Using “po” is like using sir or madam in an English sentence. We use it when addressing an older person, a superior, or any person to whom you are expected to accord respect. In short sentences, there are some frequently used words and these may guide you as to where to position the “po” in them. So, for short sentences, you may follow these basic guidelines: 1. You do not use it to start a sentence of phrase. Hence, if your sentence or phrase contains only 2 words, it has to be the second one. 2. It should follow certain words according to this hierarchy: a. na (already, now, any/no more) – also used as an attributive article b. ko (I), mo (you) (see note below on this) c. hindi (no/not), oo (yes) – but “oo” and “po” get merged as “opo” Here are some examples on the placement of “po” based on the a, b, and c hierarchy above: No, madam = Hindi po. (c) Yes, sir = Opo. (c) I know, sir = Alam ko po. (b) I don’t know, madam = Hindi ko po alam. (b) Not me, sir = Hindi po ako. (c) Not anymore, sir. = Hindi na po. (a) Let me/I’ll be the one to do this, madam. = Ako na po ang gagawa nito. (a) I can’t do it anymore, sir = Hindi ko na po siya kayang gawin. (a) “Po” can also stand alone when used as “yes”, as a response when an older person or a superior calls us. Example: Mother: Travis! Travis: Po! (Yes, Mom?) Note: When used with other personal pronouns, it may precede or follow them, provided none of the a-b-c hierarchies are present in the sentence. Examples on the placement of “po” with other personal pronouns: I was the one who did this, sir. = Ako po ang gumawa nito./Ang gumawa po nito ay ako./Ang gumawa nito po ay ako./Ang gumawa nito ay ako po. I was not the one who did this, sir. = Hindi po ako ang gumawa nito./Ang gumawa nito ay hindi po ako. (hierarchy c applies here) I don’t have any of those, madam. = Wala po ako nun./Ako po ay wala nun. He took it, madam. = Kinuha po niya./Kinuha niya po.

usually, 'po' is use after simple sentence structure, especially when you're replying to a question answerable by yes or no: ex: no --> hindi po. correct. --> tama po. it's there --> nandoon po. For complex sentence, you can do the following structure: [1] after the verb [2] after the noun/pronoun [3] the same structure for simple phrases, at the end of the phrase, as the first example [4] after the cause-effect word [so, that's why, etc] ex: I went to the market, but I forgot to bring my money, so I couldn't buy what i need. Pumunta [verb] po ako sa palengke, pero nalimutan ko [pronoun] po dalhin ang pera ko, kaya -effect] po hindi po [simple structure] ako nakabili ng kailangan ko [pronoun] po. Nasa bag [noun] po ang pera. But when you're sentence seems to have too much PO, you can omit it, for example in the complex sentence above, you can omit the po between "kaya" and "hindi" since they're one after another [kaya po hindi po --> kaya hindi po] In saying sorry, 'patawad' is correct, other tagalog word for this is 'paumanhin' which sometimes can also be translated as 'excuse me' in english: ex: patawad po [i'm sorry, my apologies] humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa pagliban ko sa klase [please excuse me for being absent to our class] humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa mali kong nagawa [i'm sorry for my wrongdoing] but these are in formal form and mostly used in letters and songs, so we do not really use it in common situations, we rather use the english word 'sorry' and combine it with tagalog words: ex: [i'm sorry] sorry na, [i'm sorry in honorific] sorry po, [i'm really sorry] sorry talaga,

Using 'po' is a sign of respect to older, it is a polite version of the tagalog word for yes. Childrens usually says po/opo to someone much older than them. If you want to say sorry to someone, you can say Patawad or Pasensya

In longer sentences, we may use a couple of “pos” within them as perhaps a way of making the person we are addressing retain the awareness of the respect we are giving them. The above rules on positioning the “po” still apply though in longer sentences, but it may also be added immediately after a verb. (In the example above, “I was not the one who did this, sir”, you may also say it as “Ang gumawa PO nito ay hindi ako.” , i.e., placing it right after the verb. You can also insert it twice, “Ang gumawa PO nito ay hindi PO ako”, and make the sentence even more respectful.) However, you should not place too many of them in a long sentence lest your sentence may begin to sound comical or even already carry an air of sarcasm or ironically, disrespect. For us native speakers, we have naturally developed the “art” of where to place the “pos” in our sentences. For non-native speakers, I believe that a single “po”, (hopefully, correctly placed) in a sentence would do the trick. For saying “sorry”, practically everyone here now says “sorry” too, as you would, the American way. And, “sorry, sir/madam” would be therefore be, “sorry po.”