Learn Hardcore Filipino: Bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi. - The restaurant is open from seven o’clock to eight o’clock in the evening.

Why does bukas come at the beginning of the sentence? In English we would say “The restaurant is open from 7 to 8 p.m.,” not “Open is the restaurant…”

Filipino word order is more flexible than English, and it often puts the important or new information first.

In Bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi, the focus is on the state bukas (open), not on restawran (restaurant). A very literal structure is:

Bukas ang restawran. – Open is the restaurant.

You could also say:

Ang restawran ay bukas mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.

Here, ang restawran comes first, more like English, and ay works like a linking word (a kind of copula). Both are correct; the original just highlights bukas more strongly.

Does bukas here mean “open” or “tomorrow”? How can I tell?

Bukas is ambiguous on its own:

bukas = open
bukas = tomorrow

You tell the meaning from context and sometimes from pronunciation/stress:

BÚ-kas (often for tomorrow)
bu-KÁS (often for open)

In the sentence:

Bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.

there is no mention of another day or time in the future, just opening hours. So bukas here must mean “open” (the adjective), not “tomorrow.”

What exactly does ang do in ang restawran?

Ang is a marker that tells you what the topic/subject-like noun phrase of the sentence is.

restawran – “restaurant” (bare noun)
ang restawran – “the restaurant” (marked as the main noun in focus)

Ang doesn’t map perfectly to “the” in English, but often it’s translated that way. It:

marks a specific or definite noun,
shows that this noun is what the sentence is talking about (the ang-phrase is the main topic).

So in the sentence, ang restawran is the thing being described as bukas (open).

Why is it restawran and not restoran or restaurant?

Filipino has borrowed many words from Spanish and English, and their spellings and pronunciations are adapted to Filipino phonetics.

restawran is a Filipino-ized spelling, pronounced roughly /res-TAW-ran/
You may also see restoran in some contexts, but restawran is common, especially in more Filipino-based spelling.

You generally don’t write restaurant with the English spelling in normal Filipino text unless you’re deliberately using the English word.

What do mula and hanggang mean, and can I replace them with something else?

Mula and hanggang form a pair that corresponds to “from … to / until …”

mula = from
hanggang = until / up to / to

In time expressions:

mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso
= from seven o’clock until eight o’clock

You can also say:

magmula … hanggang … – a bit more formal/emphatic.
mula … hanggang … is the most common.

Don’t mix mula with sa here; you wouldn’t say mula alas siyete sa alas otso. The standard pair is mula … hanggang ….

Why is it alas siyete instead of just pito?

For telling clock time, Filipino commonly uses Spanish-based expressions:

alas siyete – 7:00
alas otso – 8:00
alas dose – 12:00
etc.

Native numbers:

pito – the number 7
walo – the number 8

You use alas + Spanish-derived number for time-of-day, especially in speech:

alas siyete ng gabi – 7:00 p.m.
alas otso ng umaga – 8:00 a.m.

You might hear pito ng gabi in very casual speech, but alas siyete is the more standard, natural way to say 7 o’clock.

What does ng gabi add? Why do we need it if we already have alas siyete?

Ng gabi tells you the time of day, just like “in the evening” or “p.m.”

gabi – evening / night
ng – a linker/marker that here means roughly “of / in”

So:

alas siyete ng gabi
= 7 in the evening / 7 p.m.

Without ng gabi, alas siyete is just 7:00 with no indication if it’s morning, afternoon, or evening. Adding ng umaga / ng hapon / ng gabi makes it clear:

alas siyete ng umaga – 7 a.m.
alas siyete ng hapon – 7 p.m. (early evening, “afternoon” extending into evening)
alas siyete ng gabi – 7 p.m. (more clearly evening/night)

Can I move the time phrase to the front, like in English: From 7 to 8 p.m., the restaurant is open?

Yes, Filipino allows that. For example:

Mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi, bukas ang restawran.

This is perfectly grammatical. The meaning is the same; you’re just choosing a different element to put first.

Common, natural options include:

Bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.
Mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi ay bukas ang restawran.
Ang restawran ay bukas mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.

All are acceptable; the choice affects emphasis and style more than basic meaning.

Where is the equivalent of the English verb “is” in this sentence? Is something missing?

Filipino often omits a separate “to be” verb in simple descriptive sentences.

Bukas ang restawran.
Literally: Open the restaurant.
Natural English: The restaurant is open.

There is no direct word for “is” here; the structure [adjective] + ang + [noun] already creates a complete sentence.

You can insert ay in some patterns:

Bukas ang restawran.
Ang restawran ay bukas.

In the second one, ay functions a bit like a linking word, but it still isn’t exactly the same as English “is.” It’s more a stylistic/structural marker than a true verb of being.

Could the sentence mean “The restaurant will be open from 7 to 8 p.m.” (future), or is it only present tense?

By itself, Bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi is usually understood as a general fact about the schedule, not tied strictly to present vs future.

Context decides:

On a sign: it describes regular hours (habitual).
In conversation about today: it’s understood as true today.
In a plan for tomorrow: people might add a time word for clarity:
- Bukas, bukas ang restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.
  (Tomorrow, the restaurant will be open from 7 to 8 p.m.)

So grammatically, the sentence is tenseless; time reference comes from context or from added time words like kanina (earlier), ngayon (now), mamaya (later), bukas (tomorrow), etc.

How would I make this plural, like “The restaurants are open from 7 to 8 p.m.”?

To make “the restaurant” plural in Filipino, you add mga after ang:

ang restawran – the restaurant
ang mga restawran – the restaurants

The adjective bukas stays the same; adjectives in Filipino do not change form for plural:

Bukas ang mga restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.
– The restaurants are open from 7 to 8 p.m.

So the structure is:

[adjective] + ang mga + [noun] + [time expression]
= Bukas ang mga restawran mula alas siyete hanggang alas otso ng gabi.