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How to Make Adjectives in Tagalog

Posted on 2012-08-012020-01-23 by
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I showed how to change basic verbs into verbs that occured in the past, are occuring in the present, or will occur in the future on my previous posts. This time, I will be showing you how to make adjectives in Tagalog.
 
In Tagalog, you can make an adjective by adding the prefix “ma” before a noun.

 

You can see this at work through the examples below.

Tagalog Adjectives Basic Forms

PrefixRoot WordResultEnglish TranslationSample Sentences in TagalogEnglish Translation
mabagalmabagalslowMabagal ang takbo ng kotse.The car runs slow.
malungkotmalungkotsadBakit ka malungkot?Why are you sad?
maingaymaingayloud / noisyHindi ko naintindihan ang sinasabi niya dahil maingay sa concert.I didn’t understand what he said because it was noisy in the concert.
masalimuotmasalimuotcomplexMasalimuot ang kuwento ng kaniyang buhay.The story of his / her life is complex.
manipismanipisthinBagay ang manipis na telang ito sa mainit na panahon.This thin fabric goes well with the hot weather.
maulanmaulanrainySabi ng weather forecast, magiging maulan daw ngayon.According to the weather forecast, it will be rainy today.
makapalmakapalthickMakapal ang balahibo ng alaga niyang aso.His pet dog’s fur is thick.
madumimadumidirtyMadumi ba ang mukha ko?Is my face dirty?
magulomaguloconfusingHindi ko maintindihan ang instructions, Masyadong magulo.I can’t understand the instructions. It’s too confusing.
malapadmalapadwideWala ka bang mas malapad na lalagyan? Hindi kasya.Don’t you have a wider container? It doesn’t fit.
maputlamaputlapaleMedyo maputla ka. Kailangan mo muna sigurong magpahinga.You’re a bit pale. You probably need to rest for now.
mabisamabisaeffectiveMabisa ang gamot na kaniyang ininom.The medicine he / she took was effective.

In some lesser-common cases, though, there are Tagalog words that function as standalone adjectives instead of the usual +ma prefix combined with a noun.

Take for example the case of “mahal” (expensive) vs. “mahaba” (long). “Mahal” is a standalone adjective while “mahaba” is an adjective that came from the combination of the noun “haba” (length) and the prefix “ma.”

Tagalog Adjectives and Their Plural Forms

An interesting thing about Tagalog adjectives that you may want to take note of is, unlike English adjectives that only have one form regardless of whether they’re describing one or two things or one or two, or more people, Tagalog adjectives have separate singular and plural forms.

For example, you were describing two different things: the first is a book, and the second is a pile of books.

In English, you would say something like, “The book is heavy” in the first example and something like, “The books are heavy” in the second one.

Notice that only the verb changes when the number of things being described increased. The adjective remained constant.

In Tagalog, it’s slightly different. When you’re describing two or more things, there are also two things that change: the noun and the adjective.

For example, if we’re going to say “The book is heavy” in Tagalog, we will say, “Mabigat ang libro,” but if we’re going to say, “The books are heavy” in Tagalog, we’re going to say, “Mabibigat ang mga libro.”

Notice that the noun (libro) changed to reflect the transition from singular to plural (mga libro), as did the adjective which changed from “mabigat“(singular) to “mabibigat” (plural).

See additional examples of how this is done below.

Note: Tagalog adjectives are changed from their singular to their plural form by placing the prefix “ma” at the beginning of the word, putting the first syllable of the root word after it, then ending it with the root word.

