tawo

Cebuano Word: tawo

Part of Speech, Core Meaning & Typical Position

Usage Examples

(each followed by a part-of-speech breakdown)

• Daghang tawo sa merkado karon.
  Daghang – adjective (quantity) / tawo – noun (subject) / sa – preposition / merkado – noun / karon – adverb of time
  → “There are many people at the market now.”
• Nakit-an nako ang tawo nga nagdala og payong.
  Nakit-an – verb (patient-focus, past) / nako – pronoun (actor) / ang – topic marker / tawo – noun (object) / nga – linker / nagdala – verb (progressive) / og – object linker / payong – noun
  → “I saw the person carrying an umbrella.”
• Walay tawo sa opisina ugma.
  Walay – existential negative / tawo – noun (subject) / sa – preposition / opisina – noun / ugma – adverb of time
  → “There will be no people in the office tomorrow.”

Common Collocations

• daghang tawo – many people
• walay tawo – no people / nobody
• mga tawo – the people (plural marker)
• maayong tawo – a good person
• taas nga tawo – a tall person

Detailed Usage & Pitfalls

1. Singular vs. plural: Cebuano uses mga tawo for “people” (plural). Forgetting mga can cause ambiguity.
2. Marker choice: Use ang tawo (definite), ug tawo (indefinite), or no marker after a quantifier (duha ka tawo = “two persons”).
3. Spelling: tawo (person) vs. tao (verb root “to people/man”) – do not confuse the two.
4. Existential structures: Naa/naaʼy tawo… = “There is a person…”. Learners often omit ʼy (naaʼy) after naa.

Conversational Phrases

• Daghang tawo diri! – “Lots of people here!”
• Wala’y tawo diha? – “Isn’t anyone there?”
• Mga tawo sa baryo – “The people in the village”
• Maayong tawo siya. – “He/She is a good person.”
• Kinsa nga tawo ni? – “Whose person is this? / Who is this person?”

Short Everyday Dialogues

1. A: Na-busy kaayo ang mall.
   B: Oo, daghang tawo karong hapon.
2. A: Kinsa tong tawo nga nitawag nimo?
   B: Akong maestro to.
3. A: Wala bay tawo sa opisina?
   B: Wala, close sila karon.
4. A: Asa ka makakita og maayo nga tawo?
   B: Sa simbahan siguro.
5. A: Naa pa bay tawo sa lamesa unahan?
   B: Oo, duha ka tawo nag-hulat.

Question 1

Aduna bay tawo sa parke karon? – “Is there a person in the park now?”

a. Sa parke karon naa’y tawo.
b. Naa’y tawo sa parke karon.
c. Tawo karon naa’y sa parke.

✔ Correct: b.
Explanation: Cebuano existential pattern = Naa’y + noun + sa + place + time-word. Sentence b follows this order.

Question 2

Pila ka tawo ang mi-abot ganina? – “How many people arrived a while ago?”

a. Mi-abot ganina ang tulo ka tawo.
b. Tulo ka tawo mi-abot ganina.
c. Ganina mi-abot tulo ka tawo.

✔ Correct: b.
Explanation: Quantifier (tulo ka tawo) is fronted as subject, followed by verb. In a. the ang marker wrongly precedes the verb; c. places the time word before the verb, which is acceptable in casual speech but breaks the basic Subject-Verb flow being practiced here.

Question 3

Kinsa nga tawo ang imong gipangita? – “Which person are you looking for?”

a. Gipangita nimo kinsa nga tawo.
b. Kinsa nga tawo imong gipangita.
c. Imong kinsa nga tawo gipangita.

✔ Correct: b.
Explanation: Cebuano wh-questions place the question phrase first, followed by the clause without ang before the verb.

Question 4

Asa pa man nag-hulat ang mga tawo? – “Where else are the people waiting?”

a. Ang mga tawo nag-hulat pa man sa gawas.
b. Nag-hulat ang mga tawo pa man sa gawas.
c. Pa man sa gawas nag-hulat ang mga tawo.

✔ Correct: a.
Explanation: Normal (Actor-focus) order: Topic marker + subject + verb + aspect particle + location. Sentence a follows this; b & c misplace the particle pa man.

Question 5

Ganahan ba ka makaila og bag-ong tawo? – “Do you like to meet new people?”

a. Ka ganahan makaila og bag-ong tawo.
b. Ganahan ka ba makaila og bag-ong tawo.
c. Makaila og bag-ong tawo ganahan ka ba.

✔ Correct: b.
Explanation: Interrogative particle ba comes right after the subject pronoun ka. Sentence a moves ka before the verb; c. postpones the verb phrase, breaking the predicate.