# nakasuot or nagsusuot



## daviddem

In the course I am doing I came across "Nakasuot ng sapatos ang babae", which I understand to mean "the woman is wearing shoes"

Why are they using nakasuot and not nagsusuot? Formerly, they used "Nagsusulat ng libro ang babae", and not "nakasulat".

Also I don't see a naka- verb affix listed in learningtagalog dot com grammar or on the wikipedia page on tagalog grammar.

I see naka- is an adjective affix expressing the state of something, and you can for example apparently say "Nakasapatos ang babae", also meaning "the woman is wearing shoes". However if nakasapatos is an adjective then where is the verb in that sentence???

edit: ok let me have a go at this:

"Maganda ang babae" -> the woman is pretty and "maganda" is an adjective.
"Nakasapatos ang babae" -> the woman is [wearing shoes], where nakasapatos is an adjective meaning "wearing shoes" or "shoed".
"Nakasuot ng sapatos ang babae" -> the woman is [wearing shoes], where [Nakasuot ng sapatos] is an adjective meaning kind of "dressed with shoes"

uh?

At the end of the day, is it also correct to say "Nagsusuot ng sapatos ang babae"? If yes, does it mean that the woman is in the process of getting into her shoes, rather than already wearing them?

re-edit: later comes "Tatlo ang babaeng nakasuot ng pantalon". Is this a sentence ("three girls are wearing a pantalon") or does it just mean "three girls who wear a pantalon"?


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## DotterKat

daviddem said:


> In the course I am doing I came across "Nakasuot ng sapatos ang babae", which I understand to mean "the woman is wearing shoes"
> 
> Why are they using nakasuot and not nagsusuot? Formerly, they used "Nagsusulat ng libro ang babae", and not "nakasulat".
> 
> Also I don't see a naka- verb affix listed in learningtagalog dot com grammar or on the wikipedia page on tagalog grammar.
> 
> I see naka- is an adjective affix expressing the state of something, and you can for example apparently say "Nakasapatos ang babae", also meaning "the woman is wearing shoes". However if nakasapatos is an adjective then where is the verb in that sentence???
> 
> edit: ok let me have a go at this:
> 
> "Maganda ang babae" -> the woman is pretty and "maganda" is an adjective.
> "Nakasapatos ang babae" -> the woman is [wearing shoes], where nakasapatos is an adjective meaning "wearing shoes" or "shoed".
> "Nakasuot ng sapatos ang babae" -> the woman is [wearing shoes], where [Nakasuot ng sapatos] is an adjective meaning kind of "dressed with shoes"



The naka- prefix expresses a _state of being_ (e.g. being in a certain position or as in your example, being in a state of _wearing something_). In your particular example, think of nakasuot as an _attributive verb_. The more direct translation would be:


_*Nakasapatos *ang babae_ >>>> The woman is *shod* (past participle of the verb _to (wear a) shoe_, expressing an attribute of the noun, i.e. she is in state of wearing shoes. _She is shod_).



daviddem said:


> At the end of the day, is it also correct to say "Nagsusuot ng sapatos ang babae"? If yes, does it mean that the woman is in the process of getting into her shoes, rather than already wearing them?
> 
> re-edit: later comes "Tatlo ang babaeng nakasuot ng pantalon". Is this a sentence ("three girls are wearing a pantalon") or does it just mean "three girls who wear a pantalon"?





Yes, "Nagsusuot ng sapatos ang babae" means the woman is _in the process _of putting on her shoes.

The sentence "Tatlo ang babaeng nakasuot ng pantalon" would be better phrased as:

Tatlong babae ang nakasuot ng pantalon OR more simply: Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon (Three women are wearing pants).

Further discussion on this topic can be found here including a link for the naka- affix.


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## daviddem

Thanks for your reply. Can you also explain why when the woman is alone or when they are many, one says:
"Nakapantalon ang babae" or "Nakapantalon ang mga babae"

but when they are three, one says:
"Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon." and not "Nakapantalon ang tatlong babae."

Why the order reversal??

edit: taking a shot:
"Nakapantalon ang tatlong babae" means "The three women are wearing pants", whereas
"Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon" means "Three women (among many) are wearing pants."

Is this correct?

re-edit:
I now found this page which says that "Three of the women" should be "dalawa sa mga babae". So my theory above does not hold because should one not write "Nakapantalon ang dalawa sa mga babae"?

re-re-edit: after reading this excellent section on sentence structure, I come to the conclusion that in
"Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon", the predicate is "Tatlong babae" and the focus is "ang nakapantalon". So I would translate this literally into "The pants-wearing [people] are three women" or "The ones wearing pants are three women".

In the original sentence from my course "Tatlo ang babaeng nakapantalon", I would say the predicate is "Tatlo" and the focus is "ang babaeng nakapantalon". nakapantalon is adjective to babae and in this case the adjective has been placed after the noun, as explained here, so I would translate that literally into "The women wearing pants are three".


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## DotterKat

daviddem said:


> Thanks for your reply. Can you also explain why when the woman is alone or when they are many, one says:
> "Nakapantalon ang babae" or "Nakapantalon ang mga babae"
> 
> but when they are three, one says:
> "Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon." and not "Nakapantalon ang tatlong babae."
> 
> Why the order reversal??
> 
> edit: taking a shot:
> "Nakapantalon ang tatlong babae" means "The three women are wearing pants",  Absolutely right.
> whereas "Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon" means "Three women (among many) are wearing pants."  Absolutely right.






daviddem said:


> I now found this page which says that "Three of the women" should be "dalawa sa mga babae". So my theory above does not hold because should one not write "Nakapantalon ang dalawa sa mga babae"?



No, that link absolutely does not say that "Three of the women" should be "dalawa sa mga babae". It says "_dalawa_ sa mga babae" means "_two_ of the women".



daviddem said:


> after reading this excellent section on sentence structure, I come to the conclusion that in
> "Tatlong babae ang nakapantalon", the predicate is "Tatlong babae" and the focus is "ang nakapantalon". So I would translate this literally into "The pants-wearing [people] are three women" or "The ones wearing pants are three women".
> 
> In the original sentence from my course "Tatlo ang babaeng nakapantalon", I would say the predicate is "Tatlo" and the focus is "ang babaeng nakapantalon". nakapantalon is adjective to babae and in this case the adjective has been placed after the noun, as explained here, so I would translate that literally into "The women wearing pants are three".



No. You are overanalyzing the sentence structure and have gotten tangled up in the branches of the syntax tree. You already got it right the first time.


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