Particles and Sentence Markers

Particles are used to provide emphasis or alter the meaning of the sentence. Many of them do not have a direct English translation.

I will list only the ones that I use often when I speak.

Na	Already, now
Pa	Still, yet
Man	This is a tough one to explain. I've looked online for a good explanation but none of them really say what it really means. It's used for emphasis, and is often used to ask a question, answer a question, or provide explanation for something. Like, "Why are you eating so fast?" "Gutom (Hungry) man jud ko."
Lagi	of course, for certain, emphasis (really)
Ra, lang	Limiting particle (only, just)
Kay	Because
Dyud, jud, gyud	Really, indeed – Hungry na jud ko.
Daw	He/She/They say, a very general word that could mean something you read on the internet or whatever. “It will be warm today daw.”
Kuno	Supposedly, a rumor.. Used like daw.
di-ay	Used to express surprise of having just learned something, “You’ve seen that movie di-ay?”
Ba	A question marker for yes/no questions. “Hungry ka ba?”
Sad, pud	Also, another
Kahâ	Expresses wonder
Bitaw	Surely, indeed (similar to lagi)
Di ba (dili ba)	Confirmation, literally means, “no?”

With this you can say stuff like, "Gutom na jud ko."
 "Katulgon pa ko" - "I'm still sleepy"

I'll list some adjectives in vocab.

Lesson 1: Simple Pronouns

Lesson 1: Simple Pronouns

Ok so, I’m starting off with pronouns because it’s super easy to start speaking Cebuano with the pronouns.

Also, just fyi, if I start sounding super fob-y, it’s cuz I need to get into a Bisaya mood, gets ka? (you get what I mean/you understand?)

Anyway, with pronouns you can do a lot of things. You can say, “tired ko” (I’m tired). And that makes perfect sense to a cebuano. We never speak straight Cebuano, we probably don’t even know how.

Simple Pronouns (Subjective)

	Full	short
1st person singular (I/me)	Ako	ko
2nd person singular (you)	Ikaw	Ka
3rd person singular (he/she)	Siya/sya
1st person plural inclusive (we including you)	Kita	Ta
1st person plural exclusive (we not including you)	Kami	Mi
2nd person plural (you guys)	Kamo	Mo
3rd person plural (they)	sila

Use the short version when it comes at the end of the sentence. Like, “I’m hungry” – “Hungry/Gutom ko”

Introduction

 First, a little information on Cebuano:

Erase everything you know about the English language. Cebuano is completely different. There is no “to be” verb. In fact, verbs don’t even work the same way at all. There is no past, present, or future tense. Sentence order is verb-subject-object. And we use particles and markers like the Japanese do.

Pronunciation:

Consonants are the same as in English with some few exceptions. The letter “T” doesn’t have as much air to it. You can produce the sound by using more of your tongue to hit the roof of your mouth rather than just the tip. This will keep less air from leaving your mouth.

a – sounds close to the a in “father”. But not as round as the “ah” sound.

e- sounds like “bed”

I – sounds like “machine” Note: even though e/i are supposed to be pronounced that way, they are interchangeable. They are usually pronounced as a vowel in between each other. Hence, confusion between ship/sheep, sheet/shit, etc.

o/u – same thing here, they are interchangeable. They are in between the sound of foe/flu.

G – is always hard. Never soft.

Dy – pronounced with a j sound “jay” Dyud – indeed. Sometimes spelled jud.

Sy- pronounced “sh” Syudad-City Spanish – Ciudad

aw – like “ow”

ng – this will be the hardest. The ng in gerunds. “running”

ay – long I sound.
ts--"Ch" sound.