Nasa labas ng bahay ang aso.

Not a separate action verb in the way English has is. This is a very common kind of non-verbal sentence in Filipino.

The predicate is nasa labas ng bahay, and the topic is ang aso. So the sentence is still complete even without a standalone verb like to be.

Nasa is a very common locative form that usually means something like is in, is at, or is on, depending on context.

So:

• Nasa bahay ang bata = The child is at home.
• Nasa mesa ang libro = The book is on the table.

In your sentence, nasa labas means is outside.

Because Filipino often uses predicate-first word order.

What is being said about the dog comes first:

• Nasa labas ng bahay = outside the house

Then the topic comes after:

• ang aso = the dog

So the structure is very natural in Filipino, even though English usually puts the subject first.

Ang marks aso as the topic of the sentence.

It often lines up with English the, but it is not exactly the same thing as the English article system. Its main job here is to show that aso is the noun the sentence is about.

So ang aso means something like the dog or the dog being talked about.

Here, ng links bahay to labas.

• labas = outside
• labas ng bahay = outside of the house

So in this sentence, ng works like of.

This is important because ng has more than one use in Filipino. Here it is not marking a direct object. It is showing a relationship between labas and bahay.

Because bahay is already part of the phrase ng bahay, which modifies labas.

The main topic marker ang is for aso, not for bahay.

So:

• ang aso = the topic
• ng bahay = part of the location phrase

Filipino does not always put an article-like marker before every noun the way English learners might expect.

Sa labas is just a location phrase: outside.

Nasa labas is what you normally use when you are saying that something is outside.

So:

• sa labas = outside
• nasa labas = is outside

For a full sentence like this one, nasa is the natural form:

• Nasa labas ng bahay ang aso.

Yes. That is also correct.

It has the same basic meaning, but the style is different:

• Nasa labas ng bahay ang aso = very natural, common spoken order
• Ang aso ay nasa labas ng bahay = also correct, often more formal, careful, or written-sounding

Both are good. Learners should get used to both patterns.

Learners are usually better off using nasa for this kind of sentence.

Sa labas ng bahay ang aso may appear in certain contexts, especially where something is omitted or in a more stylized way, but nasa labas ng bahay ang aso is the clearest and most standard form for saying where the dog is.

So as a beginner, use nasa.

Ng is pronounced like the ng sound at the end of English sing.

So ng bahay starts with that sound directly: roughly ng ba-hay.

It is not pronounced like the English letter names en-gee.

In many contexts, ang aso is best understood as the dog, especially if the dog is specific or already known in the conversation.

But ang is not a perfect match for English the. It is better to think of it as marking the noun that is the topic or focus of the sentence.

So the dog is usually a good translation here, but the grammar behind it is not exactly the same as English.

Not freely, because ng bahay belongs with labas.

Together they form one unit:

• labas ng bahay = outside of the house

If you move ng bahay next to aso, you change the meaning. For example, ang aso ng bahay would suggest the house’s dog or the dog of the house, which is a different idea.

So in your sentence, labas ng bahay should stay together.