Marumi ang salamin, kaya linisin mo muna ito bago dumating ang bisita.

In Filipino, it is very common for the predicate to come first. In this sentence, marumi means dirty, and ang salamin means the glass / mirror / glasses depending on context.

So Marumi ang salamin is literally structured like:

Dirty the glass/mirror.

But in natural English, that becomes:

The glass is dirty or The mirror is dirty.

This predicate-first pattern is extremely common in Filipino.

Ang is a marker that highlights the noun phrase being talked about in the clause. In beginner explanations, it is often treated as marking something like the topic or focus of the sentence.

In Marumi ang salamin, ang salamin is the thing being described as dirty.

Important note: ang does not simply mean the. Sometimes it overlaps with English the, but its real job is grammatical marking, not just definiteness.

Salamin can mean several things depending on context:

• glass
• mirror
• eyeglasses / glasses

So the sentence could mean different things depending on the situation:

• The mirror is dirty
• The glass is dirty
• The glasses are dirty

Because the sentence also says clean it before the visitor arrives, mirror or glass may feel more likely, but glasses is also possible if context supports it.

Kaya here means something like:

• so
• that’s why
• therefore

It connects the first idea to the result or instruction that follows.

So:

Marumi ang salamin, kaya... means

The glass/mirror is dirty, so...

It shows cause and result.

Linisin is an object-focused command form based on the root linis (clean). It means clean it or clean that thing.

Here is the basic idea:

• linis = clean / cleanliness
• linisin = clean something
• maglinis = do cleaning / clean in general
• nilinis = cleaned (completed action, past)

Because the sentence is telling someone to clean a specific thing, linisin is a very natural choice.

So:

linisin mo ito = clean this / clean it

This is more specific than maglinis ka, which would sound more like do some cleaning.

Mo means you in a non-topic form, often corresponding to your or you depending on the structure.

In linisin mo ito, mo marks the doer of the action:

• linisin = clean it
• mo = by you
• ito = this / it

So the whole phrase means:

you clean it or more naturally in English, clean it

Filipino commands often include mo to show who should do the action.

Ito means this or it, and it refers back to ang salamin.

It is included because linisin usually points to a specific object being cleaned. So ito makes that object explicit:

linisin mo ito = clean this / clean it

You may hear omissions in conversation when the object is obvious, but including ito is perfectly normal and clear.

Filipino word order is flexible, especially with short particles and pronouns. In this sentence:

linisin mo muna ito

the particle muna comes before ito. This is very natural.

A helpful breakdown is:

• linisin = clean
• mo = you
• muna = first / for now
• ito = it / this

So the sense is:

Clean it first for now...

In practice, muna often appears before short pronouns like ito, and this ordering sounds smooth and natural.

Muna means first, for now, or in the meantime, depending on context.

In this sentence, it gives the sense:

clean it first before something else happens

So:

linisin mo muna ito bago dumating ang bisita means

clean it first before the visitor arrives

It often suggests a temporary priority: do this now, then other things can follow later.

Bago here means before.

It introduces a clause about something that has not happened yet:

bago dumating ang bisita = before the visitor arrives

Be careful: bago can also mean new in other contexts.

For example:

• bagong bahay = new house
• bago umalis = before leaving

So you must use context to tell which meaning is intended.

After bago, Filipino often uses a verb form like dumating to express an event that is expected to happen later in relation to the main action.

Even though dumating can look like a completed form in other contexts, in clauses with words like bago, pag, or kapag, it can refer to a future event in a natural way.

So:

bago dumating ang bisita means

before the visitor arrives

not necessarily before the visitor arrived.

This is one of those places where Filipino does not match English tense patterns directly.

Dumating comes from the root dating, which relates to arrival or coming.

The -um- infix is inserted after the first consonant:

• root: dating
• with -um-: dumating

This is a very common Filipino verb pattern.

In context, dumating means:

• arrived
• arrives
• to arrive

depending on the sentence structure and time markers around it.

Si is used for personal names and certain person-marking uses, while ang is used for common nouns.

Since bisita here means visitor as a common noun, ang bisita is correct:

before the visitor arrives

If it were a named person, you might use si:

• bago dumating si Maria = before Maria arrives

So:

• ang bisita = the visitor
• si Maria = Maria

Yes, the second part is a command or instruction.

The full sentence has two parts:

1. Marumi ang salamin — a statement
2. kaya linisin mo muna ito bago dumating ang bisita — a command/instruction with a reason

So the whole sentence means something like:

The mirror is dirty, so clean it first before the visitor arrives.

This is a very natural way in Filipino to give a reason and then an instruction.

By itself, it is a fairly direct instruction. It is not rude, but it is straightforward.

If you wanted to make it softer or more polite, you could add polite words such as:

• paki-
• pakilinisan mo muna ito...
• pakiusap, linisin mo muna ito...

Or you could change the phrasing depending on situation.

Still, the original sentence is perfectly normal in everyday speech, especially between family members or in practical situations.