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Una vs Muna - too similar to my mind, apart from enclitic vs adj

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Author Photo by: stevesmi
Oct 09 2019, 6:38pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Una vs Muna - too similar to my mind, apart from enclitic vs adjective.
Would somebody explain to me the difference(s) pleez ?
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Author Photo BoraMac Badge: Supporter
Oct 10 2019, 2:14pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Yes...a relationship that has caught my ear too...I'll defer to someone who can provide the deeper connection.
 
I wish related words would always be presented together. Muna I picked up about 10 years ago...took a waitress named Una to teach me the rest about 3 years ago. Its easier to get them together - - systematically - - than live in ignorance until the connection is made by some happenstance.
 
Great question....thanks for any insights.
 
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Author Photo TLDCAdmin Badge: AdminBadge: SupporterBadge: Serious SupporterBadge: VIP Supporter
Oct 10 2019, 3:02pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@stevesmi @BoraMac
 
I could use a native speaker's insight on this, too...
 
I know both can mean "first".
 
"Muna" is considered an enclitic and "una" is not.
"Muna" can also mean "in the meantime" or "for the time being" and "una" cannot.
 
If you look at the example sentences in this dictionary, you'll see "muna" is often used as an enclitic, whereas "una" is more commonly used as an adjective (unang heart transplant, unang kahilingan, unang distrito, unang araw, etc.)
 
www.tagaloglessons.c om/words/una.php
www.tagaloglessons.c om/words/muna.php
 
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Author Photo leosmith
Oct 10 2019, 11:56pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Una is an adjective, but muna is an enclitic particle which makes it an adverb.
Ex: Kahapon ang unang beses na pumunta ako. = Yesterday was the first time I went.
Ex: Kahapon pumunta muna ako. = Yesterday I went first.
Notice that una is modifying a noun and muna a verb above. Of course these are not the only uses of adjectives and adverbs, but it's the simplest way I could think of explaining the difference.
 
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Author Photo BoraMac Badge: Supporter
Oct 11 2019, 12:00pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Muna seems to me to be used when the speaker is emphasizing..."BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE...we do this first" and might continue on "to be sure" sigurado...or even "ganito" we do it like this.
 
So you might also hear "Muna agad"...right away first.
 
And once you get the "before" notion...then "Bago" can come into use...
 
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Author Photo leosmith
Oct 11 2019, 7:14pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@BoraMac Bago can be either an adjective (bagong taon) or an adverb (bago pumunta ako), but I think una/muna are stuck in there respective adj/adv roles. I could be wrong though.
 
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Author Photo TheFrozenMuffin
Oct 13 2019, 1:27pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
This is one of those situation where you need to understand how to use a word by sentence examples.
 
Kailangin ko gawin ito muna.
First, I need to do this.
 
Where I lived, you were equally likely to hear this too:
Primero, Kailangin ko gawin ito.
First, I have to do this.
This is used especially if u are going to say things you will do afterwards, use Segundo for second, etc.
 
Ito ang unang bagay na Kailangin ko gawin.
This is the first thing I need to do.
 
Kailangin ko unahin ito.
I need to prioritize/do this.
 
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Author Photo leosmith
Oct 13 2019, 7:45pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Kailangin ko gawin ito muna. First, I need to do this.

@TheFrozenMuffin are you sure this sentence is correct? Muna is enclitic, and this sentence seems to only have one clause so it belongs in the only enclitic cluster from what I've learned:
Kailangin ko munang gawin ito.
 
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Author Photo TheFrozenMuffin
Oct 13 2019, 8:43pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@leosmith That sounds and looks correct. But if I hear muna at the end, it sounds more emphasized.
But disclaimer here, where I lived, ilocano was primary language.
 
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Author Photo Bituingmaykinang
Oct 28 2019, 6:17pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
I don't think there really is a difference except for sentence construction:
 
(1) Manonood MUNA ako.
(2) Uunahin kong manood.
(3) I will watch first.
 
From my perspective, (1) emphasizes on the action while (2) emphasizes on the action being first and that muna is not conjugated while una can be. Nauna, uunahin, paunahin, unahin, napauna...
 
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Author Photo BoraMac Badge: Supporter
Oct 28 2019, 6:34pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@TheFrozenMuffin
 
Does Kailangin...."need"...have an essential time element embedded in the need.
 
I am not sure I always heard it that way...you have a (high priority) need!
 
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Author Photo Bituingmaykinang
Oct 28 2019, 6:38pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@BoraMac I don't think there is a time element in the root word KailangAN. However, there is in its conjugated forms. Kinailangan ko (I needed), Kakailanganin ko (I will need).
 
If you want to say something is very urgent "Kailangan na kailangan" is used or if you want to say it is lower priority, use "medyo kailangan" (though this can be contextual)
 
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Author Photo Tagamanila Badge: SupporterBadge: Serious SupporterBadge: VIP SupporterBadge: Native Tagalog Speaker
Nov 19 2019, 11:46pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@stevesmi
 
I can understand your confusion about those two words as they may, at times, mean the same thing. I hope this can somehow clarify their difference.
 
Both words can mean “first” or “ahead of”.
 
UNA
 
“Una” is a position, the first one, whether independently or in relation to another or others in a group.
 
Una ka. = Ikaw (ay) ang una. = Ang una ay ikaw. = You are first. (Independently – the rest are ignored).
 
Una ka sa akin. = Ikaw (ay) ang/ay (ang) una sa akin. = You are ahead of me. (Between the two of us, you are first and it does not matter if there are still others between us. Just between the two of us, you are first).
 
