Mas masarap ang gulay kapag sariwa ito.

Vegetables are more delicious when they are fresh.

Breakdown of Mas masarap ang gulay kapag sariwa ito.

• masarap: delicious
• kapag: when
• sariwa: fresh
• gulay: the vegetable
• mas: more
• ito: it

Questions & Answers about Mas masarap ang gulay kapag sariwa ito.

Why is mas masarap used instead of just masarap?

Masarap by itself means “tasty” or “delicious.” To say “more delicious,” you add the comparative particle mas before the adjective. So mas masarap literally means “more tasty” (i.e. “more delicious”).

How do you form the comparative degree of adjectives in Filipino?

You prepend the particle mas to any adjective. Examples:

• mabait → mas mabait (“kinder”)
• malaki → mas malaki (“bigger”)
• masarap → mas masarap (“more delicious”)

What role does ang play in ang gulay?

Ang is the subject (or topic) marker for common nouns in Tagalog. It tells you that gulay (“vegetables”) is the subject of the sentence. (If it were plural, you’d say ang mga gulay.)

Why is kapag used here instead of kung?

Kapag introduces a general or habitual condition—“whenever” or “when” in the sense of repeated occurrence. Kung is for specific or hypothetical cases (more like “if”). Since fresh vegetables taste better every time, kapag is the correct choice.

What does sariwa mean, and what part of speech is it?

Sariwa is an adjective meaning “fresh.” It describes the quality of the noun it modifies (here, gulay).

Why is the pronoun ito used, and why is it placed at the end?

Ito is a proximal demonstrative pronoun (“this” or “it”) referring back to gulay. Placing it in the subordinate clause (kapag sariwa ito) clarifies that it’s the vegetables which must be fresh. You could also say:
“Kapag sariwa ang gulay, mas masarap ito.”

Why does Tagalog often use predicate–subject order as in Mas masarap ang gulay…?

Tagalog’s default word order is predicate–subject: the comment or description (mas masarap) comes first, followed by the marked subject (ang gulay). This structure emphasizes the predicate before identifying the subject.

Can you omit ito and just say Mas masarap ang gulay kapag sariwa?

Yes, it’s grammatically acceptable because sariwa naturally refers back to gulay. However, including ito makes the clause more explicit and stylistically complete.