A pangngalang dalawahan can be identified by a number of ways:

• The articles/case markers for pangngalang dalawahan are the plural form of those used for isahan. (The same plural-form articles/case markers are also used for pangngalang maramihan.)
  • Sina, kina, nina – before proper nouns (pangngalang pantangi)
  • Ang mga, ng mga, sa mga – before common nouns (pangngalang pambalana)
  • Note: if the nouns that follow these markers do not specifically indicate a number of two, they are instead considered maramihan. (Example: “Ang mga estudyanteng sina Juan at Miguel” would be considered dalawahan; “ang mga estudyante” would be assumed to be maramihan.)
• A noun itself may naturally indicate a quantity of two — for example: kambal (twins) — in which case you can tell that the noun is dalawahan (two in number) even though it uses the article “ang” (e.g., ang kambal).
• Some nouns can be conjugated to reflect a dalawahan number by adding the prefix mag-. This is usually for nouns that indicate a relationship.
  • Examples: magkaibigan (two friends), magpinsan (two cousins), mag-asawa (a married couple; asawa alone means spouse).
  • These nouns would also use the article “ang” before them (e.g., ang magkaibigan, ang magpinsan, ang mag-asawa).
• If the word “dalawa” is used before the noun, it is also considered dalawahan. Example: ang dalawang bata (the two kids).