CEBUANO LESSON #41 Learn Cebuano: How to Conjugate the Verb “Kaon” (to Eat) for Beginners

2022/2/7

Learn Cebuano easily with this beginner-friendly lesson!
In this video, you will discover how to conjugate the Cebuano verb “kaon” (to eat) in the present, past, and future tenses.
We also practice everyday Cebuano phrases such as:

  • Nagkaon – eating / eats
  • Nikaon – ate
  • Mokaon – will eat

This lesson is perfect for:
✔️ Beginners who want to learn Cebuano step by step
✔️ Travelers preparing for a trip to the Philippines
✔️ Anyone interested in everyday Cebuano conversations

By the end of this video, you’ll be able to use “kaon” naturally in daily conversations like “Let’s eat!” (Mangaon ta!) and more.

VOCABULARY

Directions: Listen and repeat after your teacher.

Utan

Meaning

  • Utan = “vegetable dish” / “vegetables cooked in soup or broth.”

Part of Speech

  • Noun.

Usage / Context

  • Refers specifically to a traditional Visayan vegetable dish, usually boiled or simmered with water, sometimes with fish or other seasonings.
  • In everyday conversation, utan can also just mean “vegetables,” depending on context.
  • Very common in Cebuano households and Filipino food culture.

Example Sentences

  1. Lami kaayo ang utan nga giluto ni Mama.
    → The vegetable soup that Mama cooked is very delicious.
  2. Mokaon ta og utan para healthy.
    → Let’s eat vegetable soup so it’s healthy.
  3. Asa ta mopalit og utan?
    → Where shall we buy vegetables?

Isda

Meaning

Part of Speech

  • Noun.

Usage / Context

  • Refers to fish in general (both live fish and fish as food).
  • Very common in daily life, especially in markets, cooking, and meals.
  • Can also appear in idiomatic or figurative speech in Cebuano.

Example Sentences

  1. Daghang isda sa dagat.
    → There are many fish in the sea.
  2. Mopalit ko og isda sa merkado.
    → I will buy fish at the market.
  3. Lami ang ginamos nga isda.
    → The salted fish is delicious.

Pamahaw

Meaning

  • Pamahaw = “breakfast.”

Part of Speech

  • Noun.

Usage / Context

  • Refers to the first meal of the day.
  • Commonly used in everyday conversation when talking about eating in the morning.
  • Can also appear in verbs like magpamahaw (“to eat breakfast”).

Example Sentences

  1. Unsa imong pamahaw karun?
    → What is your breakfast today?
  2. Magpamahaw ta una, unya mulakaw ta.
    → Let’s eat breakfast first, then we will go.
  3. Wala pa koy pamahaw.
    → I haven’t had breakfast yet.

Paniudto

Meaning

  • Paniudto = “lunch.”

Part of Speech

  • Noun.

Usage / Context

  • Refers to the midday meal (around noon).
  • Commonly used when talking about eating at lunchtime.
  • Can also appear in verbs like magpaniudto (“to eat lunch”).

Example Sentences

  1. Asa ta magpaniudto karun?
    → Where shall we have lunch today?
  2. Magpaniudto mi sa balay.
    → We will have lunch at home.
  3. Human sa paniudto, moadto ko sa trabaho.
    → After lunch, I will go to work.

Kaon

Meaning

Part of Speech

  • Verb (base form / root).

Usage / Context

  • One of the most common Cebuano verbs, used to talk about eating in general.
  • Can be conjugated or paired with prefixes to indicate tense/aspect:
    • mokaon = will eat / going to eat
    • nangkaon = already ate / has eaten
    • magkaon = will eat (general/future habitual)
  • Used in daily conversation about meals or food.

Example Sentences

  1. Kaon ta!
    → Let’s eat!
  2. Dili ko mokaon og isda.
    → I will not eat fish.
  3. Nakakaon na ka?
    → Have you eaten already?

Pasmo

Meaning

  • Pasmo = a traditional belief in the Philippines (especially Visayan regions) referring to a sickness or discomfort caused by sudden exposure of the body to cold after heat, or by mixing opposite body states (e.g., working hard then suddenly bathing, eating then quickly drinking cold water).
  • It does not have a direct equivalent in Western medicine but is often translated as “sudden chill,” “muscle spasm,” or “post-illness weakness.”

