# possessive



## lcfatima

Can you please describe how the possessive works in Tagalog? Would one say "This is Rosa's purse." as "This is the purse for Rosa?" if the words were translated directly into English?


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## DotterKat

In Tagalog, the possessive word "ni" is placed before proper nouns (like Rosa) and "ng" before common nouns (babae, lalaki, guro, manggagamot, etc.).
Your example:
This is the purse for Rosa (subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase)
*Ito ay ang pitaka/wallet/handbag na para kay Rosa.
*
The sentence can be rearranged so Rosa becomes the indirect object (and thus show the possessive "ni" in Tagalog)
This is Rosa's purse. (subject-verb-indirect object-direct object)
*Ito ay pitaka/wallet/handbag ni Rosa.*
_Note that  you can also say "Ito ay *ang* pitaka ni Rosa" for emphasis. _This would be like saying "_This *is* Rosa's purse."_ (emphasizing the fact that the purse you are pointing out indeed belongs to Rosa and to no other person).

If you use a common noun instead of Rosa (a proper noun), then you have to use "ng".
This is a woman's purse.
*Ito ay pitaka/wallet/handbag ng babae.*


Gary


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## Wacky...

lcfatima said:


> Can you please describe how the possessive works in Tagalog? Would one say "This is Rosa's purse." as "This is the purse for Rosa?" if the words were translated directly into English?



The answer's no.
One would say "This is the purse of Rosa" rather than "for Rosa."
It is translated as Gary said, "Ito ay pitaka/wallet/handbag ni Rosa" but there are variations which are commoner in casual speech:


"Pitaka ito ni Rosa." (purse, this is, of Rosa)
"Pitaka ni Rosa ito." (purse of Rosa, this is)
Both differ slightly in emphasis but all three essentially mean the same thing.
However, there's a way to say "Rosa's purse" instead of "purse of Rosa" but Filipinos rarely use it.

I will try to work on the Filipino possessive later and I will post the summary here.


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## lcfatima

Thanks to both of you.


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## annely

Another way of saying it would be:

_"Kay Rosa ang pitaka na ito"_

Although, the ones mentioned above are used more frequently. The case is different for personal pronouns though:

I - ko/akin/aking (my/mine)
You (sing.) - mo/iyong (your/yours)
He/She - niya/kanyang (hers/his)
We - natin/ating (our/ours)
You (plural) - ninyo/inyong (your/yours)
They - nila/kanilang (their/theirs)

The usages are different for each possessive form of the personal pronoun, each with a different kind of emphasis:

* That is my pencil.
- Iyon ay lapis ko. (That is my pencil. Emphasizes which one is your pencil)
- Akin ang lapis na iyon. (That pencil belongs to me.)
- Aking lapis iyon. (That`s my pencil.)

Basically you use the first form after the noun it is modifying, while you use the second (and 3rd, if any) before the noun. Same as the English "my & mine" and "your & yours" etc. (That is my pencil & That pencil is mine. That is your book & That book is yours.)

* Our world
- Mundo natin
- Ating mundo

* Their fault
- Kasalanan nila
- Kanilang kasalanan


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