Learn how to talk about possibilities
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FilipinoPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 7 - What Does the Future Hold in the Philippines? Michael here. |
| Erica: Hello. I'm Erica. In this lesson, you’ll learn the words baka, siguro, and maari, which are used to signal doubt or a guess. |
| Michael: This conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| Erica: It's between Bryan and Kath. |
| Michael: The speakers are close friends, so they’ll be using informal Filipino. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Bryan: Nakita mo ba si Daniel? |
| Kath: Oo, nakita ko siya kanina. |
| Bryan: Baka daw tumigil siya sa pag-aaral. |
| Kath: Bakit? |
| Bryan: Siguro wala siyang pambayad ng matrikula. |
| Kath: Pwede naman yata siyang umutang di ba? |
| Bryan: Baka mahirap talaga ang sitwasyon niya. |
| Kath: Baka naman ayaw niya na mag-aral? |
| Bryan: Maari rin. |
| Kath: Siguro naman makakita rin siya ng paraan. |
| Bryan: Sana nga. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Bryan: Have you seen Daniel? |
| Kath: Yes, I saw him earlier. |
| Bryan: I heard he might quit school. |
| Kath: Why? |
| Bryan: Maybe he's short on paying the tuition fees. |
| Kath: He could get a loan, right? |
| Bryan: Maybe he is in a tough situation. |
| Kath: Maybe he doesn't want to study anymore? |
| Byran: Could be. |
| Kath: Maybe he’ll find a way to stay. |
| Bryan: I hope so. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Erica, what’s the educational system like in the Philippines? |
| Erica: Until 2011, compulsory education in the Philippines was made up of six years of elementary education and four years of secondary education. In 2011, the educational system was changed, making the previously 10-year basic and secondary schooling into a 12-year system. |
| Michael: Institutes of higher learning, such as the Philippine National University and the University of the Philippines, provide tertiary education. Vocational and technical schools also provide further education. So what is the public school system like? Is it free? |
| Erica: Yes, the government provides free education. Also, there’s a specialized public high school system, the Science High School System, which offers scholarships to students who are gifted in math and science. |
| Michael: That’s interesting to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Erica: tigil [natural native speed] |
| Michael:to stop |
| Erica: tigil[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: tigil [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: pambayad [natural native speed] |
| Michael:payment, money for payment |
| Erica: pambayad[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: pambayad [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: matrikula [natural native speed] |
| Michael:tuition |
| Erica: matrikula[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: matrikula [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: umutang [natural native speed] |
| Michael:to loan, to borrow |
| Erica: umutang[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: umutang [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: kulang [natural native speed] |
| Michael:not enough, to be short |
| Erica: kulang[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: kulang [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: paraan [natural native speed] |
| Michael:way |
| Erica: paraan[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: paraan [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Erica: nga [natural native speed] |
| Michael:a particle expressing confirmation |
| Erica: nga [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Erica: nga [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Erica: tumigil sa pag-aaral |
| Michael: and it means "stopped his or her studies." |
| Erica: Tumigil sa pag-aaral follows the pattern 'verb plus object.' In this case, the verb tumigil is the past tense of the verb tigil, |
| Michael: meaning “to stop,” |
| Erica: and the object of the verb is the noun pag-aaral, |
| Michael: meaning “studies.” |
| Erica: To conjugate a verb in past tense, you add the infix um in the middle of the word, so tigil becomes tumigil. |
| Michael: When do you use this phrase? |
| Erica: You use this pattern when you want to express that someone's action or something has stopped. To make it polite, you can add the word po. So the expression becomes tumigil po sa pag-aaral. |
| Michael: That’s the polite way of saying “stopped his or her studies.” But Erica, it seems like there isn’t a pronoun in this expression. |
| Erica: Yes, that’s right, and it's because it’s assumed that the subject has been established in the conversation. When the subject is not yet clear, we can use the pattern verb plus subject plus object. In this case, tumigil si Ana sa pag-aaral. |
| Michael: “Ana stopped her studies.” Can you give us another example using this pattern? |
| Erica: Sure. For example, you can say.. tumigil sa pagtatrabaho, |
| Michael: which means "stopped working. " Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you’ll learn how to express possibilities. |
| Erica: We’ll focus on the words baka, siguro, and maari, which are used to signal doubt or a guess. |
| Michael: You usually put these words at the beginning of the sentence. They follow the pattern of signalling word plus the content of the guess, doubt, or possibility. Let’s take a closer look. |
| Erica: Let’s start with baka. You use baka to express that you want to make a guess about the topic of the conversation. For example, you can say baka umulan mamaya. |
| Michael: “Maybe it will rain later.” How about another example? |
| Erica:Baka may sakit siya. |
| Michael: “I guess he is sick.” |
| Erica: Then we have siguro. You also use siguro to express that you want to make a guess about the topic of the conversation. For example, you can say siguro uulan mamaya. |
| Michael: Which also means “Maybe it will rain later.” |
| Erica: The difference from baka is that when siguro is used, the verb after it must always be in the future tense. |
| Michael: Can you give us some examples? |
| Erica: For example, Siguro may sakit siya. |
| Michael: “I guess he is sick.” |
| Erica: Siguro kakain siya. |
| Michael: “Maybe she will eat.” |
| Erica: Finally, we use maari to express a possibility about the topic of the conversation. For example, we can say maaring umulan mamaya, |
| Mat: “It’s possible that it will rain later.” |
| Erica: Note that maari is usually conjugated as maaring when followed by most words, except most pronouns. |
| Michael: Is there a difference between maari and baka? |
| Erica: The difference between maari and baka is that maari expresses a possibility that is closer to reality than baka. The word baka is a simple guess without any relevant or back up information to make the guess valid. |
| Michael: Do we have to be very careful when choosing which word to use? |
| Erica: Not too careful. These words all denote possibility, so you can use them with any form of the verb, be it past, present, or future. You can even use them interchangeably, as you'll see in the example. But note that maari is often considered more formal and even poetic. |
| Michael: So there are many ways to say “He might go to work.” |
| Erica: That's right. Siguro papasok siya sa trabaho, or |
| Baka papasok siya sa trabaho, or |
| Maaring papasok siya sa trabaho. |
| Michael: Listeners, you can find more examples in the lesson notes! |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Erica: Salamat. |
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