# Si Mang Berto at si Aling Nena ay mag-asawa



## Inglip

Here is my attempt at translating. Feedback is appreciated.

 
Si Mang Berto at si Aling Nena ay mag-asawa. Sila ay may dalawang ana, sina Manuel at Rosa. Sila ay mag-anak na Philipino. Masaya at tahimik ang kanilang buhay.
_Mang Berto and Aling Nena are a couple. They have two children, Manuel and Rosa. They are a Philipinio family. Their life is happy and peaceful._
 
Si Mang Berto ay magsasaka. Siya ay magtatanim ng palay sa bukid. Si Aling Nena ay tinder. May maliit na tindahan siya. Si Rosa at si Manuel ay nag-aaral sa mababang paaralan. Si Rosa ay nasa ikatlong baiting at Si Manuel ay nasa ikalimang baiting.
_Mang Berto is a farmer. He planted rice in the field. Aling Nena is a store keeper. She has a small store. Rosa and Manuel are studying at bottom/low school. Rosa is in 3rd grade and Manuel is in 5th grade._
 
Sila ay mabubuting bata. Tumutulong si Rosa sa kanyang ina. Tumutulong si Manuel sa kanyang ama. Sila ay masisipag.

_They are good kids. Rosa is assisting her mother. Manuel is assisting his farther. They are active._


I think the source text was a lot better with this piece of writing, as I found it a lot easier to translate. 



What is the difference between Anak, and Bata? In my understanding, they both mean children, and apparently mag-anak means family. Why not simply use pamilya? 



Thanks!


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## DotterKat

I will correct only where errors have been made:

Sila ay may dalawang anak......

_They are a Filipino family_. (_Mag-anak_ was used in an attempt to teach "authentic" Tagalog --- I presume you got this from a grammar textbook. The more common _pamilyang Pilipino _would be used in everyday conversation. Pamilya, among many other Tagalog words, was borrowed from Spanish.)

Siya ay magtatanim ng palay sa bukid.
He is a rice farmer. (Magsasaka, magtatanim, magbubukid --- these words have fine differences but essentially mean the same thing, a farm worker or a farmer.)

Si Aling Nena ay tindera.

_Rosa and Manuel are (studying at bottom/low school) attending elementary school.

_Si Rosa ay nasa ikatlong baytang at Si Manuel ay nasa ikalimang baytang.

_[Rosa is assisting her mother. Manuel is assisting his father.__] _The entire text is in the form of a narrative using the present tense. Generally speaking, you would want to maintain the same tense throughout. Therefore, it is desirable to not suddenly shift to the present progressive tense and use these sentences instead:

Rosa assists her mother, Manuel assists his father. (This will then mean exactly what the original text expresses, that is both children _routinely_ or _habitually_ assist their parents and not just at this very moment --- which is what is expressed when you use the present progressive tense.)

[Sila ay masisipag.] In this context, the sentence best translates to:
They are hard working.

Anak is a gender neutral term that refers to one's _own child _(aking anak - my child, kanyang anak - his/her child). Bata is a generic term for _any small child_ (Ang batang iyan ay aking anak. --- That child is my son/daughter.)
_

_


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## Inglip

Thanks. Always appreciated.


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