Joining clauses into real sentences
Forman: a complex sentence either has one clause embedded in another — filling the position of a case-marked phrase — or has two clauses related by juxtaposition and/or by relator particles that coordinate or subordinate.
Forman lists them in a single block. Here they are, grouped by what they do — though several are hard to pin down without a context.
| Group | Particles |
|---|---|
| and | at, at-saka, pati, ampo |
| but | dapot, pero, oneng, nune, ngem |
| or | u / o |
| because | uling, kasi, anya |
| if / when | nung, istung, ustung, neng, pota, si |
| even though | agyang, maski |
| before / while / until | bayu, kabang, angga |
| so that | ban, ba, inya, inyang |
| others | ambus, bala, balang, kabud, ke, pang, patce |
That is a large inventory, and Forman presents it as a list precisely because the boundaries are not all clear. Do not try to learn all of it. Learn the first six rows and recognise the rest.
An embedded clause fills a noun-phrase slot. It is introduced by nung or by king — or by ing, as section 5 explains.
Kitang na nung makoka. — He asked if you will leave.
Kitang na nung nukarin ka munta. — He asked where you are going.
E me akutnan ing anak nung nanu ing masakit na.
You won't be able to ask the child what hurts him.
Sinabi nang Markus king ing anak nang dalaga, miras ya banua.
What Marcos said was that his daughter would reach heaven.
Mayap na ing makasaup ka kang Maria.
It's good that you will be able to help Maria.
Masaya lang masaya ring adua king arakap dang tugak.
The two were very happy that they were able to catch a frog.
Notice how much of B1 is visible in that last one: arakap is an a- ability form (lesson 8), ring is ding after a vowel (lesson 5), and masaya lang masaya is the emphatic repetition of lesson 11.
And in E me akutnan: the negator e, the fused pronoun me, and akutnan — the a- form of kutang, which you met as kitnan in lesson 3.
Masanting at abe me pala i Selso.
It's good that you will accompany Celso.
Pabukal mu la at saka mu la bilad, sikan la.
Boil them and then dry them in the sun, and they will become strong.
I Suan, pintalan ne misan a yaldo i Pedro dapot e ne disan.
Suan went to Pedro one day but didn't get to him.
Buri ra kang paglapakan oneng e ra ka agyu uling maragul ka.
They would like to beat you up, but they can't overcome you because you're big.
That last sentence has three clauses and two relators — oneng ("but") and uling ("because") — and is a good model for the kind of thing you should be aiming to produce by the end of this tier.
Pabukal in the second example is a causative pa- from lesson 9: "cause them to boil."
Beginner lesson 3 implied one ing per sentence. Forman is explicit that there can be more, in two situations.
First: an emphasised topic. The first element, set off by a sustained intonation contour, is effectively an embedded identificational sentence. These translate as "as for so-and-so…".
Ikayu, atin kayung upayang maslabis kekami.
As for you, you have a power greater than ours.
Aku, e ku buri. — As for me, I don't like it.
Second: verbs of saying and knowing. With predicates like sabi ("say"), kutang ("ask"), balu ("know"), isip ("think") and pakit ("show"), both the agent and the object may be ing-marked, because the thing said or known is itself an embedded sentence introduced by ing.
Neng misan a istoria daka kareng kaklase ku ing ikayu, maganak a kayu.
Sometimes I have occasion to tell my classmates that you were good people.
E ne pepakit ing iya, talagang tatakut ya.
He didn't let it show that he was really afraid.
Forman adds that this ing is sometimes replaced by nung, and that it occasionally appears as king — a form he associates with speakers from the eastern towns of Pampanga, and takes as a regional marker.
In "Masaya lang masaya ring adua king arakap dang tugak":
Do I need all those relators? No. At, dapot, uling, nung, kabang and bayu will carry you a long way.
Why so many words for "but"? Register and region. Pero is Spanish, dapot and oneng are native, ngem looks Ilocano-influenced. Listen for which your speakers use.
Is nung "if" or "that"? Both, depending on the frame — much like English "whether".
Everything up to here made clauses. This lesson makes sentences. The jump from stringing short utterances to producing a three-clause sentence with a concession and a reason is the jump from B1 to B2.
Next: Relative Clauses and Complex Noun Phrases.