Si Kuya ay maglalakad mula sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.

My older brother will walk from the station to the friend's house in the city.

Breakdown of Si Kuya ay maglalakad mula sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.

• ay: to be
• bahay: the house
• kaibigan: the friend
• sa: in
• ng: of
• mula sa: from
• maglakad: to walk
• istasyon: the station
• lungsod: the city
• Kuya: older brother
• papunta sa: to

Questions & Answers about Si Kuya ay maglalakad mula sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.

Why does the sentence start with Si Kuya instead of Ang Kuya or just Kuya?

In Filipino, si is a personal marker used before a single person’s name or nickname in the subject position.

• Si Kuya = “Older brother (Kuya) as a specific person”
• You use si before:
  • Personal names: Si Maria, Si John
  • Nicknames / kinship titles used like names: Si Kuya, Si Ate, Si Mama

You would not say Ang Kuya here, because ang marks general nouns, not personal names:

• Ang kuya = “the older brother” (any older brother, more generic)
• Si Kuya = a specific person you call “Kuya”

So Si Kuya marks “Kuya” as a specific person, just like a proper name.

Why is Kuya capitalized here?

Kuya literally means “older brother,” but in many Filipino families it is also used as a name/title of address, like “Big Brother.”

When you use it as:

• a common noun:
  
  • May kuya ako. = “I have an older brother.” (lowercase)
• a proper name / title:
  
  • Si Kuya ay maglalakad… = “Kuya will walk…” (capitalized)

In this sentence, Kuya functions like a proper name, so it is capitalized and takes si.

What is the role of ay in Si Kuya ay maglalakad…? Can I leave it out?

Ay is a linking word used in the so‑called inverted or ay-inverted sentence structure. It is common in formal, written, or careful speech.

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad… (inverted, more formal)
• Maglalakad si Kuya… (non‑inverted, more common in speech)

Functionally, they mean the same thing: “Kuya will walk…”

Yes, you can leave ay out by changing the word order:

• Correct: Maglalakad si Kuya mula sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.
• Still correct and natural, just less formal: Si Kuya maglalakad mula sa istasyon… (some speakers drop ay in casual speech, but this can sound incomplete in formal writing)

For learners, it’s safest to:

• Use ay with the inverted pattern: [Topic] ay [rest of sentence]
• Or skip inversion completely and say: Maglalakad si Kuya…

What exactly does maglalakad mean, and why not just lalakad?

Maglalakad is the future aspect of the verb maglakad (to walk), with reduplication of the first syllable:

• Verb root: lakad (walk)
• Actor-focus form: maglakad (to walk)
• Future aspect: maglalakad
  • mag
    • la (reduplicated first syllable) + lakad

Meaning:

• maglalakad = “will walk,” “is going to walk”

Why not lalakad?

• Lalakad is the future form of lumakad (another verb for “to walk/go”), which is less commonly used in everyday speech than maglakad in this context.
• Both maglalakad and lalakad can be understood, but maglalakad sounds more neutral and natural in many conversational contexts.

So:

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad… = “Kuya will walk…”
• Si Kuya ay lalakad… = grammatical but sounds a bit less natural in many modern contexts.

What is the difference between mula sa and just sa in mula sa istasyon?

• sa istasyon by itself can mean “at the station”, “in the station”, or “to the station”, depending on the verb.
• mula sa istasyon specifically means “from the station”.

Breakdown:

• mula = from
• sa = to/at/in/on (general location marker)
• mula sa istasyon = from the station

You normally keep both:

• mula sa opisina = from the office
• mula sa paaralan = from the school

You sometimes drop sa if the place is a proper name:

• mula Maynila = from Manila
  but:
• mula sa istasyon (istasyon is just a common noun, not a proper name)

Can I use galing sa instead of mula sa in mula sa istasyon?

Yes. Galing sa istasyon is also correct and very common.

Difference in nuance:

• mula sa istasyon – a bit more neutral or formal
• galing sa istasyon – very common in everyday speech, slightly more colloquial

They both mean “from the station.” So you can say:

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad galing sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.

