# Kumain Ka na



## Inglip

Hey! I am new here and already have learnt some new things before I signed up. I thought I would introduce myself, and I have a couple questions.

I am learning filipinio because I have many filipino friends and a filipinio girlfriend. I started learning out of curiosity, picking up words like Kamusta Ka and Salamat, but now I am serious. I try and talk it with my friends as best and frequently as I can.

I am pretty good at remembering the words I learn. Most of the time I only need to be told once what the word for swimming or car is for example, but I have some trouble with the correct grammar. I know all the words I need to construct the sentence, but I fail to put them in the correct order. My friends help as best they can, but grammar can be a complex thing, and their English skills limit their teaching, because they can't explain properly the rules. I do have a grammar rule book, but a book lacks the human element of feed back. For example, the book my explain how to correctly use "um" verbs, but if I construct my own sentence, the book wont tell me im right or wrong. Then I found this site and I'm hoping Its the right place to be.

Anyway, I had one thing that is confusing me, the word Na. I'm and just unsure how it is to be used correctly. 

I am asked "Kumain Ka na?" Which I know to mean, "have you eaten?". But what does the Na mean? I would have constructed this sentence as "Kumain Ka ba?" So what is the Na?

Thanks for any help. I look forward to learning here


----------



## iggyca

Welcome to the forums. I am also here to learn tagalog. There are many great members here willing to help. I am sure you wont be disappointed. 

As for your problem here is a page you that may help you out.

https://learningtagalog.com/grammar/enclitic_words/meanings_of_enclitic_particles/na.html


----------



## DotterKat

_"Kumain Ka *na*?"

Na_ functions as an adverb of time in your sentence. It would be equivalent to _already _as in _"Have you* already* eaten?_"


----------



## Inglip

Thanks for the input, the link was helpful, but it has made things a little more confusing. It is saying that 'NA' has so many different meanings! I am not sure which one means which in a sentence. 

Take for example: 
Ako na ang maluluto

This means "I'll do the cooking" (as opposed to you/leave the cooking to me)

Apparently in this context Na means after all/instead of other options.

But Na is also supposed to mean now/already. So surely that sentence can also mean "I will cook soon/shortly"?

How do I tell the difference between all the meanings?


----------



## DotterKat

These subtleties will come to you as you learn more about Tagalog. Just as with any other language, it has words that do multiple functions. In your sentence:

_Ako *na* ang magluluto.  (I'll do the cooking.)_ 

_Na _here simply functions as a linker between the subject (ako) and the predicate or verb phrase (ang magluluto).

It may be confusing, but again you will get the correct meaning as you progress in your studies. Always let the context of your sentence guide you towards the proper usage. Situations like this would be no different from those confronted by neophytes to English being confounded by seemingly simple sentences such as:

Bat the bat with a bat. (_Bat _in three functions --- as a verb and twice as two different nouns, i.e, bat the flying mammal and bat the baseball equipment.)

Put the top on top. (_Top _the noun and _top _the adjective.)


----------



## Inglip

Thank you!

I know that when learning a language you should never look for literal translations of individual words, because one word in one language could by literally translated into 6 words/phrases or another. In the case of Na, I just don't know how it fits into English. It means roughly 7 different things, but I can't seem to find any common ground between the different English meanings. I do know they are all connected by time, but I don't fully understand how.

Is is like Sa for places, and Si for people? Na for time?


----------



## DotterKat

You must have meant to ask "Is *in* like sa for places and si for people?"

The short answer to the above question is yes. The Tagalog _*sa*_ is an oblique marker for direction and/or location, as in:

Pupunta ako _*sa*_ bahay nila mamaya. _I will go *to*__ their house later._ (Where will I go later? _*To*_ their house.)
Ibibigay ko *sa* kanya ang libro. _I will give him the book. _(*To* whom will I give the book? _*To*_ him.)

[By the way, if you really meant to ask "Is is like sa for places....." then the answer is no since *is* is a conjugation of _*to be*_, which would be  more equivalent to the Tagalog *ay*.]

As to the second half of your first question, yes _*si*_ is an absolutive (personal, singular) noun marker. For example:

*Si *Inglip ang kausap ko. _I am speaking with Inglip. _(*With whom* am I speaking? I am speaking *with *Inglip.)

Your last question is much trickier. No, *na* cannot be generalized as an adverb of time (as in *already*). You will learn as you go on with your Tagalog studies that *na *is used as a linker almost as frequently (if not more frequently) as it is used as an adverb.


----------



## Inglip

Thanks. I will just keep reading examples of Na and try to pick it up 

And yes, it was a typo, it was supposed to be. *Is it *like sa......


----------

