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Word Connectives / Ligatures

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Keep In Mind:
Ligatures merely connect two words to indicate a relationship, and don't have definition on their own.

Word connectives or “ligatures” are a unique part of the Filipino language that are used to link two words together.


When to use Ligatures

There are a variety of grammar patterns that require words to be connected by ligatures.

The first pattern to learn, is that you should connect nouns and the adjectives that describe them using ligatures.
For example, in the phrase: “the red car”, the words “red” and “car” should be connected with a ligature in the Filipino language.


Three Types of Ligatures

1.) If the first word ends in a vowel, the ligature -ng is attached to the end of that word to connect it to the next word.
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Examples:
kawawa + ba
kawawang ba (pitiful child)
mabi + gamót
mabisang gamót (effective medicine)
matabâ + lalaki
matabáng lalaki (fat man)
matandâ + babae
matandáng babae (old woman)
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Examples:
kawawa + bata
kawawang bata (pitiful child)
mabisa + gamot
mabisang gamot (effective medicine)
mataba + lalaki
matabang lalaki (fat man)
matanda + babae
matandang babae (old woman)
2.) If the first word ends in the letter N, the ligature -g is attached to the end of that word to connect it to the next word.
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Examples:
mayaman + lalaki
mayamang lalaki (rich man)
sabón + mabangó
sabóng mabangó (fragrant soap)
pinggán + malinis
pinggáng malinis (clean plate)
masunurin + mámamayán
masunuring mámamayán (obedient citizen)
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Examples:
mayaman + lalaki
mayamang lalaki (rich man)
sabon + mabango
sabong mabango (fragrant soap)
pinggan + malinis
pinggang malinis (clean plate)
masunurin + mamamayan
masunuring mamamayan (obedient citizen)
3.) If the first word ends in any consonant other than "N", the word na is used to connect two words.
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Examples:
maalat + pagkain
maalat na pagkain (salty food)
mabaít + estudyante
mabaít na estudyante (nice student)
malusóg + ba
malusóg na ba (healthy child)
mahimbíng + natutulog
mahimbíng na natutulog (sleeping soundly)
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Examples:
maalat + pagkain
maalat na pagkain (salty food)
mabait + estudyante
mabait na estudyante (nice student)
malusog + bata
malusog na bata (healthy child)
mahimbing + natutulog
mahimbing na natutulog (sleeping soundly)
Changing of Sequence

Changing the sequence of words does not change the meaning of the phrases. It retains the denotation and follows the same rules for using ligatures.
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Examples:
salty food
maalat na pagkain Play audio #4160
pagkaing maalat Play audio #4161
kind student
mabaít na estudyante Play audio #4157
estudyanteng mabaít Play audio #4158
healthy child
malusóg na ba Play audio #4155
batang malusóg Play audio #4156
effective medicine
mabisang gamót Play audio #4153
gamót na mabi Play audio #4154
fat man
matabáng lalaki Play audio #4151
lalaking matabâ Play audio #4152
old lady
matandáng babae Play audio #4149
babaeng matandâ Play audio #4150
fragrant soap
sabóng mabangó Play audio #4147
mabangóng sabón Play audio #4148
obedient citizen
masunuring mámamayan Play audio #4145
mámamayang masunurin Play audio #4146
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Examples:
salty food
maalat na pagkain Play audio #4160
pagkaing maalat Play audio #4161
kind student
mabait na estudyante Play audio #4157
estudyanteng mabait Play audio #4158
healthy child
malusog na bata Play audio #4155
batang malusog Play audio #4156
effective medicine
mabisang gamot Play audio #4153
gamot na mabisa Play audio #4154
fat man
matabang lalaki Play audio #4151
lalaking mataba Play audio #4152
old lady
matandang babae Play audio #4149
babaeng matanda Play audio #4150
fragrant soap
sabong mabango Play audio #4147
mabangong sabon Play audio #4148
obedient citizen
masunuring mamamayan Play audio #4145
mamamayang masunurin Play audio #4146

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