When to use it
Use it to ask a local for directions from where you are to the main station.
“How do you get to the central station from here?” · The sentence in English
In “How do you get to the central station from here?” ‘you’ is generic, ‘get to’ means reach, and the question needs ‘do’.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- do
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · auxiliary that makes the question
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun used for people in general
- get
- verbget · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · "get to" means "arrive at"
- to
- prepositionpreposition of direction; "get to" means "arrive at"
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- central
- adjectiveadjective
- station
- nounnoun
- from
- prepositionpreposition
- here
- adverbadverb of place
“Paano pumunta sa sentral na istasyon mula rito?” · The sentence in Filipino
In “Paano pumunta sa sentral na istasyon mula rito?” there is no subject: the infinitive ‘pumunta’ (to go) asks how anyone gets there. ‘dito’ (here) becomes ‘rito’ after a word ending in a vowel, like ‘mula’ (from).
- Paano
- adverbquestion word 'how'
- pumunta
- verbpunta · focus: actor (um-) · form: infinitive · infinitive with no subject: how one goes
- sa
- prepositionmarker sa for the destination
- sentral
- adjectiveadjective 'central'
- na
- particlelinker na
- istasyon
- nounnoun 'station'
- mula
- preposition'from'
- rito
- adverb'here'; dito becomes rito after a vowel
What changes from one language to the other · English × Filipino
English uses generic ‘you’; Filipino uses a subjectless infinitive. Filipino also has a sound rule (dito → rito) that English lacks.
Example conversation
— Paano pumunta sa sentral na istasyon mula rito?
— How do you get to the central station from here?
— Sumakay ka ng bus number 12, humihinto ito sa tapat mismo.
— Take bus number 12, it stops right in front.