Counting things: duha ka puso
Number, then ka, then the thing. Duha ka puso, two rice parcels (not sure the best translation word for these rice things).
Practice it with Pila ka puso?, a quick game where you count the puso and answer in Bisaya.
01Counting with ka
To count things, put ka between the number and the thing.
Two rice parcels.
Puso is rice boiled in a little woven pouch of coconut leaves.
Usa ka saging.
One banana.
Tulo ka mangga.
Three mangoes.
No plural needed. Tulo ka mangga already says there are three.
02At the barbecue stall
Duha ka puso, palihug.
Two rice parcels, please.
Pila ka puso?
How many rice parcels?
What the seller asks you. Same pattern as Pila ka buok? (How many pieces?)
03One to ten
These are the Bisaya numbers used to count things. These are also in the numbers word list.
usa, duha, tulo, upat, lima
one, two, three, four, five
unom, pito, walo, siyam, napulo
six, seven, eight, nine, ten
04When the numbers switch to Spanish
Prices usually come in Spanish-derived numbers, so you often need both in one conversation.
Singko pesos.
Five pesos.
Singko is Spanish cinco, spelled the Bisaya way.
Baynte pesos.
Twenty pesos.