Filipino (Tagalog) Phrasebook

Introduction

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© ninabuffi

Filipino is the official national language used in the Philippines with English as the second official language. Aside from these there are about 100 dialects spoken in the different islands of the archipelago.

The Filipino language is generally based on the Tagalog dialect that is widely spoken in most islands in the Philippines. It also has accepted words from other local dialects and foreign words from Spanish, English, and Chinese which had great influences in the Philippine culture. Tagalog is of Malay-Austronesian origin.

Alphabet

The Filipino alphabet is composed of 28 letters, 26 of which is the same as the English alphabet but with the addition of ng which originated from the old Philippine alphabet and ñ which was influenced by the Spanish alphabet.

The alphabet is arranged as follows and pronounced like the English alphabet except for ng and ñ: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N ñ NG O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

Basic Grammar

Pronunciation

Consonant
Most consonants are pronounced very similarly to the way they are in English, but there are several exceptions:

• ñ = like the ny in canyon
• ng = like the ng in ring

Vowel

• a = like the a in arm
• e = like the e in egg
• i = like the i in igloo
• o = like the o in on
• u = like the oo in too

Useful Filipino Words

Filipino words have two forms, the normal and the polite form. Putting a "po" participle at the end of a sentence makes a statement polite.

Basic Words

• Yes - oo, opo/oho (polite form).
• No - hindi, hindi po (polite form)
• This - ito, heto, nito (depends on the object pointed if living or non-living)
• That - iyan
• Please - verb is started by 'Paki'. Like 'pakibasa' (please read), 'pakikuha' (please get).
• And - at
• Or - o
• If - kung, kapag
• Now - ngayon
• Later - mamaya
• Like (similarity) - tulad, gaya
• I like/ I dislike - Gusto ko / Ayaw ko
• Many/Few - marami / kaunti
• More/Less - mas marami / mas kaunti
• Big/Small - malaki / maliit
• Long/Short - mahaba / maikli
• Fat/Thin - mataba / mapayat
• Fast - bilis, mabilis
• Slow - bagal
• Early/Late - maaga / huli

Greetings and Pleasantries

• Hello - kamusta, hello is also accepted.
• How are you? - Kamusta?
• Welcome - no specific translation but Mabuhay is used as greeting.
• Good morning - magandang umaga
• Good afternoon - magandang hapon, magandang tanghali (noontime)
• Good evening/night - magandang gabi
• Goodbye - paalam
• See you again - hanggang sa muling pagkikita, hanggang sa muli
• Thank you - salamat, salamat po (polilte)
• You are welcome - walang anuman
• Sorry - paumanhin po, patawad po, sorry is also accepted.
• Excuse me - makikiraan po, pasintabi po

Questions and Answers

• Who/Whom - sino / kanino
• What - ano
• When - kailan
• Where - saan
• Why - bakit
• How - paano
• Yes/No - oo / hindi
• Can/ Cannot) - pwede / hindi pwede
• Right/Wrong - tama / mali
• What is your name? My name is John. - Ano ang pangalan mo? Ang pangalan ko ay John (or Ako si John)
• Where is the toilet? - Saan po ang banyo?
• Which one? - Alin?
• What is the price for this? - Magkano ito?
• How many? - Ilan?
• I want this/that - Gusto ko nito/iyan
• This/that one - Ito / Iyan
• I (don't) want - Ayaw ko.
• Give me this/that - Bigyan mo ako nito/niyan
• Wait - sandali lang, paki-antay

Food

• Eat - kain
• Food - pagkain
• Food Viand - ulam
• Cook - cocinar
• Drink (verb) - inom
• Drinks (noun) - inumin
• Water - tubig
• Beer - bir, serbesa
• Wine - alak
• Juice - juice
• Coffee - kape
• Chocolate (drink) - tsokolate
• Tea - tsaa
• Milk - gatas
• Fruit - prutas
• Vegetable - gulay
• Egg - itlog
• Meat - karne
• Fish - isda
• Chicken - isda
• Cow - baka
• Goat - kambing
• Pig - baboy
• Duck - bibe, pato
• Sheep - tupa
• Rice (cooked) - kanin
• Rare - hilaw
• To be hungry - magutom
• Delicious - masarap
• Sweet - matamis
• Sour - maasim
• Salty - maalat
• Bitter - mapait
• Spicy - maanghang
• Bland - matabang

