# ika ilang beses na ako



## markmarquezzo

what is the english translation of "ika ilang beses na akong lalake na sumabi sa iyo na maganda ka" thanks


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## DotterKat

There are syntactical errors in the original text. 
I think what you are trying to express in English is something along the lines of: 

_As a guy, how many times have I told you that you are beautiful?_

In Tagalog this would be, roughly: 

_Bilang isang lalaki, ilang beses ko na bang nasabi sa iyo na maganda ka?_


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## QueenInHyeon

markmarquezzo said:


> what is the english translation of "ika ilang beses na akong lalake na sumabi sa iyo na maganda ka" thanks



This sentence is malformed. I think the speaker is trying to ask "Pang-ilan na akong lalaki na nagsabi sayong maganda ka?" 

which means,

"How many times have you been told you're beautiful?" or more literally, How do I come among the guys who told you that you are beautiful?


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## DotterKat

QueenInHyeon said:


> This sentence is malformed. I think the speaker is trying to ask "Pang-ilan na akong lalaki na nagsabi sayong maganda ka?"
> 
> which means,
> 
> "How many times have you been told you're beautiful?" or more literally, How do I come among the guys who told you that you are beautiful?



Yes, that would make sense too.
I would say _Pang-ilang lalaki na akong nagsabi sa 'yong maganda ka?_ and translate that back to English as _What number am I among the (long) list of men who have said that you're beautiful?_


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## Raчraч Ŋuɲan

markmarquezzo said:


> what is the english translation of "ika ilang beses na akong lalake na sumabi sa iyo na maganda ka" thanks



I think that sentence is not idiomatic. If that sentence really is "Pang-ilang lalaki na akong nagsabi sayong maganda ka?" then there is no straighforward english translation either since English requires the speaker to specify a number. A contrived one but I haven't encountered with native speakers would be "What's my ordinal number (first? second? third?) among men who said you're pretty?". Native english  speakers would often enumerate and say instead "Am I the first, second, third man to say you're pretty?" and the other person would get it and specify what ordinal number it is.


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## DotterKat

The original Tagalog text is syntactically unresolved, hence the multifarious translational possibilities. 
Regarding _ordinal numbers_ and _pang-ilan_, there is a related discussion here.


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## Raчraч Ŋuɲan

DotterKat said:


> The original Tagalog text is syntactically unresolved, hence the multifarious translational possibilities.
> Regarding _ordinal numbers_ and _pang-ilan_, there is a related discussion here.



I think its not just syntax that's off but the choice of words as well. 

Also, I just noticed now that the OP speaks Filipino.


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## epistolario

Someone has suggested the following question:  

How many guys before me have told you that you are beautiful? 

If the answer is 10, it means that I'm the 11th guy. What do you think?


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## mataripis

Pls. Provide the english translations of 1.) Maka ilang ulit kong sasabihin sa iyo na maganda ka! 2.) Pang ilan na ako sa mga lalakeng nagsabi sa iyo na maganda ka nga!


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## lostinmanila

first of all, your tagalog is wrong... "pang-ilang lalake na ba akong nagsabi sa iyo na maganda ka?" translation can sound something like these... 1. before me, how many guys have told you that you're beautiful... 2. How many times have you been told you're beautiful (u can use this but not accurate, because the word "lalake" and "ako" is missing).. The translation "_Bilang isang lalaki, ilang beses ko na bang nasabi sa iyo na maganda ka?" is wrong, because it means.. "being a man, how many times did  I tell you that you're beautiful?" duh?

lostinmanila - tagalog speaker since birth.. from Bulacan _


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