Question: Hello, I am trying to learn Tagalog grammar. I have le

Here's an example of a clause in the "near past" (you also see it called "recent past" or "recent perfective"):1. Kararating lang namin.
"We just arrived"This form is used to describe things that just happened recently. The verb has a prefix ka-, and you reduplicate the first consonant and vowel of the verb. The new syllable will behave for stress like the reduplicated syllable of the contemplated form.Sentences with this form of the verb always have 'lang' in them, and they don't (usually) have anything in them that's in the 'ang' form; you can see in 1 that the subject is 'namin', whereas if you had any other form of the verb it'd be 'kami'.

Thank you so very much ... this was exactly what I was looking for ! "Recent past" ... the only grammar book, that I found dealing with that topic, stated that they will NOT go into any details about it ... So I wonder: why do all the grammar books that I use, do not deal with or not even mention that topic ? Is it "obsolete" .... or is is "hardly used" ... or what else is the reason for avoiding it so much .... I think I found real sentences in the net containing e.g. "kakakain", so "recent past" does not seem to be totally irrelevant after all ... I have added your explanation to my "personal grammar book" ... but maybe you or someone else can explain the background a bit in further detail ! Maraming salamat at magandang araw !

@Jimmy329 I don't know why a grammar book would leave it out! Maybe it's just because it's unlike the other verb forms in not having anything in the 'ang' form. As you said, it's not that it's obsolete, or never used. Googling around to look for examples, I came across something I'd forgotten about, which is that some Tagalog speakers (maybe especially younger speakers, especially in Manila?) will form this kind of the verb by prefixing kaka-, rather than by prefixing ka- and reduplicating the verb. So that kind of speaker might say 'kakarating' rather than 'kararating'. But I am not a native speaker, so we should wait to hear from a real expert about how common that kind of thing is.

This online grammar reference includes what it terms as "recently completed" and "intensive recently completed" : learningtagalog.com/ grammar/verbs/aspect s.html. I can't speak to Tagalog frequency but I use it in English regularly.

@Jimmy329
It is pretty common. If you haven’t gotten familiar with it yet, you should check out the Corpus Tool here on Tagalog.com - it can help you get a feel for frequency of different terms:
www.tagalog.com/exam plefinder/index.phpTry searching for…kakagising, kagigising, kakabili, kakagaling, kakaisip, kakauwi, kauuwi, kakabasa, kakakuha, kakanood…many examples there!
Often the “kaka-root” version is more common than the “ka-ro-root” version.

Thank you so much ... the links you provided are extremly helpful ! I think, I understand the topic "recently completed / near past" now.
Maraming salamat para sa tulong ninyo !

@Jimmy329 Good. When you learn it you can explain it to the rest of the world ... They need an explanation di ba?

Hi NikNak,do I really have to explain it still ? I think @Norvin et al. did a super job in doing so already ! But maybe I can add a few remarks to it now. This is what I found out about it in the meantime: Recent Past: For some actions there exists the tense "recent past" to indicate, that an action has ended just recently. It is always combined with LANG. The actor requires the NG-case, even though the verb would normally require the ANG-case.For UM-verbs recent past is formed by prefixing KA and duplicating the first syllable of the root.Halimbawa: gising - kagígising lang niya (he/she just got up).For MAG-verbs the root is prefixed with KAPAG. Halimbawa: mag-aral - kapag-áaral lang ko (I have just finished studying)For MA-verbs MA will be replaced by PA, so the verb will start with KAPAPA always.Halimbawa: mamili - kapápamiliRemark: recent past can also be used as a noun, when the effect follows the action immediately.Halimbawa: Busog na ako sa kakákain ng adobo (I am full now just after eating an adobo)This is all I found out about "recent past" ... I hope it is all correct. I tried my best, but be aware that I am neither an English nor a Tagalog native speaker. And I am almost sure this is not all that has to be said about the topic, but I am feeling quite comfortable with it now.

... quite ... but not TOTALLY ! Of course I have tried to apply my new knowledge (because what is grammar good for after all, if we dont use it!) : magtext ka sa akin kapag kakakain ka. Obviously recent past is NOT applicable in this case ! It should be: Mag text ka sa akin kapag tapos ka ng kumain. Of course my filipina kausap could not explain the REASON, WHY this is so ! She simply says my phrase is wrong ... and as a native speaker (and as a woman) she is always right ! She claims "Katatapos kulang kumain it means just finished eating. " and not "kakakain" ... BAKIT ! Can anyone give me a clue when to apply "recent past" and when not ....

Hmmm nobody has an answer ? ... well it seems to be quite complicated ... nevertherless it seems I have managed to get my first correct sentence using "recent past": kababalik mo lang sa bahay .... She said YES .... ! (maybe she just gave up correcting me) ...

@Jimmy329
Usually it’s best translated as “just/recently” having done something for a completed event. “Just ate,” “Just bought,” etc.Your wrong example above was about a future even that hadn’t yet happened, so I think that’s why it sounds off to a native speaker.