Learn Hardcore Filipino: Sa likod ng pader ay may maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay. - Behind the wall there is a small garden at the side of the house.

Sa likod ng pader = At the back of the wall / Behind the wall
This whole phrase is being made the topic of the sentence – the place we’re talking about.
ay is a linking marker used in an “inverted” sentence. It links the topic (Sa likod ng pader) with the comment (may maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay = there is a small garden at the side of the house).

A more “English-like” order would be:

May maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay sa likod ng pader.

Both are grammatical.
Using ay and fronting Sa likod ng pader emphasizes the location (what’s behind the wall), not the existence of the garden itself.

What is the role of sa in sa likod ng pader and sa gilid ng bahay?

In Filipino, sa is a locative/oblique marker. Depending on context, it often corresponds to English at, in, on, to, from.

sa likod ng pader
- sa = at/in/on
- likod = back
- ng pader = of the wall
  → sa likod ng pader = at the back of the wall / behind the wall
sa gilid ng bahay
- gilid = side, edge
  → sa gilid ng bahay = at the side of the house / beside the house

Without sa, likod and gilid would just be nouns (back, side).
Adding sa turns them into location phrases (at the back, at the side).

What does ng do in ng pader and ng bahay, and how is it different from sa?

In this sentence, ng marks a possessor / “of” relationship:

ng pader = of the wall
ng bahay = of the house

So:

sa likod ng pader = sa (at) + likod (back) + ng pader (of the wall)
sa gilid ng bahay = sa (at) + gilid (side) + ng bahay (of the house)

Difference from sa:

sa marks locations, indirect objects, destinations, etc. (at, in, on, to).
ng (in this use) marks the thing that owns or defines something else (of).

Also, ng (this word) is different from nang (another word) which has other functions (e.g., linking verbs and adverbs, or meaning when/while).

What does may mean here, and how is it different from meron/merong/mayroon?

May introduces the idea that something exists or there is/are something.

In this sentence:

may maliit na hardin ≈ there is a small garden.

May vs mayroon / meron / merong:

may
- Used directly before a noun or an adjective+noun:
  - may bahay (has a house / there is a house)
  - may maliit na hardin (there is a small garden)
mayroon / meron / merong
- Often used when:
  - It’s at the end of the clause:
    - Mayroon. / Meron. (There is / I have (something).)
  - It’s followed by a pronoun or “na” phrase:
    - Mayroon akong aso. / Meron akong aso. (I have a dog.)
    - Mayroon na siya. (He/She already has (one).)

In everyday speech, may and meron often overlap, but may naturally fits when directly followed by a noun, as in this sentence.

Why is it maliit na hardin and not hardin maliit? What is the function of na?

In Filipino, adjectives usually come before the noun they modify, and they are linked by na (or its shortened form -ng).

maliit = small
hardin = garden
maliit na hardin = small garden

na / -ng is a linker that connects:

adjectives to nouns: maliit na hardin
nouns to other nouns: bahay-kubo or bahay na kubo
some adverbs to verbs, etc.

You can say harding maliit (using the -ng linker attached to hardin), but that has a different structure and feels less neutral. The most natural, basic way is maliit na hardin (adjective + linker + noun), which is exactly what we have in the sentence.

Why isn’t there a word like “a” (article) before maliit na hardin? Can I say isang maliit na hardin?

Filipino does not use articles exactly like English a/an/the. The idea of “a small garden” is already expressed by:

may (there is / there exists)
plus the bare noun phrase maliit na hardin.

So may maliit na hardin already naturally means there is a small garden.

You can say:

may isang maliit na hardin
- isang literally means one, but it is also often used like “a certain / one particular”.

Nuance:

may maliit na hardin = there is a small garden (neutral)
may isang maliit na hardin = there is one small garden / one specific small garden (slight emphasis on it being one).

What is the difference between sa gilid ng bahay and sa tabi ng bahay?

Both can often be translated as “beside the house”, but the nuance is a bit different:

gilid = side, edge
- sa gilid ng bahay = at the side of the house
- Slightly more about position along the side/surface of the house.
tabi = side, immediate vicinity
- sa tabi ng bahay = beside the house / right next to the house
- Emphasizes being right next to something, in its immediate area.

In many everyday situations, they’re interchangeable.
In this sentence, sa gilid ng bahay sounds natural to describe the garden’s position along the side of the house.

Could I say the sentence without ay or in a different word order? Would it still be correct?

Yes. Some natural alternatives:

May maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay sa likod ng pader.
- No ay, starts with may.
- More neutral, just stating that such a garden exists and specifying where.
May maliit na hardin sa likod ng pader sa gilid ng bahay.
- Same elements, just swapping the two location phrases.
Sa likod ng pader, may maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.
- Comma instead of ay in writing; common in speaking (a slight pause).

The original:

Sa likod ng pader ay may maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.

puts more focus on “behind the wall” as the topic of the sentence.
Dropping ay is common in casual speech, but including ay is more formal/neutral and very common in writing.

What exactly does pader mean? How is it different from dingding or bakod?

All three can be translated as “wall”, but they’re used differently:

pader
- A wall in general – can be inside or outside.
- Often a solid wall (concrete, brick, etc.).
- Sa likod ng pader = behind the wall.
dingding
- Usually refers to interior walls or the sides of a structure (like the walls of a room or house).
- You’re more likely to say dingding ng kwarto (room wall).
bakod
- Usually means fence or enclosure (wooden fence, wire fence, etc.) more than a solid wall.

In this sentence, pader suggests a solid wall that blocks the view, and behind it, there is a garden.

What is the difference between sa likod and sa likuran? Could I say Sa likuran ng pader?

Both are related to “the back / behind”:

likod = back (as a noun), behind
likuran = the back part / rear area (a more “area-like” noun)

You can say:

Sa likod ng pader
Sa likuran ng pader

Both are grammatical and understood as behind the wall.
Sa likod ng pader is more common and feels a bit simpler and more neutral.
Sa likuran ng pader can feel slightly more formal or descriptive of a defined back area.

How would I say “there are small gardens behind the wall at the side of the house” (plural) using this sentence as a model?

To make it plural, you can:

Pluralize the noun with mga:
- mga = plural marker (no direct English equivalent, but often translated as adding “s/‑es”).
So:
- Sa likod ng pader ay may mga maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.
Make the adjective clearly plural with mga (often placed before the adjective + noun):
- Sa likod ng pader ay may mga maliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.
  (commonly used; maliit can still describe multiple things)
Or more explicitly:
- Sa likod ng pader ay may maliliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.
Here maliliit is the reduplicated plural form of maliit, so the whole phrase clearly means:
- there are small (plural) gardens.

A very natural version is:

Sa likod ng pader ay may maliliit na hardin sa gilid ng bahay.

How do you pronounce maliit and why is it spelled with a double i?

Maliit is pronounced roughly as:

ma-li-it → mah-lee-it (three syllables)

Breakdown:

ma – like “ma” in mama
li – like “lee”
it – like “it” in English, but shorter

The double i shows that li and it are in separate syllables (li-it), not a single long vowel. There is a slight glottal break between li and it, like a tiny pause:

ma-liʔ-it

Stress is usually on the last syllable: ma-li-ÍT.

So maliit is not like English “maleet” (two syllables) but ma-li-it (three syllables).