# Urgency adverb (na) vs. incomplete aspect



## Change1031

*Papunta ako sa tindahan* vs. *Pumupunta ako sa tindahan* (seem like they both mean "I am going/headed to the store")
*Papunta na ako sa tindahan* vs *Pumupunta na ako sa tindahan* (seem like they both refer to as "now")


Can you use the na adverb on object-focus verb? Like *Pinupuntahan na mo ang tindahan*


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## DotterKat

Change1031 said:


> *Papunta ako sa tindahan* vs. *Pumupunta ako sa tindahan* (seem like they both mean "I am going/headed to the store")


Yes.
However, _Pumupunta ako sa tindahan_ can be read as the habitual present tense. _Papunta ako sa tindahan_ is unambiguously _I am going / headed to the store_ (right now).
Even in the context of a conversation, _Pumupunta ako sa tindahan_ can be interpreted as either the present progressive or the habitual present tense.
Which of these two sentences below most clearly conveys the idea of the speaker on his way to the store _right this very moment_?

1) I am going to the store.
2) I go to the store.

Sentence #2 can be interpreted as the person going to the store right now, once a day, once a week or at some other frequency, i.e., sentence #2 can be read a the _habitual present tense_.
_Pumupunta ako sa tindahan_ ("I go to the store") is understood, to a greater degree than the English equivalent, as the habitual present tense.


Change1031 said:


> *Papunta na ako sa tindahan* vs *Pumupunta na ako sa tindahan* (seem like they both refer to as "now")


Again, _Papunta na ako sa tindahan_ is unambiguously _I am going to the store right now / I am headed to the store this very moment._
Even with the addition of the adverb _na_, the sentence Pumupunta na ako sa tindahan can be interpreted as a recently adopted habitual practice.

_Pumupunta na ako sa tindahan_. I am now going to the store / I now go to the store / Now, I go to the store. (Before, I never did the shopping, but _now I go to the store every day / once a week / every couple of weeks._)
The tendency to understand _pumupunta_ as a habitual tense is more pronounced than it is with the English equivalent.



Change1031 said:


> Can you use the na adverb on object-focus verb? Like *Pinupuntahan na mo mo na ang tindahan*


Yes you can say _Pinupuntahan mo na ang tindahan_.  However, again this sentence is can be read as the habitual tense.

_Pinupuntahan mo na ang tindahan._ You are now going to the store / You are now headed to the store / You now go to the store (The person is now headed to the store, or now goes to the store at some regular interval unlike before when he never went to the store.)

If you want to convey the idea, unambiguously, that the person is headed to the store right now, you can say instead _Papunta ka na sa tindahan_ You are now headed to the store.
Again the inclination to understand pumupunta or pinupuntahan as the habitual tense is more marked in Tagalog than in the English equivalent.


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## Change1031

Thank for the explanation. I'm starting to understand a little more about the urgency of verb and such. I guess it will be clearer once I have more practice talking with someone.


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