Breakdown of Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo ay hindi mahal, pero mula sa puso ko.
Questions & Answers about Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo ay hindi mahal, pero mula sa puso ko.
Ang is a marker that shows what the main topic or subject of the sentence is.
- Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo…
→ “My gift for your birthday…” is the topic we are talking about.
In Tagalog/Filipino, you don’t rely only on word order to know the subject; you mark it with words like ang, si, ang mga, sina.
So:
- Ang regalo ko… = The gift of mine… / My gift… (as the topic of the sentence)
Both are possible, but they differ in style and emphasis.
regalo ko
- Very common, natural, everyday speech.
- Literally “gift my.”
- ko is an enclitic pronoun meaning “my / of me.”
- Example: Ang libro ko = My book.
aking regalo
- Feels more formal, emotional, or emphatic.
- aking is a longer form related to akin (“mine”).
- Example: Ito ang aking regalo. = This is my gift. (sounds a bit more formal or dramatic)
In this sentence, “Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo…” is the most natural-sounding choice in ordinary conversation.
You can break it down like this:
- Ang regalo ko = my gift (topic)
- sa kaarawan mo = for/on your birthday
So the noun phrase is:
Ang [regalo ko] [sa kaarawan mo]
The gift of mine for your birthday
Here, “sa kaarawan mo” is a phrase that modifies “regalo”:
- It tells you when / for what occasion the gift is.
Both are possible, but with slight nuance.
sa kaarawan mo
- Very natural here.
- sa can mark time, place, or a general relation: on your birthday, for your birthday.
- Shorter, more colloquial.
para sa kaarawan mo
- Literally “for your birthday.”
- para sa emphasizes purpose or intended recipient/beneficiary more strongly.
- Slightly more explicit/formal.
In this sentence, “Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo…” already clearly means “My gift for your birthday…”, so para is not necessary.
ay is often called an inversion marker or linker between the topic and the comment. It behaves a bit like “is,” but grammatically it’s different from English “is.”
The pattern is:
[Ang-phrase (topic)] + ay + [comment/predicate]
So:
- Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo = topic
- ay hindi mahal, pero mula sa puso ko = comment about that topic
Compare:
- Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo ay hindi mahal. (with ay, a bit more formal)
- Hindi mahal ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo. (no ay, very common in speech)
Both mean: “My gift for your birthday is not expensive.”
So yes, it functions somewhat like “is” in this structure, but it is mainly a marker of word order rather than a real verb like in English.
Yes. A very natural conversational version is:
- Hindi mahal ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo, pero mula sa puso ko.
This just reverses the order:
- Predicate first: Hindi mahal (not expensive)
- Topic after: ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo
Meaning is essentially the same.
The version with ay sounds a bit more formal, careful, or written; the version without ay is more everyday spoken Filipino.
mahal can mean “expensive” or “dear / beloved / love.”
Here, it clearly means “expensive.”
Clues:
- It’s negated with hindi: hindi mahal = “not expensive.”
- The context is about a gift and its price or cost.
For “dear/beloved,” you’d usually see things like:
- Mahal kita. = I love you.
- Mahal na mahal kita. = I love you very, very much.
So in this sentence:
- hindi mahal = “not expensive.”
pero means “but” and it is extremely common in everyday Filipino.
It comes from Spanish “pero.”
There are other words for “but”:
- ngunit – more formal/literary.
- subalit – very formal/literary.
- kaso, kaya lang – more colloquial, closer to “but/unfortunately / the thing is.”
In this sentence:
- hindi mahal, pero mula sa puso ko
= “(It is) not expensive, but (it is) from my heart.”
Using pero here is natural and conversational.
Literal meaning:
- mula = from
- sa = to/at (part of the fixed prepositional pattern here)
- puso = heart
- ko = my
So “mula sa puso ko” = “from my heart.”
Usage:
- It is a common, emotional expression like in English:
“My gift is not expensive, but it comes from my heart.” - You can also say “galing sa puso ko” with almost the same meaning:
- mula sa and galing sa both often mean “from (a source)”.
- galing is a bit more colloquial.
Examples:
- Salita ito na mula sa puso ko. = These are words from my heart.
- Regalo itong galing sa puso ko. = This is a gift from my heart.
Formation:
- Root: araw = day, sun.
- Pattern: ka- + araw + -an → kaarawan
This pattern can form a noun related to “the day of something” → birthday.
Meaning:
- kaarawan = birthday (or the anniversary of a day).
Pronunciation:
- kaa-ra-WAN
- There are two a’s in kaa-: ka-a-ra-wan (the vowels are pronounced separately).
- Stress is usually on the last syllable: -wan.
So “sa kaarawan mo” = “on your birthday / for your birthday.”
Both are enclitic pronouns (they attach to the previous word).
ko = my / of me / I (in some roles)
- regalo ko = my gift
- puso ko = my heart
mo = your / of you (singular) / you (in some roles)
- kaarawan mo = your birthday
So:
- regalo ko → the speaker’s gift
- kaarawan mo → the listener’s birthday
- puso ko → the speaker’s heart
They have no gender; they are used for any “I” or “you (singular).”
In very casual speech, some speakers do drop “ang” in everyday conversation, especially if the topic is long and obvious. You might hear:
- Regalo ko sa kaarawan mo, hindi mahal pero mula sa puso ko.
However:
- In standard grammar, especially in writing or when learning the language, it’s better to keep “Ang”:
- Ang regalo ko sa kaarawan mo ay hindi mahal, pero mula sa puso ko.
Including “Ang” clearly marks “regalo ko sa kaarawan mo” as the topic of the sentence and is the safest, most correct form to learn.