Why does the sentence say papunta sa bahay instead of using a verb like pupunta or pumunta?

The main verb of the sentence is already maglalakad (will walk).
Papunta here functions more like a directional phrase (“heading to / toward”), not a second main verb.

• papunta sa bahay = “toward the house,” “in the direction of the house”
• pupunta / pumunta = “will go / went” (as a main verb)

If you used pupunta, you would have two main verbs:

• ✗ Si Kuya ay maglalakad pupunta sa bahay… (awkward, feels like “will walk will go”)

Better structures:

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad papunta sa bahay… (one main verb: maglalakad)
• Or change the verb: Si Kuya ay pupunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod. (“Kuya will go to the friend’s house in the city.” – no maglalakad)

What does papunta literally mean, and how is it formed?

Papunta is formed from:

• punta = “go” (noun/verb root)
• pa- = a directional/progressive prefix

So papunta literally means something like:

• “in the process of going (toward)” / “on the way (to)” / “heading to”

In papunta sa bahay, it functions like:

• “toward the house”
• “on the way to the house”

It does not carry tense by itself; the tense comes from the main verb (maglalakad = will walk).
So the sentence means “Kuya will walk, heading from the station to the friend’s house in the city.”

Why is it bahay ng kaibigan and not bahay ng kanyang kaibigan or bahay ng kaibigan niya?

In Filipino, possessive pronouns are often left out if they are obvious from context.

• bahay ng kaibigan = “the friend’s house” / “(a) friend’s house”
• bahay ng kanyang kaibigan = “the house of his/her friend”
• bahay ng kaibigan niya = also “the house of his/her friend”

In many everyday situations, bahay ng kaibigan is enough, especially when:

• it’s already clear whose friend you’re talking about (usually the subject, here Kuya)
• the exact owner doesn’t need to be emphasized

If you specifically want to stress that it’s his or her friend, you can add:

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad… papunta sa bahay ng kanyang kaibigan sa lungsod.
• …papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan niya sa lungsod.

What is the function of ng in bahay ng kaibigan?

In bahay ng kaibigan, the ng marks possession or association, like “of” or English ’s.

• bahay = house
• kaibigan = friend
• bahay ng kaibigan = “house of (the) friend” / “the friend’s house”

Here ng is a linking particle used to show:

• the second noun (kaibigan) is modifying or owning the first noun (bahay)

Note that ng can also mark direct objects of verbs in other sentences, but in this case it is a genitive linker (“of”).

What does sa lungsod modify? Does it describe the house, the friend, or the walking?

Sa lungsod is a locative phrase meaning “in the city.”
Its most natural attachment here is to bahay:

• bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod is usually understood as:
  • “the friend’s house in the city”

So the structure is:

• [bahay ng kaibigan] sa lungsod
  = the house (of the friend) that is in the city.

Filipino is somewhat flexible, so with a different word order or context it could be read differently, but in this exact sentence, most native speakers will interpret it as the house is in the city.

Can I move sa lungsod earlier in the sentence, like sa lungsod papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan?

You can move sa lungsod, but you must be careful with clarity and naturalness.

Some possibilities:

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad mula sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan na nasa lungsod.
  (“…to the house of a friend who is in the city.” – very clear)

• Si Kuya ay maglalakad mula sa istasyon sa lungsod papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan.
  This can sound like “from the station in the city”, shifting sa lungsod to describe the station instead of the house.

If you want the house to clearly be in the city, your original:

• …papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod. is already natural and clear in most contexts. Adding na nasa lungsod after kaibigan is the clearest if you really want to emphasize that the friend/house is in the city.

Is there a more natural/colloquial way to say the same sentence?

In everyday speech, people often:

• Drop ay and use the non‑inverted order
• Possibly use galing instead of mula

For example:

• Maglalakad si Kuya galing sa istasyon papunta sa bahay ng kaibigan sa lungsod.

This means the same thing, but sounds more conversational:

• “Kuya will walk from the station to a friend’s house in the city.”