Tagalog Adjectives Plural Forms

PrefixRoot WordResultEnglish TranslationSample Sentences in TagalogEnglish Translation
matamismatatamissweetMatatamis ang mga mangga galing sa Guimaras.The mangoes from Guimaras are sweet.
mahabamahahabalongMahahaba ang mga pilik ng bata.The child’s lashes are long.
mabigatmabibigatheavyMabibigat ang kaniyang mga dala.The things he / she is carrying are heavy.
makulaymakukulaycolorfulMakukulay ang mga paso sa hardin.The pots in the garden are colorful.
masarapmasasarapdeliciousMasasarap ang pagkain sa handaan.The food at the feast are delicious.
malayomalalayofarMalalayo ang agwat ng mga bayan sa isa’t-isa.The distance from one town to another is far.
mabangismababangiswildMababangis ang mga hayop sa gubat.The animals in the jungle are wild.
masakitmasasakithurtfulMasasakit ang mga binitiwan niyang mga salita.The words he / she said are hurtful.
mainitmaiinithotMaiinit pa ang mga pagkain noong dumating kami.The food were still hot when we arrived.
makipotmakikipotnarrowMakikipot ang mga eskinita sa kanilang lugar.The alleys at their place are narrow.
mabangomababangofragrantMababango ang mga bulaklak na kaniyang pinitas.The flowers that he / she picked are fragrant.
matulispointedmatutulisMatutulis ang mga dulo ng kanilang mga kutsilyo.The ends of their knives are pointed.


When these types of adjectives are turned from their singular to plural forms, they go through the standard procedure (i.e. take the first syllable of the root word then combine it with the root word); however, instead of having “ma” placed before the first syllable of the root word + the root word), “ang” is added before them instead.

The word “ang” is a standalone word that is usually used as an article; however in some cases, it can be used as part of an exclamatory phrase to express strong feelings or sentiment (like how when you add the word “How” before an adjective, it has a stronger connotation. Like in “How pretty!” for example).

Let’s take for example the word “laki.” “Laki” means “size.” On it’s own, it’s just a noun, but when paired with “ang” to make it “Ang laki” (which means “How big”) it turns into something descriptive.

Normally, when turning adjectives from their singular to their plural forms, you can use both the first method (ma+ first syllable of the root word + root word) and the second method (ang + first syllable of the root word + root word), but in some cases, you can only use the second one.

I honestly don’t know the original rule or reason for this, other than in daily usage, it wouldn’t sound right — like if you omit the “ang” part, it would sound like the phrase is broken.

Below are some examples to help illustrate it better.

Tagalog Adjectives Irregular Plural Forms

PrefixRoot WordResultEnglish TranslationSample Sentences in TagalogEnglish Translation
madumimarurumidirtyMarurumi na ang mga punda. Kailangan nang palitan ang mga iyon.The pillowcases are dirty now. They need to be changed.
angmuraang mumuracheapAng mumura ng mga paninda sa tiyangge.The items for sale at the flea market are cheap.
angpinoang pipinofineAng pipino ng mga buhangin dito. Nakakamangha.The sand here is so fine. It’s amazing.
angmahalang mamahalexpensiveAng mamahal naman ng mga bagong labas nilang computer.Their newly-released computers are really expensive.
angkorniang ko-cornycornyAng ko-corny ng mga joke mo, pero in fairness, nakakatawa.Your jokes are really corny, but, in fairness, they’re funny.
anghigh-techang ha-high-techhigh-techAng ha-high tech ng mga gadget nila sa bahay. Nakakalitong gamitin sa umpisa.Their gadgets at home are all high-tech. They’re confusing to use at first.
angboringang bo-boringboringAng bo-boring naman ng mga palabas. Inaantok ako.The shows are really boring. I’m feeling sleepy.

On an additional note, if you noticed, there’s another example that looks a bit different than the rest. I’m referring to the word “marurumi.” As you know by now, we convert a noun (dumi) into an adjective by taking the first syllable of the root word then adding the prefix “ma” before it.

Going by that pattern, normally, we would have the word “madudumi” as the final product.

In Tagalog, however, when the first syllable of a word that starts with the letter “d” is repeated, it changes into the letter “r” if it’s followed by a vowel. In this case, “dumi” changes into “rumi” (root word). When we’re using it to describe a single object, we’ll use “marumi,” but if we were describing more than one object, then we will use, “marurumi.”

See Related Posts

Posted in Tagalog GrammarTagged basic Tagalog, Conversational Tagalog, figures of speech, Filipino, Filipino lessons, how do you say in Tagalog, how to say in Tagalog, language, learn Tagalog, learning Tagalog, pang-uri, Philippine language, Philippines, Tagalog 101, Tagalog adjectives, Tagalog basics, Tagalog lessons

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