Part of Speech

  • Noun.

Usage / Context

  • Used in everyday conversation when warning someone not to suddenly bathe or drink cold water after strenuous activity.
  • Deeply rooted in Filipino folk health beliefs and often mentioned by elders.

Example Sentences

  1. Ayaw kaligo dayon human og trabaho, basin magpasmo ka.
    → Don’t take a bath right after working, you might get pasmo.
  2. Nihilak siya tungod sa pasmo nga iyang nabati.
    → He cried because of the discomfort caused by pasmo.
  3. Ingon si Lola nga makapasmo ang inom og bugnaw nga tubig human mokaon.
    → Grandma said that drinking cold water after eating can cause pasmo.

FLASHCARDS

DIALOGUE PRACTICE

Direction: Read the dialogue with your teacher.

Cebuano

Leah: Oi nag-unsa ka?
Jen: Nagkaon. Ali! Mangaon ta!
Leah: Sige salamat. Unsa imong gikaon?
Jen: Utan ug isda.
Leah: Unsa na pamahaw o paniudto?
Jen: Pamahaw ug paniudto na kini.
Leah: Ingon aron jud kang orasa mokaon?
Jen: O, kay dugay man ko momata.
Leah: Hala! Kinahanglan man ka mokaon sa saktong oras oi. Pasmo jud resulta ana.
Jen: Lagi, kapoy man sad momata og sayo gud.

English

Leah: What are you doing?
Jen: I’m eating. Come on! Let’s eat!
Leah: Okay, thank you. What are you eating?
Jen: I’m eating vegetables and fried fish.
Leah: Is that breakfast or lunch?
Jen: This is breakfast and lunch.
Leah: Do you usually eat at this time?
Jen: Yes, because I wake up late.
Leah: Oh! You need to eat at an exact time. Starvation is the result of that.
Jen: Yeah, it’s tiring to wake up early.

LESSON

The word “kaon” means to eat in English. Now, let’s learn how
to conjugate the verb “kaon”.

TenseCebuano FormEnglish Meaning
Present Tensenagkaonto eat / eating
Past Tensenikaon / mikaonate
Future Tensemokaonwill eat

(As you noticed, the word ‘kaon’ did not change but the prefixes did. The prefix ‘nag’ conveys the current situation. The prefix ‘ni/mi’ conveys something that already happened in the past. And lastly, the prefix ‘mo’ conveys something that will happen in the future.

Well, these are the common prefixes. However, we don’t use these prefixes for all verbs in Cebuano. You’ll still have to know more about the conjugation and the prefixes of Cebuano verbs and how it uses.)

For examples:

  1. Nagkaon og saging si Maria.
    Maria is eating a banana. / Maria eats bananas.
  2. Nikaon na ako og panihapon.
    I had already eaten dinner.
  3. Mokaon ko og pan unya.
    I’ll eat bread later.

COMPREHENSION QUIZ

Directions: Choose the correct answer.

  1. What does the prefix ‘nag’ convey?
    a. conveys something that already happened in the past
    b. conveys something that is going to happen in the future
    c. conveys the current situation
    d. conveys necessity
  2. Do we use these prefixes for all Cebuano verbs?
    a. Yes
    b. No
    c. Maybe
    d. None of the above
  3. How do we say ‘breakfast’ in Cebuano?
    a. paniudto
    b. panihapon
    c. pamainit
    d. pamahaw
  4. What does the prefix ‘ni’ convey?
    a. conveys something that already happened in the past
    b. conveys something that is going to happen in the future
    c. conveys the current situation
    d. conveys necessity
  5. How do we say ‘Let’s eat!’ in Cebuano?
    a. Mangaon ta!
    b. Mag-inom ta!
    c. Manglakaw ta!
    d. Manan-aw ta!

EXERCISE

Direction: Arrange the words to make sentences.

  1. panihapon / nikaon / ako / na / og
  2. Maria / saging / nagkaon / si / og
  3. ko / unya / mokaon / og / pan
  4. imong / unsa / gikaon / ?
  5. paniudto / pamahaw / na / ug / kini

REVIEW

Direction: Let’s use the Cebuano verb ‘kaon’ that you’ve learned during the lesson and make some sentences with the correct usage of tenses (prefixes).

For example:
Nagkaon og saging si Maria.
Maria is eating a banana. / Maria eats banana

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