When to use it
Use it at the end of a meal in a Philippine restaurant to ask the waiter for the bill.
“Could you bring the bill, please?” · The sentence in English
In “Could you bring the bill, please?” ‘Could’ is softer than ‘can’ and comes before ‘you’; ‘please’ goes at the end.
- Could
- auxiliary verbcan · form: conditional · modal verb; "Could you…?" is a polite request
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun
- bring
- verbbring · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after a modal verb the main verb has no "to"
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- bill
- nounnoun; the check at a restaurant
- please
- adverbpoliteness word
“Puwede po bang pakidala ang bill?” · The sentence in Filipino
In “Puwede po bang pakidala ang bill?” politeness comes from three things: ‘po’, the question ‘bang’ (ba + the linker -ng), and the prefix ‘paki-’ in ‘pakidala’ (please bring). There is no word for ‘you’: ‘paki-’ already addresses the listener.
- Puwede
- adjective'can, possible', from Spanish puede
- po
- particlepoliteness particle for strangers or elders
- bang
- particlequestion particle ba + linker -ng
- pakidala
- verbdala · form: paki- (polite request) · paki- + dala 'please bring'
- ang
- prepositiontopic marker ang
- bill
- nounnoun from English 'bill'
What changes from one language to the other · English × Filipino
English gets politeness from ‘Could’ and ‘please’; Filipino from ‘po’ and ‘paki-’. English needs ‘you’, Filipino leaves it out.
Example conversation
— Puwede po bang pakidala ang bill?
— Could you bring the bill, please?
— Sige po, dadalhin ko na.
— Of course, I'll bring it right away.