Learn Hardcore Filipino: May isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader. - There is one small picture of the family on the wall.

may + noun
- May larawan. – There is a picture.
- May pera ako. – I have money.
meron / mayroon often stands alone or takes “ng”
- noun:
- Meron akong larawan. – I have a picture.
- Mayroon bang larawan sa pader? – Is there a picture on the wall?

In your sentence, you must use may, not meron:
✅ May isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.
⛔ Meron isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader. (unnatural)

Does isang mean “one” or “a / an” here?

Literally, isang is “one”, but in many contexts it functions like the English “a / an”:

May isang maliit na larawan…
→ There is *a small picture… (literally: There is **one small picture…*)

Context decides whether you emphasize the exact number one or just mean “a” in a general sense.

Can I remove isang? What changes in meaning?

Yes, you can say:

May maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.

Difference:

May isang maliit na larawan…
→ Feels more specific: exactly one small picture (or at least emphasizing “one”).
May maliit na larawan…
→ Just says there is a small picture; the number is less emphasized (still usually interpreted as one, but not highlighted).

Both are grammatically correct.

Why is it maliit na larawan and not just maliit larawan?

In Filipino, many adjectives need a linker (-ng or na) before the noun they describe.

maliit + na + larawan → maliit na larawan (small picture)

Rules for the linker:

If the first word ends in a consonant (except n) → use na
- maliit na larawan
If it ends in a vowel → add -ng
- bago + -ng kotse → bagong kotse (new car)
If it ends in n → drop the n and add -ng
- maganda + -ng bahay → magandang bahay

So maliit larawan is ungrammatical; you need maliit na larawan.

Can I say larawang maliit instead of maliit na larawan?

Yes, but the nuance changes a bit.

maliit na larawan – the normal, neutral way: “a small picture”
larawang maliit – still correct, but sounds a bit more descriptive / contrastive, like “a picture that is small,” and is more common in formal, literary, or poetic styles.

For everyday speech, maliit na larawan is more natural.

What does ng do in larawan ng pamilya?

ng here links two nouns in a genitive / “of” relationship:

larawan ng pamilya
→ picture of the family

So:

larawan – picture
ng pamilya – of (the) family

This ng is different from the ng that marks objects (kumain ng mansanas – “ate an apple”), but they sound the same.

Why is it ng pamilya, not sa pamilya?

Because the relationship is “of the family”, not “to / for / at the family.”

ng → typically “of” (possession, composition, description)
- larawan ng pamilya – picture *of the family*
sa → locations, directions, indirect objects
- sa pader – on the wall
- Magbigay ka sa pamilya. – Give to the family.

So larawan ng pamilya is the natural way to say “a picture of the family.”

Why is there no ang in the sentence?

Sentences with may usually introduce indefinite things, so they don’t use ang (which marks more specific / definite nouns).

May isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.
→ There is a small picture of the family on the wall. (indefinite)

You could have an ang-phrase if you wanted to focus on the picture as a topic, but you’d normally change the structure, e.g.:

Ang maliit na larawan ng pamilya ay nasa pader.
→ The small picture of the family is on the wall.

That’s a different style (focus on the picture, not on the existence of a picture).

What does sa pader mean exactly? Is it “on the wall” or “at the wall”?

sa pader is naturally translated as “on the wall” here.

sa is a general location preposition: at, in, on, to (depending on context)
pader – wall (usually structural wall)

Because a picture is typically hanging on a wall, sa pader becomes “on the wall” in English.

What’s the difference between pader and dingding?

Both can mean “wall”, but there’s a nuance:

pader
- Often used for solid, structural walls, especially outside or major walls.
- e.g., pader ng gusali – the wall of a building
dingding
- More often used for interior walls or room partitions.
- e.g., dingding ng kwarto – the wall of a room

In your sentence, you could also say:

May isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa dingding.

Both are understandable; choice can be stylistic or regional.

How do I make this sentence plural, like “There are small pictures of the family on the wall”?

You have two common options:

Emphasize plurality with mga before the noun:
- May mga maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.
Make the adjective plural-looking by reduplication (more formal / textbook):
- May maliliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.

Most everyday speech uses mga:

May mga larawan ng pamilya sa pader. – There are (some) pictures of the family on the wall.

How is tense expressed? Does this sentence mean present, past, or future?

As written, the sentence is tenseless; it’s neutral. Context or time expressions clarify the time:

Kahapon, may isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.
→ Yesterday, there was a small picture of the family on the wall.
Bukas, may isang maliit na larawan ng pamilya sa pader.
→ Tomorrow, there will be a small picture of the family on the wall.

Without time words, it’s usually understood as present in isolation: There is a small picture…

How do you pronounce ng?

Pronunciation:

ng is pronounced like the “ng” in “sing” or “long”.
It is never pronounced like the full English syllable “eng”; it’s just the final consonant sound.

So in larawan ng pamilya, you say:

la-RA-wan ng pa-MI-lya, with ng attached closely to larawan, almost like la-RA-wang pa-MI-lya in flow.