The Focus of This Lesson is Talking About Yourself in More Detail
Mahilig po ako kumain sa labas at maglibot.
"I like eating out and sightseeing."

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

1. Use the request forms of verbs
2. Ask and talk about a person's interests, hobbies, or likes
3. Ask and talk about what you want to do

1. How to Use Request Forms of Verbs

From the dialogue, we heard Judy tell the new foreign student John that she will introduce him to Carlo who also likes playing basketball. Judy said Ipakikilala kita kay Carlo. Let's break down this sentence and discuss it word by word. There are request form verbs in Filipino. The affix Ipaki- is one of them. You add it to the verb to say that you are either making a request, or doing a favor to or for someone. In this case, Ipaki- is added to kilala, which means "to know," to denote that Judy, while making a request to John, that is, to be introduced to someone, is also suggesting that John will also benefit from this introduction.

Next is kita, which is a dual pronoun because it denotes two actors, pronoun "I" and "you." Kay is marker that indicates the direction of the action. And then you add the name of the person to whom you want someone to be introduced to.

We often use this pattern when we want to introduce other people to our friends, relatives, or colleagues. For instance, in the dialogue Judy wants John to meet people who have the same interests as him and so she decides to introduce him to Carlo who is also fond of basketball.

The sentence pattern is explained below:

Let's take a look at some examples:

1. Ipakikilala kita kay Ana sa Sabado.
   "I will introduce you to Ana on Saturday."
2. Ipakikilala kita kay Juan sa parke.
   "I will introduce you to Juan at the park."
3. Ipakikilala kita kay Sara bukas.
   "I will introduce you to Sara tomorrow."

2. How to Ask and Talk About a Person's Interests, Hobbies, or Likes

To get to know the new foreign student better, Judy asked John about his hobbies and likes. Judy asked him Anong mga hilig mong gawin?

Let's take a look closer at the words used. Anong is a shortened version of ano ang. Ano means "what" and ang is a marker used to point out the focus of the sentence. Add mga and the topic of the sentence, hilig mong gawin, meaning "hobby," into plural.

Breaking down that phrase hilig mong gawin: Hilig means "like" or "want," while mo is a demonstrative pronoun. It is literally translated as "of you" but can be used to mean "your." Ng is added to "mo" to make it easier to say. And gawin literally means "to do. So actually the phrase hilig mong gawin literally means "things you like to do," which in short refers to your hobbies.

We use this phrase to get to know more of the person we are talking to and it is usually asked when we first meet the person. We can also remove the article mga to make the sentence singular if we only want to ask one hobby or inclination from the person we are talking to. Thus, we can also say Anong hilig mong gawin?

We can replace the pronoun mo with other pronouns or nouns depending on who we want to ask for their hobbies or likes. For instance, we can ask the hobbies of others by saying Anong mga hilig niyang gawin? ("What are his/her hobbies?")

Let's take a look at some examples:

1. Anong mga hilig gawin ni Ana?
   "What are Ana's hobbies?"
2. Anong mga hilig nilang gawin?
   "What do they like (to do)?"
3. Anong mga hilig ninyong gawin?
   "What are your hobbies?" - you in plural number

3. How to Ask and Describe What Like/Want To Do

Anna in the dialogue asked John about the other things he wants to do, Ano pang iba mong gustong gawin? When we want to express that we want or like to do something, we use the expression gusto ko plus the infinitive form of verbs. The infinitive forms of verbs are same as the completed aspect or, you can say, past tenses, of the verbs. The infinitive form is composed of the root of the verb, plus an infix, usually, either -um or -mag.

As you can see, and as mentioned earlier, some verbs both have UM and MAG conjugations. This is dependent on the focus of the sentence. We will learn more about sentence focus in Filipino grammar in the Intermediate series.

Note that for most of the verbs that do not have the infinitive form (mag) the past tense form (um) is used instead as the informative form. For example, we say Kailangan kong kumain ("I need to eat").

For example:

1. Kaya kong sumayaw.
   "I can dance"
2. Kaya kong magkumpuni ng sasakyan.
   "I can fix a car"
3. Kaya kong kumanta.
   "I can sing"

Examples from the dialogue:

1. Hmm.. kaya ko ring maglaro ng basketbol.
   "Hmm.. I can also play basketball."

Sample Sentences

1. Mahilig po akong sumayaw at kumanta.
   "I like to dance and sing."
2. Kaya ko ring magmaneho ng kotse.
   "I can also drive a car."
3. Mahilig ako manood ng pelikula.
   "I like to watch movies."

libot "sightseeing," "wandering"

We use the word libot use this word when we want to say "sightseeing" or "wandering. This word can be conjugated as a verb. As a verb, it expresses the action of wandering, walking casually, or strolling in a place. This word can be used both in informal and formal situations.

There are many types of verb forms in Filipino. Majority of the verbs are called UM and MAG verb. They are called UM and MAG because of the infixes -um and -mag that are attached to the verbs to show different tenses. There are verbs that are both MAG and UM verbs. For example, the verb libot is one of them. To conjugate as an UM verb, libot would be lumibot in the past tense, lumilibot in the present tense, and lilibot in the future tense.

Past tense: lumibot

Present tense: lumilibot

Future Tense: lilibot

For example:

1. Hindi ako mahilig maglibot.
   "I'm not fond of strolling."

labas "outside"

The word labas is often used as a noun or an adjective.

It is used when we want to describe something as "external." It can be translated into English as the noun "outside." This word can be used both in informal and formal situations.

The word labas can also be conjugated as a verb. To mean the action of going out, we conjugate it as:

Past tense: lumabas

Present tense: lumalabas

Future tense: lalabas

For example:

1. Gabi na pero nasa labas pa ang mga bata.
   "It's late but the children are still outside."

Meeting Someone for the First Time: Dos and Dont's

The way a person acts when they meet someone for the first time is very important. First impressions are important for Filipinos and that's why many of us think of unique things to make ourselves remembered, or appear friendly and with a nice personality to the people we meet. There are no really strict rules in introducing yourself like that of other cultures, so you are not expected to bow or do hand gestures. If fact, you shouldn't do many gestures since it will be considered strange. Gestures are simply raising your hand, the same as saying "hi" or "hello," offering a handshake or by simply raising your head in acknowledgment. Sometimes people will tell you a bit about what they are currently doing—if they are working or studying. Things you cannot ask for at the first meeting is private information such as relationship status.  Asking this at the first meeting is considered a little strange.

Useful expression:

1. Kamusta!
   "Hello/Hi, how are you!"