CEBUANO LANGUAGE LESSON 119 / Top 500 Cebuano vocabulary: 06: kamo

1. Pronunciation, Part of Speech, Usage, and Example
   • Part of Speech: Personal pronoun, second-person plural (“you all”)
   • Usage: Used as the subject or object when speaking to more than one person.
   • Example: Kamo moadto sa sine karong gabii.
     (“You all will go to the movies tonight.”)
2. Contracted Form
   • When added after a verb, kamo becomes -mo.
   • Example: Moabot mo unya.
     (“You all will arrive later.”)
3. Position in a Sentence
   • Separate pronoun: Before the verb
     • Kamo moadto…
   • Enclitic (-mo): Immediately after the verb
     • Moadto mo…
4. Common Collocations
   • Kamo ra — “just you all”
   • Kamo lang — “only you all”
   • Kumusta man kamo? — “How are you all?”
   • Kamo ba’y mo…? — “Are you all the ones who…?”
   • Hatagan ko kamo og …. — “I will give you all…”
5. Usage
   • Plural “you”: Refers to two or more listeners.
   • Contrast with ikaw (singular “you”).
   • Use kamo (or -mo) for both subject (“you all do X”) and object (“I see you all”).
   • Cebuano verbs have an actor-focus form; when kamo/-mo is the actor, the verb takes the mo-/nag- prefix.
6. Common Mistakes
   • Confusing kamo and kita: Kita is “we (inclusive)”; don’t use kamo to mean “we.”
   • Mixing up singular vs. plural: Using kamo when talking to one person (should be ikaw).
   • Misplacing -mo: Attaching -mo to a non-verb or to the wrong verb form.
   • Forgetting verb focus: Using the object-focus verb form when kamo/mo is the actor.
7. Example Sentences
   1. Kamo moadto sa sine karong gabii.
      (“You all will go to the movies tonight.”)
   2. Kamo lang ang wala pa makakaon.
      (“Only you all haven’t eaten yet.”)
   3. Nagpraktis kamo og kanta sa kusina.
      (“You all are practicing a song in the kitchen.”)
8. Parts of Speech Breakdown
   1. Kamo moadto sa sine karong gabii.
      • Kamo: pronoun (2nd person plural)
      • moadto: verb (actor-focus, future)
      • sa: preposition
      • sine: noun (cinema/movie)
      • karong: adverb (now/today)
      • gabii: noun (night)
   2. Kamo lang ang wala pa makakaon.
      • Kamo: pronoun (2nd person plural)
      • lang: particle (only)
      • ang: topic/definite marker
      • wala: adverb (not/yet)
      • pa: adverb (yet/still)
      • makakaon: verb (actor focus, base form “kaon-eat”) (can eat; will be able to eat)
   3. Nagpraktis kamo og kanta sa kusina.
      • Nagpraktis: verb (actor-focus, progressive “practicing”)
      • kamo: pronoun (2nd person plural)
      • og: object marker
      • kanta: noun (song)
      • sa: preposition
      • kusina: noun (kitchen)

Practice
Fill in each sentence with either kami or mo in the appropriate place.

1. molakaw na ug sayo.
2. Nanguha sa tubig.
3. Nagtrabaho sa uma.
4. ganahan muanhi sa sine?

Answers and Explanations

1. Kamo molakaw na ug sayo.
   Placing kamo at the beginning marks “you all” as the subject who are leaving early.
2. Nanguha mo sa tubig.
   Adding mo immediately after the verb shows “you all” as the actors who fetched water.
3. Nagtrabaho mo sa uma.
   Using mo after the verb indicates “you all” performed the action of working on the farm.
4. Kamo ganahan muanhi sa sine?
   Starting with kamo signals that “you all” are the ones wanting to come to the movies.

[Question]

In Cebuano, what part of speech is the word “kamo”?

Choices
A. Verb
B. Noun
C. Adjective
D. Pronoun

Correct Answer
D. Pronoun

Explanation
“Kamo” is a second-person plural pronoun in Cebuano, meaning “you all.” It excludes the speaker and refers to the group of listeners.

[Question 2]

What is the function of a pronoun in a sentence?

Choices
A. To express actions or states
B. To describe a noun in detail
C. To connect clauses
D. To replace a noun

Correct Answer
D. To replace a noun

Explanation
A pronoun is used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. It refers to people, things, or places already known or mentioned.

[Question 3]

What role does a noun play in a sentence?

