When to use it
Use it when you ask a teacher or colleague how a formal letter is written in another language.
The sentence in English (“How do you write a formal letter in French?”)
In “How do you write a formal letter in French?” ‘you’ is generic, the question needs ‘do’, and ‘French’ is capitalised.
- 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
- write
- verbwrite · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "do you"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- formal
- adjectiveadjective
- letter
- nounnoun
- in
- prepositionpreposition
- French
- nounnoun; the name of the language, always capitalised
The sentence in Filipino (“Paano sumulat ng pormal na liham sa Pranses?”)
In “Paano sumulat ng pormal na liham sa Pranses?” the infinitive ‘sumulat’ (to write) has no subject, asking for the proper way. The linker ‘na’ joins ‘pormal’ (formal) to ‘liham’ (letter), and ‘sa Pranses’ is ‘in French’.
- Paano
- adverbquestion word 'how'
- sumulat
- verbsulat · focus: actor (um-) · form: infinitive · subjectless infinitive: the way of writing
- ng
- prepositionmarker ng before the object
- pormal
- adjectiveadjective 'formal'
- na
- particlelinker na
- liham
- nounnoun 'letter'
- sa
- prepositionmarker sa 'in' (a language)
- Pranses
- proper noun'French', the language
What changes from one language to the other (English × Filipino)
English needs ‘do’ and ‘you’; Filipino only an infinitive. Both capitalise the language name.
Example conversation
— Paano sumulat ng pormal na liham sa Pranses?
— How do you write a formal letter in French?
— Magsimula sa magalang na pagbati at paikliin ang liham.
— Start with a polite greeting and keep it short.