Learn Hardcore Filipino: Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero maingay sa loob ng lungsod. - It is quiet at Grandfather’s farm, but noisy inside the city.

So you don’t need to choose between “in” or “at” in Filipino; sa covers that whole range, and the exact English translation depends on the noun and context.

Why is there no word for “is” in this sentence? In English we say “It is quiet…”, but in Filipino it’s just Tahimik sa bukid…

Filipino usually doesn’t use a separate word for “is/are/am” in simple descriptive sentences.

Adjectives like tahimik (quiet) and maingay (noisy) can act as a complete predicate by themselves:

Tahimik siya. → He/She is quiet.
Pagod ako. → I am tired.
Bago ito. → This is new.

So:

Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo.
- Literally: Quiet at Grandpa’s farm.
- Naturally in English: It is quiet at Grandpa’s farm.

There is a word ay that learners sometimes think of as “is”, but it’s really more of an inversion marker for a different word order and is not needed here. For example:

Tahimik ang bukid ni Lolo.
Ang bukid ni Lolo ay tahimik. ← here you see ay

Both are grammatical, but everyday speech usually just puts the describing word (adjective) first and leaves out “is” entirely.

Where is the subject of the sentence? It just starts with Tahimik (“quiet”). Quiet what?

The subject is understood from context, not stated explicitly in the Filipino sentence.

You can think of Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo as meaning:

(It is) quiet at Grandpa’s farm.

That “it” (or “things there”) isn’t said in Filipino. Filipino often omits pronouns or subjects when they’re clear from context.

If you want to make the subject clearer, you have a few options:

Make the location itself the subject:
- Tahimik ang bukid ni Lolo.
  Grandpa’s farm is quiet.
Use a location pronoun like “there”:
- Tahimik doon sa bukid ni Lolo.
  It’s quiet there at Grandpa’s farm.
Keep it as in the original, where the idea is:
- Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo.
  [Things are] quiet at Grandpa’s farm.

So the Filipino sentence is complete as is; the subject is simply implied, which is very natural in Filipino.

What exactly are tahimik and maingay? Are they adjectives, verbs, or something in between?

In English terms, tahimik and maingay are adjectives:

tahimik → quiet
maingay → noisy / loud

But in Filipino, adjectives can behave a bit like “stative verbs” because they can be the whole predicate of a sentence without any extra “is/are”:

Tahimik siya. → He/She is quiet.
Maingay sila. → They are noisy.

Structurally, their role in the sentence is like the English phrase “is quiet” / “is noisy”, but grammatically they’re considered adjectives.

A small note on form:

maingay comes from the noun ingay (noise) with the prefix ma-, which often forms adjectives:
- ingay → maingay (noisy)
- dumi (dirt) → madumi (dirty)
- ganda (beauty) → maganda (beautiful)

How does ni Lolo work here? Why ni and not kay or si?

Filipino uses different markers with proper names depending on their role in the sentence.

For the name Lolo (Grandpa), the basic markers are:

si Lolo – marks Lolo as the topic/subject
- Si Lolo ay nasa bukid. → Grandpa is at the farm.
ni Lolo – marks Lolo as a possessor or a doer of an action
- bukid ni Lolo → Grandpa’s farm
- sulat ni Lolo → Grandpa’s letter
- sinulat ni Lolo → written by Grandpa
kay Lolo – marks Lolo as an indirect object / location / direction
- Pumunta ako kay Lolo. → I went to Grandpa.
- Binili ko ito kay Lolo. → I bought this from Grandpa.

In bukid ni Lolo, ni shows possession:

bukid ni Lolo → Grandpa’s farm / the farm of Grandpa

So ni is correct here because Lolo owns or is associated with the bukid.

Could I say Tahimik ang bukid ni Lolo instead of Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo? What’s the difference?

You can say both, but there is a slight difference in focus:

Tahimik ang bukid ni Lolo.
- Literally: Grandpa’s farm is quiet.
- Focus: the farm itself as the subject.
- This sounds like you are describing the farm as a thing: its characteristic is that it is quiet.
Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo.
- Literally: Quiet at Grandpa’s farm.
- Focus: the situation at that place.
- This sounds more like you are talking about what it’s like to be there: when you are at Grandpa’s farm, it is quiet there.

