This tutorial is good for Upper Beginners & Intermediate in Tagalog. We're talking about a few common words and phrases that are often lost in translation in English. Listen until the end and learn the difference between the following:

Mulâ & Nagmulâ
Mulâ & Nanggaling
Mulâ & Tagasaán
Nagmulâ & Nanggaling


Tagalog Word “Mulâ”

Mulâ in English is “from” and it refers to starting location/place or starting point in time.

Sentence Examples:

Mayroón akóng sardinas na mulâ sa Pilipinas. (have I sardines na from sa Pilipinas)
Mulâ umaga hanggáng gabí ay nagbasá lang akó kahapon. (from morning until night ay read only I yesterday)
Ipagmaneho mo akó mulâ dito sa bahay hanggáng sa airport. (drive you
Mulâ noón hanggáng ngayón ay magandá ka pa rin.


Tagalog Word “Nagmulâ”

"Nagmulâ" is a verb which means began. It's the past tense of the infinitive verb "magmulâ".

Sentence Example:
Pasensya nahulí akó nang datíng, matrapik kasí at nagmulâ pa akó sa Tagatáy.

Rin Versus Din

Rin & din mean the same thing. They both mean “too” or “also”. 
Use “rin” when the word before it ends in a vowel letter. Use “din” when the word before it ends in a consonant letter. For example:


Pangit din
Mabait din
Mabuti rin


Tagalog Word “Tagasaán”

If you wish to ask the question "where are you from" avoid saying the word "mulâ" but use the word "tagasaán" instead. Taga is a prefix and it's not appropriate to translate it to English while "saán" is translated as "where". Taga is like saying that a person is "assigned to" or "assigned as". Tagasaán, somehow, can mean "where are you assigned as". But to simplify the meaning, let's accept that "tagasaan" means "where from".


Tagasaán ka? (taga-where you)
Tagasaán si Albine? (taga-where si Albine)
Saán ipinanganák si Albine? (where born si Albine)
Taga-Ohio akó, ipinanganák akó sa Pilipinas. (Taga-Ohio I, born I sa Philippines)
Dati sa Cavite akó nakatirá. (Before sa Cavite I living)


Tagalog Word “Nanggaling”

Nanggaling is a verb which may mean"have been". It is the past tense of the infinitive verb "manggaling" which means to start from. Manggaling is synonym to magmulâ and it can be interchangeable.

Sentence Examples:

Pasensya nahulí akó nang datíng, matrapik kasí at nanggaling pa akó sa Tagatáy.
Saán nanggaling si Amihan? (where came-from si Amihan; where have Amihan been)
Nanggaling akó sa trabaho, sa palengke at sa simbahan.