Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
beginning of a word, eg in
ng
ayon
(now). he
mg
combination in words such as
mga
looks tricky but is in fact straightforward to pronounce, as
mang
.
As for
vowels and diphthongs
(vowel combinations):
a
is pronounced as in
a
pple
e
as in m
e
ss
if
as in d
if
tto, though a little more elongated than
in English
o
as in b
o
re
u
as in p
u
t
ay
as in b
uy
aw
in m
ou
nt
iw
is a sound that simply doesn't exist in English;
it's close to the
ieu
sound in “lieu”, but with greater
separation between the vowels (almost as in “lee-you”)
oy
as in in
oi
se
uw
as in q
ua
rter
uy
produced making the sound oo and continuing it
to the i sound in “ditto”.
Vowels that fall consecutively in a word are always pronounced individually, as is every
syllable, adding to the choppy nature of the language; for example,
tao
meaning person
or people is pronounced “ta-o”, while
oo
for yes is pronounced “o-o” (with each vowel
closer to the
o
in “show” than in “bore”).
Stress
Most words are spoken as they are written, though working out which syllable to
stress
is tricky. In words of two syllables the first syllable tends to be stressed, while in words
of three or more syllables the stress is almost always on the final or penultimate syllable.
In the vocabulary lists that follow, stressed syllables are indicated in
bold
text except
where the term in question is obviously an English loan word. Note that English loan
words may be rendered a little differently in Tagalog, in line with the rules mentioned
above; thus “bus” for instance has the vowel sound of the English word “put”.
USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES
GREETINGS AND CIVILITIES
hello/how are you?
ka
mus
ta
Fine, thanks
ma
bu
ti, sa
la
mat
(
formal
) okay lang
(
informal
)
goodbye
bye
good morning
magan
dang
u
ma
ga
good afternoon
magan
dang
ha
pon
good evening/good night
magan
dang
gab
if
please …
(before
sorry
sorry
what's your name?
a
nong
pan
ga
lan mo?
my name is …
ang pan
ga
lan ko ay …
do you speak English?
mar
u
nong ka bang
mag-
Ing
les?
I (don't) understand
(hin
di
) ko naiintindi
han
could you repeat that?
pa
ki-u
lit
?
where are you from?
ta
ga
sa
an ka?
I am from …
(most
ta
ga …
a
ko
pa
ki …
countries are rendered
as in English)
I don't know
(used to
a request)
thank you
sa
la
mat
ew
an
excuse me
(to say sorry)
ipagpau
man
hin
avoid confrontation)
okay?/is that okay?
mo
ak
puwe
de?/
puwe
de
ba
?
excuse me
(to get past)
makikira
an
lang
po
/
(
informal
)
pasensiya ka na
mate, buddy
pa
re
FORMAL LANGUAGE: THE USE OF “PO”
Tagalog has formal and informal
forms of address
, the formal usually reserved for people who
are significantly older. The “po” su
x indicates respect and can be added to almost any word or
phrase:
o-po
is a respectful “yes” and it's common to hear Filipinos say
sorry-po
for “sorry”. Even
the lowliest beggar is given esteem by language: the standard reply to beggars is
patawarin-po
, literally, “forgive me, sir”. First names are fine for people of your own generation;
for your elders, use Mr or Mrs (if you know a woman is married) before the surname. It's
common to use
manong/manang
(uncle/aunt) and
kuya
(brother/sister) to address superiors
informally, even if they are not blood relatives (eg
manong
Jun,
kuya
Beth).
