100 Essential Tagalog Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Tagalog	Type
hello	kumusta	interjection
goodbye	paalam	interjection
yes	oo	interjection
no	hindi	interjection
please	pakiusap	interjection
thank you	salamat	interjection
sorry	patawad	interjection
and	at	conjunction
but	ngunit	conjunction
or	o	conjunction
because	dahil	conjunction
here	dito	adverb
there	doon	adverb
always	palagi	adverb
never	hindi kailanman	adverb
together	magkasama	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Tagalog	Type
man	lalaki	noun
woman	babae	noun
boy	batang lalaki	noun
girl	batang babae	noun
friend	kaibigan	noun
mother	ina	noun
father	ama	noun
brother	kuya	noun
sister	kapatid na babae	noun
son	anak na lalaki	noun
daughter	anak na babae	noun
child	anak	noun
husband	asawang lalaki	noun
wife	asawang babae	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Tagalog	Type
to be	ay	verb
to have	mayroon	verb
to do	gawin	verb
to go	pumunta	verb
to come	dumating	verb
to eat	kumain	verb
to drink	uminom	verb
to want	gusto	verb
to need	kailangan	verb
to know	alam	verb
to speak	magsalita	verb
to read	magbasa	verb
to write	magsulat	verb
to listen	makinig	verb
to work	magtrabaho	verb
to buy	bumili	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Tagalog	Type
good	mabuti	adjective
bad	masama	adjective
new	bago	adjective
old	matanda	adjective
young	bata	adjective
tall	matangkad	adjective
short	pandak	adjective
nice	mabait	adjective
shy	mahiyain	adjective
healthy	malusog	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Tagalog	Type
red	pula	adjective
blue	asul	adjective
green	berde	adjective
yellow	dilaw	adjective
black	itim	adjective
white	puti	adjective
orange	kahel	adjective
purple	lila	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Tagalog	Type
one	isa	number
two	dalawa	number
three	tatlo	number
four	apat	number
five	lima	number
six	anim	number
seven	pito	number
eight	walo	number
nine	siyam	number
ten	sampu	number
zero	sero	number
twenty	dalawampu	number

Time

10 words

English	Tagalog	Type
today	ngayong araw	adverb
tomorrow	bukas	adverb
yesterday	kahapon	adverb
morning	umaga	noun
afternoon	hapon	noun
evening	gabi	noun
day	araw	noun
week	linggo	noun
month	buwan	noun
year	taon	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Tagalog	Type
water	tubig	noun
coffee	kape	noun
tea	tsaa	noun
milk	gatas	noun
bread	tinapay	noun
cheese	keso	noun
fruit	prutas	noun
apple	mansanas	noun
egg	itlog	noun
rice	bigas	noun

Home

4 words

English	Tagalog	Type
house	bahay	noun
door	pinto	noun
window	bintana	noun
bed	kama	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Tagalog words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Tagalog words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Tagalog

Tagalog vocabulary testFind your level How long does Tagalog take to learn?A realistic plan

Tagalog for beginners questions

What are the first Tagalog words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Tagalog that means words like kumusta (hello), salamat (thank you), tubig (water) and kumain (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Tagalog written?

Tagalog uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. All of these words use plain a–z letters.

Is 100 words enough to speak Tagalog?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Tagalog words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.