Demonstrative Pronouns

Tagalog's demonstrative pronouns are as follows.

	Direct	Indirect	Oblique	Locative	Existential
Nearest to speaker (this, here) *	ire, are	nire	dine	nandine	ere
Near speaker and addressee (this, here)	Ito	Nito	dito/rito	nandito/narito	heto
Nearest addressee (that, there)	iyan	niyan	diyan/riyan	nandiyan/nariyan	ayan
Remote (yon, yonder)	iyon	niyon	doon/roon	nandoon/naroon	ayon

Ire, are, nire, dine, nandine and ere are rarely used in some part of the Philippines. This is commonly heard with people in the southern part of Luzon especially in Batangas. 

Just like noun and personal pronoun, demonstrative pronouns follow the cases.

Tinapay ang kinain ko kanina. I ate bread a while ago.

Ito ang kinain ko kanina. I ate this a while ago.

Direct Case

Mansanas ang paborito kong prutas. Apple is my favourite fruit.

Ito ang paborito kong prutas. This is my favourite fruit. (Near to both speaker and listener or nearer to the speaker than the listener)

Iyan ang paboritio kong prutas. That is my favourite fruit. (Nearer to the listener than the speaker )

Iyon ang paborito kong prutas. That is my favourite fruit.  (both far from the speaker and the listener.)

Indirect Case

Sinuntok ni William ang pader. William punched the wall.

Sinuntok nito ang pader. He punched the wall. {nito function as a pronoun, renaming what is mentioned in a previous statement. Example, Si William ay sobrang nagalit sa nalaman nya. Sinuntok nito ang pader dahil sa galit. William get so angry about what he knew. He punched the wall because of anger. It also refers to a person close to the speaker. } 

Sinuntok niyan ang pader.  That person punched the wall. (Nearer to the listener than the speaker)

Sinuntok niyon ang pader.  That person (there) punched the wall. (both far from the speaker and the listener.)

Oblique Case

As an oblique case, it shows the location of the action or where the verb takes place.

Kumain sila dito./Dito sila kumain. They ate here.

Kumain sila diyan./Diyan sila kumain. They ate there.

Kumain sila doon./Doon sila kumain. They ate there. (far from both the speaker and the listener)

There are two types of sentence that can be constructed; the second one emphasizes the location where they ate by putting dito, diyan, and doon at the beginning of the sentence. Sentence formation with ‘Ay’ is optional. With this kind of construction, the sentence will be formal, and put more emphasis on the oblique case pronoun. Remember to put ‘ay’ between the doer of the action and the verb.

Dito sila ay kumain. Here they have eaten. / Here they ate.

Locative Case

This is always used in the beginning of the sentence, or as a single word.

Nandito ako, umiibig sayo. Here I am, loving you.

Nandiyan ang ahas sa loob ng butas. The snake is there inside the hole.

Nasaan ang ballpen ko? Andito. Where is my ballpen? Here.

Existential Case

It is similar and interchangeable to the direct case. However, this is used to show abstract ideas, to show that something that exist from a cause or to put emphasis.

Ayan ang napapala ng padalos-dalos. That is what happens to people who act recklessly (undue eagerness to act).

Heto ako. Here I am. (I do exist)

Ayon nga ang gusto. That’s what I like.

Personal Pronouns & Possessive Pronouns

These are also categorized by case which work like the nouns. Remember that direct pronoun case is used with Actor Focus form of the verb, and indirect is used with the Object Focus form of the verb

	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)
1st person singular	Ako (I, me)	ko	akin
1st person dual	Kita
1st person plural inclusive	Tayo (we, us)	natin	atin
1st person plural exclusive	Kami (we, us)	namin	amin
2nd person singular	Ikaw, ka (you)	mo	iyo
2nd person plural	Kayo (you pl)	ninyo	inyo
3rd person singular	Siya (he/she)	niya	kaniya
3rd person plural	Sila (they, them)	nila	kanila

Direct Case

Ako ay si Luis./Si Luis ako.  I am Luis.

Kayo ba ang nagdala nito? Did you (guys/people) bring this?

Siya ay naglaba kanina. He/She washed some clothes a while ago.

