Vocabulary
nasaan
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where
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nasa
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at
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walá sa
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not at
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taga
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from
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saan
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where
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Pilipinas
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Philippines
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Maynilá
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Manila
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nandito
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nasa form of dito; this/here (near speaker)
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nandiyan
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nasa form of diyan; that/there (near listener)
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nandoon
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nasa form of doon; that/there (far from speaker and listener)
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Grammar
Today we look at how to ask where and from where questions.
Nasaan
There are two words for where; one used with nouns and one with verbs. We’ll cover nouns here and verbs in the next lesson. Nasaan is used with nouns. Nasaan is used to ask the question.
Ex: Nasaan si Mike?
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= Where is Mike?
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For a positive answer, use na + the sa-form of the location. This is usually just nasa, but not always:
Ans: Nasa bahay si Mike.
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= Mike is at home.
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Ans: Na kay Maria si Mike.
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= Mike is at Maria’s place.
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Note that na kay Maria can also be interpreted as in the possession of Maria when talking about an object.
Ans: Nandito si Mike.
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= Mike is here.
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Note that nadito/nadiyan/nadoon don’t exist. It is nandito/nandiyan/nandoon or narito/nariyan/naroon. But nandito/nandiyan/nandoon is more common, so that’s what we’ll use in this book.
For a negative answer, you use wala (not hindi) + the sa-form of the location.
Ans: Wala sa bahay si Mike.
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= Mike is not at home.
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Note that wala is an enclitic magnate, like hindi. So if we replace si Mike with siya:
Ans: Wala siya sa bahay.
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= He is not at home.
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Additional Notes for nasaan
Question word order is <nasaan, subject>
Pos. answer word order is <na + location, subject>
Neg. answer word order is <wala, location, subject>
The location takes sa-form
The subject takes ang-form
Taga Saan
If you want to find out where someone is from, you use taga saan to ask the question and taga- to answer it.
Ex: Taga saan sila?
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= Where are they from?
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Ans: Taga-Pilipinas sila.
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They are from the Philippines.
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For a negative answer, you use hindi.
Ex: Taga-Pilipinas ba sila?
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Are they from the Philippines?
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Ans: Hindi sila taga-Pilipinas.
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They are not from the Philippines.
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Additional Notes for taga saan
Question word order is <taga saan, subject>
Answer word order is <taga-location, subject>
Neg. answer word order is <hindi, taga-location, subject>
The subject takes ang-form
Sample Sentences
Q1
Where is Manila?
Nasaan ang Manila?
Q2
Manila is in the Philippines.
Nasa Pilipinas ang Maynila.
Q3
They aren’t at our(excl) place.
Wala sila sa amin.
Q4
Where are you from?
Taga saan ka?
Q5
I'm from America.
Taga-Amerika ako.
Q6
I’m not from the Philippines.
Hindi ako taga-Pilipinas.
Q7
Are Jen and Angie from Canada?
Taga-Kanada ba sina Jen at Angie?
Q8
We aren’t in Kansas.
Wala tayo sa Kansas.
Q9
Where is your dog?
Nasaan ang aso mo?
Q10
He’s over there.
Nandoon siya.