What does "magkatugma" mean?

Back from a long break to post some questions sent in through the Need Help? page.

Anonymous asked:

If synonyms are 'magkasingkahulugan', antonyms are 'magkasalungat', what are magkatugma?

I answered:

Wow, that's a head-scratcher.

I would say "magkatugma" are words that rhyme, but it doesn't follow that they're homonyms. "Magkatugma" doesn't imply that the word is spelled the same way, only that certain syllables sound similar.

This seems to be a popular question online. I hope someone posts an official answer too.

OK, so this answer doesn't necessarily make it easy for students who need the correct answer right now but I suggest that you step back and focus on what you can learn, not what'll score you points with your teacher. Filipino/Tagalog and English grammar are similar in some ways but different in others. It's possible that you won't find an exact counterpart in English for a particular word or grammar rule. (For example: what is "kilig"?)

Where the students are

This blog is by no means super popular, but I feel good that it gets hits from outside of Manila. I've seen how net-savvy students are, even in areas considered slums. If they use a fraction of their Net Cafe time to do research on their homework then that's a good start.

That's what this is, by the way -- a start. We all have a LOT to do to make sure that all Filipino students get world-class education.

Need help?

Got a homework question? Leave a comment and I'll try to post a reply as soon as I can. Take note though that I will be providing "help" -- links to where you can find the answers -- rather than actual answers. In other words, copying and pasting my response probably won't do you any good.

If that doesn't turn you off, then yay! I hope I can help! Write your question as a comment and I'll do what I can!

Pi

Typing "pi" onto the Google search box leads to this simplified value of Pi = 3.14159265.

In high school we used 3.1416, but your school may be different. Find out more about pi by going to these sites:

• Wikipedia: Pi
• The Math Forum at Drexel: About Pi
• The University of Utah: Pi to 10,000 digits

Mga panghalip (Pronouns)

Pronouns such as "he", "she" and "it" replace nouns in sentences. Panghalip is the Tagalog/Filipino term for it.

More on them here:

• Wikibooks: Panghalip
• filipinosubject.blogspot.com: Panghalip
• germanlipa.de: Pangngalan at Panghalip

These resources are in Filipino and require a more-than-basic understanding of the language.

Practicing English

Much of what we learn in Philippine high schools is already in English... but that doesn't mean we don't need to practice anymore. Practicing helps build our vocabulary, and can be done a few minutes a day if you have a computer or a portable music player like an iPod.

• English as a Second Language podcast
• Better @ English: 2-minute English - http://www.betteratenglish.com/category/listening/2-minute-english/

Mga pandiwa (verbs)

I'm trying to find more online resources for very specific aspects of Filipino grammar. Try these if you need help with verbs:

• Tagalog Wikibooks: Pandiwa
• filipinosubject.blogspot.com: Pandiwa (verb)

These resources are in Filipino and require a more-than-basic understanding of the language.

Studying the periodic table of elements

In case you lost your own copy of the periodic table...

• Webelements.com - Online periodic table
• Chemicool.com - Another online periodic table
• Wikipedia: Periodic Table of Elements
• Dayah.com: Dynamic Periodic Table of Elements - Mouse over an element to see more about it, or highlight elements one group at a time

Noli Me Tangere guides

Because my first post on Noli just pointed to the free full text, here are links to some of the study guides online for it:

• Viloria.com: Buod ng Noli Me Tangere (Chapter Summaries in Tagalog)
• Webmanila.com: TOC Noli Me Tangere Chapter Summaries and Notes (in English, but incomplete as of this posting)
• Knowledgerush.com: Noli Me Tangere
• Wikipilipinas: Noli Me Tangere

As always, these resources are just a guide. Let them help you form your own analysis of the text -- learning how to do that is more important. :)

Quadratic equations

A polynomial equation to the second degree. As it happens, I don't encounter this anymore in my line of work, but many high school students have to deal with this on a daily basis. Hope these links help...

• Quadratic Equation on Wikipedia
• Youtube: Solving Quadratic Equations (in under 4 minutes!)
• Purplemath: The Quadratic Formula Explained
• Purplemath: Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring