Learn Filipino: Telling Time

I had found this contact person in the Expat Blog who is searching for a Tagalog trainer, so I immediately sent him my CV and told him I am interested to take on the challenge. Since it is a freelance job, I still have time to refresh on my language. Honestly speaking, even if it is my native language, there are basic information that I have already forgotten. Blame it maybe on the language that I use everyday here (which is German), plus the fact that I have always been writing in English since I was in high school. I only get to use my native language when I chat with my mom or my cousins. Another reason that I really need to refresh my Tagalog/ Filipino is that because I have used Taglish for such a long time, that I have forgotten the strict Filipino I have learned in grade school and high school. One obvious problem by me is TELLING TIME. I either use the English method (example: 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock in the afternoon) or the Spanish method (ala una or alas dos) when I speak. For such a long time I have made myself believe that is the only way of telling the time. Then I posted this as status on my Facebook wall asking for opinions, and voila! I suddenly remembered my grandparents and how they tell the time. So I guess, your first lesson with me is learning the numbers in Filipino and telling time, in PROPER FILIPINO way.

The Numbers:

1 - isa
2 - dalawa
3 - tatlo
4 - apat
5 - lima
6 - anim
7 - pito
8 - walo
9 - siyam
10 - sampu
11 - labing-isa
12 - labing-dalawa
20 - dalawampu
21 - dalawampu at isa (dalawampu't isa)
22 - dalawampu at dalawa (dalawampu't dalawa)
30 - tatlumpo
31 - tatlumpo at isa (tatlumpo't isa)
40 - apatnapo
50 - limampo
60 - animnapo
70 - pitumpo
80 - walumpo
90 - siyamnapo
100 - isangdaan
101 - isangdaan at isa
111 - isangdaan at labing-isa
200 - dalawangdaan
1,000 - isang libo
1,101 - isang libo't isangdaan at isa
1,111 - isang libo't isangdaan at labing-isa
1,000,000 - isang milyon
1,101,101 - isang milyon at isangdaan at isanglibo's isangdaan at isa
1,000,000 - isang bilyon


I know it is kind of complicated, I guess, I will save the discussion about telling numbers for the next days. And now, off to telling time!

Telling Time (the correct Filipino way):

It is best to teach telling time using pictures, but before that, here are the important terms to remember:

umaga - morning (12:01 am until 11:59 am)
tanghali - noon (12:00 nn)
hating gabi - midnight (12:00 am)
hapon - afternoon (1 o'clock pm until 5:59 pm)
gabi - evening (6 o'clock pm until 11:59 pm)
minuto - minute
oras - hour
segundo - second
bago - before
makalipas - past

So, first, how to tell exact time. Just add the word ika- and then the number and then tell which part of the day is it, is it morning, noon, afternoon or evening. The formula is: prefix "ika" + number + word "ng" + part of the day. Example:

Ika-dalawa ng umaga (2:00 am) or ika-dalawa ng hapon (2:00 pm)

I'd like to think/ compare that telling time in Filipino is a bit similar to UK or German way of telling time. Here are the reasons why:

Ika-dalawa at kalahati ng umaga (hapon) (Half past 2 in the morning/ afternoon; Zweiviertel zwei)

Labinglimang minuto bago  mag-ikatlo ng umaga/ hapon (Fifteen minutes before 3 in the morning/ afternoon; Fünfzehn vor drei)

Labinglimang minuto makalipa ang ika-dalawa ng umaga/ hapon (15 minutes past 2 in the morning/ afternoon; Fünfzehn nach 2)

And for other minutes, simply use this formula: prefix "ika" + number of hour + word "at" + number of minute/s + word "minuto" + word "ng" + part of the day. Example:

Ika-dalawa at dalawampung minuto ng umaga/ hapon (2 o'clock and 20 minutes in the morning/ afternoon)

Easy, isn't it? Well, fear not! Even if you tell time in English or Spanish, the native Filipinos will understand you. I just wanted to share the good old ways of telling time in Filipino. :)