CEBUANO LANGUAGE LESSON 117 / Top 500 Cebuano vocabulary: 04: kita

1. Pronunciation & Part of Speech

• Part of Speech
  • Independent personal pronoun, 1st person plural inclusive (“we,” meaning you + me)
• Contracted Form
  • There is no shortened form of the independent pronoun.
  • However, after a verb you will often see ta, which also means “we (inclusive).”
    • e.g. Moadto ta. (“Let’s go.”)

2. Common Phrases

• Kita ra ta duha.
  • “Just the two of us.”
• Kita tanan.
  • “All of us.”
• Magkita ta.
  • “Let’s meet.”
• Magkita ta ugma?
  • “Shall we meet tomorrow?”

3. Usage

• Subject Pronoun
  • Use kita when the action includes you and me.
    • Kita moadto sa plasa karon. (“We will go to the plaza now.”)
• Free Position
  • You can put kita before or after the verb, but in everyday speech you will more often see the verb first with the enclitic -ta instead.
• No “we” without you
  • Because kita is inclusive, it always means “you and I together.” If you want “we (but not you),” use kami.
• Not for things
  • This pronoun is only for people (or when you think of something as a “we”).

4. Common Mistakes

• Mixing up kita vs. kami
  • kita = “you + me”
  • kami = “me + someone else (not you)”
• Ignoring enclitic form
  • Beginners often say “Kita mag-uban” instead of “Mag-uban ta.”
• Pronoun position
  • Putting “kita” in the wrong place can sound odd. Stick to verb+-ta for natural speech.

5. Example Sentences

1. Kita moadto sa plasa karon.
2. Kita mag-kaon unya?
3. Kita tanan mo-tambay sa eskina.
4. Kita mag-trabaho ogma.

Easy English Meanings

1. “We will go to the plaza now.”
2. “Will we eat later?”
3. “All of us will hang out at the corner.”
4. “We will work tomorrow.”

6. Parts of Speech Breakdown

1. Kita moadto sa plasa karon.
   • Kita – pronoun (“we” inclusive)
   • moadto – verb (future “to go”)
   • sa – preposition (“to/at”)
   • plasa – noun (“plaza”)
   • karon – adverb (“now”)
2. Kita mag-kaon unya?
   • Kita – pronoun
   • mag-kaon – verb (future “to eat”)
   • unya – adverb (“later”)
   • ? – question marker implied
3. Kita tanan mo-tambay sa eskina.
   • Kita – pronoun
   • tanan – adjective (“all”)
   • mo-tambay – verb (future “to hang out”)
   • sa – preposition
   • eskina – noun (“corner”)
4. Kita mag-trabaho ogma.
   • Kita – pronoun
   • mag-trabaho – verb (future “to work”)
   • ogma – adverb (“tomorrow”)

Practice: Insert “kita” in the correct place

Each of the following Cebuano sentences is missing the word “kita” (we — including the listener), but there are no visible blanks.
Your task is to identify where “kita” should be inserted so that the sentence becomes grammatically correct and natural.

1. Ang moadto sa plasa ugma.
2. Ang mopalit ug prutas sa merkado.
3. Magkaon og sinugba karong hapon.
4. Ang mutabang sa mga tigulang.
5. Moadto sa simbahan kada Domingo.

Answers and Explanations:

1. Kita ang moadto sa plasa ugma.
   “We (including you) will go to the plaza tomorrow.”
   Since this is a subject-emphasis structure, “kita” goes at the beginning of the sentence.

2. Kita ang mopalit ug prutas sa merkado.
“We will buy fruit at the market.”
This also emphasizes who is doing the action, so “kita” comes at the start.

3. Kita magkaon og sinugba karong hapon.
“We will eat grilled food this afternoon.”
This is a plain statement, so placing “kita” at the start is natural and correct.

4. Kita ang mutabang sa mga tigulang.
“We will help the elderly.”
It uses the “ang + verb” construction, so again, “kita” should go at the beginning to mark the subject clearly.