In many situations, both will be understood as essentially the same meaning, and natives might use them interchangeably. But:

If you are contrasting places (farm vs city), Tahimik sa bukid… pero maingay sa loob ng lungsod sounds very natural.
If you are simply describing the farm as an object (for example, in a list of places and their qualities), Tahimik ang bukid ni Lolo fits well.

What does bukid mean exactly? Is it “farm”, “field”, or “countryside”?

Bukid can cover several related ideas, and the best English translation depends on context:

farm – land where crops are grown
- Pupunta kami sa bukid. → We’re going to the farm.
field – open farmland, ricefields, etc.
- Malawak ang bukid dito. → The fields are wide here.
countryside / rural area – as opposed to the city
- Tahimik sa bukid, maingay sa lungsod.
  It’s quiet in the countryside, noisy in the city.

In everyday speech, bukid often implies a rural, agricultural area as opposed to urban lungsod (city). In the given sentence, you can understand sa bukid ni Lolo as either:

at Grandpa’s farm, or
in Grandpa’s place in the countryside.

Why is it sa loob ng lungsod and not just sa lungsod? What does loob add?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuance:

sa lungsod → in the city (city as a place in general)
sa loob ng lungsod → inside the city / within the city (emphasizes the interior of the city)

Loob literally means “inside / inner part / interior”. Adding it:

makes the idea of being within the boundaries of the city stronger,
can create a clearer contrast with being outside in the countryside.

So:

Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero maingay sa lungsod.
→ completely fine, quiet at Grandpa’s farm, but noisy in the city.
Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero maingay sa loob ng lungsod.
→ adds a bit of emphasis that once you are inside the city, it’s noisy.

In sa loob ng lungsod, what is the function of ng?

Here, ng works as a kind of linker / “of” marker joining loob and lungsod:

loob ng lungsod → inside *of the city*

You can think of the pattern:

loob + ng + [noun] → inside of [noun]
- loob ng bahay → inside the house
- loob ng bag → inside the bag
- loob ng lungsod → inside the city

Technically, ng in Filipino has several functions:

It can mark a non-topic noun (similar to an unmarked object or possessor):
- Nakikita ko ang aso ng bata. → I see the child’s dog.
It can serve as a linker between two words in certain constructions:
- loob ng lungsod (noun + “of” + noun)
- magandang bahay = maganda + ng + bahay (beautiful house)

In loob ng lungsod, it’s playing that connecting “of” role, showing that the loob (inside) belongs to or is associated with lungsod (the city).

Are lungsod and siyudad the same? Which one should I use?

Lungsod and siyudad are very close in meaning and are often used interchangeably to mean “city”.

lungsod – a more native/official term
siyudad – from Spanish “ciudad”, very common in everyday speech

Examples:

Maynila ay isang lungsod.
Maynila ay isang siyudad.
Both: Manila is a city.

Usage notes:

Official government/mapping terms often use lungsod:
- Lungsod ng Quezon (Quezon City)
- Lungsod ng Cebu (Cebu City)
In casual conversation, many Filipinos naturally say siyudad:
- Galing ako sa siyudad. → I came from the city.

In your sentence, lungsod is perfectly natural, but you could also say:

Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero maingay sa siyudad.

That would still sound normal in many contexts.

How would I say “It’s quiet in Grandpa’s farm, but it’s very noisy in the city” in Filipino based on this sentence?

You can keep the structure and just add an intensifier for “very” before maingay.

Two common, natural options:

Using napaka- (very, extremely):
- Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero napakaingay sa loob ng lungsod.
- Literally: Quiet at Grandpa’s farm, but very-noisy inside the city.
Using sobrang (very / super):
- Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero sobrang ingay sa loob ng lungsod.
- Literally: Quiet at Grandpa’s farm, but super noise inside the city.

Both sound natural.
If you want to keep it simpler, you can also use masyadong:

Tahimik sa bukid ni Lolo, pero masyadong maingay sa loob ng lungsod.
→ It’s quiet at Grandpa’s farm, but it’s too/very noisy inside the city.