Nakakaiyak ang simula at nakakagulat ang wakas.

Because Filipino very often uses a predicate-first word order.

So:

Nakakaiyak ang simula
literally looks like tearjerking the beginning

but it naturally means:

The beginning is tearjerking

The same thing happens in the second half:

nakakagulat ang wakas = the ending is surprising

So the sentence is built as:

predicate + ang-phrase

not usually subject + is + adjective, as in English.

Ang marks the topic of the clause.

In this sentence:

• ang simula = the beginning / the opening
• ang wakas = the ending

A good beginner-friendly way to think about ang is that it often points to the noun phrase that English would treat as the subject. But it is not exactly the same as English the.

So in:

Nakakaiyak ang simula

ang simula is the thing being talked about: the beginning.

Nakakaiyak comes from the root iyak, which means cry.

The pattern nakaka- + root often gives the idea of:

• causing someone to feel/do something
• so ... that it makes someone ...
• able to make someone ...

So:

• iyak = cry
• nakakaiyak = tearjerking, moving, enough to make someone cry

In other words, nakakaiyak does not mean crying. It means causing crying or making someone want to cry.

Nakakagulat comes from the root gulat, which means surprise or shock.

Using the same nakaka- pattern:

• gulat = surprise
• nakakagulat = surprising, shocking, startling

So nakakagulat ang wakas means the ending is something that causes surprise.

This is the same pattern you see in very common words like:

• nakakatawa = funny, laugh-inducing
• nakakainis = annoying
• nakakapagod = tiring

Because nakakaiyak ang simula is a full sentence, not just a noun phrase.

It means:

The beginning is tearjerking

Here, nakakaiyak is the predicate, and ang simula is the topic.

If you wanted to say a tearjerking beginning, where nakakaiyak directly modifies simula, then you would use a linker:

• nakakaiyak na simula = a tearjerking beginning
• nakakagulat na wakas = a surprising ending

So:

• nakakaiyak ang simula = the beginning is tearjerking
• nakakaiyak na simula = a tearjerking beginning

That is an important difference.

For learners, the easiest answer is: they behave a lot like adjectives in translation, but Filipino grammar often treats them more flexibly than English does.

So in this sentence, it is perfectly fine to understand them as:

• nakakaiyak = tearjerking
• nakakagulat = surprising

But grammatically, Filipino predicate words do not always fit neatly into the English categories of adjective versus verb. They can function as the main predicate without needing a separate word for is.

So the safest practical approach is:

• translate them like adjectives here
• remember they are functioning as the main predicate of the clause

No. Filipino often leaves out a separate present-tense is/are.

So:

Nakakaiyak ang simula
does not contain a separate word meaning is, but it still means:

The beginning is tearjerking

And:

nakakagulat ang wakas
means:

the ending is surprising

This is very normal in Filipino. You do not need to insert a word for is in sentences like this.

Because at is joining two complete clauses, not just two nouns.

The sentence breaks down as:

1. Nakakaiyak ang simula
2. nakakagulat ang wakas

joined by at = and

Each clause has its own predicate and its own ang-marked topic, so each one keeps its own ang.

That is why the structure is:

Nakakaiyak ang simula at nakakagulat ang wakas

not one shared ang for both parts.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is also grammatical and means the same thing.

Compare:

• Nakakaiyak ang simula at nakakagulat ang wakas
• Ang simula ay nakakaiyak at ang wakas ay nakakagulat

The difference is mainly in word order and style:

• predicate-first version is very natural and common
• ang ... ay ... version can sound a bit more formal, deliberate, or explanatory

So both are correct. The original sentence is simply the more compact, natural predicate-first pattern.

At simply means and.

It joins the two parallel ideas:

• Nakakaiyak ang simula
• nakakagulat ang wakas

So the full sentence says that both things are true:

• the beginning is tearjerking
• and the ending is surprising

It is a very straightforward connector here.

Most likely, yes. Even without extra context, simula and wakas strongly suggest the beginning and ending of something with a narrative structure, such as:

• a movie
• a series
• a book
• a play
• a story

So the sentence sounds like a comment or review about how something starts and how it ends.