5. Kita moadto sa simbahan kada Domingo.
“We go to church every Sunday.”
This is a regular action, and placing “kita” at the beginning correctly sets the subject.

Grammar Question

What part of speech is the Cebuano word “kita”?

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

Correct Answer:
D. Pronoun

Explanation:
“Kita” is a first-person plural inclusive pronoun in Cebuano.
It means “we” including the listener — referring to both the speaker and the person being spoken to.

[Question 2]

What is the function of a pronoun in a sentence?

Choices:
A. To express actions or states
B. To describe the meaning of a noun
C. To connect sentences
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 in context.
Examples: ako (I), ikaw (you), kita (we)

[Question 3]

What role does a noun play in a sentence?

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

Correct Answer:
C. It functions as subject or object

Explanation:
A noun names a person, place, thing, or concept. It serves key functions in a sentence such as:

• Subject: Ang bata nagdula. (The child is playing.)
• Object: Gipalit niya ang libro. (He bought the book.)
• Complement: Siya usa ka doktor. (He is a doctor.)

[Question 4]

Choose two correct statements about the Cebuano word “kita”.

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

Correct Answers:
B. It means “we” (including the listener)
D. It refers to both the speaker and the listener

Explanation:
“Kita” is an inclusive first-person plural pronoun in Cebuano.
It includes both the speaker and the listener.
This is different from “kami”, which excludes the listener.

Additional Questions

Q1. Which option is the correct response?

Question 1

1:Kinsa ang magluto sa paniudto?
Who will cook lunch?

A: Sa magluto ang kita paniudto.
B: Kita ang magluto sa paniudto.
C: Magluto kita ang sa paniudto.

Question 2

2: Kinsa ang motan-aw sa sine unya?
Who will watch the movie later?

A: Motan-aw kita sine sa ang unya.
B: Ang kita sa sine motan-aw unya.
C: Kita ang motan-aw sa sine unya.

Question 3

3: Kinsa ang mopalit og prutas sa merkado?
Who will buy fruits at the market?

A: Kita ang mopalit og prutas sa merkado.
B: Og kita prutas ang mopalit sa merkado.
C: Kita og mopalit prutas sa ang merkado.

Question 4

4: Kinsa ang manglimpyo sa klase karong hapon?
Who will clean the classroom this afternoon?

A: Kita ang manglimpyo sa klase karong hapon.
B: Manglimpyo kita klase sa ang karong hapon.
C: Ang kita sa karong hapon manglimpyo klase.

Question 5

5: Kinsa ang mokuyog ni Maria ugma?
Who will accompany Maria tomorrow?

A: Ugma mokuyog kita Maria ni ang.
B: Kita ugma ang ni mokuyog Maria.
C: Kita ang mokuyog ni Maria ugma.

correct answer

Why they are grammatically correct

1. Subject-Focus Structure

Cebuano often uses focus markers like ang to highlight the subject in a response. The correct order is:
→ Focused noun/pronoun + ang + predicate
In all of these cases, kita is the focused pronoun, and it comes before ang.

2. “Kita” as inclusive pronoun

• kita means “we” (including the listener), and is a full pronoun, not a clitic.
• As a full subject, it must appear in front of ang when it is the focus of the sentence.

3. Correct predicate order

Cebuano predicates follow a predictable pattern:
→ Verb + object + location + time
This pattern is observed in all five correct responses.

Why the incorrect word orders are wrong

1. Placing “ang” before the verb
   → Ang magluto kita sa paniudto is incorrect because ang should mark a noun/pronoun, not a verb.
2. Putting prepositional phrases between “kita” and the verb
   → This breaks subject-focus clarity and results in confusing sentence structure.
3. Separating verb from its object or placing time/location before the subject
   → Cebuano prefers predicate-final structures where the verb comes before object, location, or time.
4. Wrong placement of “kita”
   → You cannot place kita after ang or at the end of the sentence. It must be properly integrated at the start as a full pronoun.