Learn Hardcore Filipino: Minsan mainit sa tanghali, pero malamig sa umaga. - Sometimes it is hot at noon, but cold in the morning.

Filipino lets adjectives function as predicates without a linking verb. So mainit and malamig already mean “is hot/cold.” The subject is understood from context—here, it’s the weather or general environment/time. You can add one if you want:

Minsan, mainit ang panahon sa tanghali, pero malamig sa umaga.
More formal inversion with the particle ay: Minsan ay mainit sa tanghali...

What does sa mean here?

sa marks an oblique phrase, often translated as at/in/on. Here it marks time:

sa tanghali = at noon
sa umaga = in the morning Use sa for general time periods. Use ng to attach a time-of-day to a specific clock time/date:
alas dose ng tanghali = 12:00 noon
alas singko ng umaga = 5 a.m.
Lunes ng umaga = Monday morning

Where can I put minsan?

Most natural at the start: Minsan, mainit sa tanghali...
Acceptable after the predicate: Mainit minsan sa tanghali...
After a fronted time phrase: Sa tanghali, minsan mainit... You can also front the time phrases for contrast: Sa tanghali, mainit; sa umaga, malamig.

What’s the role of pero? Are there alternatives?

pero = “but/however” (everyday, conversational). Alternatives:

ngunit, subalit: more formal
kaya lang, pero kasi: more colloquial/nuanced A comma before pero is common: ..., pero ...

What do tanghali and umaga cover? How do they differ from hapon and gabi?

Approximate ranges (vary by speaker/region):

umaga: morning (dawn to before noon)
tanghali: around noon; exact noon is tanghaling tapat
hapon: afternoon
gabi: evening/night; pre-dawn is madaling-araw

Is minsan the only way to say “sometimes”?

Other natural options:

kung minsan = sometimes (slightly more formal)
paminsan-minsan = once in a while/every now and then Related frequency words: madalas (often), bihira (seldom), lagi/palagi (always)

Does minsan ever mean “once (one time)”?

In modern usage, minsan usually means “sometimes.” For “once,” say isang beses. For clarity:

isang beses = once
dalawang beses = twice

How do you pronounce the key words?

minsan [ˈmin.san]
mainit [maˈʔi.nit] (slight glottal between a–i)
tanghali [taŋˈha.li]
pero [ˈpe.ɾo] (also heard as [ˈpɛ.ɾo])
malamig [malaˈmiɡ]
umaga [uˈma.ɡa]

What are the parts of mainit and malamig?

They’re formed from noun roots with adjectival ma-:

init (heat) → ma-init → mainit = hot
lamig (cold) → ma-lamig → malamig = cold The prefix ma- commonly creates adjectives for states/properties.

Why not use ang before the time words?

Because the times are in sa-phrases (oblique), you don’t use the topic marker ang. You’d use ang if the noun were the topic:

Malamig ang umaga. = The morning is cold.
Mainit ang tanghali. = Noon is hot.

Is there a difference between malamig sa umaga and malamig ang umaga?

Yes:

malamig sa umaga = It’s cold in the morning (time setting)
malamig ang umaga = The morning is cold (treats “morning” as the topic; more descriptive/generic)

How can I say “when it’s morning…, when it’s noon…”?

Use pag/kapag (“when”):

Kapag umaga, malamig; kapag tanghali, mainit. You can still add contrast: Kapag tanghali, mainit, pero kapag umaga, malamig.

Can I add a small contrast word like naman?

Yes. naman softens contrast or signals “on the other hand”:

Minsan mainit sa tanghali, pero malamig naman sa umaga.

How do I make a comparative like “hotter at noon than in the morning”?

Use mas ... kaysa (sa) ...:

Minsan, mas mainit sa tanghali kaysa sa umaga. Dropping the second sa (→ kaysa umaga) is common in speech, but keeping it is safest.

I see “ng” inside tanghali. Is that the same as the particle ng?

No. In tanghali, the letters “ng” spell the single sound [ŋ] (like “ng” in English “sing”), just part of the word. That’s different from the separate grammatical particle ng used elsewhere (e.g., alas dose ng tanghali).