Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.

The soup is delicious tonight.

Breakdown of Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.

• ay: to be
• masarap: delicious
• ngayong gabi: tonight
• sabaw: the soup

Questions & Answers about Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.

Where is the word “is” in this sentence? Why doesn’t Filipino use a verb like English does in “The soup is delicious tonight”?

Filipino often doesn’t use a separate word for “is / am / are” in the present tense.

• In Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi, the idea of “is” is just understood.
  
  • Literal structure: Masarap (delicious) ang sabaw (the soup) ngayong gabi (tonight).
• This kind of sentence is called an equational or adjective–predicate sentence:
  • Predicate (description) + ang-phrase (thing described)
  • English needs “is”; Filipino does not.

You can insert ay in more formal or careful speech:

• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.
• Masarap ang sabaw ay ngayong gabi. ← unnatural here; ay normally goes after ang sabaw:
• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. (normal)
• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. (you still don’t need ay)

But the most natural everyday form is exactly what you see: no explicit “is”.

Why does the sentence start with masarap instead of ang sabaw? Can I say “Ang sabaw masarap ngayong gabi”?

In Filipino, it is very common to put the description or comment first, and the thing being described after it.

• Pattern: Predicate (adjective) + ang-phrase (topic)
  
  • Masarap = predicate (delicious)
  • ang sabaw = topic / thing being talked about (the soup)

So Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi is perfectly normal and actually more natural than starting with ang sabaw.

About “Ang sabaw masarap ngayong gabi”:

• You can say: Ang sabaw ay masarap ngayong gabi.
  
  • This is more formal or careful; the ay helps link topic and predicate.
• Without ay, Ang sabaw masarap ngayong gabi sounds incomplete or unusual in standard Tagalog.

Natural options:

• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. (most common, neutral)
• Ang sabaw ay masarap ngayong gabi. (formal, explanatory, or contrastive)

What does ang do in this sentence? Is it like “the”?

Ang is a marker, not exactly an article like “the”, but it often overlaps in meaning.

In this sentence:

• ang marks sabaw as the topic / focus of the sentence:
  
  • ang sabaw ≈ “the soup” / “that soup we’re talking about”
• Filipino has three common sets of markers:
  • ang-group: ang, ang mga, si, sina (topic markers)
  • ng-group: ng, ng mga, ni, nina (non-topic / “of” / object markers)
  • sa-group: sa, sa mga, kay, kina (location / direction / indirect object markers)

In English we use word order and articles to show what’s the subject or focus.
In Filipino, ang is one of the main tools for that role.

So ang does part of what “the” does, but it also does something English doesn’t mark directly: it flags what the sentence is primarily about.

Exactly what does sabaw mean? Is it always “soup”?

Sabaw usually means “broth” or “soup”, but it has a few nuances:

• In food contexts:
  • sabaw = liquid part of a dish
    
    • The broth of sinigang, nilaga, tinola, etc.
  • It can also refer to a bowl of soup itself.
• Example pairs:
  
  • Kanin at sabaw. – Rice and broth/soup.
  • Masarap ang sabaw ng sinigang. – The broth of the sinigang is delicious.

Informally, sabaw can also be slang for someone who is foggy-minded / “out of it”, but in your sentence, it is clearly the literal food meaning.

What is the difference between ngayon and ngayong in ngayong gabi?

Ngayon means “now / today / at the present time.”
Ngayong is ngayon + a linker (-g) used before a noun.

• ngayon (standalone):
  
  • Ngayon ay Lunes. – It is Monday today.
  • Kumain ka na ba ngayon? – Have you eaten now/today?
• ngayong + NOUN (this + noun / tonight / this evening):
  
  • ngayong gabi – tonight / this evening (literally: “this night”)
  • ngayong araw – today / this day
  • ngayong taon – this year

So in Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi, ngayong links to gabi and means “tonight / this night.”
You wouldn’t normally say “ngayon gabi”; the -g linker is required: ngayong gabi.

Can I move ngayong gabi to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions like ngayong gabi are fairly flexible in Filipino.

All of these are grammatically acceptable:

1. Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.
2. Ngayong gabi, masarap ang sabaw.
3. Masarap ngayong gabi ang sabaw. (possible, but less common)

Typical and most natural:

• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. – very natural, neutral
• Ngayong gabi, masarap ang sabaw. – puts extra emphasis on tonight (as opposed to other times)

The version in your example (sentence-final ngayong gabi) is probably the most common everyday word order.

Can I say “Ang sabaw ay masarap ngayong gabi” instead? What is the difference in feel?

You can. Both are correct, but the feel is slightly different.

• Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.
  
  • Very natural in casual speech.
  • Feels like a simple comment: “The soup is delicious tonight.”
• Ang sabaw ay masarap ngayong gabi.
  
  • More formal, bookish, or explanatory.
  • Feels like you’re introducing or contrasting the soup as a topic:
    
    • “As for the soup, it is delicious tonight.”
    • Could be in a written description, a report, or careful speech.

Everyday spoken Tagalog generally prefers the pattern:

[Predicate] + [ang-phrase] (+ time expression)
Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi.

Can I drop ang and just say “Masarap sabaw ngayong gabi”?

No, you cannot drop ang in standard Filipino here.

• Masarap sabaw ngayong gabi is ungrammatical / very odd.
• The noun sabaw needs a marker to show its role in the sentence:
  • Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. – correct
  • Masarap yung sabaw ngayong gabi. – also common, more colloquial (yung ≈ “that/the”)

What you can drop is ngayong gabi, if the time is obvious:

• Masarap ang sabaw. – The soup is delicious.

But you should keep ang (or yung, etong, etc.) in front of sabaw.

How do I pronounce Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi correctly?

Here’s a simple pronunciation guide (stress indicated with CAPITAL letters):

• Masarap – ma-sa-RAP
  
  • Stress on the last syllable rap.
• ang – like English “ung” in “sung,” but with an initial a: “ahng.”
• sabaw – sa-BAW
  
  • Stress on baw (like English “bow” in “cowboy”).
• ngayong – nga-YONG
  
  • ng is a single sound (as in English “sing”), but it can appear at the start of a word in Filipino.
  • nga = “ngah,” then yong (sounds like “yong”).
• gabi – ga-BI
  
  • Stress on bi (like “bee”).

Put together, with natural rhythm:

ma-sa-RAP ang sa-BAW nga-YONG ga-BI

Try saying it smoothly, not pausing between sabaw and ngayong.

How would I change this sentence to past or future, like “The soup was delicious last night” or “The soup will be delicious tonight”?

You don’t change masarap for tense; you change the time expression.

• Present / general (tonight):

  • Masarap ang sabaw ngayong gabi. – The soup is delicious tonight.

• Past (last night):

  • Masarap ang sabaw kagabi. – The soup was delicious last night.
  • Masarap ang sabaw nung nakaraang gabi. – The soup was delicious the other night / last night.

• Future (later tonight):

  • Masarap ang sabaw mamayang gabi. – The soup will be delicious later tonight.
    
    • mamaya = later; mamayang gabi = later this evening.

So you mainly play with kagabi / ngayong gabi / mamayang gabi, etc.
The adjective masarap itself stays the same in all these tenses.