Nagluto sila ng sinigang. They cooked sinigang.

Kita- has two meanings; it’s the combination of the 1st person singular (I) which is the doer of the action, and the 2nd person singular (You) which is the receiver of the action.

Mahal kita- I love you.

Susuntukin kita. I will punch you.

Tayo- means We or us, and the listener is included with the group pertained by We/Us.

Kumain na tayo. Let’s eat.

Mahal tayo ng diyos. God loves us.

Kami-means We or Us as well, but the listener is not included.

Kumain kami ng lomi. We eat lomi. (The listener is not included and the listener doesn’t eat lomi. The speaker and the rest of the group eat lomi)

Ikaw-means You

Ikaw ang magpasya. You decide.

Ikaw ay magtino. Behave yourself.

Usually Ikaw is used for emphasis. Sometimes using ikaw with actor focus form sounds odd to native speaker, instead ka is used with verbs.

Sinuntok ka ni Julius. Julius punched you.

Indirect Case

This can function as the subject of the verb in the object focus form, and as possessive pronouns. Remember to put the indirect case after the verb, or the noun. Other pronouns in the indirect case have the same meaning with their direct case equivalent.

Natin and Namin have the same meaning which we/us. Natin means the listener is included and namin means that listener is not included.

Kinain namin ang tinapay. We ate the bread. (The listener didn’t eat the bread with them.)

Kinain natin ang tinapay. We ate the bread. (The listener ate the bread with them.)

Oblique Case

This can function as the indirect object of the verb, or where the action happens, and as possessive pronouns.

Ginamit mo ang libro niya. = Ginamit mo ang kanyang libro. You used his/her book.

Usually indirect pronoun is used to show possession, oblique case is used to make formal constructions.

Nagpunta ako sa kanila pero wala pa siya. I went to their house but he was not yet there.

Sa is used with oblique case pronoun and this can mean the house of the someone, and to mark an indirect object like below.

Ibinigay ko sa kanya.  I gave it to him/her.

Atin means the listener is included and also the owner of the noun; and amin means that listener is not included.

Ating bahay ito. This is our house.  [The listener owns the house too.]

Aming mga tao ang nahihirap. Our people are the ones who experience difficulties. [The listener doesn’t have ownership or responsibility on the people, because it is the speaker’s people.]

Markers

Markers

	Direct	Indirect	Oblique
Singular	ang	ng	sa
Plural	ang mga	ng mga	sa mga
Singular (for name of person)	si	ni	kay
Plural (for names of two or more persons)	sina	nina	kina

Direct Case

Ang/Ang mga— introduce common noun or proper noun except names of people.

Si/Sina—introduce names of person.

These markers are under the direct case and have the same usage shown below, except for letter d, which is just inherent function of ang, ang mga.

a. It marks the main topic in a sentence.

Ang masa ay kontento sa pamahalaan. The mass is contented with the administration.

Ang mga bata ay sabik sa kanilang mga bagong laruan. The kids are excited to their new toys.

Si Chris ay magaling sa paglalaro ng basketball. Chris is good at playing basketball.

Sina Luis at Angelica ay mag-aaral sa bahay ko. Luis and Angelica will study in my house.

b. It also tells the doer of the action of a verb in the actor focus form.

Umani ang magsasaka ng 300 kabang palay. The farmer harvested 300 sacks of rice.

Gising ang mga kwago kapag gabi. The owls are awake at night.

Tumakbo si Jose sa pagkapresidente. Jose runs for presidency.

Aalis sina Topher and Jorge mamaya. Topher and Jorge will leave later.

c. And it tells the direct object of a verb in the object focus form.

Kinain ng peste ang mais. The pest ate the corn.

Hihilahin ko ang mga lubid. I will pull the vines.

Sinigawan ko si Kenneth. I shouted at Kenneth.

Pinagluto ni Jenny sina Angel at Jorge. Jenny cooked (something) for Angel and Jorge.

d. It also highlights a noun, or put it on the spotlight. It gives an emphasis that an action is done by the subject itself alone.

Si Maria ang kumain ng cake. Maria is the one who ate the cake.

Siya ang may sala. It is her fault./She is the one who is to blame.

