Learn Hardcore Filipino: Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon. - My father prefers movies, but my mother prefers the news on television.

Gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula. – Father likes the movie.
Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula. – Father likes the movie more / Father prefers the movie.

In Filipino, mas usually comes before an adjective or stative verb (like gusto, ganda, laki):

mas maganda – prettier / more beautiful
mas malaki – bigger / larger
mas gusto – likes more / prefers

What exactly does gusto mean? Is it a verb like “to like”?

Gusto is often called a stative verb or adjective-like verb. It usually translates as:

to like
to want
to prefer (with help from mas or context)

The common pattern is:

Gusto ni/ ng [person] ang [thing].
[Person] likes [thing].

In your sentence:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula
– Father likes the movie more / Father prefers movies.

So gusto behaves a bit like both a verb (to like) and an adjective (liked), but you can safely treat gusto as “like” in patterns such as:

Gusto ko ito. – I like this.
Mas gusto namin ang kape. – We prefer coffee.

Why is it ni Tatay and ni Nanay, and not si Tatay or si Nanay?

Si and ni are both markers used with personal names or titles, but they show different roles:

si – marks the topic/subject when it is a person’s name or title
ni – marks a non-topic person (often the doer, owner, experiencer, etc.)

With gusto, the usual structure is:

Gusto ni [person] ang [thing].
[Person] likes [thing].

Here:

ang pelikula / ang balita sa telebisyon → marked with ang (the thing liked, the “focus” of the sentence)
ni Tatay / ni Nanay → the experiencers, marked by ni

So:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula – Father likes the movie more.
- ni Tatay = the one who likes
- ang pelikula = the thing liked (the “topic/focus”)

You would use si Tatay in sentences like:

Si Tatay ang dumating. – Father is the one who arrived.
Si Tatay ay mahilig sa pelikula. – Father is fond of movies.

With gusto, memorize the pattern:

Gusto ni [person] ang [thing].

Why is it ang pelikula and ang balita, not ng pelikula or ng balita?

In this pattern, ang marks the thing that is liked, and ni/ng marks the person who likes.

The normal structure with gusto is:

Gusto ni/ ng [person] ang [thing].

ni / ng [person] – the liker / experiencer
ang [thing] – the liked thing, the “focus” of the sentence

So:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula
– Person: ni Tatay
– Thing liked: ang pelikula

If you said:

Mas gusto ng pelikula si Tatay,
that would change the roles and sound like “The movie prefers Father”, which is not what you want.

So keep:

ni / ng for the person who likes
ang for the thing that is liked

Why do we repeat mas gusto in the second part? Could we just say pero ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon?

In full, natural speech, Filipinos usually repeat the verb or stative in each clause:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.

This keeps each clause clear and complete.

In casual conversation, people sometimes drop the repeated verb if it’s strongly understood from context, but they also adjust structure accordingly. For example, a shorter version might be:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero si Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.
(still sounds odd; most speakers prefer to keep mas gusto)

The most natural and clearest version is the original, with mas gusto repeated in both clauses. For a learner, it’s best to keep the repetition.

What does pero mean, and is it the same as ngunit?

Pero is a conjunction meaning “but”.

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.
– Father prefers movies, but Mother prefers the news on TV.

Ngunit also means “but / however”, but:

pero is more informal and common in everyday speech.
ngunit is more formal or literary, and is more common in writing (essays, speeches, news, etc.) or very formal speech.

You could say:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, ngunit mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.

This is grammatically fine, just a bit more formal in tone.

What does sa telebisyon literally mean, and what does sa do here?

Sa telebisyon literally means “at/on the television”.

sa – a general preposition; here, it marks a location or medium
telebisyon – television (the medium/device)

So:

ang balita sa telebisyon – the news on TV
balita sa radyo – news on the radio
balita sa pahayagan – news in the newspaper

Sa is very flexible; it can mean in, on, at, to, into, depending on the context. In this sentence, it corresponds to English “on” in news on TV.

Is balita “news” in general, or does it mean “a piece of news” / “story”?

Balita can mean both, depending on context:

News in general (as a category or program)
- Gusto ko ang balita sa telebisyon. – I like the news on TV.
A piece of news / information
- May balita ako para sa iyo. – I have news for you.
- Anong balita? – What’s the news? / What’s up?

In ang balita sa telebisyon, it is understood as “the (TV) news program / TV news in general.”

How do we know the sentence is present or habitual? There is no tense marking.

Filipino often relies on context instead of strict tense marking, especially with stative verbs like gusto.

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.

Most naturally implies something like:

Present/habitual preference:
Father generally prefers movies, but Mother generally prefers TV news.

To make time explicit, you add adverbs or time expressions:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula ngayon. – Father prefers the movie now / today.
Mas gusto ni Tatay noon ang pelikula. – Father used to prefer movies back then.

Without an explicit time word, gusto usually feels like a general, present-time preference.

Can I change the word order, for example: Mas gusto ang pelikula ni Tatay?

Filipino word order is fairly flexible, but some orders are more natural than others.

The most natural pattern with gusto is:

[Gusto / Mas gusto] ni [person] ang [thing].

So:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula. – very natural
Mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon. – very natural

You can say:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikulang ito. – Father prefers this movie.

Sentences like:

Mas gusto ang pelikula ni Tatay.

are understandable, but the roles can sound ambiguous or less natural: it might be interpreted as “It is the movie of Father/the movie that Father has that is preferred.” For clear, simple Filipino, especially as a learner, stick to:

Mas gusto ni [person] ang [thing].

Why are Tatay and Nanay capitalized? Are they like names?

Yes. In this sentence, Tatay and Nanay are capitalized because they are used like proper names, similar to “Dad” and “Mom” in English.

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula – Dad/Father prefers movies.
Mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon – Mom/Mother prefers TV news.

When used as common nouns, they are usually not capitalized:

Ang tatay niya ay mahilig sa pelikula. – His/her father likes movies.
Ang nanay ko ay nanonood ng balita. – My mother watches the news.

So:

Capitalized: Tatay, Nanay = Dad, Mom (as names)
Lowercase: tatay, nanay = a father, a mother (common nouns)

Does ang pelikula mean “the movie” or “movies” in general?

Ang pelikula is somewhat neutral between singular and general. It can mean:

A specific movie (if context is specific):
- That particular movie we’re talking about.
- Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula. – Father prefers the movie.
Movies as a general category (like “films”):
- Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula. – Father prefers movies (as a type of show).
- Mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon. – Mother prefers TV news (as a type of show).

If you clearly want plural, you can add mga:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang mga pelikula. – Father prefers movies (emphasizing plurality).

But in everyday speech, ang pelikula can very naturally mean “movies” in general when contrasted with ang balita sa telebisyon.

Is there any difference in meaning if I say Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa TV instead?

Grammatically, both are fine; the difference is just in vocabulary level and style:

sa telebisyon – more neutral / standard
sa TV – informal, everyday speech (borrowing the English TV)

So:

Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa telebisyon.
Mas gusto ni Tatay ang pelikula, pero mas gusto ni Nanay ang balita sa TV.

mean essentially the same thing: Father prefers movies, but Mother prefers the news on TV.