Question: Four real sentences and four questions

1. Either “nákalaban” or “nilabanan” may be used as the verb in that sentence to mean “Erwin was the last one whom Yael fought with” or “Yael fought with Erwin for last (something)”.“Nakalaban” is not a subject-focus verb but an object-focus one. It may also be used as a noun (opponent) with the prefix “ma” translated as a “to be” verb.

"Si Erwin ang hulíng nákalaban ni Yael." = Erwin was the last opponent of Yael. - This is how I am more likely to translate the sentence.2. “Ipinanganák” would be correct if the sentence is stated in the positive. “Ipinanganak” is past tense and the sentence, stated in the positive, would mean that Jane was born before Elvis became popular. However, stating it in the negative means that Jane was born after. “Hindi pa ipinanganganak” is like stating it in, I think, the English future perfect tense. 3. They may be stated either way.
“Puwede po ba kamíNG kumain sa labás ng anák niNyó?”
“Puwede po ba kamí ng anák niNyóNG kumain sa labás?” (The “na” is part of “puwede na kumain (may eat)” – puwedeng kumain. It has to be there either way the sentence is stated. Also, “niyo” is not a valid word. It should be either “ninyo” or “n’yo”.)I think the original sentence would sound more natural to us in the sense that the words flow smoother that way. However, applying English grammar rules, that structure produces a dangling modifier. Your version corrects that. 4. “datos na nagsama pati SA mga pampublikong bus” = data that included even those ON public buses. “datos na nagsama pati NG mga pampublikong bus” = data that included even those OF public buses.

Tysm @Juantutri! Your responses are always 10/10.Wow, I didn't know maka- verbs could be actor-focused. What are other examples of maka- verbs that aren't actor-focused?

Verbs with the “maka-” prefix are actor-focused.In the sentence "Si Erwin ang huling nakalaban ni Yael", the prefix “naka-” is not the single “maka-” prefix that you had in mind. It is instead, a combination of two separate prefixes – “ma-” and “ka-”. The root is “laban (fight)” and with the “ka-” prefix it becomes “kalaban”, a noun that means “opponent/enemy”. It is only the “ma-” prefix, and not the "maka-" prefix, that can be used to form both actor- and object-focus verbs. Adding “ma-” to the noun “kalaban”, we get “mákalaban (to have someone/something as an opponent)”. That’s the reason why I mentioned earlier that the “ma-” prefix may be translated as the “to be” verb and came up with the translation, “Erwin was the last opponent of Yael”. Adding “ma-” to “kalaban” produces an object-focus verb. (An example of an actor-focus verb with a “ma-” prefix is “matulog”.) It is this combination of the two prefixes to form “mákalaban (nákalaban, nákakalaban, mákakalaban)” that can give the same meaning as the verb “labanan (nilabanan, nilálabanan, lálabanan)” – Si Erwin ang huling nákal``aban/nilabanan ni Yael. Both verbs are object-focus. The single “maka-” prefix, depending on which syllable is stressed in the verb it forms, can give either the “to be able to” or “to have the chance to” meaning. Hence, “makalaban” (to be able to fight back) or “makálaban” (to have a chance to fight) can’t replace “labanan” (to fight/fight back).Hindí nilá kayang labanan ang isáng taong may hawak na baríl. = They can’t fight a person who is holding a gun. (labanan - object-focus)

Ayaw niláng MÁkalaban ang isáng taong may hawak na baríl. = They would not like to fight/have as an opponent a person who is holding a gun. (ma’’-ka-laban - object-focus) Sila ay puwedeng MAKAlaban sa isáng taong may hawak na baril kung sila rin ay may mga baríl. = They can (will be able to) fight back with a man holding a gun if they also have guns. (maka-laban - subject-focus)Gustó niláng MAKÁlaban nang patas. = They would like to have a chance/be able to fight fair and square. (maká-laban - subject-focus)

Wow! Thanks for making me aware that this kind of prefix confusion is possible. I wish it explicitly said on the dictionary page that makalaban can be either actor-focused or object-focused.

@NovaChromatic
If you see something like this, send me a message. The dictionary really should have two entries for those words, one for the maka- version and one for the ma- version, according to current guidelines.There are a number of other common verbs like this that appear to be maka- verbs that are actually ma-...
makalimutan, makasama, makausap...