Breakdown of Kung may sakit ang ulo mo, huwag kang magpagupit at magpatingin ka muna sa doktor.
Questions & Answers about Kung may sakit ang ulo mo, huwag kang magpagupit at magpatingin ka muna sa doktor.
Kung is a conjunction that means if and introduces a condition:
- Kung may sakit ang ulo mo = If you have a headache / if your head hurts
In many everyday contexts, kung and kapag can both be translated as if/when, but there’s a nuance:
- kung – more hypothetical, uncertain, or conditional
- Kung umulan, hindi tayo aalis. = If it rains, we won’t leave.
- kapag – more like when(ever) something happens (seen as more regular or expected)
- Kapag umuulan, hindi kami lumalabas. = When(ever) it rains, we don’t go out.
In this sentence, kung fits because having a headache is a condition that may or may not be true at a given moment.
Both are correct, but they have slightly different flavors:
May sakit ang ulo mo.
- Literal: Your head has an illness.
- More like: You’re sick (in the head area) or you have a headache.
- Structure: may sakit (have illness) + ang ulo mo (your head).
Masakit ang ulo mo.
- Literal: Your head is painful.
- More directly: Your head hurts.
- Focuses more on the sensation of pain.
In everyday speech, both can be used to talk about a headache.
Masakit ang ulo ko is probably the more common way to say I have a headache, but may sakit ang ulo mo is still natural and emphasizes that there’s some sickness affecting your head (not just a momentary twinge).
Both are grammatical, but they differ in style and emphasis:
- May sakit ang ulo mo.
- Very natural, everyday, conversational.
- Follows a common pattern: may + [thing] + ang + [owner/body part]
- Ang ulo mo ay may sakit.
- More formal or bookish because of ay.
- Often used in written Filipino, formal speech, or to sound emphatic.
Spoken Filipino usually prefers the version without ay, so may sakit ang ulo mo sounds more natural in conversation.
Huwag means don’t / do not and is used to form negative commands or prohibitions.
In the sentence:
- Huwag kang magpagupit
= Don’t get a haircut.
Pattern:
- huwag + (pronoun) + verb
- Huwag ka(ng) umalis. = Don’t leave.
- Huwag kayong maingay. = Don’t be noisy.
You’ll often hear the colloquial form ’wag in speech:
- ’Wag kang magpagupit. (same meaning, more casual)
All of these can appear, but they’re not equally natural in this exact context.
Huwag kang magpagupit.
- huwag
- ka
- -ng (linker) + magpagupit
- ka
- Very natural, especially in careful or neutral speech.
- Literally: Don’t-you get-a-haircut.
- huwag
Huwag ka magpagupit.
- Also common in everyday speech (the -ng linker is dropped).
- Slightly more casual.
Huwag magpagupit.
- Subject is not explicitly stated; sounds like a general rule:
- Don’t get haircuts. / Nobody should get a haircut.
- In context, you usually want to clearly address you, so huwag kang magpagupit is clearer and more natural.
- Subject is not explicitly stated; sounds like a general rule:
The -ng in kang is just the linker attaching ka to the following verb.
All are related to gupit (cutting, especially hair), but they differ in who does what:
maggupit
- Actor-focus: to do the cutting (usually with scissors).
- Ex: Magggupit siya ng papel. = He/She will cut paper.
gupitan
- Locative/object-focus: to cut something (or someone’s hair).
- Ex: Gupitan mo ang buhok ko. = Cut my hair.
magpagupit
- magpa-
- gupit: to have (one’s hair) cut by someone else.
- Reflexive/causative idea: you cause someone to cut your hair for you.
- Ex: Magpapagupit ako bukas. = I will get a haircut tomorrow.
- magpa-
In the sentence huwag kang magpagupit, the idea is specifically:
- Don’t have your hair cut (by a barber/hairdresser).
not “don’t cut [something]” yourself.
Base word: tingin = look, glance.
Verb: tingnan = to look at / to examine (object-focus).
Magpatingin uses the prefix magpa-, which often means have something done / ask someone to do something to you.
- magpatingin (sa doktor)
- Literally: to have yourself looked at (by a doctor)
- Natural translation: to have a check-up / to get yourself examined.
Comparisons:
- Tingnan mo ito. = Look at this.
- Magpatingin ka sa doktor. = Have yourself checked by a doctor. / See a doctor.
So in the sentence:
… magpatingin ka muna sa doktor. = … go have yourself checked by a doctor first.
Muna means first, for now, for the meantime / before something else.
- Magpatingin ka muna sa doktor.
= See a doctor first (before doing other things).
It often softens the tone and suggests an order of actions:
- Umupo ka muna. = Sit down first (before doing something else).
- Magpahinga ka muna. = Rest for now / Rest first.
In this sentence, muna implies:
- Before you go and get a haircut, prioritize seeing a doctor.
- It sounds less harsh and more caring than just Magpatingin ka sa doktor.
Preposition choice in Filipino depends on the type of noun:
sa doktor
- Used with common nouns (doctor as a role):
- sa doktor = to the doctor / at the doctor.
- This is correct here because doktor is used as a common noun, not a name.
- Used with common nouns (doctor as a role):
kay Doktor Reyes
- kay is used with names or specific persons:
- Magpatingin ka kay Doktor Reyes. = Get checked by Dr. Reyes.
- kay is used with names or specific persons:
ng doktor
- Marks the doer or possessor:
- Sinuri ka ng doktor. = The doctor examined you.
- Here the doctor is the subject/agent of the action sinuri (examined).
- Marks the doer or possessor:
In magpatingin ka muna sa doktor, sa marks the destination or person you go to for the action: go to the doctor (for a check-up).
In Filipino, the mag- form without aspect marking can work as:
- infinitive: to get a haircut, to have a check-up
- imperative (command): Get a haircut! Have a check-up!
In this sentence:
- Huwag kang magpagupit…
- Magpatingin ka muna sa doktor.
Both are functioning as commands:
- Huwag kang magpagupit = Don’t get a haircut.
- Magpatingin ka muna sa doktor = Go get yourself checked by a doctor first.
The mag- form used with huwag or ka is a very common way to give instructions or advice.