Sumunod po kayo sa babaeng nasa harap ninyo, at huwag kayong lumiko sa kaliwa.

Here, sumunod means follow.

The root is sunod, which has the idea of coming after something or someone. Depending on context, sumunod can also mean obey, but in this sentence it clearly means follow, because the rest of the sentence talks about direction: and don’t turn left.

So in this context:

Sumunod po kayo... = Please follow...

After sumunod, the person or thing being followed is commonly marked with sa.

So:

• sumunod sa babae = follow the woman
• sumunod sa utos = obey the order

This is very natural Filipino grammar. A learner might expect something like a direct object marker, but with this verb, sa is the normal marker for what is being followed or obeyed.

They make the sentence polite and respectful.

• po is a politeness particle.
• kayo means you (plural), but it is also often used for one person politely.

So Sumunod po kayo can mean either:

• Please follow (said politely to one person), or
• Please follow (said to more than one person)

This is very common in Filipino: plural forms are often used respectfully when speaking to one person.

Babaeng is babae plus the linker -ng.

• babae = woman
• babaeng nasa harap ninyo = the woman who is in front of you

The linker connects a noun to a following descriptive phrase. Since babae ends in a vowel, the linker appears as -ng attached to it:

• babae
  • -ng
    • nasa harap ninyo
      = babaeng nasa harap ninyo

This is a very common pattern in Filipino.

Because Filipino often does not use a separate relative pronoun like English who, that, or which.

English says:

• the woman who is in front of you

Filipino usually says this more directly:

• ang babaeng nasa harap ninyo
• literally: the woman in front of you

The linker -ng helps connect the noun to the phrase describing it. So instead of inserting a word like who, Filipino simply attaches the description after the noun.

Literally, it means at/in front of you.

Breakdown:

• nasa = is at / is in / is located at
• harap = front
• ninyo = your / of you (plural or polite)

So:

• nasa harap ninyo = is in front of you

In the full phrase:

• sa babaeng nasa harap ninyo
  = the woman who is in front of you

A helpful note: nasa is very common in location expressions.

Because the sentence is addressing kayo, not ikaw.

These match up like this:

• ikaw / ka = you, singular informal
• kayo = you, plural or polite singular

And their related possessive/genitive forms are:

• mo = your (singular informal)
• ninyo = your (plural or polite singular)

So if you say kayo, it is natural to say ninyo later in the sentence.

Compare:

• nasa harap mo = in front of you (informal singular)
• nasa harap ninyo = in front of you (plural or polite)

This is a negative command:

• huwag = don’t
• kayo = you
• -ng = linker
• lumiko = turn

So:

• Huwag kayong lumiko = Don’t turn

The -ng in kayong links the pronoun to the following verb. This is a very common pattern in Filipino negative commands:

• Huwag kang umalis = Don’t leave
• Huwag kayong maingay = Don’t be noisy
• Huwag kayong lumiko = Don’t turn

It literally means turn to the left.

Breakdown:

• lumiko = to turn
• sa kaliwa = to the left / on the left side

So:

• lumiko sa kaliwa = turn left

The root is liko, which has to do with turning or bending. The -um- verb form gives lumiko, which is the natural verb form here.

In isolation, sumunod sa babae could sometimes be understood as obey the woman or follow the woman, depending on context.

But in this full sentence, the meaning is almost certainly follow the woman, because the next part gives movement instructions:

• and don’t turn left

That makes it sound like someone is being guided somewhere physically, not being told to obey her in a general sense.

So the surrounding context removes the ambiguity.

A less formal version could be:

Sumunod ka sa babaeng nasa harap mo, at huwag kang lumiko sa kaliwa.

Changes:

• po is removed
• kayo becomes ka
• ninyo becomes mo
• kayong becomes kang

This version is suitable for speaking casually to one person you know well. The original sentence is more polite and respectful.