# Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natutunan ang bata sa...



## iggyca

Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natutunan *ang* bata sa pakikipaglaro.

(I believe that a kid learns more from playing with others.)

Should it be ng instead of ang or is it ang because natutunan is preceded by maraming. Similar to how _May_ change the focus. 

For example,

May gagawin ako.
May kinuha siya.


so if u remove marami from the above example, is it ng instead of ang?

Naniniwala ako na mas natutunan *ng* bata sa pakikipaglaro.

(I believe that a kid learns more from playing with others.)


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## DotterKat

Your original Tagalog text "_Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natutunan *ang* bata sa pakikipaglaro_" is correct, however your English translation missed the tense. It should be _I believe that the child learned more by playing with others_ (natutunan is in the past tense; the present tense is natututunan).

You are right that the marker *ang* focuses the attention of the sentence on the noun _bata _as the subject. However, this has nothing to do with the comparative adverb _mas marami_, which simply modifies _natutu__nan --- _implying that the child learned more by playing with others *than*  something else (let's say he learned more by actually playing a game  than by simply learning the rules of the game while sitting in class). The comparative degree of the adverb is not obvious since the sentence did not specify _what _actual  playing is better than, but this does not make the sentence incorrect as  this could have been implied in the foregoing text. It might be good to  review the degrees of adverbs (positive - _marami; _comparative - _mas marami_; superlative - _pinakamarami). _Of course, _marami_ may also function as an adjective.

It is not the marker _ng _that is applicable in this case as it normally points to the direct object, and _bata_ is definitely not the direct object in your text. _*Bata*_ is the noun that is being talked about, it is the focus of the sentence and therefore requires the subject / focus marker *ang*.

If your sentence had a direct object then the marker _ng _would be of use. Let's say you had this sentence instead:

*Ang* bata ay natuto *ng* pakikisama sa kanyang pakikipaglaro (The child learned fellowship / camaraderie / companionship by playing with others).

Who is being talked about or who is the focus of the above sentence? _Bata _--- it therefore takes the marker _*ang*. _What did _bata _do (what is the verb)? The child _learned_ something_. _What is it exactly that the the _bata _learn? He learned _pakikisama _(fellowship) --- that is the direct object and therefore takes the marker _*ng*_.

Needless  to say, this is a very broad topic and there will be other instances  when ang and ng will be used differently but my explanation above is  specific to the Tagalog text you gave.


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## 082486

I agree with DotterKat...


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## mataripis

_Paniwala ko na may matututunan pa ang mga bata sa kanilang pakikipaglaro._


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## iggyca

Thank you dotterkat for your reply.

*Masaya maging bata, pero mas masaya kung naglalaro. Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natutunan ang bata sa pakikipaglaro. Oo, importante pa rin ang pag-aaral, pero tandaan,all (school) works and no play make me a dull girl/boy.*

That is why my translation was not in the past tense or specific. *a *_kid_ instead of *the*_ kid_. It seems to be referring to kids in general. With past tense I guess could be _I believe_ _kids have learnt more playing with others. 
_
Also, what is the translation of *I believe that a kid learns more from playing with others *in tagalog?

*Naniniwala ako na mas maraming matutunan ang bata sa pakikipaglaro.*

This confused me a bit because when I run into matutunan, ang is usually the object or what is learned but you gave a great explanation.

Thank you.


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## DotterKat

Taken in isolation, this text:

I believe that a kid learns more from playing with others.

would be translated as: Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natututunan ang_ isang bata_ sa pakikipaglaro.

_Isang bata_ would stand for a hypothetical child. However, in the framework of your more complete text (your last post),_ ang bata_ can indeed stand for_ a_ kid, in the sense of a generic child and not a_ particular_ child.

The bigger issue, however, is that you did not conjugate the basic form of the ma... + ... an affixes.

Recall that the ma... + ....an affixes denote experiencing something. Matutunan (root: tuto) - to learn something, mawalan (root: wala) to loose something, mautusan (root: utos) to be commanded something, masigawan (root: sigaw) to be screamed at, etc. All these aforementioned samples are in the basic form (Ma + root word + an). When using them in a sentence, you have to conjugate them further, depending on whether the action is completed (or perfected or in the past --- the terms will differ depending on which book you consult, but they all refer to the same thing), uncompleted (or ongoing or in the present) or unstarted (or in the future).

Thus your sentence:

Naniniwala ako na mas maraming matutunan ang bata sa pakikipaglaro.


Is incorrect because matutunan, although it is the correct basic verb form that expresses that _something is learned_, is not conjugated to agree in tense with the prior verb naniniwala which is in the present tense (I believe...). Matutunan -- to learn something --- should therefore be conjugated in the uncompleted (ongoing or present) tense --- natututunan (_learns_ something, as opposed to_ to learn_ something), to correspond to the present tense of naniniwala ako --_ I believe_. This is the correct sentence:

Naniniwala ako na mas maraming natututunan ang bata sa pakikipaglaro. 

Your verbs - naniniwala, natututunan and pakikipaglaro are all in the present (ongoing/uncompleted) tense. There is now tense agreement and the sentence is correct.


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## iggyca

I completely understand now. Thank you for the reply.


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