Indirect Case

Ng/Ng mga-introduce nouns except names of persons, just like ang,ang mga. And Ni/Nina introduce names of persons.

a. To mark the subject of a verb in object focus form.

Inani ng magsasaka ang 300 kabang palay. The farmer harvested 300 sacks of rice.

Kinain ng aso ang buto. The dog ate the bone.

Nilisin ni Mark ang bahay. Mark cleaned the house.

Pininturahan nina Chris at William ang kwarto. Chris and William painted the room.

b. Ng/Ng mga mark the direct of object of the verb in actor focus form, but not ni/nina

Kumain ang manok ng mais. The chicken ate corn.

Nagbigay ako ng regalo. I have given a gift.

Note that ni/nina cannot be used to mark a direct object which is a name of person, for both object focus form and subject focus form of the verb, instead use Si. However, subject focus form of the verb can be used, but an oblique case marker should be used to introduce the name of person, making the object of the verb functions as an indirect object.

(Object Focus ) Tinawag ko si Pedro. I called Pedro

(Subject Focus) Tumawag ako ni Pedro –Tumawag ako kay Pedro. I called (to) Pedro.

Oblique Case

Sa/Sa mga- mark common nouns, and proper nouns and to refer to clan and family, except for specific name of person. Kay/Kina- mark specific names of persons.

a. It marks the indirect object of the verb.

Binigay ni Dr. Martinez ang pera sa bahay-ampunan. Dr. Martinez gave the money to the adoption center.

Nagpasa ang aplikante ng resume sa mga kompanyang nadaanan nya. The applicant submitted resume to the companies he passed through.

Ipinakilala ko ang anak ko kay Manuel. I introduced my daughter to Manuel.

Ipinakita ko ang larawan ng lola kina Sally at Vincent. I showed to Sally and Vincent the picture of grandmother.

b. location where the verb takes place.

Kumain kami sa Gigalo’s Restaurant. We ate at Gigalo’s Restaurant.

Nakatira sila ngayon sa Italy. They live now in Italy.

Bumaba ka sa Ayala Ave. Corner Paseo de Roxas. Get off at Ayala Ave. corner Paseo De Roxas.

Ipinatong ko sa mesa. I put it on the table.

Kay/Kina to show that an action will happen to the place of the person pertained by Kay/Kina

Gagabihin po kami kina Jorge. We will be there at Jorge’s place until evening.

c. sa is used with prepositions of place, and with para (for, receiver) {derived from Spanish}

Ibaba (below), Itaas (above), ilalim (under),ibabaw (on top of, above), gilid (corner, edge), tabihan (corner), gitna (center, middle), pagitan (between), kaliwa (left), kanan (right), likod (back), harap (front), loob (inside), labas (outside). Almost anything can be introduced with the word sa. Sa mga is not used with this presposition. However sa and sa mga is used both for para. Note that para precedes sa/sa mga, and sa/sa mga precede the preposition.

Makikita mo ‘yung libro ko sa tabi ng kabinet. You will see my book besides the cabinet.

Ang Building C ay makikita mo sa harap ng HPT. You will see the Building C in front of HPT.

Mga donasyon ko ito para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo. This is my donation to those devastated by the hurricane.

With proper markers the noun will inherent the case no matter if it is placed before or in the middle of the sentence.  While the Tagalog followed the default syntactical order (Verb-^{Marker} Doer-^{Marker} Object), you can still switch the places of the parts of the sentence giving emphasis to the one place at the beginning.

Binigay ko kay Josh ang laruan.	I gave the toy to Josh.
Kay Josh ko binigay ang laruan.
Ang laruan ay binigay ko kay Josh.

Same way in English, we can say Josh was given a toy (by me), the toy was given to Josh, and I gave Josh the toy; without changing the meaning of the sentence. But this grammatical voice change should also use proper tenses since we are shifting from active to passive, in order to provide accurate details. Much more like in Tagalog, as you can notice in the third sentence Ang laruan ay binigay ko kay Josh, the particle ay is used. Ang laruan being the subject (can be called nominative case) is connect to the description (predicate) with ay (which function as a copula). [Refer to next discussion.]