Alam ng mang-aawit ang taludtod.

Because Filipino often uses predicate-first word order. In this sentence, alam is the predicate, so it comes first.

A very literal way to feel the structure is:

Alam + ng mang-aawit + ang taludtod
Known + by the singer + the verse

That is different from normal English word order, but it is very natural in Filipino.

It behaves like a verb in meaning, but grammatically it is often described as a stative predicate rather than a typical action verb.

So instead of showing an action like kumakanta (is singing), alam shows a state of knowing.

That is why the sentence can feel a bit like:

The verse is known by the singer

even though the natural English translation is The singer knows the verse.

They are markers, not simple word-for-word translations.

• ang marks the topic/pivot of the sentence
• ng marks a non-topic noun and can have several functions depending on the construction

In this sentence:

• ng mang-aawit = the singer, marked as the non-topic experiencer/knower
• ang taludtod = the verse/line, marked as the topic

So ang and ng are doing grammatical work that English usually does with word order.

Because the doer or experiencer in English is not always the noun marked by ang in Filipino.

With alam, the person who knows something is commonly marked by ng, while the thing known is marked by ang.

So this pattern is normal:

• Alam ng mang-aawit ang taludtod
• Alam ng bata ang sagot
• Alam ko ito

In other words, English subject does not always match Filipino ang-phrase.

Not exactly.

Those translations sometimes help at the beginning, but they are only rough shortcuts.

• ang is not just the
• ng is not just of

For example, in other sentences ng can mark an object, possession, or other relationships. Here it marks the knower with alam.

So it is better to think of ang and ng as grammar markers, not direct English equivalents.

Because ay is not required in the normal predicate-first order.

Your sentence uses the common neutral structure:

Alam ng mang-aawit ang taludtod.

If you move the ang-phrase to the front, then ay is commonly used:

Ang taludtod ay alam ng mang-aawit.

Both are grammatical, but the first one is the more basic predicate-first pattern.

Mang-aawit means singer.

It is built from the root awit, which is related to song/singing, plus an agentive pattern that forms a noun for a person who does the action, often habitually or as a role/profession.

So mang-aawit is basically someone who sings or a singer.

This is similar to how Filipino forms other person/occupation words from roots.

The hyphen helps show the boundary between the prefix and a root that begins with a vowel.

So instead of writing everything as one unclear string, Filipino spelling keeps it readable as:

mang- + aawit

That is why you see:

mang-aawit

The hyphen is especially helpful here because the form includes repeated vowels.

Taludtod usually means a line of poetry.

In English, it is sometimes translated as verse, but that can be a little broad. If you mean a whole stanza, Filipino more often uses saknong.

So in many contexts, taludtod is best understood as a poetic line.

Yes, to some extent.

For example, this is also possible:

Ang taludtod ay alam ng mang-aawit.

The core meaning stays the same, but the structure and emphasis shift a little.

What you cannot do is move words around freely as if Filipino worked exactly like English. The markers are very important, and they tell you how the nouns function in the sentence. So in Filipino, markers matter more than position alone.