Choices
A. It connects clauses like a conjunction
B. It expresses actions or states
C. It functions as a subject or object
D. It expresses emotion like an interjection

Correct Answer
C. It functions as a subject or object

Explanation
A noun names a person, place, thing, or concept. In a sentence, it commonly serves as the subject (e.g., Ang bata nagdula. “The child is playing.”), object (e.g., Gipalit niya ang libro. “He bought the book.”), or complement (e.g., Siya usa ka doktor. “He is a doctor.”).

[Question 4]

Choose two correct statements about the Cebuano word “kamo” from the following five options.

Choices
A. It means “you all” (excluding the speaker)
B. It is a second-person plural pronoun
C. It is a third-person pronoun
D. It refers to both speaker and listener
E. It is commonly used as a verb

Correct Answers
A. It means “you all” (excluding the speaker)
B. It is a second-person plural pronoun

Explanation
“Kamo” is a second-person plural pronoun in Cebuano that excludes the speaker, referring specifically to the group of listeners.

Additional Questions

Q1. Which option is the correct response?

Question1: Kinsa ang magluto sa panihapon?
(Who will cook dinner?)

Question2: Kinsa ang moadto sa parke ugma?
(Who will go to the park tomorrow?)

Question3: Kinsa ang naglimpyo sa klasrum ganina?
(Who cleaned the classroom earlier?)

Question4: Kinsa ang mopalit og snacks sa tindahan karon?
(Who will buy snacks at the store now?)

Question5: Kinsa ang motan-aw sa dula unya nga gabii (unyang gabii)?
(Who will watch the game later tonight?)

Answer

Question1: Kinsa ang magluto sa panihapon?
Correct reply: “Kamo ang magluto sa panihapon.”

• Why it is correct
  Kamo (“you all”) is the focused actor and therefore stands before the focus marker ang.
  Predicate order is Verb → object phrase: magluto sa panihapon (“cook dinner”).
  Structure: Kamo + ang + predicate.
• Why the other choices are wrong
  Kamo magluto ang sa panihapon – ang is stranded after the verb; object phrase splits the focus.
  Ang panihapon kamo magluto – ang marks panihapon (a noun) instead of the actor; verb appears last, breaking actor-focus order.

Question2: Kinsa ang moadto sa parke ugma?
Correct reply: “Kamo ang moadto sa parke ugma.”

• Why it is correct
  Focus phrase kamo ang is intact. The verb moadto (“will go”) is followed by location sa parke and time ugma (“tomorrow”), which is the natural order.
• Why the other choices are wrong
  Moadto kamo ugma ang sa parke – ang marks nothing and sits mid-sentence; location follows sa but is out of place.
  Ang kamo moadto sa ugma parke – ang precedes kamo but the time word interrupts the verb phrase and parke is detached from its preposition.

Question3: Kinsa ang naglimpyo sa klasrum ganina?
Correct reply: “Kamo ang naglimpyo sa klasrum ganina.”

• Why it is correct
  Kamo ang introduces the focused subject. Verb naglimpyo (“cleaned”) is followed by location sa klasrum and the adverb ganina (“earlier”).
• Why the other choices are wrong
  Naglimpyo kamo sa klasrum ang ganina – ang is stranded at the end; time adverb placed after ang is ungrammatical.
  Klasrum kamo naglimpyo ganina ang – Object phrase fronted; ang left final with no noun to mark.

Question4: Kinsa ang mopalit og snacks sa tindahan karon?
Correct reply: “Kamo ang mopalit og snacks sa tindahan karon.”

• Why it is correct
  Standard actor-focus sequence: kamo ang + verb mopalit (“will buy”) + object og snacks + location and time sa tindahan karon (“at the store now”).
• Why the other choices are wrong
  Kamo mopalit og snacks sa tindahan karon ang – ang misplaced at sentence end; subject focus is lost.
  Og snacks kamo ang mopalit sa tindahan karon – Object is incorrectly front-loaded; focus marker is separated from verb.

Question5: Kinsa ang motan-aw sa dula unya nga gabii (unyang gabii)?
Correct reply: “Kamo ang motan-aw sa dula unya gabii.”

• Why it is correct
  Kamo ang correctly marks the 2-pl subject. Predicate order is verb (motan-aw “will watch”) → object phrase (sa dula “the game”) → time (unya nga gabii (unyang gabii) “later tonight”).
• Why the other choices are wrong
  Motan-aw ang kamo sa dula unya nga gabii (unyang gabii) – ang marks the verb instead of a noun/pronoun.
  Ang kamo motan-aw unya nga gabii (unyang gabii) sa dula – Object phrase and time adverb are misplaced; ang + kamo is followed by an adverb before the verb, breaking expected order.