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IntermediateLesson 10

Numbers & Wishes

Counting things, and saying what you want or don't want to happen.

Counting

Numerals are their own part of speech in Ilokano. A numeral sentence just puts the number first, followed by ti and the thing being counted.

  • Talló ti táo idiáy baláy.

    There are three persons in the house.

  • maysá

    one

    verified in this app's dictionary

  • duá

    two

    verified in this app's dictionary

  • limá

    five

    verified in this app's dictionary

  • sangapúlo

    ten

    verified in this app's dictionary

Wanting something: mayat and kayat

Ilokano has two common words for "want," and they focus on different things. mayát puts the person who wants in focus; kayát instead puts the thing wanted in focus, and is often used with a pronoun attached (kayát na 'he/she wants').

  • Mayát diáy pádi nga umáy ka ditóy.

    The priest allows/wants you to come here.

  • Kayát diáy pádi ti umáy ditóy.

    The priest wants to come here.

  • Kayát na ti gumátang ti baláy.

    He wants to buy a house.

Not wanting something: madi

madí works the same way as kayát, but negates it — "doesn't want."

  • Madí nga matúrog ditóy diáy balásang.

    The lady does not want to sleep here.

Practice these words →

Grammar: Ch. 6.5; Ch. 10.3, from Constantino's Ilokano Reference Grammar (1971, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).