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 refrigerator.

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

• ay: to be
• nasa: in
• na: already
• sa: on

Questions & Answers about May mansanas pa sa istante, pero nasa ref na ang mga saging.

Why does the sentence start with may? Is that a verb?

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.

What does pa mean in May mansanas pa?

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