Part 2 – Answering your question "Kaya naman pala nagkalason-lason ang mga mag-aaral noong nakaraang taon" means, “So, that’s why the students GOT POISONED last year”. “Lason” is the noun we use for “poison”. The most common ways to form the verb would be to use the affixes: “ma” (MAlason = to get poisoned); “in” (lasunIN = to poison – object-focused); “um” (lUMason = to poison – subject-focused); and “mag” (MAGlason – to poison oneself). “Nagkalason-lason” comes from the “malason” form of the verb. In your translation, to say “...were poisoned...”, i.e., they were intentionally poisoned, would be to use the verb “lasunin”. The conjugation of “malason” would be “nalason” (past), “nalalason” (present), and “malalason” (future). “Nagkalason-lason” is formed from the past tense “nalason”. The present tense would be “nagkakalason-lason” and the future tense, “magkakalason-lason”. When do we use these “magka + root word-root word” forms? More by choice and not as a rule, we use them when the subject is plural and we would like to emphasize that the verb happened independently to each subject. The required repetition of the root word adds a sense of plurality to the meaning. “Ang mag-aaral ay NALASON” = The student got poisoned. (singular) “Ang mga mag-aaral ay NALASON” = The students got poisoned. (plural) – This just states that the students got poisoned altogether. “Ang mga mag-aaral ay NAGKALASON-LASON” = The students got poisoned. (plural) - This also states that the students got poisoned, but in addition to that, it may mean that the degree of poisoning was different for each one, and/or that they got poisoned at different times, etc. That is, the way each student got poisoned was independent from and not necessarily the same as the rest.

Part 1 – Improving your question Ang ibig BANG sabihin ng/Ang ibig sabihin BA ng “Kaya naman ... last year”? - When a sentence does not include a regular question word like, “ano” or “ilan” or “saan”, etc., you need to add the “ba” to make it clear that you are asking a question even if you have the question mark (?) at the end. This is even more true when speaking because the question mark can’t be seen. Hindi AKO NAKAhanap ng salitang “nagkalason-lason” = I was not able to find A word “nagkalason-lason” Hindi KO MAhanap ang salitang “nagkalason-lason” = I can/could not find THE word “nagkalason-lason” – I think this is what you really meant to say. O MAYROON PA BANG IBANG salita PARA sabihin ANG “poisoned”?/O MAY IBA PA BANG salita PARA sabihin ANG “poisoned”? – Again, we need the “ba/bang” question word here and your original “pang” now becomes just “pa”. The “-ng” is instead attached to that “ba” word so it becomes “bang”. Notice also the difference in the ordering of the succeeding words when we use “mayroon” and “may”. We practically don’t use “upang” anymore that has already become really old-fashioned. We use “para” instead.

(continuation of Part 2) Another example: “Nabitawan ni Mary ang mga dala niyang pinggan kaya ang mga ito ay NABASAG” = Mary accidentally dropped the plates she was carrying that’s why these got broken”. “Nabitawan ni Mary ang mga dala niyang pinggan kaya ang mga ito ay NAGKABASAG-BASAG” = Mary accidently dropped the plates she was carrying that’s why each one of them got broken (in its own way). – This would be a more realistic description of what happened. Remember though that the use of “magka + root word-root word” is usually made as a choice and not a strict grammar requirement. Yes, simply stated, “kaya naman pala” is “so, that’s why”. However, only “kaya” is really “that’s why”. The “naman” serves as the “so” in your translation, but it can also be interpreted to mean “well” or “oh” or “ah”. The “pala” adds the dimension of realizing or understanding the reason for the “that’s why”. Adding their meanings together, “kaya naman pala...” is really, “So, now I understand, that’s why...”. “KAYA umiyak si Mary” = That’s why Mary cried. “KAYA NAMAN umiyak si Mary” = Well, that’s why Mary cried. “KAYA NAMAN PALA umiyak si Mary” = Ah, now I realize why Mary cried.