Breakdown of Nagtrabaho sila sa kabila ng bubog.
sila
they
magtrabaho
to work
sa kabila ng
despite; in spite of
bubog
the broken glass
Questions & Answers about Nagtrabaho sila sa kabila ng bubog.
What does nagtrabaho mean, and how is it formed?
Nagtrabaho is the verb form built from the root trabaho (work / job) plus the verbal prefix nag-.
- trabaho = work, job
- nagtrabaho = worked / did work
So this is a very common way Filipino turns a noun-like root into a verb. The dictionary form is usually magtrabaho (to work), and nagtrabaho is one of its actual sentence forms.
Is nagtrabaho a past tense form?
It often corresponds to English past tense, but Filipino is better understood in terms of aspect rather than strict tense.
Nagtrabaho is the completed aspect of magtrabaho. That means the action is viewed as completed.
Depending on context, it can match English:
- worked
- has worked
- sometimes simply a completed action in narrative
In this sentence, English will usually translate it as worked.
Why does sila come after the verb?
Because verb-first word order is very common in Filipino.
So:
- Nagtrabaho sila = literally Worked they
- natural English = They worked