Learn Hardcore Filipino: Pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay sa palengke. - Let us choose delicious vegetables at the market.

So it must be tayo, because the listener is included in the activity of choosing vegetables.
Using kami would sound like: “We (but not you) chose/are choosing vegetables at the market,” which doesn’t match the “let’s” meaning.

What does pumili mean exactly, and what form of the verb is it?

The root verb is pili = to choose, to select.

pumili is an actor-focus “-um-” verb. Its forms are roughly:

pumili – completed aspect (chose) / also dictionary/“to choose” form
pumipili – incomplete / ongoing (is choosing)
pipili – contemplated / future (will choose)

In Pumili tayo…, it functions like an imperative / suggestion:

Literally: “We choose…”
Natural translation: “Let’s choose…”

So even though pumili is formally the “completed” form, in this sentence it’s used as a hortative command (a polite “let’s …” suggestion).

Why is there ng before masarap na gulay? What does ng do?

In this sentence, ng marks the direct object of the verb — the thing being chosen.

Patterns:

pumili tayo – we choose (no object yet)
pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay – we choose delicious vegetables

So here, ng:

Connects the verb pumili to its object masarap na gulay.
Shows that masarap na gulay is indefinite (not specific, like “some delicious vegetables” rather than “the delicious vegetables”).

Compare:

Pumili tayo ng gulay. – Let’s choose (some) vegetables.
Piliin natin ang gulay na ito. – Let’s choose *this vegetable. (here *ang marks a specific thing)

Why is it sa palengke and not ng palengke?

sa is used for location, direction, or other “oblique” roles, often translated as in, at, to, from depending on context.

sa palengke = at the market / in the market

ng, on the other hand, most commonly marks:

the object of an actor-focus verb, or
a possessor (e.g., libro ng bata = the child’s book).

Here, palengke is not the thing being chosen; it’s the place where choosing happens. So it must be:

Pumili tayo … sa palengke. – Let’s choose … at the market.
not
Pumili tayo … ng palengke. – which would sound like Let’s choose a market (as the thing being chosen).

Why is there no separate word for “let’s” in Filipino?

The “let’s” meaning is expressed through the verb form plus the pronoun:

pumili tayo
- verb: pumili (choose)
- pronoun: tayo (we, including you)

Together they mean something like “We [should] choose”, which in natural English becomes “Let’s choose.”

Filipino doesn’t need a special particle like English “let’s”; it uses:

the 1st person plural inclusive pronoun (tayo)
plus a verb in a command-like or suggestion-like context.

So Pumunta tayo, Kumain tayo, Umupo tayo become:
Let’s go, Let’s eat, Let’s sit.

Why is there no word for “some” before “delicious vegetables”?

The idea of “some” is built into the use of ng with a common noun:

ng gulay – (some) vegetables
ng tubig – (some) water
ng bigas – (some) rice

Filipino often omits an explicit equivalent to English “some” unless you need to emphasize the quantity (like kaunting gulay = a little vegetable(s), ilang gulay = some/few vegetables).

So:

Pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay.
Naturally: Let’s choose some delicious vegetables.
Literally more like: Let’s choose delicious vegetable(s).

“Some” is simply implied by the grammar and context.

Does gulay mean one vegetable or many vegetables? Why isn’t it plural?

gulay is a mass/common noun that can refer to:

vegetable in general, or
vegetables as a group.

Without context, gulay is number-neutral: it doesn’t tell you explicitly if it’s singular or plural. In this sentence, it naturally suggests more than one kind or piece of vegetable, so we translate it as “vegetables.”

If you want to be more explicitly plural, you can say:

mga gulay – vegetables
masasarap na gulay – delicious vegetables (adjective made plural)
masasarap na mga gulay – also acceptable, a bit more explicitly plural

But in everyday speech, masarap na gulay is commonly used to mean “delicious vegetables” in general.

What is na doing in masarap na gulay?

na is a linker that connects adjectives, numbers, or description words to the noun they modify.

Here:

masarap – delicious, tasty
gulay – vegetable(s)
masarap na gulay – delicious vegetable(s)

Rules of the linker:

Use -ng attached to the previous word if it ends in a vowel:
- maganda → magandang bahay (beautiful house)
Use na as a separate word if the previous word ends in a consonant:
- masarap → masarap na gulay

So na here is just a grammatical connector, roughly like “of” or the linking “—” in English, not a separate word like “already.”

Can I change the word order, like Pumili tayo sa palengke ng masarap na gulay?

Yes, you can move the location phrase around. These are all natural:

Pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay sa palengke.
Sa palengke, pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay.
Pumili tayo sa palengke ng masarap na gulay.

All still mean roughly: Let’s choose some delicious vegetables at the market.

In Filipino, adverbial/locative phrases (like sa palengke) are quite flexible in position. Just avoid separating elements that strongly belong together, like masarap na gulay.

Could I say this with kami or with no pronoun at all?

Pumili kami ng masarap na gulay sa palengke.
= We (but not you) chose some delicious vegetables at the market.
This is not a suggestion; it’s a statement about what “we” did, excluding the listener.
Pumili ng masarap na gulay sa palengke. (no tayo)
This can sound like a general instruction or command, not specifying who “we/you” are.
It could be understood as:
- Choose some delicious vegetables at the market. (to someone, or in a recipe, etc.)

To clearly say “Let’s choose …” including the listener, Pumili tayo… is the most natural.

What’s the difference between pumili and mamili?

Both come from the idea of choosing, but they differ in nuance:

pumili – to choose, select
- focus on the act of choosing among options
- e.g., Pumili ka ng isa. – Choose one.
mamili – to shop around, buy things, pick out multiple items
- often used for shopping or choosing multiple things to buy
- e.g., Mamili tayo sa palengke. – Let’s shop at the market.

In your sentence, Pumili tayo ng masarap na gulay sa palengke focuses on choosing specific vegetables.
If you said Mamili tayo sa palengke, it would be more like “Let’s go shopping at the market.”

Is palengke “a market” or “the market”? Why is there no word like “the”?

palengke by itself can be generic, and the preposition sa often carries the sense of “at the” or “to the”:

sa palengke – at the market / to the market

Filipino doesn’t always mark definiteness (“a” vs. “the”) the way English does. Often:

sa + place gives a natural English translation with “the”, if the place is understood from context (e.g., the local market everyone knows).
If you really need to highlight “a certain market” vs. “the market we talked about,” you might add more description (e.g., sa isang palengke – at a market, sa palengke sa kanto – at the market on the corner).

In everyday use, sa palengke is almost always translated as “at the market.”