Tagalog · wikang Tagalog · Latin script
Greetings in Tagalog: kumusta, magandang umaga, po and opo, salamat
The everyday greeting in Tagalog is kumusta, from Spanish cómo está, which works as hello and how are you. By the time of day Tagalog says magandang umaga, magandang tanghali, magandang hapon and magandang gabi, and adding po makes any of them respectful.
Common greetings in Tagalog with register
The register column says who a Tagalog form suits. Respectful forms with po are for elders, superiors and strangers. The forms, glosses and labels are those of Wiktionary and of Wikipedia's Tagalog article.
| English | Tagalog | Register | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saying hello | ||||
| hello; how are you? | kumustakamusta (colloquial) | neutral | from Spanish cómo está | |
| how are you? (respectful) | kumusta po kayo | respectful | po plus plural kayo | |
| good day | magandang araw | neutral | ||
| good morning | magandang umaga | neutral | literally beautiful morning | |
| good noon | magandang tanghali | neutral | about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | |
| good afternoon | magandang hapon | neutral | about 1 to 6 p.m. | |
| good evening | magandang gabi | neutral | ||
| welcome; long live | mabuhay | formal | for official welcomes and toasts | |
| Saying goodbye | ||||
| goodbye | paalam | formal | slightly formal | |
| take care | ingat | neutral | ingat po sa biyahe: take care on your trip | |
| Polite words | ||||
| thank you | salamat | neutral | from Malay selamat | |
| thank you very much | maraming salamat | neutral | ||
| thank you (respectful) | salamat po | respectful | ||
| you're welcome | walang anumanwala iyon (informal) | formal | literally no anything | |
| yes (respectful) | opooho | respectful | oo plus po | |
| respect particle | poho | respectful | po is more formal than ho | |
The times for tanghali and hapon follow Wikipedia's Tagalog article. Wiktionary labels paalam slightly formal, mabuhay formal and rare in everyday talk, and wala iyon informal.
Kumusta: hello and how are you in one word
Kumusta is a Spanish question turned into a Tagalog greeting. Wiktionary derives it from cómo está, how are you, and gives it two senses, hello and how are you. Kumusta ka? asks one person informally; kumusta po kayo? asks an elder or a stranger, with the respect particle po and the plural kayo used for politeness.
The spelling has colloquial variants. Wiktionary lists kamusta as colloquial, musta as a clipping, and kmsta as text-message shorthand. In formal writing the standard form is kumusta.
Several greetings in Tagalog share this Spanish background, kumusta most visibly; the time-of-day greetings and the polite particles below are native Tagalog. The same loan spread across the Philippines: Wiktionary compares Ilocano kumosta, Kapampangan and Bikol komusta, Cebuano kumusta and Maranao komosta, so a traveller can greet people with almost the same word from Luzon to Mindanao.
Magandang umaga to magandang gabi
The time-of-day greetings combine maganda, beautiful, with the linker -ng and the part of the day: magandang umaga, beautiful morning, is good morning. Wiktionary glosses it literally as beautiful morning.
Tagalog divides the day more finely than English. Wikipedia's Tagalog article gives magandang tanghali for the hours around noon, from about 11 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, and magandang hapon for the afternoon from about 1 to 6. Magandang gabi covers the evening and night, and magandang araw, good day, fits any daylight hour.
Wiktionary records magandang gab-i as a dialect form of Southern Tagalog, and the colloquial pronunciation gabe for gabi. The English loan gudnayt also appears among the related words.
Po and opo: respect in every sentence
Respect in Tagalog is a particle added to any sentence, so the greetings in Tagalog need no separate polite forms. Po marks respect towards the person spoken to, and Wiktionary notes that it never starts a sentence unless used alone. Salamat po is a respectful thank you; magandang umaga po a respectful good morning.
Ho is the lighter partner. Wiktionary's usage note says that in standard Tagalog po is more formal and polite than ho, while some dialects make no difference. The respectful yes, opo, is formed from oo, yes, and po; oho is the slightly less formal version for familiar elders.
Wiktionary's note on opo names the people it is meant for: elders, superiors and even strangers. Po follows the same logic, so a greeting to a grandmother, a teacher or an unknown shopkeeper takes it.
| Tagalog | English |
|---|---|
| Magandang umaga po! | Good morning! (respectful) |
| Kumusta po kayo? | How are you? (respectful) |
| Ingat po sa biyahe! | Take care on your trip! |
| Maraming salamat po. | Thank you very much. |
| Walang anuman. | You're welcome. |
| Opo. | Yes. (respectful) |
Ingat po sa biyahe is Wiktionary's example for ingat.
Salamat, paalam, ingat and mabuhay
Salamat, thank you, is borrowed from Malay selamat, which meant safety and congratulations; Wiktionary notes the obsolete senses welcome and Godspeed. Maraming salamat, many thanks, is the warmer form, built with the same linker -ng that joins numbers to nouns: marami, many, plus -ng. With an elder both take po: salamat po, maraming salamat po. The reply walang anuman, literally no anything, is slightly formal; wala iyon and maliit na bagay, a small thing, are the informal answers Wiktionary lists.
Paalam is goodbye, labelled slightly formal. It comes from the prefix pa- and alam in the sense of permission, so taking leave is literally asking permission. Ingat, take care, is the other common way to part, often with po: ingat po.
Mabuhay, long live, is the greeting of official welcomes. Wiktionary's usage note says native speakers rarely use it in everyday conversation; it belongs to tourism, official events, formal welcomes and toasts, and it is a calque of Spanish ¡viva!
Questions about greetings in Tagalog
How do you say hello in Tagalog?
Kumusta, which also means how are you. By the time of day: magandang umaga, magandang hapon, magandang gabi.
What does po mean in Tagalog?
Po is a particle of respect towards the person addressed. Adding it to greetings in Tagalog, as in salamat po, makes them polite to elders and strangers.
What is the difference between oo and opo?
Both mean yes. Opo, from oo plus po, is the respectful form for elders, superiors and strangers.
How do you say goodbye in Tagalog?
Paalam, slightly formal, or ingat, take care, in everyday use.
How do you say good afternoon in Tagalog?
Magandang hapon, used from about 1 to 6 in the afternoon. Around midday, from about 11 to 1, the greeting is magandang tanghali, a time slot English has no greeting for.
Do Filipinos say mabuhay as hello?
Mostly in formal welcomes, tourism and toasts. In everyday conversation kumusta is the usual greeting.