Notice that Tagalog does not have an auxiliary or linking verb (such as to be   in English).

*Please notice that the use of the term Predicate in this section is only a tool to help learners. So that there will

be no confusion, it should be understood that Tagalog does not really have

either a subject or a predicate of the

type that English speakers are accustomed to.  Instead, Tagalog has focus. In

English, a predicate asserts or say

s something about the subject of the sentence. Predicates ordinarily have at

least one verb. The difficulty in the

use of term predicate here becomes clear when it is seen that in the above

sentences there is no verb. Also, these

sentences have a focus, not a subject (though this is debated, there is some

difficulty in equating subject and

focus as the same thing). For our purposes here,  a predicate will be that

part of a sentence that asserts or says

something about the focus.

To help further narrow the definition of a predicate in Tagalog the following distinction

may be helpful: the difference between an adjective that describes the focus, and a

predicate that says something about the focus can be seen in the following example:

Ang mabait na prinsipal        (translation: "the kind principal")

Here mabait is an adjective that describes prinsipal. Notice that they are linked together by

the linker NA. This makes mabait and prinsipal one package, and in sense this whole string of words or package is the focus of the sentence. This statement can not stand on its own

and is not a complete sentence (it needs a predicate to go with it).

Mabait ang prinsipal.         (translation: "The principal is kind.")

Here, mabait is an adjective that is functioning as a predicate. Note that it is not linked to

prinsipal (there is no na or ng). When this statement is translated into English you can see

that a verb (is) is suddenly added to the sentence. This statement can stand on its own as a complete sentence.

**Complements are optional except when the predicate is a transitive verb or a verb type requiring certain complements (e.g., object, some direction or

location). This section will cover some of the basic sentence types following this

pattern.

The noun phrases (NPs) following a verbal predicate may be rearranged

without changing the meaning of the sentence. In this sense, Tagalog does not have a strict "word order" rule. Generally, the focus comes last but not when it is a pronoun.  Pronouns tend to move after the predicate.

The focus does not necessarily have to be a noun. It can also be a nominalized

verb, adjective, prepositional phrase, or a full clause.

If you are unsure of the word order, follow these general guidelines: 

(1)  PCS = Predicate + Complement(s) +  Focus;

(2)  ProNP = Pronouns +  Noun Phrases; and

(3) Shorter Pronouns and/or Particles before longer ones.