Bikol/Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe a noun. Some English examples are: "happy", "tired", "beautiful", "young" and "fresh".

Most of adjectives in Bikol starts with the prefix ma-, like magayon which means beautiful, its rootword is gayon with means beauty.

The order of an adjective and a noun is interchangeable, it can be an adjective first then followed by a noun or a noun first before an adjective.

But remember:

• you must add the connector word na if the first word (maybe an adjective or noun) ends with a consonant (especially if the word ends in -n)
• if the suffix -ng if the first word (maybe an adjective or noun) ends with a vowel before being succeeded by the second word.

For example:

aking magayon o magayon na aki both mean beautiful child.
Magayon means beautiful and aki means child.

An adjective can be used as a predicate in a sentence. Most of the time, Bikol sentences start with the predicate before the subject, but you can also put the subject before the predicate.

For Example:

Maugma si Juan. (John is happy.)
Pobre si Juan pero maugma. (John is poor but happy.)

Kinds of Adjectives

Adjectives of Quality

1. Sarong maisog na babayi si Maria Makiling.

• Maria Makiling is a brave woman.

2. Mainiton kaidtong Sabado.

• It was hot last Saturday.

3. 'Honesto si Jose.

• Jose is an honest man.

4. Sarong dakulang syudad an Manila.

• Manila is a big city.

5. Sarong magayon na burak an Sampaguita.

• Jasmine is a beautiful flower.

5. Mabata an kwarto.

• The room is smelly.
  • mabaho - smelly
  • kwarto - room

6. Mahamot an pahamot.

• The perfume smells good.
  • mahamot - fragrant
  • pahamot - perfume

Adjectives of Quantity

1. Dakul na kakanon an natada.

• There are many food left.
  • dakul - many
  • kakanon - Food
  • natada - left

Adjectives of Number

1. Dakulon na tawo an nag-atendir sa pasale.

• There were many people that went to the concert/show.
  • dakul - many
  • tawo - people
  • nag-atendir - visited
  • pasale - show

Demonstrative Adjectives

1. Sakuya an kabayong ini.

• This horse is mine.
  • kabayo - horse
  • ini - this/these
  • sakuya - mine

2. Saimo an kabayong iyan.

• That horse is yours.
  • iyan - that
  • saimo - yours

3. Masiram an mga mansanas na ini.

• These apples are delicious.
  • masiram - delicious
  • mga mansanas - apples
  • ini - these/this

Adjective Phrase

The adjective phrase is composed of two parts: an adjective affix and an adjective base. The adjective phrase may consist of a single word or a series of words.

There are three kinds of adjective bases.

Those which take the «ma-» affix

• gayon ↔ magayon
• siram ↔ masiram

Those which take the «ha-» affix (usually words related to height, length, and depth)

• langkaw ↔ halangkaw
• rarom ↔ hararom

Those which take no affix (including but not limited to colors and numbers)

• pula ↔ pula
• duwa ↔ duwa

Superlatives

Superlatives are formed by placing the prefix «pinaka-» in front of the adjective phrase (which includes its adjective affix).

«ma-» class

• gayon ↔ pinakamagayon
• kanos ↔ pinakamakanos

«ha-» class

• langkaw ↔ pinakahalangkaw
• halawig ↔ pinakahalawig

«∅-» class

• dakula ↔ pinakadakula
• sadit ↔ pinakasadit

Useful Adjectives

Word	Antonym
marhay - good	maraot - bad
tama - right	sala - wrong
mayaman - rich	tios - poor
magayon - beautiful	makanos - ugly
malinig - clean	maati - dirty
mainit - hot	malipot - cold
magabat - heavy	magian - light
swerte - lucky	malas - unlucky
aki - young	gurang - old
dakul - many	diit - few