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title: A more grammar heavy day — -um- verbs
layout: post
author: "Marvin Johanning"
excerpt_separator: <!--more-->
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# Tagalog Diary — 2022-04-25
The previous lessons have honestly been rather boring, as they didn’t really introduce a lot of new grammatical concepts — this time, however, I will finally learn some more grammar!
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## Tasks
- [x] Finish lesson 17
- [ ] Maybe finish lesson 18
- [x] Learn some vocab
- [x] Speak / write a bit
- [x] Watch a couple more videos 

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## Colours
- <mark style="background: #D2B3FFA6;">Word root</mark> 
- <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">Infix or root repetition</mark> 
- <mark style="background: #BBFABBA6;">Prefix</mark> 

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## Interesting new words
- __gawa sa__
	 - a preposition meaning “made of” or “out of”
		 - _Ang adobo ay __gawa sa__ manok_, “Adobo is made out of chicken”
- __maari__ (also “maaari”)
	- an adjective that can be used for saying “can” or “may”
		- ___Maaari__ ka bang kumain ng manok?_, “Can you eat chicken?“
		- ___Maaari__ ba akong magtanong?_, “Can I ask a question?“
	-  it can also be used for saying things like “could” 
		- ___Maaaring__ tama si John_, “John could be right”

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## What was most difficult?
The most difficult aspect of lesson seventeen was the newly introduced _maaari_. It appears to require the usage of _-ng_ to link it to the rest of the sentence, so I need to practice its placement a bit more thoroughly. Additionally, this lessons _somewhat_ introduces <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">-um-</mark> verbs, albeit in a rather haphazardly fashion. 

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## What was learnt?
The main theme of lesson seventeen learning how to ask whether someone can or wants do do a certain thing. A few examples include _Kumakain ka ba ng manok_, _Maaari ka bang sumayaw_ and _Sumasayaw ka ba?_. Additionally, a new preposition (_gawa sa_) was taught that means “made from / of / in“. It can be used in sentences such as _Ang sushi na iyan ay gawa sa isda_ or _Ang mga damit na iyan ay gawa sa Amerika_. 
It also teaches a new interjection, namely _Ang sarap_. This can be used when wanting to proclaim that the food currently being eating is very nice, but it can also be used for other situations during which the speaker is satisified. 

This is also the first lesson that talks about verbs, namely <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">-um-</mark> verbs; it does, however, not talk about them in a very thorough manner and contain a couple of things I found to be wrong. Firstly, it proclaims that the verb _kumain_ in <i>Maari ka bang <mark style="background: #D2B3FFA6;">k</mark><mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">um</mark><mark style="background: #D2B3FFA6;">ain</mark> ng manok</i> is in the past tense, whereas it is actually in the infinitive. It is true that the infinitive and past tenses (or rather the completed aspect) actually use the same verb form with <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">-um-</mark> verbs, but saying that the “past tense” is being used is rather misleading. It correctly states, however, that the present tense (or continuous aspect) is used when saying <I><mark style="background: #D2B3FFA6;">K</mark><mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">um</mark><mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">a</mark><mark style="background: #D2B3FFA6;">kain</mark>ka ba ng manok</i>. 

I have taken a short peak at the upcoming lessons and have noticed that there will be a handful of lessons regarding both <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">mag-</mark> and <mark style="background: #FFB86CA6;">-um-</mark> verbs shortly. I will, therefore, not dwell on this topic further. 

The videos I have been watching haven’t really taught me anything new, but that was not the point in watching them anway; I have been watching them as they give me a bit more input and help me better absorb all the new information I have been learning. 

And lastly, through my chatting with my boyfriend, I learnt a handful of new words, amongst which are _mag-usap_ for “to speak” (_mag-uusap tayo bukas_) and _maghintay_ for “to wait” (_naghihintay ako para sa aking oven_). I also learnt from him that the Taglog word for “bed” is _kama_ from the Spanish word _cama_.