Mataas ang upa.

The rent is high.

Breakdown of Mataas ang upa.

• mataas: high
• ang: subject/topic marker
• upa: rent

Questions & Answers about Mataas ang upa.

Why does the sentence start with mataas instead of upa?

In Filipino, it is very common for the predicate to come first.

So in Mataas ang upa, the structure is:

• Mataas = the predicate adjective, high
• ang upa = the topic, the rent

A very natural English translation is The rent is high.

This predicate-first pattern is normal in Filipino, especially in simple descriptive sentences.

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What does ang mean here?

Ang is a marker that highlights the topic of the sentence.

In Mataas ang upa, ang marks upa as the thing being talked about:

• mataas = high
• ang upa = the rent

So ang does not directly translate to the in every case, but in many simple translations, ang upa can be understood as the rent.

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Is there an omitted word for is in this sentence?