May mansanas pa sa istante, pero nasa ref na ang mga saging.

May is used to express existence or possession, similar to there is / there are or sometimes has / have in English.

In May mansanas pa sa istante, may means there are still apples on the shelf.

It does not behave exactly like a normal English verb. In Filipino, sentences like this often do not need a separate verb like is/are.

A learner-friendly way to think of it is:

• may + noun = there is/are + noun
• may libro = there is a book / there are books
• may tao = there is a person / there are people

You may also see mayroon, which is a fuller form. May is very common in everyday speech.

Pa means something like still, yet, or more, depending on context.

Here, May mansanas pa sa istante means:

• There are still apples on the shelf
• or There are apples left on the shelf

So pa adds the idea that the apples are still there at this point.

A very common contrast in Filipino is:

• pa = still / yet
• na = already / now

That contrast shows up clearly in this sentence:

• may mansanas pa = there are still apples
• nasa ref na = they are already in the fridge

Not necessarily. In Filipino, a bare noun like mansanas can be understood as apple or apples, depending on context.

So:

• May mansanas sa istante can mean There is an apple on the shelf or There are apples on the shelf
• If you want to be clearly plural, you can say May mga mansanas sa istante

In your sentence, mansanas without mga sounds natural because the existential pattern with may often does not force the speaker to specify singular vs. plural unless it matters.

By contrast, ang mga saging is clearly plural because mga is used there.

Sa by itself is a location marker meaning in, on, at, to.

But nasa means something like is/are in/on/at. It expresses location more completely.

Compare:

• sa istante = on the shelf
• nasa ref = is/are in the fridge

So:

• May mansanas pa sa istante = There are still apples on the shelf
• nasa ref na ang mga saging = The bananas are already in the fridge

A simple way to remember it:

• sa = just the place
• nasa = located in/at that place

No. They are different.

1. nasa is a location word meaning is/are in, at, on

   • nasa ref = in the fridge

2. The separate na after ref is a particle meaning already or now

   • nasa ref na = already in the fridge

So in:

• nasa ref na ang mga saging

the first part tells you the location, and the final na adds the sense of already.

This can be confusing because they look similar, but they do different jobs.

Filipino word order is often more flexible than English, and location phrases commonly come first.

So:

• Nasa ref na ang mga saging

is a very natural way to say:

• The bananas are already in the fridge

The phrase ang mga saging is the topic of the sentence, and it can come after the predicate.

This pattern is very common:

• Nasa mesa ang libro = The book is on the table
• Nasa kusina ang nanay ko = My mother is in the kitchen

So even though English usually puts the subject first, Filipino often puts the predicate or location first.

Ang is a marker for the topic or focused noun phrase in the sentence.

In nasa ref na ang mga saging, the topic is ang mga saging = the bananas.

A rough guide:

• ang often marks the main noun you are talking about
• mga marks plurality
• ang mga saging = the bananas

You should not think of ang as exactly equal to the, although it can sometimes feel similar in translation. Its job is grammatical, not just definite-article meaning.

Because may and ang usually do not go together in that kind of existential sentence.

After may, the noun is typically unmarked:

• May tubig = There is water
• May tao = There is a person / There are people
• May mansanas = There is an apple / There are apples

So May ang mansanas would be incorrect here.

This is one of the patterns learners just need to get used to:

• may + noun
• ang + topic noun

Those are different sentence structures.

Pero means but.

It is extremely common and natural in everyday Filipino. It comes from Spanish, and it is probably the most common conversational word for but.

You may also see:

• ngunit = but/however, often more formal
• subalit = but/however, also more formal or literary

So in your sentence:

• May mansanas pa sa istante, pero nasa ref na ang mga saging.
• There are still apples on the shelf, but the bananas are already in the fridge.

That sounds completely normal.

Yes, both are common everyday words in Filipino.

• istante = shelf
• ref = fridge

These are borrowed or adapted forms, which is very common in Filipino vocabulary.

Other possible words include:

• refrigerator
• pridyeder / pridyider in some usage
• estante may also be seen instead of istante

In real conversation, ref is very common and natural.

Yes, that is close to the literal structure.

A more word-by-word feel would be:

• May = there is/are
• mansanas = apple/apples
• pa = still
• sa istante = on the shelf
• pero = but
• nasa ref = are in the fridge
• na = already
• ang mga saging = the bananas

So the second clause is structured more like:

• In the fridge already are the bananas

That sounds unusual in English, but it is normal in Filipino.

Yes. That is also grammatical.

Your version would:

• make apples explicitly plural with mga
• use ang mga saging earlier
• add ay, which often creates a more formal or balanced sentence structure

Compare:

• May mansanas pa sa istante, pero nasa ref na ang mga saging.
  Very natural, conversational.

• May mga mansanas pa sa istante, pero ang mga saging ay nasa ref na.
  Also correct, a bit more explicit and slightly more formal in feel.

So the original sentence is not the only possible way to say it, but it is a very natural one.

The sentence is built around a very common Filipino contrast:

• pa = still
• na = already

So the speaker is contrasting two situations:

• May mansanas pa sa istante = The apples are still on the shelf
• nasa ref na ang mga saging = The bananas are already in the fridge

This pa / na contrast is one of the most useful things to notice in Filipino, because it appears everywhere.

Examples:

• Bukas pa = not yet tomorrow / still tomorrow to come
• Bukas na = already tomorrow / now tomorrow
• Kumakain pa siya = He/she is still eating
• Kumain na siya = He/she already ate

So in your sentence, pa and na help express a neat contrast in state or timing.