# Basta



## Seb_K

There were quite some occasions when I am chatting with a few of my friends online, they will use this phrase "basta". I know it's a vulgar word, but what exact meaning does it carry?


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## Cracker Jack

It's not a vulgar word.  It's used if you insist on a point or an idea and the others don't seem to agree with you. It's roughly ''I'm telling you.''  

X: Di naman kapanipaniwala yang sinasabi mo.
Y: Bahala ka kung ayaw mo maniwala *basta* totoo yan.

It can also be used to convey the idea that something is of no small or no mean caliber.

X: Si xxxx palaban yan.  Hindi yan *basta-basta* lang.


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## Flaminius

The word _basta_ does not strike me as indigenously Tagalog.  Could it be traced back to Spanish basta?


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## Thomas1

Flaminius said:


> The word _basta_ does not strike me as indigenously Tagalog. Could it be traced back to Spanish basta?


If I may chime in.  We have the same word in Polish and the its roots have been traced back to Italian.


Tom


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## Cracker Jack

Flaminius said:


> The word _basta_ does not strike me as indigenously Tagalog. Could it be traced back to Spanish basta?


 
You are right, it is of Spanish origin.  However in Tagalog, it is a false cognate.  It does not mean sufficient or enough.  In Southern part of the Philippines where many Spanish words are still part of the vocabulary, bastante is used to mean enough like in Spanish.  In Tagalog however, it is non-existent.


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## Tisia

Hi

Actually we also say that in both Persian and Kurdish. In Persian it is Basse and in Kurdish Bassa (in both cases *a* is pronounced as in b*a*nd). It means "enough!"

Tisia


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## Seb_K

Alrighty, thanks for the explanation! Now, I truly understand what does it mean.


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## DCPaco

Tisia said:


> Hi
> 
> Actually we also say that in both Persian and Kurdish. In Persian it is Basse and in Kurdish Bassa (in both cases *a* is pronounced as in b*a*nd). It means "enough!"
> 
> Tisia


 
It means enough in Spanish too...and sometimes we yell it out:  Basta! And feels like it may be profane to a person who doesn't know its meaning.


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## Ditas

Seb_K said:


> There were quite some occasions when I am chatting with a few of my friends online, they will use this phrase "basta". I know it's a vulgar word, but what exact meaning does it carry?


*Some people also say it when someone presses them for a secret or details that they don't want to explain further. 
Anong binili mo para sa akin? (_What did you buy for me?)_
*Basta*. Surpresa iyon. (*---*. _That's a surprise.)_

*something beyond explanation
Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. (_---, that person is so annoying._)

*as long as
*Basta*'t kasama kita. (_As long as I'm with you.)_

Lots of usage depending on the context =)


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## DCPaco

Ditas said:


> *Some people also say it when someone presses them for a secret or details that they don't want to explain further.
> Anong binili mo para sa akin? (_What did you buy for me?)_
> *Basta*. Surpresa iyon. (*---*. _That's a surprise.)_
> 
> _*Stop it, or enough, that's a suprise.*_
> 
> *something beyond explanation
> Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. (_---, that person is so annoying._)
> *Oh enough of that, that person is so annoying.*
> 
> *as long as
> *Basta*'t kasama kita. (_As long as I'm with you.)_
> In Spanish we say: Contigo me basta.
> *I am content with you (and the as long as is implicite)...but there is an implicite sense of sufficiency and feeling whole with the person, so again, it is enough.*
> 
> Lots of usage depending on the context =)


 

but they all use basta as enough, which is what it means.


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## Ditas

DCPaco said:


> but they all use basta as enough, which is what it means.


Sorry I guess I didn't explain clearly. As Cracker Jack said in his post earlier, it is a false cognate and in Tagalog it doesn't mean enough as it is for other languages. It is used in a different way. He mentioned it is said when insisting a point. 
Example: Basta nakita ko siyang nagnanakaw! (_I'm telling you, I saw him/her stealing!_)

*Some people also say it when someone presses them for a secret or details that they don't want to explain further. 
Anong binili mo para sa akin? (_What did you buy for me?)_
*Basta*. Surpresa iyon. (*---*. _That's a surprise.)_
_*Stop it, or enough, that's a suprise. *_*-->*'Enough/Stop it' is translated as 'Tama na' and would imply a different level of feeling than basta (Tagalog) and cannot be interchanged. If 'Tama na' was said here, it would be quite a startling remark & the person would think you're annoyed/ and can turn them off. 
*
**something beyond explanation 
Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. (_---, that person is so annoying._)
*Oh enough of that, that person is so annoying. --> *It's not exactly telling the person to absolutely stop talking about the subject. It wasn't a good example. Here's another:
Person A: What's the matter?
Person B: Basta parang may narinig akong kalabog sa ibaba. (--- _I heard some noises downstairs_.)

*as long as
*Basta*'t kasama kita. (_As long as I'm with you.)_
In Spanish we say: Contigo me basta.
*I am content with you (and the as long as is implicite)...but there is an implicite sense of sufficiency and feeling whole with the person, so again, it is enough. *
Another example: 
Basta't nag-aral ka ng mabuti, mangunguna ka sa pagsusulit.
(_As long as you studied very well, you can top the test_.) 

Kapag nag-aral ka ng sapat, maipapasa mo ang pagsusulit.
_(If you studied enough__, you can pass the test.)

_'Kapag nag-aral ka ng basta' wouldn't make sense =) Hope it's less confusing.


