Indicating Existence or Non-existence

May maganda.

Merong maganda.

There’s someone (who’s) pretty.

There’s something (that’s) pretty.

There’s somewhere (that’s) pretty.

May nasa labas.

Merong nasa labas.

There’s someone (who’s) outside.

There’s something (that’s) outside.

There’s somewhere (that’s) outside (e.g. outside the city).

May kumain.

Merong kumain.

Someone ate.

Lit. There’s someone who ate.*

Maraming kumain.

Many people ate.

Lit. There were many that ate.

Walang kumain.

Nobody ate.

Lit. There were none that ate.

* May (there’s some) kumain (one who ate).

See also: Verbs, adjectives etc. used as nouns (p. 85)

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