CONSTRUCTING SENTENCES

I. KINDS OF SENTENCES (MGA KLASE NG PANGUNGUSAP)

First of all, you remember this rule. You must start your sentence with a capital letter. There are two kinds of sentences. First is the Uncommon (Di Karaniwan) and Common (Karaniwan). The Common sentence starts with the subject (Simuno) and goes after it is the be-verbs (is, are, etc.) and the predicate (Panaguri) (Please refer to parts of speech for the be-verbs). But the Uncommon sentence is usually used. I know it's weird why it's called uncommon. Unlike most of the countries, the Uncommon sentence starts with the predicate first. So, here's an example of the explanation why it's called Uncommon through four different languages:

Filipino:
Masaya ako! (Masaya - predicate [adj] ; ako - subject [pronoun])
Japanese:
Watashi wa ureshii da! (Watashi - subject [pronoun] ; wa - linking-be-verb ; ureshii - predicate [adj] ; da - exclamation)
Chinese:
Wo zhi kwai leh! [Wo - subject (pronoun] ; zhi - linking/be-verb ; kwai leh - predicate [adj]
English:
I am happy! (I - subject [pronoun] ; am - linking/be-verb ; happy - predicate [adj])

Even though you can use both, the Uncommon type of sentence is the best to use for the Filipino language because it sounds better. Also, you won't need any be-verbs/linking verbs if you're using the Uncommon type. Here's how you do shift from Common to Uncommon and Uncommon to Common sentence with english translation:

A. Common to Uncommon
Ako ay masaya. (I am happy.)
1. Remove the linking/be-verbs first.
2. Transfer the subject after the predicate.
3. And the outcome is:
Masaya ako. (Happy I am.)
B. Uncommon to Common
Masaya ako. (Happy I am.)
1. Just reverse the Common to Uncommon method. Transfer the subject before the predicate.
2. Put the linking/be-verbs between the subject and the predicate.
3. And the outcome is:
Ako ay masaya. (I am happy.)

III. TYPES OF SENTENCES (MGA URI NG PANGUNGUSAP)

A. Narrative (Pasalaysay)
Narrates things that happened. This sentence ends with a period (tuldok).

B. Interrogative (Patanong)
In this sentence, the talker asks the one she/he's talking to. This sentence ends with a question mark (tandang pananong).

C. Exclamatory (Padamdam)
This sentence is expressing one's extreme emotion such as happiness and anger. This one ends with an exclamation point (tandang padamdam).

D. Imperative (Request - Pakiusap / Command - Pautos)
There two kinds of imperative sentence. The first one is request (pakiusap). In request, the talker uses polite words such as "paki-", ""Maaari ba-", "Puwede ba-", "-nga"and other more. Here are examples:

Pakiabot iyang dyaryo sa mesa. (Please hand me over that newspaper on the table.)
Maaari ba tayong maglaro ngayon? (May we play now?)
Maaari ko bang hiramin ito? (May I borrow this?)
Puwede bang akin na lang iyang litrato mo? (Can I have your photo?)
Puwede mo ba akong bigyan ng pagkain mo? (Can you give me some of your food?)
Bumili ka nga ng softdrink sa tindahan. (Buy a softdrink at the store.)

I hope you understood the examples and explanation. If you have not understood my explanation well or you want something added, feel free to e-mail me. Just click on "MAIL ME" at the upper menu.