Inumin mo ang gatas bago matulog.

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Breakdown of Inumin mo ang gatas bago matulog.

• matulog: to sleep
• bago: before
• gatas: the milk

Questions & Answers about Inumin mo ang gatas bago matulog.

Why is the verb inumin used here instead of uminom?

Because inumin puts the focus on the thing being drunk, namely ang gatas.

A very common contrast is:

• Uminom ka ng gatas. = Drink milk / Drink some milk.
• Inumin mo ang gatas. = Drink the milk.

So:

• uminom is more actor-focus: the action of the person drinking is highlighted.
• inumin is more object-focus: the thing being drunk is highlighted.

In this sentence, the speaker is telling someone to drink a specific thing, the milk, so inumin is natural.

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What does inumin literally mean?

Inumin comes from the root inom, meaning drink.

Here, -in- and -in / -hin are part of the verb formation that creates an object-focus verb. In this sentence, inumin means something like:

• drink it
• consume it by drinking

Because the object is stated right after it, the full meaning becomes:

• Drink the milk

Also, inumin can be an imperative form, so it sounds like a command or instruction.

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Why is used, and what exactly does it mean here?