Directions

• Where - saan
• At - sa
• By (me) - sa tabi (ko), sa may (gitna)
• With - may, kasama
• From - mula
• To - patungo, hanggang
• For - para
• Here/There - dito / doon
• Inside/Outside - sa loob / sa labas
• Front/Back - sa harap, harapan / sa likod, likuran
• Next to - sa tabi, sa may
• Opposite - sa kabila
• Up/Down - taas / baba
• Top/Bottom - ibabaw / ilalim
• Left/Right - kaliwa / kanan
• Straight - diretso
• Middle - gitna, pagitan
• North/South/East/West - hilaga / timog / silangan / kanluran
• Center - sentro

Colors

• White - puti
• Black - itim
• Red - pula
• Yellow - dilaw
• Green - luntian/berde
• Blue - bughaw/asul
• Purple - lila/violet
• Brown - kayumanggi/moreno/brown

Numbers and Dates

Counting

Both Tagalog and Spanish numbers are used in the common Filipino way of counting or determining numbers. Spanish numbers are only spelled in Filipino but basically pronounced similarly as they are in Spanish. English is also used.

• 1. isa/uno, 2. dalawa/dos, 3. tatlo/tres, 4.apat/kwatro, 5. lima/singko, 6. anim/sais, 7. pito/siyete, 8. walo/otso, 9. siyam/nuwebe, 10. sampu/diyes
• 11. labing-isa/onse, 12. labindalawa/dose, 13. labintatlo/trese, 14. labing-apat/katorse, 15. labinlima/kinse, 16. labing-anim/disisais, 17. labimpito/disisyete, 18. labing-walo/disiotso, 19. labinsiyam/disinuwebe
• 20. dalawampu/bente, 21. dalawampu't isa/benteuno, 22. dalawampu't dalawa/bentedos, ...
• 30. tatlumpu/trenta, 31. tatlumpu't isa/trenta'y uno, 32. tatlumpu't tatlo/trent'y dos, ...
• 40. apat na pu/kwarenta, 41. apat na pu't isa/kwarenta'y uno, 42. apat na pu't dalawa/kwrenta'y dos, ...
• 50. limampu/singkwenta, 60. anim na pu/sesenta, 70. pitumpu/setenta, 80. walampu/ochenta, 90. siyam na pu/nobenta
• 100. isang daan/siyento, 101. isang daan at isa, 102. isang daan dalawa/syento dos, 103. isang dalawa't tatlo/syento tres, 110. isang daan at sampu/syento diyes, 199. isang daan siyamnapu't siyam/syento nobenta'y nuwebe
• 200. dalawang daan/dosyentos, 201. dalawang daan at isa/dosyentos uno, 202. dalawang daan at dalawa/dosyentos dos, 203. dalawang daan at tatlo/dosyentos tres, 251. dalawang daan limampu't isa/dosyentos singkwenta'y uno
• 300. tatlong daan/tres syentos, 400. apat na raan/kwatro syentos, 500. limangdaan, 600. anim na raan, 700. pitong daan, 800. walong daan, 900. siyam na raan
• 1000. isang libo/mil, 2000. dalawang libo/dos mil, 3000. tatlong libo/tres mil, ...
• 1 million. isang milyon

Money

• How much? - Magkano?
• Peso. piso
• Centavos. sentimo
• Php10. Sampung piso
• Php120.50. Isang daan dalawampung piso at singkwenta sentimos.
• Change. sukli

Date and Time

• Day/Week/Month/Year - araw/linggo/buwan/taon
• Day of week (M,T,W,T,F,S,S) - lunes, martes, miyerkules, huwebes, biyernes, sabado, linggo
• Month - enero, pebrero, marso, abril, mayo, hunyo, hulyo, agosto, setyembre, oktubre, nobiyembre, disyembre
• Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow/Day after tomorrow - kahapon, ngayon, bukas
• Last/Next year - nakaraan/susunod na taon
• Morning - umaga
• Afternoon - hapon
• Noon - tanghali
• Evening/night - gabi
• Hour - oras
• Minute - minuto
• Second - segundo
• 1:00... = ala una, alas dos, alas tres..
• 11:30 = alas once y media
• 2:13 = alas dos y trenta
• What time is it? - Anong oras na?