Una ka sa lahat. = Ikaw (ay) ang/ay (ang) una sa lahat. = You are first overall/ahead of everyone or everything else.
 
Si Bob ay una kay Ted. = Una si Bob kay Ted. = Una kay Ted si Bob. = Bob is ahead of Ted. - The subset of Bob and Ted is exclusive, i.e., even if Bob and Ted are just a part of a bigger group and Bob is not ahead of everyone, the rest are considered irrelevant to the ranking or ordering of Bob and Ted.
 
Ang unang buwan ng taon ay (ang) Enero. = (Ang) Enero ang unang buwan ng taon. = The first month of the year is January/January is the first month of the year.
 
Ang Enero ay una sa lahat ng mga buwan. = Una ang Enero sa lahat ng mga buwan. = January is first/ahead of all the months.
 
Ang Marso ay una sa Hunyo. = Una ang Marso sa Hunyo. = Una sa Hunyo ang Marso. = March is ahead of June. - March as coming “first” or ahead of June is all that matters here - the other 10 months are irrelevant.
 
MUNA
 
On the other hand, “muna” is “first” but in a flowing series of things. What follows it in the series has to be mentioned or, at least, clearly understood. It is not an independent “first” because its being first is in relation to another or others. That which comes first has to be stated before you can use “muna”. Therefore, “muna” cannot be used to start a sentence.
 
Ikaw muna. = You first. - For this to make sense, it must be understood between the speaker and the listener as to who will follow after.
 
In mentioning the series, words like “bago” (before) and “pagkatapos” (then after) often follows “muna”. “Bago” may loosely mean “before”, but “pagkatapos” means “following right after”. In some cases, these words are also used with “una” though.
 
Ikaw muna bago kami. = Bago kami, ikaw muna. = You first before us.
 
If we’d say “Una ka” (You are first), we may leave it at that because the information is already complete. That is what I meant by “una” being independent. However, if we’d say “Ikaw muna” (You first) out of context, it anticipates a “then who’s next?”. That is the dependence of “muna”. It is like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
 
Si Bob muna bago si Ted. = Bago si Ted, si Bob muna. = Bob first before Ted. - If it’s about a line of 10 people, Bob does not have to be the first in line. He may be the 3rd and Ted would usually mean the 4th.
 
Si Bob muna at pagkatapos, si Ted. = Bob first and then Ted (after). - sometimes we say “at pagkatapos” simply as “ ‘tapos” - “Si Bob muna ‘tapos, si Ted”. - If Bob is the 3rd in line, Ted is definitely the 4th one.
 
Marso muna bago Abril/Mayo, etc. = Bago Abril/Mayo, etc., Marso muna. = March comes (first) before April/May/etc.. - The use of “muna” here gives the same meaning as in the use of “una” with the months above, except that here we think of the 2 months as still part of the series. It’s like saying, “March comes ahead of June (in the series)”. With “una”, it is simply, “March comes ahead of June”.
 
Marso muna at pagkatapos, Abril./Marso muna ‘tapos, Abril. = March first and then April.
 
Imagine a contest with Peter, Paul, and Mary as the first three winners. Their rankings may be indicated by using “una” or “muna” as follows:
 
Una:
 
Una si Mary. = Si Mary ang una. = Mary is first.
 
Una si Peter kay Paul. = Si Peter ay una kay Paul = Una kay Paul si Peter. = Peter is ahead of Paul (Peter is first as compared to Paul).
 
Una si Mary kay/kina Paul at Peter. = Si Mary ay una kay/kina Paul at Peter. = Una kay/kina Paul at Peter si Mary. = Mary is ahead of Paul and Peter. (Only Mary’s rank is important. The ranking between Peter and Paul is irrelevant. Grammatically, “kina” would be correct for “kina Paul at Peter” and “kay” should be used as “kay Paul at kay Peter”. However, we sometimes omit the second “kay” when speaking.)
 
Muna:
 
Si Mary muna at pagkatapos, si Peter at si Paul. = Mary is first then Peter and Paul come after.
 
Si Mary muna bago si Peter at pagkatapos, si Paul. = Mary first before Peter and then Paul after.
 
Si Peter muna bago si Paul. = Bago si Paul, si Peter muna. = Peter comes before Paul.
 
Si Mary muna bago si Paul o si Peter. = Bago si Paul o si Peter, si Mary muna. = Mary comes first before Peter or Paul.
 
Now, to complicate matters a bit more. “Una” and “muna” may also be used together as “una muna”. It is used to put the series in correct order.
 
In the examples above, if the question was who placed second and third between Peter and Paul, the answer might be stated as:
 
Una muna si Peter bago si Paul. = Peter comes FIRST before Paul. - This means the same thing as “Si Peter muna bago si Paul”, but just adds that “first” word to the statement. So, the important word here is “muna” and “una” is just used for emphasis.
 
Also, usually if we use “una muna”, we place it at the start of the sentence. If placed inside the sentence, an “ang” is added before it.
 
Si Peter ANG una muna bago si Paul.
 
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Author Photo Tagamanila Badge: SupporterBadge: Serious SupporterBadge: VIP SupporterBadge: Native Tagalog Speaker
Nov 19 2019, 11:50pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@TheFrozenMuffin
 
In Tagalog we would say "Kailangin ko gawin ito muna" as:
 
"KailangAn koNG gawin ito muna" or "KailangAn koNG gawin muna ito" or "KailangAn ko munaNG gawin ito.
 
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