Maaga akong nagising dahil sa masayang awit.

I woke up early because of the cheerful song.

Breakdown of Maaga akong nagising dahil sa masayang awit.

• ako: I
• masaya: cheerful
• maaga: early
• magising: to wake up
• dahil sa: because of
• awit: the song

Questions & Answers about Maaga akong nagising dahil sa masayang awit.

Why do we use nagising instead of gumising or gising?

In Filipino, nagising comes from the verb root gising (to wake up). Using nagising indicates the completed or inceptive aspect of waking up (the action happened already). Gumising is a different form, often used to mean “to wake someone else” in a command or other contexts. Meanwhile, gising alone is usually just the root or can act as an imperative in certain informal situations.

Why is akong used rather than simply ako?

Filipino uses ako (I) plus the linker -ng or -kong if it follows a vowel sound. Here, akong attaches to maaga (early) to form a more natural flow in front of nagising. You can think of maaga akong nagising as “I, early, woke up,” but in Filipino the phrase is tightened to maaga akong nagising.

Why do we say dahil sa instead of just dahil?

Dahil sa means “because of” and is followed by a noun or a noun phrase (masayang awit in this case). If you use just dahil, you would typically connect it directly to a clause (for example: Dahil masaya ang awit, maaga akong nagising, “Because the song is cheerful, I woke up early”). In this sentence, you have a noun phrase, so dahil sa is the correct choice.

What does masayang awit literally mean?

Masayang awit literally translates to “happy (or cheerful) song.” Masaya is an adjective meaning “happy” or “cheerful,” and when you add the linker -ng to it (masaya + -ng), it modifies the noun awit (song).

Why is the adjective placed before the noun?

In Filipino, adjectives commonly come before the noun when describing it (e.g., masayang awit). This is a typical Filipino sentence structure, though adjectives sometimes appear after the noun. However, front-positioning is very natural and is often used to emphasize the descriptive quality.