Bikol/Greetings

In this lesson you will learn to greet anyone with the appropriate level of formality. The level of formality for many sentences, including greetings, is more complex than in English. But we will see here that it is quite easy to show respect or sound formal. 250px280px280pxMarhay na agaMarhay na haponMarhay na banggi Marhay na aga used in the mornings, even if the sun is not up yet after waking Marhay na hapon used in the afternoons (literally after noon) until the sun sets Marhay na banggi used after sunsets until one goes to sleep The first word to know is marhay, good. Then you need the word describing the time of day: aga morning, udto noon, hapon afternoon, banggi evening, If you want to be formal and respectful to elderly, you need the word tabi and the following construction then applies: Marhay na hapon tabi Good afternoon, sir or Good afternoon, madam showing respect for an older person. The na simply links good with afternoon and is a compulsory link word. You can also add the word Dios before the greetings. Dios marhay na hapon tabi Good morning, sir or Good morning, madam showing respect for an older person. Another frequently used phrase is Kumusta which means both Hello, and How are you?. It is borrowed from the Spanish Como esta? which means exactly How are you?. You can also say, tara instead of saying kumusta. Examples Bikol EnglishMarhay na aldaw Good dayMarhay na aga Good morningMarhay na udto Good middayMarhay na hapon Good afternoon Marhay na banggi Good eveningMaugma akong mamidbidan ka I'm glad to know youPaaram GoodbyeMahale na ako I'm going nowIngat Take care +Special GreetingsBikol EnglishRukyaw CongratulationsMaugmang Kaaldawan Happy BirthdayMaugmang Pasko Merry ChristmasMaugmang Bagong Taon Happy New Year