Tagalog to Bisaya Translation Guide: 100 Common Words Side by Side

Why a Tagalog-Bisaya Comparison?

If you already know some Tagalog (or Filipino, the national language), you might think learning Bisaya will be easy. And honestly? Some words ARE the same or very similar. But alot of them are completely different - like, not even close.

I put this guide together because when I first tried to "convert" my Tagalog knowledge to Bisaya, I was surprised at how many words I had to learn from scratch. This side-by-side list should save you some of that confusion.

A quick note before we start: Tagalog and Bisaya are both Austronesian languages and they share some common roots, but they diverged hundreds of years ago. Think of them like Spanish and Portuguese - related but definitely separate languages. Don't assume one will automatically translate to the other.

Basic Greetings & Expressions

These are the words you'll use literally every single day. Some overlap, many don't:

• Hello/How are you? - Tagalog: Kumusta? → Bisaya: Kumusta? ✅ (same!)
• Good morning - Tagalog: Magandang umaga → Bisaya: Maayong buntag
• Good afternoon - Tagalog: Magandang hapon → Bisaya: Maayong hapon (close!)
• Good evening - Tagalog: Magandang gabi → Bisaya: Maayong gabii
• Thank you - Tagalog: Salamat → Bisaya: Salamat ✅ (same!)
• Yes - Tagalog: Oo → Bisaya: Oo ✅ (same!)
• No - Tagalog: Hindi → Bisaya: Dili
• Please - Tagalog: Pakiusap → Bisaya: Palihog
• Sorry/Excuse me - Tagalog: Pasensya → Bisaya: Pasensya ✅ (same!)
• I don't understand - Tagalog: Hindi ko naiintindihan → Bisaya: Wala ko kasabot

So out of 10 basic greetings, about 4 are the same. Not bad actually - thats higher than average.

Pronouns

This is where things get really different. Bisaya pronouns are one of the first things that trips up Tagalog speakers:

• I/Me - Tagalog: Ako → Bisaya: Ako ✅
• You (singular) - Tagalog: Ikaw/Ka → Bisaya: Ikaw/Ka ✅
• He/She - Tagalog: Siya → Bisaya: Siya ✅
• We (inclusive) - Tagalog: Tayo → Bisaya: Kita
• We (exclusive) - Tagalog: Kami → Bisaya: Kami ✅
• They - Tagalog: Sila → Bisaya: Sila ✅
• My/Mine - Tagalog: Akin → Bisaya: Akoa/Nako
• Your/Yours - Tagalog: Iyo → Bisaya: Imo/Nimo

The pronouns are actually pretty close between the two languages. The big gotcha is "tayo" vs "kita" - in Tagalog, "kita" means "I see you" but in Bisaya it means "we (including you)." This causes SO much confusion.

Common Verbs

Verbs is where you really see how different these languages are:

• Eat - Tagalog: Kain → Bisaya: Kaon
• Drink - Tagalog: Inom → Bisaya: Inom ✅
• Sleep - Tagalog: Tulog → Bisaya: Tulog ✅
• Walk - Tagalog: Lakad → Bisaya: Lakaw
• Talk/Speak - Tagalog: Salita → Bisaya: Sulti
• Go - Tagalog: Punta → Bisaya: Adto
• Come - Tagalog: Halika → Bisaya: Dali/Ari
• Buy - Tagalog: Bili → Bisaya: Palit
• Give - Tagalog: Bigay → Bisaya: Hatag
• See/Look - Tagalog: Tingnan → Bisaya: Tan-aw
• Know - Tagalog: Alam → Bisaya: Kabalo
• Want - Tagalog: Gusto → Bisaya: Gusto ✅
• Like - Tagalog: Gusto → Bisaya: Ganahan
• Love - Tagalog: Mahal → Bisaya: Higugma
• Cook - Tagalog: Luto → Bisaya: Luto ✅

Some verbs are identical (tulog, inom, luto) but many are completely different. The verb that gets people most is "palit" (buy) in Bisaya vs "palit" (change/exchange) in Tagalog. Imagine going to a store and saying "palit" thinking you're saying "change" but the vendor thinks you want to buy something.

