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IntermediateLesson 11

Joining Ideas: And, If, Because

Connecting two clauses into one sentence — coordination, conditions, and cause.

Joining equal ideas with ken

ken 'and' joins two clauses (or two words) of equal rank into one sentence — the same word used to join a simple list of nouns.

  • Nagtúdo ken nagbagyó.

    It rained and stormed.

  • diáy áso ken púsa

    the dog and cat

Conditions with no

no 'if' introduces a clause that sets a condition for the other clause — the condition clause can come before or after.

  • Mangán ka no mabisín ka.

    Eat if you are hungry.

Cause with gapo

To say something happened because of something else, gapó ití 'because of' introduces the cause after the main clause — the same construction used for the antecedent complement in verbal sentences.

  • Nagsángit diáy ubíng gapó ití bisín.

    The child cried because of hunger.

Reporting what someone said

To report speech, a clause introduced by nga follows a verb like bagá 'say' — very close to English "that" clauses.

  • Imbagá na nga mabisín ka.

    He said that you are hungry.

Grammar: Ch. 9, Complex & Compound Sentences; Ch. 11.2, from Constantino's Ilokano Reference Grammar (1971, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).