Grammar - Enclitic Particles

Enclitic Particles

Tagalog has enclitic particles that have important information conveying difference nuances in meaning.

Below is a list of Tagalog's enclitic particles.

1. na and pa
   • na: now, already, yet
   • pa: still, else, in addition, yet
2. man, kahit: even, even if, even though
3. bagaman: although
4. ni: (From Spanish "ni") not even, nor, neither
5. ngâ: indeed; used in affirmations or emphasis. Also softens imperatives
6. din, rin: too, also
7. lamang (lang): limiting particle; only or just
8. daw, raw: a reporting particle that expresses that the information in the sentence is second-hand; they say, he said, reportedly, supposedly, etc.
9. hô and pô: politeness. pô being the most respectful.
10. ba: used in yes-and-no questions and optionally in other types of questions, similar to Japanese "ka" and Chinese "ma", but not entirely.
11. muna: for now, for a minute and yet (in negative sentences).
12. namán: used in making contrasts; softens requests; emphasis
13. kasí: expresses cause; because
14. kayâ: expresses wonder; I wonder; perhaps (we should do something) (also optionally used in yes-and-no questions and other forms of questions)
15. palá: expresses that the speaker has realized or suddenly remembered something; realization particle
16. yatà: expresses uncertainty; probably, perhaps, seems
17. tulóy: used in cause and effect; as a result
18. sana: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspect), used in conditional sentences.

The order listed above is the order in which the particles follow if they are used in conjunction with each other. A more concise list of the orders of monosyllabic particles from Rubino (2002) is given below.

1. na / pa
2. ngâ
3. din ~ rin
4. daw ~ raw
5. pô / hô
6. ba

The particles na and pa cannot be used in conjunction with each other as well as pô and hô.

Dumatíng na raw palá ang lola mo.
"Oh yeah, your grandmother supposedly arrived."

Palitán mo na rin.
"You change it also."

Note for "daw/raw and rin/din": If preceding letter is a consonant except y and w, the letter d is used in any word, vice versa for r. Although in everyday speech, this rule is often ignored. Example: Pagdarasal, instead of pagdadasal

Walâ pa yatang asawa ang kapatíd niyá.
"Perhaps his brother still doesn't have a wife."

Itó lang kayâ ang ibibigáy nilá sa amin
"I wonder if this is the only thing that they're going to give us."

Nag-aral ka na ba ng wikang Kastilà?
"Have you already studied Spanish?"

Batà pa kasí.
"It's because he's still young."

Pakisulat mo ngâ muna ang iyóng pangalan dito.
"Write your name here first, please."

The words daw and raw, which mean “he said”/“she said”/“they said”, are sometimes joined to the real translations of “he said”/”she said”, which is sabi niyá, and “they said”, which is sabi nilá. They are also joined to the Tagalog of “you said”, which is sabi mo. But this time, both daw and raw mean “supposedly/reportedly”.

Sabi raw niyá./Sabi daw niyá.
“He/she supposedly said.”

Sabi raw nilá./Sabi daw nilá.
“They supposedly said.”

Sabi mo raw./Sabi mo daw.
“You supposedly said.”

Although the word kasí is native Tagalog for “because” and NOT slang, it is still not used in literary writing. The Tagalog word for this is sapagká’t or sapagkát. Thus, the literary form of Batà pa kasí is Sapagká’t batà pa or Sapagkát batà pa. This is sometimes shortened to pagká’t or pagkát, so Sapagká’t batà pa is also written as Pagká’t batà pa or Pagkát batà pa. In both writing (whether literary or ordinary) and speech, dahil sa (the oblique form of kasí; thus, its exact translation is “because of”) is also synonymous to sapagká’t (sapagkát), so the substitute of Sapagká’t batà pa for Batà pa kasí is Dahil sa batà pa. Most of the time in speech and writing (mostly ordinary and probably literary), dahil sa as the Tagalog of “because” is reduced to dahil, so Dahil sa batà pa is spoken simply as Dahil batà pa.