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## rockjon

Ditas said:


> *Some people also say it when someone presses them for a secret or details that they don't want to explain further.
> Anong binili mo para sa akin? (_What did you buy for me?)_
> *Basta*. Surpresa iyon. (*---*. _That's a surprise.)_
> 
> *something beyond explanation
> Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. (_---, that person is so annoying._)
> 
> *as long as
> *Basta*'t kasama kita. (_As long as I'm with you.)_
> 
> Lots of usage depending on the context =)



I think the basta in the first two sentences above more or less are similar to the English "just."

*Basta*. Surpresa iyon. It's just that it's a surprise. 
Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. Ah, it's just that person is so annoying.  

I'm actually not too sure but this is the only English equivalent word that makes sense in both sentences.


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## niernier

rockjon said:


> I think the basta in the first two sentences above more or less are similar to the English "just."
> 
> *Basta*. Surpresa iyon. It's just that it's a surprise.
> Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. Ah, it's just that person is so annoying.
> 
> I'm actually not too sure but this is the only English equivalent word that makes sense in both sentences.



I see. "just" is a different thing. It is translated to "lang" in tagalog.

It's just that it's a surprise. => Surpresa *lang *'yon.
Ah, it's just that person is so annoying.   => Nakakainis *lang *talaga siya.




"Basta" offers many nuances. Not just one. So it cannot be translated to just one particular version. I agree that "enough of that/stop it" is on a different level. When we say basta we do not mean you to 'absolutely' stop talking about the matter or to stop on forcing us to talk. 



*Basta*. Sorpresa yon. ** You can't make me talk ** It's a surprise.

Ah *basta*, nakakainis siya talaga. ** I'm still by my opinion ** That person is really annoying.

Person A: What's the matter?
 Person B: *Basta parang* may narinig akong kalabog sa ibaba. (**I'm not certain but** _I heard some noises downstairs_.)

One thing is assured. It can be transtalated to "*as long as*"
Basta't kasama mo ako,... = As long as I'm with you,...
Basta't nariyan ka,... = As long as you're there,...
Basta't nag-aral ka ng mabuti,... = As long as you studied very well,...

When duplicated, basta-basta (like what on Post#2 stated), is used to convey the idea that something is of no small caliber.



The above is on how I understand "basta" in Tagalog. Because this word originated in Spanish, it does not mean the same thing. There are what we call false cognates so when speaking Tagalog, think in Tagalog.


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## Outsider

This root seems to have got around quite a lot. Here are two previous threads of interest: 

Indo-European languages: band, close, bind
Hindi: loanwords from Portuguese, etc.


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## Wacky...

The Tagalog "basta" *can* be translated as "just."

Here are some imperative statements:

*Basta*, kunin mo na. = *Just* take it.
*Basta* dumating ka sa oras. = *Just* be on time.
*Basta* huwag kang umasta na parang bata. = *Just* don't be childish.
*Basta*. Surpresa iyon. = *Just* wait/be patient. It's a surprise
And here are the declaratives: (Often used with "lang")

*Basta* na _*lang*_ niya inagaw ang telepono. = He *just* grabbed the phone from me.
*Basta* *lamang* siya pumunta rito para guluhin ang lahat. = He just went here to ruin everything. (This ones not accurate)
Hindi ka maloloko nang *basta* gan'un-gan'on *lang*. You're not gonna get tricked *just* like that.
Hindi ito *basta* kinakain. You don't *just* eat this.
Hindi _*lang*_ *basta* maganda, matalino pa. Not *just*/only pretty, but also intelligent.
You can add _lamang_/_lang_ to the imperative statements as well.
However, it is true that _just_ is translated as _lamang_ but the thing is, _lamang _makes more sense when translated as "only." Eversince my gradeschool, I've always thought that _just_ is one way to translate _basta_.

By the way, the proper Tagalog word for _enough_ is _tama_ or _husto_. _Husto_ came from the Spanish _justo_ though I'm not sure if they were cognates.

One more thing, in the phrase "mag-aral nang mabuti" _nang_ cannot be spelled _ng_ because it's used to signal the use of an adverb and not the possessive form of _ang_.


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## niernier

Wacky... said:


> The Tagalog "basta" *can* be translated as "just."
> 
> Here are some imperative statements:
> 
> *Basta*, kunin mo na. = *Just* take it.
> *Basta* dumating ka sa oras. = *Just* be on time.
> *Basta* huwag kang umasta na parang bata. = *Just* don't be childish.
> *Basta*. Surpresa iyon. = *Just* wait/be patient. It's a surprise
> And here are the declaratives: (Often used with "lang")
> 
> *Basta* na _*lang*_ niya inagaw ang telepono. = He *just* grabbed the phone from me.
> *Basta* *lamang* siya pumunta rito para guluhin ang lahat. = He just went here to ruin everything. (This ones not accurate)
> Hindi ka maloloko nang *basta* gan'un-gan'on *lang*. You're not gonna get tricked *just* like that.
> Hindi ito *basta* kinakain. You don't *just* eat this.
> Hindi _*lang*_ *basta* maganda, matalino pa. Not *just*/only pretty, but also intelligent.




 I have not thought of that. Your examples prove that"basta"* can be *translated to "just".  But then again, it has lots of usage and nuances depending on the situation it is used.


A well-known situation where you can hear one say that is when you press a certain person to tell a secret.
Basta. Sekreto yun. **I cannot tell you about it** It's a secret.


The bottom line here is, "basta" does not translate to "stop it!/enough!" which is quite a startling remark to the listener. 




Wacky... said:


> One more thing, in the phrase "mag-aral nang mabuti" _nang_ cannot be spelled _ng_ because it's used to signal the use of an adverb and not the possessive form of _ang_.



Thanks for the correction. I remember this as a lesson in grade school, about the short ng and the long nang. I got a lot of mistakes on that.


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