Question: I have a question about the word ANG.

The "ang" in Tagalog is the article "the" in English.The descriptions from your source are true for the article "the" and so would they be for the Tagalog "ang".

@Juantutri The problem though with just saying 'ang' is 'the' is there are plenty of times when 'ang' doesn't directly translate as 'the'.Examples: Ano ang pangalan mo? (What's your name?)Ang bilis mo! (You're so fast!)Hindi ko ihahayag ang mga lihim mo. (I won't reveal your secrets.)

@DrewWilson That’s right, but then you’re analyzing a Tagalog sentence through the lens of English syntax. You are comparing a Tagalog sentence with “ang” with an English sentence without “the”. Confine our analysis only to the Tagalog syntax, a literal translation of the Tagalog sentence is needed. “Ano ANG pangalan mo?” would then be “What is THE name of yours?”. The “ang” marks the subject of the sentence, which is “pangalan”, in the same way that “the” marks the subject “name”. The use of “ang” then conforms to the descriptions coming from your source, which is describing “ang/the” as being used to mark the subject of a sentence. Ano ANG pangalan mo? (What is your name?) = ANG pangalan mo ay ano? (THE name of yours is what?)Ano ANG pangalan ng kaibigan mo? (What is your friend’s name?) = ANG pangalan ng kaibigan mo ay ano? (THE name of your friend is what?)Hindi ko iháhayág ang mga lihim mo. (I won’t reveal your secrets.) = ANG mga lihim mo ay hindi ko ihahayag. (THE secrets of yours will not be revealed by me.) When we pattern an English translation after the syntax of the Tagalog sentence, regardless of how awkward it may sound in English, then “ang” translates to “the”. In the sentence, “Ang bilís mo!”, “ang” there is not “the”. The “ang” word is also used as an intensifier in Tagalog. “Ang bilís mo” can mean “You’re so/very/extremely/totally/etc. fast”.

@Juantutri I honestly can't say I fully understand but I think I get the gist of it. Basically, if we put the Tagalog sentence structure in the formal usage (with the word ay) then we do get the direct translation for 'ang' as being 'the'. Now, how to make it make more sense and easier to digest..

@DrewWilson Oh, I’m sorry about that. I only used the “ay” sentences in my examples to show that when the structures of both the Tagalog and English sentences become comparable, then you will have both “ang” and “the” appear at what your source described as “The Point of Departure (POD) is the starting point of a basic sentence. It is the object, person, idea etc. that the speaker thinks about before or as he or she begins the sentence.”.But using a sentence with “ay” is only part of the picture. That’s because it really does not matter if a sentence is stated with or without the “ay”, the “ang” would still be there at the same spot in the phrase where it belongs.Ano ang pangalan mo? = Ang pangalan mo ay ano?Even without having to change your original Tagalog sentences, their literal translations would still have made the equivalent “the” for “ang” appear. Ano ANG pangalan mo? (What's your name?) >> (lit.) What is THE name of yours?Hindi ko ihahayag ANG mga lihim mo. (I won't reveal your secrets.) >> (lit.) I won’t reveal THE secrets of yours. The only reason why I translated the sentences on the left side of my examples, in the standard way they would be in English, was to show that even if “the” does not appear in such cases, when we paraphrase both the Tagalog and English sentences to begin with their common noun subjects (the corresponding sentences on the right side) then both “ang” and “the” would be there at the POD.Your original question was, “Do people agree with this description of the ANG marker?”. I could have simply answered that with a “yes”, but to explain why it would be so, I related it to the English “the”. However, in your response, you shifted the topic to the problem about “ang” not appearing as “the” in a translation. I could have also just answered that with “Translating a Tagalog sentence with “ang” to English where “the” does not appear won’t change the fact that the use of “ang” in the Tagalog sentence still meets the description as the POD.” Conversely, if we are to translate the English expression “the earlier the better” into Tagalog, that would be “mas maaga mas mabuti”, i.e., there is no “ang” included. It would sound strange with “ang” - “ang mas maaga ang mas mabuti” – because that would be like two PODs going nowhere.