Kanila ang pakete.

In Filipino, sentences like this often do not use a separate present-tense verb meaning is/are.

So Kanila ang pakete is naturally understood as The package is theirs even though there is no standalone word for is.

A very literal breakdown is:

kanila = theirs
ang pakete = the package

So the structure is basically Theirs the package, which Filipino interprets as The package is theirs.

Because Filipino often puts the predicate first.

In this sentence:

kanila = the predicate
ang pakete = the topic

That word order is normal in Filipino, even though it feels backwards to an English speaker. English prefers The package is theirs, but Filipino commonly uses Kanila ang pakete.

Ang marks the noun phrase ang pakete as the topic of the sentence.

It does not simply mean English the, even though ang pakete is often translated as the package.

Here, ang tells you that pakete is the thing being talked about or identified.

Kanila is the third-person plural pronoun form that can mean theirs, and in other contexts can relate to them as well.

In this sentence, it specifically means theirs.

So:

Kanila ang pakete = The package is theirs

It refers to more than one owner or to a plural group.

This is a very common question.

Nila is usually used in forms like:

pakete nila = their package

But kanila is the form used when the pronoun stands more independently, as it does here:

Kanila ang pakete = The package is theirs

So:

pakete nila = their package
kanila ang pakete = the package is theirs

They are related, but they are not interchangeable in this sentence.

Yes. That is also correct.

Kanila ang pakete and Ang pakete ay kanila mean the same thing.

The difference is mainly in structure:

Kanila ang pakete = more basic predicate-first order
Ang pakete ay kanila = topic brought to the front, with ay linking the two parts

The version with ay can sound a bit more formal, careful, or written.

No. Ay is not a true verb meaning is.

It is better understood as a linker used when the topic is moved to the front:

Kanila ang pakete
Ang pakete ay kanila

So ay helps connect the two parts in that rearranged structure, but it is not exactly the same as English is.

Pakete nila is a noun phrase, not a full sentence by itself. It means:

their package

But Kanila ang pakete is a complete sentence:

The package is theirs

So the difference is similar to this in English:

their package = phrase
the package is theirs = full sentence

Yes, normally kanila refers to them / theirs, so it usually means more than one owner or a plural group.

If the owner is just one person, you would use kaniya:

Kaniya ang pakete = The package is his/hers

If the thing owned is plural, you can change the noun:

Kanila ang mga pakete = The packages are theirs

Not exactly.

Sa kanila often means something more like:

• to them
• for them
• with them
• at their place

So Sa kanila ang pakete may be understood differently depending on context, and it does not as clearly express ownership as Kanila ang pakete does.

If you specifically want The package is theirs, Kanila ang pakete is the clearer form.

A rough pronunciation is:

kah-NEE-lah ang pah-KEH-teh

A few helpful notes:

• kanila has stress on NEE
• pakete has stress on KEH
• ang ends with the ng sound heard at the end of English song

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

kah-NEE-lah ang pah-KEH-teh