Everyday Nouns

• Water - Tagalog: Tubig → Bisaya: Tubig ✅
• Food - Tagalog: Pagkain → Bisaya: Pagkaon
• House - Tagalog: Bahay → Bisaya: Balay
• Dog - Tagalog: Aso → Bisaya: Iro
• Cat - Tagalog: Pusa → Bisaya: Iring
• Fish - Tagalog: Isda → Bisaya: Isda ✅
• Chicken - Tagalog: Manok → Bisaya: Manok ✅
• Money - Tagalog: Pera → Bisaya: Kwarta
• Road/Street - Tagalog: Daan → Bisaya: Dalan
• Friend - Tagalog: Kaibigan → Bisaya: Higala/Bai
• Child - Tagalog: Bata → Bisaya: Bata ✅
• Person - Tagalog: Tao → Bisaya: Tawo
• Car - Tagalog: Kotse → Bisaya: Sakyanan
• Rain - Tagalog: Ulan → Bisaya: Ulan ✅
• Sun - Tagalog: Araw → Bisaya: Adlaw

Some are almost the same with just slight spelling differences (bahay/balay, pagkain/pagkaon, tao/tawo). Others are totally different (aso/iro, pera/kwarta).

Question Words

• What - Tagalog: Ano → Bisaya: Unsa
• Where - Tagalog: Saan → Bisaya: Asa
• When - Tagalog: Kailan → Bisaya: Kanus-a
• Why - Tagalog: Bakit → Bisaya: Ngano
• How - Tagalog: Paano → Bisaya: Giunsa
• Who - Tagalog: Sino → Bisaya: Kinsa
• How much - Tagalog: Magkano → Bisaya: Pila

Every single question word is different. Not one overlap. This is probably the hardest category if you're coming from Tagalog.

Adjectives

• Big - Tagalog: Malaki → Bisaya: Dako
• Small - Tagalog: Maliit → Bisaya: Gamay
• Hot - Tagalog: Mainit → Bisaya: Init
• Cold - Tagalog: Malamig → Bisaya: Bugnaw
• Beautiful - Tagalog: Maganda → Bisaya: Gwapa/Nindot
• Delicious - Tagalog: Masarap → Bisaya: Lami
• Expensive - Tagalog: Mahal → Bisaya: Mahal ✅
• Cheap - Tagalog: Mura → Bisaya: Barato
• Fast - Tagalog: Mabilis → Bisaya: Paspas
• Slow - Tagalog: Mabagal → Bisaya: Hinay
• Good - Tagalog: Mabuti/Magaling → Bisaya: Maayo
• Bad - Tagalog: Masama → Bisaya: Daotan

The big trap here: "mahal" means both "expensive" AND "love" in Tagalog. In Bisaya, "mahal" only means "expensive." Love is "higugma." If you tell a Bisaya speaker "mahal kita" thinking it means "I love you," they might think you're saying "you're expensive." Awkward.

Useful Phrases Compared

Here are some complete phrases side by side:

• Where is the bathroom? - Tagalog: Nasaan ang banyo? → Bisaya: Asa ang CR?
• How much is this? - Tagalog: Magkano ito? → Bisaya: Pila ni?
• I'm hungry - Tagalog: Gutom na ako → Bisaya: Gutom na ko
• Let's eat! - Tagalog: Kain tayo! → Bisaya: Kaon ta!
• I don't want - Tagalog: Ayoko → Bisaya: Dili ko gusto
• It's delicious! - Tagalog: Masarap! → Bisaya: Lami!
• I love you - Tagalog: Mahal kita → Bisaya: Gihigugma tika

The Pattern: What's Similar and What's Not

After looking at all these words, some patterns emerge:

Words that tend to be similar:

• Basic pronouns (ako, ikaw, siya)
• Spanish loanwords (salamat, pasensya, gusto)
• Some nature words (tubig, ulan, isda)
• Some body-related words (tulog, inom)

Words that are always different:

• Question words (completely different set)
• Most adjectives
• Many common verbs
• Negation words (hindi vs dili)

My Advice

If you know Tagalog and want to learn Bisaya, heres what I'd recommend:

• Don't assume similarity. Every time you think "this is probably the same in Bisaya," double-check. You'll be wrong more often then you think.
• Learn the question words first. Since ALL of them are different, these will trip you up the most.
• Watch out for false friends. Words that exist in both languages but mean different things (like "palit" and "kita") will cause the most embarrassing mistakes.
• Use your Tagalog as a foundation, not a crutch. The grammar structures have some similarities, which helps. But dont try to just swap vocabulary - it doesnt work that way.

The good news? If you already speak one Philippine language, your brain is already wired for the general structure. You'll pick up Bisaya faster than someone starting from zero. Just dont get lazy about it.

Start building your Bisaya vocabulary with our topic-based word lists or dive into our complete dictionary with 160+ words.