Mas gusto kong maglakad sa bangketa kaysa tumawid sa tulay malapit sa ilog.

Because mas gusto is a common way to express preference in Filipino.

• gusto = like / want
• mas = more

So mas gusto literally means like more, and in natural English that often becomes prefer.

Then:

• ko = I / my
• maglakad = to walk

So Mas gusto kong maglakad = I prefer to walk.

A very literal breakdown would be something like:

• Mas gusto ko-ng maglakad
• More I-like to-walk

But the natural English translation is simply I prefer to walk.

Kong is ko plus the linker -ng.

In Filipino, a linker is often used to connect words smoothly, especially when one word is followed by another phrase that describes or completes it.

So:

• ko = I / my
• ko + -ng = kong

In this sentence:

• Mas gusto ko = I prefer / I like more
• Mas gusto kong maglakad = I prefer to walk

The -ng links ko to maglakad.

This is very common in Filipino:

• gusto kong kumain = I want to eat
• ayaw kong umalis = I don’t want to leave
• kailangan kong magtrabaho = I need to work

They come from different verb patterns in Filipino.

• maglakad comes from lakad = walk
• tumawid comes from tawid = cross

These are both basic, actor-focused verb forms, but they use different affixes:

• mag- pattern: maglakad
• -um- pattern: tumawid

This is normal in Filipino. Different roots take different verb affixes.

Here, both verbs function a lot like English infinitives:

• maglakad = to walk
• tumawid = to cross

So the sentence compares two actions:

• maglakad sa bangketa
• tumawid sa tulay malapit sa ilog

Even though the forms are different, both are perfectly parallel in meaning.

Sa is a very common preposition in Filipino. Depending on context, it can mean:

• in
• on
• at
• to
• into
• by

In this sentence, it appears three times:

• sa bangketa = on the sidewalk
• sa tulay = on / across the bridge
• sa ilog = near the river

Filipino uses sa very broadly, much more broadly than English uses any one single preposition. So you should not expect a different word for every English preposition.

Instead, you learn the meaning from context.

Bangketa means sidewalk or pavement.

So:

• maglakad sa bangketa = walk on the sidewalk

It is a very common everyday word in Filipino, especially in urban contexts.

Kaysa means than or rather than in comparisons.

In this sentence, it compares two actions:

• Mas gusto kong maglakad sa bangketa
• kaysa tumawid sa tulay malapit sa ilog

So the structure is:

• Mas gusto ko ang A kaysa B
• I prefer A rather than B

Here:

• A = maglakad sa bangketa
• B = tumawid sa tulay malapit sa ilog

So the full meaning is:

• I prefer walking on the sidewalk rather than crossing the bridge near the river

You may also see kesa, which is a common informal spelling/pronunciation of kaysa.

Yes, sometimes learners will see kaysa sa instead of just kaysa.

In many real-life sentences, both appear, but usage can vary by style, region, and what follows.

In your sentence, kaysa tumawid... is natural and grammatical.

You may also hear forms like:

• Mas gusto ko ito kaysa sa isa.
• I prefer this one over the other.

A useful rule of thumb:

• kaysa by itself is very common
• kaysa sa is also common, especially before nouns or pronouns

So if you encounter both, don’t be surprised.

Yes, that is the natural meaning here.

• tumawid = to cross
• tulay = bridge

So tumawid sa tulay naturally means to cross the bridge or to go across using the bridge.

The preposition sa is doing a lot of work here. A very literal gloss might feel like cross on/at the bridge, but the normal English translation is simply cross the bridge.

It describes the bridge.

So:

• sa tulay malapit sa ilog = the bridge near the river

In Filipino, descriptive phrases often come after the noun they modify.

So the order is:

• tulay = bridge
• malapit sa ilog = near the river

Together:

• tulay malapit sa ilog = bridge near the river

This is one reason the sentence sounds very natural in Filipino.

A fairly literal breakdown is:

• Mas = more
• gusto = like/prefer
• kong = I + linker
• maglakad = to walk
• sa bangketa = on the sidewalk
• kaysa = rather than / than
• tumawid = to cross
• sa tulay = the bridge / on the bridge
• malapit sa ilog = near the river

So a very literal rendering would be something like:

• I more prefer to walk on the sidewalk than cross the bridge near the river.

That sounds unnatural in English, so we translate it naturally as:

• I prefer to walk on the sidewalk rather than cross the bridge near the river.

It is specifically about preference.

• Gusto ko can mean I like or I want
• Mas gusto ko means I like more, so it usually becomes I prefer

So:

• Gusto kong maglakad = I want to walk / I like walking
• Mas gusto kong maglakad kaysa tumawid... = I prefer to walk rather than cross...

The word mas is what makes the comparison clear.

Yes. That is a very good English equivalent.

The Filipino sentence compares two actions:

1. maglakad sa bangketa = walking on the sidewalk
2. tumawid sa tulay malapit sa ilog = crossing the bridge near the river

So all of these are good translations:

• I prefer to walk on the sidewalk rather than cross the bridge near the river.
• I prefer walking on the sidewalk to crossing the bridge near the river.
• I’d rather walk on the sidewalk than cross the bridge near the river.

They all capture the same basic meaning.