Breakdown of Kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod ngayon para bumili ng gulay.
Questions & Answers about Kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod ngayon para bumili ng gulay.
Filipino often does not use a separate “to be” verb like am/is/are in sentences like this.
- Kasama ko si Tatay…
Literally: With-me Father… / My companion is Father…
Here, kasama works as the predicate (like “together with / accompanying”), so you don’t need a separate word for “am”. Filipino allows:
- [Predicate] + [pronoun/subject]
→ Kasama ko si Tatay. = I am with Dad / Dad is with me.
- kasama = companion / accompanying / with
- ko = I / me in the genitive form (often translated as “my” or “by me”)
So kasama ko si Tatay is literally:
- kasama ko = my companion / the one with me
- si Tatay = Dad
Together: “Dad is my companion / Dad is with me.”
Why not ako?
- ako is the nominative (“I” as the subject)
- ko is the genitive (“my / by me”)
After kasama, you need the genitive form:
- ✅ Kasama ko si Tatay.
- ❌ Kasama ako si Tatay. (ungrammatical)
si is a personal name marker. It is used before:
- personal names: si Maria, si Juan
- kinship terms used like names: si Tatay (Dad), *si Nanay (Mom)
In si Tatay, it signals that Tatay is being treated like a proper name, similar to saying “Dad” instead of “the father”.
Tatay (capitalized, with si) is used like a name, meaning “Dad”.
- Kasama ko si Tatay. = I am with Dad.
tatay ko is a common noun + possessor: “my father / my dad”.
- Kasama ko ang tatay ko. = I am with my father.
Both are correct, but:
- si Tatay feels more personal/intimate, like “Dad”.
- ang tatay ko is slightly more neutral: “my dad / my father.”
sa is mainly a location / direction marker.
- sa lungsod = in the city / to the city
ng (in this kind of sentence) usually marks:
- the object of a verb
- or a non-personal thing in focus
Here, lungsod is a place, not an object being acted on, so we use sa (location), not ng.
- ✅ sa lungsod = in the city
- ❌ ng lungsod (wouldn’t mean “in the city” here)
- lungsod = city (more native/standard/official Filipino term)
- siyudad = city, from Spanish ciudad
In everyday speech, both are understood. You can say:
- Kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod ngayon…
- Kasama ko si Tatay sa siyudad ngayon…
They mean the same thing; style preference and region may affect which is more common.
Yes. Filipino word order is fairly flexible. All of these are natural:
- Kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod ngayon para bumili ng gulay.
- Ngayon, kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod para bumili ng gulay.
- Sa lungsod ako ngayon kasama si Tatay para bumili ng gulay.
The meaning stays essentially the same: “today / now”; moving ngayon just changes emphasis slightly (e.g., emphasizing today vs in the city).
- para = for / in order to / so that
- bumili = to buy (actor-focus form of bili)
So para bumili ng gulay means:
- “in order to buy vegetables” / “to buy vegetables.”
It expresses purpose:
- Nasa lungsod kami para bumili ng gulay.
= We are in the city to buy vegetables.
Filipino verbs change form for aspect:
- bumili – “to buy / bought” (perfective form, also used after some markers to indicate intended action)
- bumibili – buying (ongoing / habitual)
- bibili – will buy (future)
After para, Filipino commonly uses the base/“infinitive-like” actor-focus form (bumili) to talk about intended purpose:
- para bumili = in order to buy (not focusing on time-aspect, but on purpose)
Using para bibili or para bumibili is not natural.
Here, gulay (vegetables) is the object of the verb bumili (to buy).
- ng marks the direct object of many actor-focus verbs:
- bumili ng gulay = buy vegetables
- kumain ng isda = eat fish
sa usually marks location, direction, or recipient, not the direct object of bumili. So:
- ✅ bumili ng gulay (correct: buy vegetables)
- ❌ bumili sa gulay (incorrect in this sense; would need a different structure)
Yes, but it’s subtle:
Kasama ko si Tatay…
- Treats Tatay like a name (Dad).
- Implies this is your dad, in a close/familiar way.
Kasama ko ang tatay ko…
- Literally “I am with my father.”
- Slightly more explicit and neutral/formal (using a common noun + possessive).
Both are correct and natural; choice depends on how personally you want to phrase it.
No, not in this meaning.
- Kasama ko si Tatay… clearly means “Dad is with me / I am with Dad.”
- If you say only Kasama si Tatay sa lungsod…, it sounds incomplete:
“Dad is with (someone) in the city…” → you expect ni / ko / namin / ninyo, etc.
You need ko (or another possessor/agent) to say who Dad is with:
- Kasama ko si Tatay. = Dad is with me.
- Kasama ni Tatay si Nanay. = Mom is with Dad.
- Kasama namin si Tatay. = Dad is with us.
You can, but it slightly changes the nuance and feels more formal/literary:
- Ako ay kasama ni Tatay sa lungsod ngayon para bumili ng gulay.
- Literally: “I am accompanied by Dad in the city today to buy vegetables.”
- Uses ako ay and ni Tatay (genitive marker for the doer in a passive-like structure).
The original:
- Kasama ko si Tatay sa lungsod ngayon para bumili ng gulay.
- More natural, everyday Filipino.
- Emphasizes “Dad is with me” in a simple predicate-first structure.
Both are grammatically correct, but the original is more conversational and idiomatic.