# Kasama mo ako



## MarFish

"Kasama mo ako"... Does this mean "I am with you" or "You are with me"? And what part of speech is "kasama" in this case?

And what's the difference between "Kasama mo ako" and "Ako ang kasama mo" (or "Ikaw ang kasama ko" if I have the meanings backwards)? What would be the part of speech for "kasama" here?


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## mataripis

1.)magkasama tayo= we're together. 2.) kasama ko sila.= they're with me.   3.) sama kayo sa amin.= Join with us.   4.) Kasama in most part of speech means " companion".


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## MarFish

Thanks mataripis... but unfortunately you didn't answer any of my questions. 

I asked specifically about "Kasama mo ako". According to this link "kasama kita" means ("I am with you") so that leads me to believe "Kasama mo ako" means "You are with me" (and in your #3 example, "kasama ko sila" would mean "I am with them" not "they are with me"). Correct? Is _kasama_ a verb, noun, preposition, etc?

And what is the difference between "Kasama mo ako" and "Ikaw ang kasama ko"?


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## mataripis

i gave samples just to show how the word "kasama" become verb 1.) sumama (join) 2.) Noun= kasama (companion) 3.) with us/you/him/her (prep.?)             The difference between "kasama mo ako" and "Ikaw ang kasama ko"  is    how it is used in the situation/case scene .    1.) someone is worrying because he/she is not familiar with the place  and his/her companion  will say just to ease this  tension "Kasama mo ako"! and the worried person will answer , i see you really know this place and there is nothing to worry.      2.)  In your trip or journey, you are not informed that the one who will join you is not your friend or you hate most and when you meet her/him  this is the usual expression= Ikaw and kasama ko?      let other explain this further , this is how i answer just to provide clues not direct answer.


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## DotterKat

Your question touches on two important points: 1) words that do double duty as verbs and nouns and 2) verbal focus.

First the root _sama_, which implies togetherness or inclusion has several variations like magkasama, sama-sama and in your example,* kasama*. Just as in English wherein words can sometimes do double duty as either nouns or verbs (_The cook won't cook today. The coach who will coach the kids arrived in a coach because he didn't want to fly coach. Do you know how to tie a tie?_), in Tagalog we have a similar though not exactly the same situation. As you know, verbal conjugation is more complex in Tagalog and in your sentence, kasama can truly be either a noun or verb at the same time, depending on how you choose to translate it into English:

Kasama mo ako is _You are with me_ if you use kasama as a verb and Kasama mo ako is _I am your companion_ if you use kasama as a noun.

For the purpose of this discussion we need to use kasama as a verb to tie in with the discussion of verbal focus which you invoked with your next sentence Ako ang kasama mo.

Kasama mo ako (You are with me) is in the object focus (who are you with? you are with me). 
Ako ang kasama mo (I am with you) is in the actor focus (who is with you? I am with you).

As for the difference between_ Kasama mo ako_ and_ Ikaw ang kasama ko_:

Kasama mo ako is, again, You are with me.

_Ikaw ang kasama ko_ uses the marker* ang* which here functions as a definitizer (You are my companion OR You are the one I am with). In this situation, the ang noun definitizer emphasizes, stresses or highlights the situation of the actor. Imagine, if you will, the difference in spoken form between: Kasama mo ako (You are with me) --- you just happen to be with me, we just happen to be in the same place at the same time and Ikaw ang kasama ko (You ARE THE ONE I am with / You are me MY COMPANION / CHOSEN ONE / PARTNER) --- the English exaggerated a little bit to point out the intensifying effect that the _ang_ noun definitizer has on the sentence). Again, this difference between _Kasama mo ako_ and _Ikaw ang kasama ko_ is amplified a little bit to show the contextual difference between the two, but the grammatical distinctions are real and correct.


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## MarFish

Thank you so much DotterKat! You even answered every question that I had accidentally left out in my original post (verb focus, etc). Thanks again, very helpful.


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