Learn parting phrases
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Hello and welcome to Filipino Survival Phrases brought to you by FilipinoPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to the Philippines. You will be surprised at how far a little Filipino will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by FilipinoPod101.com, and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Filipino Survival Phrases Lesson 5 - How to say "Goodbye" in Filipino. |
| Today, we'll introduce parting greetings. A parting expression that can be used for all occasions is Paalam, which literally means "goodbye." |
| Paalam |
| Paalam. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Paalam. |
| Now, let's hear it once again: Paalam. |
| The formal way of parting or saying "goodbye," is Sige po, mauna na ako, |
| Sige po, mauna na ako |
| The literal meaning is "I'll go ahead." |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Now, let's hear it once again: Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Let's take a look at the components. The first word Sige has no equivalent in English. |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: Sige. |
| Sige. |
| It is followed by Po, which is a polite word that also has no English equivalent. |
| Let's hear it again: Po. |
| Next is Mauna, which in English is "go ahead." Mauna. |
| Mauna. |
| And Mauna. |
| Then comes Na, which means something like "already." |
| Let's hear it again: Na. |
| Na. |
| It is followed by Ako, which means "me." |
| Let's break it down: Ako. |
| Ako. |
| All together, Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Let's break down this phrase by syllable: Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Sige po, mauna na ako, which means literally, "I'll go ahead." |
| In Filipino, a more casual way of saying goodbye is Sige, mauna na ako. |
| Sige, mauna na ako. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Sige, mauna na ako. |
| Now, let's hear it once again: Sige, mauna na ako. |
| Basically, we just removed the polite word Po to make it casual. |
| This phrase is used among friends and in other casual situations. It is also used among close family members and relatives like cousins of the same age. |
| Although Paalam is the word for "Goodbye" in Filipino, it is not the most casual way of saying "goodbye." And, in fact, it is very rare for Filipinos to use Paalam. More common is the casual Sige, mauna na ako, or its formal version, which is Sige po mauna na ako. |
| In parting over the phone, there is no Filipino way of saying "goodbye." Filipinos will usually just use the English, "bye." |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so good luck, that also means “good luck” in Filipino. Here we go! |
| "Goodbye." - Paalam. |
| Paalam. |
| Paalam. |
| "I'll go ahead." (informal) - Sige, mauna na ako. |
| Sige, mauna na ako |
| Sige, mauna na ako |
| "I'll go ahead." (formal) - Sige po, mauna na ako. |
| Sige po, mauna na ako |
| Sige po, mauna na ako |
| Alright, that's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by FilipinoPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Comments
HideHello listeners, do you remember how many parting greetings in Filipino you learn in this lesson?
I learnt so much
Hi Marco!
Excellent question you got there. You are correct in saying the "a" in 'ako' is almost omitted.
The intention is to make the transition from 'na' to 'ako' smoother. That's also the reason you encounter the contraction of the two words, which is "na'ko," very often.
Can you pronounce 'ako' so that the "a" is distinguishable? Sure! Although in real-life conversations, you'd want the transition to be smoother.
I hope this helps!
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101
Magandang hapon from Italy!
I have a question about pronunciation of this lesson.
When I hear "Sige mauna na ako", I feel like the starting 'a' from 'ako' is almost omitted and not spoken.
Is this a standard pronunciation to make it faster? Or I can also pronounce it and it's not an error?
Hi Wendell,
Not sure about that! Please send a message to our team at contactus@FilipinoPod101.com so that they can look into the issue more in-depth. Thank you! :)
Levente
Team FilipinoPod101.com
Why did you remove my list of favorite lessons? Don't like having to open every lesson to see if I marked a red heart.
Hi Paul,
Paalam is outdated and we rarely hear it. I agree that you can say sige to signify that you'll be leaving. Sige na is a little tricky since depending on your delivery, it can mean let's go already or it can also signify annoyance. You can stick to saying sige in a gentle manner if you're unsure.
Salamat!
Betsey
Team FilipinoPod101.com
We can use "Paalam" and is it appropriate to say it is outdated?
Sige po mauna na ako.
Sometime I hear the word "Sige" said in a gentle manner and not in a hurried manner as someone leaves. Is this another informal way of saying "Bye"?
Sige na - I guess this means "Lets go already" ?
Your feedback is appreciated.
Salamat po.
Hi Farhan,
Thank you for your question. 'Mag' is a prefix that denotes that a word is a verb. On the other hand, putting the word 'mga' shows how the word it preceeds is plural.
For example,
Maglaro - to play
Mag-aral - to study
Mga lapis - pencils
Lapis - pencil
Mga lalaki - men
Lalaki - man
Feel free to ask if you have any other questions! Hope that helps!!
Betsey
Team FilipinoPod101.com
Hi robert5,
If you want tosay 'see you later/again'. you can say 'kitakita' which means 'see each other again.' When using this, make sure that you're close to the person or at least friends. You can also say, 'hanggang sa susunod' which means 'until next time.' This on the other hand can be used in a more formal setting.
Salamat!
Betsey
Team FilipinoPod101.com
It is a challenge to get the tongue around " Sige mauna na ako " I believe it's in part because of the double " na " I had to say it slowly under breath at first ( hearing myself say aloud and messing it up troubles my ears and makes me doubt I can get it, so under breath first ) until I got the rhythm of the phrase, if getting the rhythm doesn't sense to anyone; there are 8 syllables in the entire phrase.
Correct me if I am wrong with the division marks on the syallbles :
Si-ge / ma-u-na / na / a-kO Then once I got the rhythm or pace of the phrase I said it loud enough to hear myself clearer and listened to it said by the instructor once again as I followed saying it aloud. Saying it a few times in a row makes it roll off my tongue a little easier, now it's about keeping it in memory.
Maybe that helped someone with studying.
My question is, in parting usually it seems so solemn to say " goodbye " in some languages goodbye is pleasant to hear in that language, not so much in English, in my opinion. I'd rather say to a loved one or friend " see you later...or some other parting greeting. " It may simply be cultural or a certain personal perference in regard of the word goodbye. But I wonder if " take care " or " see you later " is also used in parting in Filipino. Or is it perhaps, " Sigue mauna na ako " is a less permenant sounding so long, take care...since it means " a go ahead " ?
Hi scott,
Thank you for your comment and feedback!
We are always working on improving our materials, so your opinion is highly valuable :smile:
Please, let us know if you have any question.
Regards,
Laura
Team FilipinoPod101.com
what mean of mag,and mga?
so far so good! Seeing the written words while the words are being spoken would help. Filipino is spoken just as it is written.
Paalam is all i learnt, I did not get the others, Its hard:sob:
Hi Joe,
Thank you for the comment and loving our site.
That's right. We've corrected the typo on our PDF notes.
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know.
Jae / FilipinoPod101.com
is there a spelling error here? I am told "goodbye" is paalam not as it is on the writing test palaam? what is correct?
tyvm love the site
Joe