Before we continue with the rest of the rules of verb conjugations, let’s take a quick detour to talk about Tagalog tenses the concept of Tagalog aspects, and how they differ from English verb tenses. First off, vocabulary!
If you’ve come across this article from somewhere else, consider going back to the previous lesson to learn how basic verb conjugations or how affixes work — or better yet, start from the beginning!
Vocabulary
- sulat → write
- libro → book
- nang → when (this is a particle that can mean different things based on its purpose in the sentence)
Tenses vs Aspects
As an English speaker, you might be a bit confused right now as to how the concept of tenses and the concept of aspects differ. You might be thinking:
completed action = past tense
ongoing action = present tense
upcoming action = future tense
Right? In some ways yes, but there’s more to it, so you can’t really map them one-to-one. In Tagalog, verbs don’t change based on when the action happens (tense). They change based on the progress of the action.
A Quick Note About Terms Used to Discuss Tagalog Aspects
In the previous chapter — and probably in the following ones too — I’ve been using these terms: completed action, ongoing action, upcoming action.
But in formal grammar, they have their own technical counterparts.
completed action → completed aspect
ongoing action → uncompleted aspect
upcoming action → contemplated aspect
I’ve chosen the simpler terms for this guide to avoid possible confusion. The terms completed, uncompleted, and contemplated all sound a bit too similar when you read it mentally.
English Tenses vs Tagalog Aspects
Believe it or not, English actually has a much more complicated way of expressing actions than Tagalog. So, you’re actually learning a simpler concept than what you’ve gotten used to in English.
Let’s take the verb “write” as an example:
| Tense | Simple (just the plain action) | Progressive (the action is happening right now or was happening for a while) | Perfect (the action is already done) | Perfect Continuous (the action has been going on for some time — and maybe still isn’t done) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | wrote | was writing | had written | had been writing |
| Present | writes | is writing | has written | has been writing |
| Future | will write | will be writing | will have written | will have been writing |
As you can see, English uses a bunch of combinations to express time, completion, and continuity.
Tagalog Doesn’t Need All That
We don’t have to deal with these specific tenses in Tagalog. Instead, Tagalog only cares about whether the action is:
- done
- still happening
- yet to begin
| Aspect | Tagalog Verb | Loose English Translations |
|---|---|---|
| Completed Action (completed aspect) | nagsulat | wrote, has written |
| Ongoing Action (uncompleted aspect) | nagsusulat | writes, is writing, was writing |
| Upcoming Action (contemplated aspect) | magsusulat | will write, is going to write |
Notice how one Tagalog verb form cover different English tenses? That’s because Tagalog only checks the progress of the action. It doesn’t matter if that was in the past, or in the future. For example:
Example 1:
Kim has written a book. (last summer)
Ask yourself. Was the action completed? In this sentence, it is suggested that Kim has completed the action. Therefore, to translate this in Tagalog, you would have to use the completed action form — nagsulat.
- Nagsulat si Kim ng libro. (last summer)
Example 2:
Kim is writing a book.
The tense is in the present progressive, meaning Kim is writing as you speak. Is the action completed? No. Therefore, you use “nagsusulat”.
- Nagsusulat si Kim ng libro.
Example 3:
Kim was writing a book when…
What about this? The tense is in the past progressive, meaning Kim has been writing the book even before you said the sentence, and is currently doing so. Since this sentence is in the past, you would have probably used nagsulat. But the question is: was the action completed? The sentence suggests that Kim is currently not done writing the book. For this, use the ongoing action form instead — nagsusulat.
- Nagsusulat si Kim ng libro nang…
Example 4:
Kim will write a book.
Kim will be writing a book.
These two English sentences have verbs that are both in the future tense, but each sentence carry different nuances. But ask yourself, what’s the progress of the action? Both sentences suggest that the action of “writing” has not begun just yet. In this case, use the upcoming action form — magsusulat.
- Magsusulat si Kim ng libro.
This Tagalog sentence would translate the same to both English sentences above, depending on context. To add to that, this sentence can also mean:
- Kim is going to write a book.
See how flexible it is? Tagalog doesn’t need different verb forms for all those future tenses. The burden of expressing nuance is passed to context, adverbs, or helper words like enclitics — which we’ll dive into later in this guide.
Conclusion
Tagalog verbs rely on the progress of the action instead of when the action is happening. So don’t worry if Tagalog doesn’t match every English tense — it’s not supposed to.
That’s it! In the next chapter, we resume discussing the rules of conjugations for other verbs.