Mag-: Tagalog Noun Affix

two persons or things having the relationship expressed by the root

root	meaning	root + affix	meaning
ama	father	mag-ama	father and child
ina	mother	mag-ina	mother and child
bilas	spouse of one’s brother-in-law or sister-in-law (i.e. one’s spouse’s sibling’s spouse)	magbilas	a person and the spouse of his or her brother-in-law or sister-in-law
balae	parent of one’s son-in-law or daughter-in-law	magbalae	a person and a parent of his or her son-in-law or daughter-in-law
lolo	grandfather	maglolo	grandfather and grandchild
anak	child	mag-anak	family (parents and child/children)
asawa	spouse	mag-asawa	husband and wife
kapatid	sibling	magkapatid	two persons who are siblings
pinsan	cousin	magpinsan	two persons who are cousins

root	bilas
meaning	spouse of one’s brother-in-law or sister-in-law (i.e. one’s spouse’s sibling’s spouse)
root + affix	magbilas
meaning	a person and the spouse of his or her brother-in-law or sister-in-law

root	balae
meaning	parent of one’s son-in-law or daughter-in-law
root + affix	magbalae
meaning	a person and a parent of his or her son-in-law or daughter-in-law

root	anak
meaning	child
root + affix	mag-anak
meaning	family (parents and child/children)

Mag- can also be added to nouns comprising of ka- (p. 69) and a root.

root + affix	meaning	root + affixes	meaning
kaklase	classmate	magkaklase	two persons who are classmates
kaopisina	colleague	magkaopisina	two persons who are colleagues

root + affix	kaklase
meaning	classmate
root + affixes	magkaklase
meaning	two persons who are classmates

root + affix	kaopisina
meaning	colleague
root + affixes	magkaopisina
meaning	two persons who are colleagues

Sentences:

Kumain ang mag-ama.	The dad and his child ate.
Mag-ama sila.	They are father and child.

Please respect copyright. Learn more

This grammar guide is part of the Learning Tagalog Course.
Do you want to speak Tagalog fluently?