Learn Hardcore Filipino: Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon. - The house became hot this afternoon.

You can say Ang bahay ay uminit ngayong hapon, but that sounds more formal or written. Everyday speech prefers Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon.

What exactly does Uminit mean, and what is its root word?

The root word is init, meaning heat / warmth.

From this root, you get:

init – heat (noun)
uminít – to become hot / to get hot (verb, completed aspect)
umiínit – to be getting hot / is getting hot (verb, ongoing)
iínit – will get hot (verb, future/contemplated)
mainit – hot (adjective)

So Uminit here means something like became hot or got hot, describing a change of state.

What tense or aspect is Uminit? Is it past tense?

In Filipino, verbs are marked more for aspect (completed, ongoing, contemplated) than for tense in the strict English sense.

uminít – completed aspect (the action or change is already finished)
umiínit – ongoing / imperfective aspect
iínit – contemplated / future aspect

In this sentence, Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon, uminít is completed. In natural English, we usually translate that as a past:
The house got hot this afternoon or The house became hot this afternoon.

Note: Even though ngayong hapon literally points to this afternoon (which may feel like “now”), the verb is still completed because the house already became hot at some point during that afternoon.

What is the difference between Uminit ang bahay and Mainit ang bahay?

Uminit ang bahay – The house got hot / became hot.
Focus on the change: it was cooler before, and then it turned hot.
Mainit ang bahay – The house is hot.
Focus on the state: you’re just describing how it is (no change implied).

So:

Use uminít when you want to talk about the process or event of it becoming hot.
Use mainit when you want to talk about its current condition.

What does ang do in ang bahay?

Ang is a marker, not exactly an article like the, but it often plays a similar role plus more:

It marks the topic/subject (or “pivot”) of the sentence.
It often corresponds to the in English translation.

In Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon:

ang bahay = the house as the main participant of the clause.

You cannot normally drop ang here; Uminit bahay ngayong hapon is ungrammatical in standard Filipino. The ang marker is required for the noun phrase playing that role.

Why is it ngayong hapon and not just ngayon hapon?

Ngayon means now / today / at present.
When you use it directly before a noun indicating a time period (like hapon, gabi, umaga), it usually changes form to ngayong.

ngayon – now
hapon – afternoon
ngayong hapon – this afternoon

Think of ngayong as ngayon + linker combined into one word when it modifies another word:

ngayong linggo – this week
ngayong taon – this year
ngayong gabi – tonight / this evening

So ngayong hapon is the natural way to say this afternoon.

Where can I put the time expression ngayong hapon in the sentence? Can it go at the beginning?

Yes, time expressions are quite flexible in Filipino. These are all acceptable:

Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon.
Ngayong hapon, uminit ang bahay.

Both sound natural. The difference is stylistic:

Putting ngayong hapon at the end (version 1) is very common, neutral word order.
Putting it at the start (version 2) slightly emphasizes this afternoon (like saying As for this afternoon, the house got hot).

You would not normally insert it between ang and bahay:

✗ Uminit ang ngayong hapon bahay – incorrect.

Is Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon closer to The house got hot or The house was hot in English?

It is closer to The house got hot or The house became hot, because:

The verb uminít implies a change of state (from not-hot to hot).
If you want to say The house was hot (just describing the state, not the change), you would more naturally say:
- Mainit ang bahay ngayong hapon.

So:

Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon. → The house got hot this afternoon.
Mainit ang bahay ngayong hapon. → The house was hot this afternoon.

How would I say The house is getting hot this afternoon (ongoing, not finished yet)?

Use the ongoing aspect: umiínit.

Examples:

Umiinit ang bahay ngayon hapon.
(In many dialects, you will still hear ngayong hapon, but ngayon hapon also occurs in speech.)

More standard:

Umiinit ang bahay ngayong hapon. – The house is getting hot this afternoon.

Again, the pattern is the same:

umiínit (ongoing verb) + ang bahay (subject) + ngayong hapon (time)

Could I say Mas uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon? What does mas do?

Yes, that’s a natural and useful sentence.

Mas is a comparative marker meaning more or -er (hotter, bigger, etc.).

So:

Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon. – The house got hot this afternoon.
Mas uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon. – The house got hotter this afternoon / The house became even hotter this afternoon.

You would use mas when comparing:

to another time (e.g. than this morning)
or to another place (e.g. the yard vs. the house)
or to a previous level of heat.

Can I drop ngayong hapon and just say Uminit ang bahay?

Yes. Ngayong hapon is optional information about when it got hot.

Uminit ang bahay. – The house got hot. (Time is unspecified.)
Uminit ang bahay ngayong hapon. – The house got hot this afternoon.

What you cannot usually drop is ang before bahay. The time phrase is optional; the ang marking the subject is not.

How do I pronounce ngayong and uminit correctly?

Approximate pronunciation:

ngayong – [ŋa-yong]
- ng at the start: like the ng in sing, but at the beginning of the syllable.
- nga – like nga in manga, with a short a.
- yong – like yong in young, but with an o sound closer to aw in law in many accents.
uminit – [u-mi-nit]
- u – like oo in book, but shorter.
- mi – like mee.
- nit – like neat, but with a shorter vowel.

Stress (without showing diacritics) is typically on the second syllable: u-MI-nit.