May Arâ
The phrase "may arâ" is a variation of "may." It serves the same purposes—to show existence or possession—but it is used to change the emphasis, or to be more formal.
Existence
Emphasis: To say something exists, you would usually use "may." Using "may" puts the focus on the object that exists. However, there are times when you would want to focus more on the fact that something exists. To do this, you would use "may arâ."
The standard format is: May arâ + Sang + Object.
"There is a pig." — "May arâ sang baboy." (pig = baboy)
Note: The "sang" is usually dropped from these sentences during casual conversation, i.e. "May arâ baboy."
Possession
Emphasis: To say someone has something, you would usually use "may." Using "may" puts the focus on the object that someone has. However, there are times when you would want to focus more on the fact that someone has an object. To do this, you would use "may arâ."
The standard format is: May arâ + Owner + Sang + Object.
"They have water." — "May arâ sila sang tubig."(water = tubig)
Note: The "sang" is usually dropped from these sentences during regular conversation, i.e. "May arâ sila tubig."
When would you change the Emphasis?
Most common conversation would use "may," but in some specific cases it makes more sense to add some emphasis by using "may arâ." Here are some scenarios:
Comparing
"There's no corn here, but there is some at the farm." — "Walâ maiz diri, pero may arâ sa uma." (walâ = no, maiz = corn, pero = but, uma = farm)
Correcting
Person 1: "There's no water at the store." Person 2: "Yes, there is water." — Person 1: "Walâ tubig sa tindahan." Person 2: "Oo, may arâ tubig."
Answering Questions about Availability
Q: "Do you have any grapes?" A: "Yes, we do." — Q: "May arâ kamo ubas?" A: "Oo, may arâ."
Answering Questions about Existence
Q: "Is there rain?" A: "Yes, there is." — Q: "May ulan?" A: "Oo, may arâ."
Answering Questions about Possession
Q: "Does Steve have a car?" A: "No, he has a sikad." — Q: "May ara si Steve sang salakyan?" A: "Walâ, may ara siya sang sikad." (salakyan = car, sikad = bike with side car)
Formality
"May arâ" is considered more formal than "may." To give you a general idea of this concept, consider these two examples:
Informal --> "There's a cat outside." — "May koring sa guwâ" (cat = koring; outside = guwâ)
Formal --> "There is a cat outside." — "May arâ sang koring sa guwâ."
May Ari & May Ato
Though "may arâ" is commonly used, "may ari" and "may ato" are also correct options, depending on the location of the object you're describing.
FYI: Descriptive Nouns
To review, when showing existence of simple nouns with "may arâ," the standard format uses the "sang" marker.
"There is a fish." — "May ara sang isda." (isda = fish)
When you use descriptive nouns (big fish, lazy dog, man with book, etc.) you would use "nga" instead of "sang."
"There is a big fish." — "May arâ nga isda nga dako." (dako = big)
This is unlikely to come up in normal conversation because the "sang" and "nga" are usually dropped. But, in case you plan to do any formal writing in Ilonggo, now you know this technicality.