# Valentine



## Change1031

Magandang araw!

Gusto kong alamin paano ko sasabihin ang "will you be my Valentine?" sa Tagalog?


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## DotterKat

The original "_*Will you be my Valentine?*_" would be understood by most so that would the best option. If you had to translate, then this is an occasion when the use of Taglish would be acceptable, if not preferable (_*Pwede ba kitang maging Valentine?*"_). Translating the whole line would be almost nauseatingly mawkish, in my humble opinion,  as it would inevitably involve the phrase _Araw ng mga Puso_ (Day of Hearts).


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## Change1031

Gusto kong sabihin ang "You are a thief; you stole my heart." *Ang magnanakaw mo. Ipinagnakaw mo ang puso ko.* Ang correct ba ito? Salamat po.


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## DotterKat

Change1031 said:


> Gusto kong sabihin ang "You are a thief; you stole my heart." *Ang magnanakaw mo. Ipinagnakaw mo ang puso ko.* Ang Correct ba ito? Salamat po.


Hindi.
Huwag nating kalimutan na ang _*ipag-*_ ay ginagamit kapag ang pokus ng pandiwa ay ang _*tagatanggap*_. Sa malikhaing panunulat maari mong sabihin ang *Ipinagnakaw mo ang puso ko* (_ng ano? Ano ang ninakaw niya para sa iyong puso?_). Ngunit ang talagang sinasabi mo sa iyong pangungusap sa pamamagitan ng tayutay na pagwawangis ay _*ninakaw niya ang iyong puso*_. Ang pokus ng pandiwa ay ang _*layon*_ (_ano ang ninakaw niya? Ang iyong puso_).
Kaya ang tamang pangungusap ay *Magnanakaw ka. Ninakaw mo ang [puso ko / aking puso]*.


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## Change1031

DotterKat said:


> Hindi.
> Huwag nating kalimutan na ang _*ipag-*_ ay ginagamit kapag ang pokus ng pandiwa ay ang _*tagatanggap*_. Sa malikhaing panunulat maari mong sabihin ang *Ipinagnakaw mo ang puso ko* (_ng ano? Ano ang ninakaw niya para sa iyong puso?_). Ngunit ang talagang sinasabi mo sa iyong pangungusap sa pamamagitan ng tayutay na pagwawangis ay _*ninakaw niya ang iyong puso*_. Ang pokus ng pandiwa ay ang _*layon*_ (_ano ang ninakaw niya? Ang iyong puso_).
> Kaya ang tamang pangungusap ay *Magnanakaw ka. Ninakaw mo ang [puso ko / aking puso]*.



Sorry, but can you explain it in English, for now? My Tagalog is still terrible and I just tried translating your text and all I got is something about "figure of speech," and "steal for your heart."


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## DotterKat

No.
Let us not forget that *ipag-* is used when the focus of the verb is the _*beneficiary*_. In creative writing, you may say *Ipinagnakaw mo ang puso ko* (_what? What did she steal for your heart?_). However, what you are really saying in your sentence by way of a metaphor is that _she stole your heart_. The focus of the verb is the _*object*_ (_what did she steal? Your heart_).
Therefore, the correct sentence is *Magnanakaw ka. Ninakaw mo ang [puso ko / aking puso]*.


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## Change1031

One of the Valentine phrase I found is "gusto kong ipaalam sa iyo ang damdamin ko." My question is that, can I replace the "ko" and "sa iyo" with "kita" since "kita" refer to both subject and object? Can I write or say "gusto kitang ipaalam ang damdamin ko"?


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## DotterKat

Change1031 said:


> One of the Valentine phrase I found is "gusto kong ipaalam sa iyo ang damdamin ko." My question is that, can I replace the "ko" and "sa iyo" with "kita" since "kita" refer to both subject and object? Can I write or say "gusto kitang ipaalam ang damdamin ko"?


Absolutely not.
You need the directional marker _*sa*_ for the object focus verb ipaalam and the corresponding sa pronoun _*iyo*_ _[let who know? let you know or literally, make known to (*sa*) you]_.
Kita is the pronoun to use when you want it to be either the direct or indirect object.

Nakita kita kahapon.
Tutulungan kita.
Papadalhan kita ng pera.

Thus if you say _Ipaalam kita_, you are saying I will inform (somebody) about you (literally, _you will be made known _or _information about you will be made known / disseminated_).

Ipaalam kita sa mga pulis.
I will inform the police about you.


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## Change1031

Thank you very much.

A little off-topic from the theme, but somewhat a follow up to the directional marker.

"*Sa* marks the beneficiary of an action. It is equivalent to _for_ in English."

The reason why I brought it up was in the other posts, I post an example: *Gusto kitang ibili ng litson dahil gatum ka.* Shouldn't it be *Gusto kong ibili sa iyo ng litson dahil gatum ka.*?


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## DotterKat

Change1031 said:


> ..... *Gusto kitang ibili ng litson dahil gatum ka.* Shouldn't it be *Gusto kong ibili sa iyo ng litson dahil gutom ka.*?



No.
Tagalog has _sa_ pronouns and _ang_ pronouns. If you wish to use sa, then you have to use the corresponding sa pronouns (akin/amin, iyo/inyo and kaniya/kanila).
Ibili is an object-focus verb. The focus of the sentence is litson (what do I want to buy? litson). The indirect object is you (for whom am I buying this litson? you).
_Sa_, among other uses, is a directional marker pointing to the beneficiary. However, that does not make the verb in this particular sentence a beneficiary-focus verb. It remains in the object-focus. Recall that the affix for the beneficiary-focus is ipag- or -an/-han (_Gusto kitang bilhan ng litson_).
In your sentence *Gusto kitang ibili ng litson dahil gutom ka*_, ng_ functions to link the verb ibili to its direct object litson. You can separate this connection, but that would make the sentence trip less fluidly over the tongue.
_*Gusto kong ibili ang litson para sa iyo.*_

The difference is not readily apparent in English which does not have an equivalent for sa and ang pronouns. Simply for illustration purposes, the sentence *Gusto kong ibili sa iyo ng litson dahil gutom ka *sounds as erroneous as _I would like to buy to you a lechon because you are hungry_.


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## Change1031

Does *Gusto kong ibili ka ng litson *works for studying purposes? Technically, it is correct?


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## DotterKat

Change1031 said:


> Does *Gusto kong ibili ka ng litson *works for studying purposes? Technically, it is correct?


Yes. 
It also sounds very colloquial.


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