Bawasan ang polusyon sa kapaligiran.

It is an imperative sentence, meaning it gives a command, instruction, or public appeal.

So in natural English, it works like:

• Reduce pollution in the environment.
• Cut down on environmental pollution.

This kind of wording is very common in:

• posters
• campaigns
• school materials
• government announcements

The sentence does not need to say who should do it, because in Filipino, commands often leave the you understood.

Bawasan means reduce, lessen, or decrease.

It comes from the root bawas, which has the basic idea of:

• reducing
• subtracting
• making something less

In this sentence, bawasan is the verb telling someone to make the amount of pollution smaller.

A useful learner shortcut is:

• bawas = reduction / lessening
• bawasan = reduce something

Because verb-first word order is very normal in Filipino.

So the structure here is roughly:

• Bawasan = reduce
• ang polusyon = the pollution / pollution
• sa kapaligiran = in the environment

A literal English-style breakdown would be:

• Reduce the pollution in the environment.

Even though English often starts with the subject, Filipino very often starts with the verb instead.

Ang is a very important marker in Filipino grammar. It is not always the same as English the.

Here, ang marks polusyon as the noun phrase the verb is centered on. In simple learner terms, it marks the thing being talked about as the main target of the action.

So:

• ang polusyon = the pollution / pollution as the focused noun

It is better to think of ang as a grammar marker, not just a direct translation of the.

Because Filipino commands often omit the subject when it is understood.

So Bawasan ang polusyon sa kapaligiran already implies:

• You reduce pollution in the environment
• or Let us reduce pollution in the environment, depending on context

If you want to make the you explicit, you could say:

• Bawasan mo ang polusyon sa kapaligiran. = Reduce pollution in the environment.
• Bawasan ninyo ang polusyon sa kapaligiran. = Reduce pollution in the environment. (plural or polite)

But for slogans and public reminders, leaving it out is very natural.

Sa is a very common Filipino preposition. Depending on context, it can mean:

• in
• on
• at
• to
• for

Kapaligiran means:

• environment
• surroundings

So sa kapaligiran here means something like:

• in the environment
• for the environment
• in our surroundings

In smooth English, the best translation is usually just:

• in the environment or
• environmental

Not exactly.

They are related, but they are not perfect synonyms.

• kapaligiran = environment, surroundings
• kalikasan = nature, the natural world

So:

• kapaligiran is broader and fits environment very well
• kalikasan often feels closer to nature

In environmental messages, both words can appear, but kapaligiran is the more direct match for environment.

Yes, you could, but the structure and feel are a little different.

• Bawasan ang polusyon sa kapaligiran focuses on polusyon as the thing being reduced.
• Magbawas ng polusyon sa kapaligiran is also natural, but it uses a different verb pattern and can sound a bit more general.

For a slogan or public instruction, Bawasan ang polusyon sa kapaligiran is very natural and direct.

So a learner can think of it this way:

• Bawasan ang... = Reduce the ... / reduce ...
• Magbawas ng... = Do some reducing of ... / reduce some ...

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same grammatical pattern.

It is a borrowed word, and it is completely normal in modern Filipino.

Polusyon is based on the same international word family as:

• English pollution
• Spanish polución

Filipino uses many borrowed words, especially for modern, technical, scientific, and public-policy vocabulary. Polusyon is standard, common, and widely understood.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ba-WA-san ang po-lu-SYON sa ka-pa-li-GI-ran

Approximate stress:

• bawasan → stress on WA
• polusyon → stress on SYON
• kapaligiran → stress on GI

A rough English-friendly pronunciation would be:

bah-WAH-sahn ahng poh-loo-SYON sah kah-pah-lee-GEE-rahn

As usual, Filipino vowels are generally clear and simple:

• a = like a in father
• o/u = pure rounded vowels
• each vowel is usually pronounced clearly

It can be understood either way depending on context.

Because ang is a grammatical marker, ang polusyon does not always correspond exactly to English the pollution.

In a broad public message like this, English often prefers:

• Reduce pollution in the environment

instead of:

• Reduce the pollution in the environment

So the Filipino sentence can sound more general than the English word the might suggest. The important point is that polusyon is the thing being targeted by the verb.