Adjectives give life to the nouns we use in our daily conversations.

In Tagalog, adjectives are called pang-uri.

Learning these descriptive words will immediately expand your ability to express yourself.

Many Tagalog adjectives begin with the prefix ma-, which essentially means “having” a certain quality.

Let’s look at the most useful Tagalog adjectives for people, places, and feelings.

Tagalog adjectives for describing people

When describing people in Tagalog, you’ll use a mix of physical traits and personality descriptors.

You’ll notice that many of these words start with the prefix ma-.

The word gwapo is a Spanish loanword that’s used all over the Philippines to mean “handsome”.

However, native Tagalog speakers might also use the word makisig to describe a handsome, well-built, or dashing man.

In the Visayas and Mindanao regions, you might also hear gwapo or gwapa used to describe beautiful objects or good situations, not just people.

Here’s a list of the most common adjectives for people:

Here are a few ways to use these adjectives in real conversations.

Tagalog adjectives for describing places

Describing places requires a different set of vocabulary words.

For example, you can’t use matangkad (tall for people) to describe a tall building.

Instead, you’d use mataas (high/tall for objects and structures).

Here’s a helpful list of adjectives used for locations and environments:

Let’s look at how these are used to describe places.

Tagalog adjectives for describing feelings

Describing your emotions or physical state is an essential part of basic communication.

Unlike physical traits, not all feeling words use the ma- prefix.

Words like pagod (tired) and gutom (hungry) are root words that stand perfectly on their own as adjectives.

Here are the most common feelings in Tagalog:

Here are examples of expressing how you feel.

How to use adjectives in Tagalog sentences

Forming sentences with adjectives in Tagalog is surprisingly simple.

Tagalog sentences often place the adjective at the very beginning of the sentence.

You don’t usually need an equivalent to the English verb “is” or “are” when describing something.

You simply state the adjective followed by the pronoun or the noun.

If you’re using a specific noun, you connect the adjective and the noun with the marker ang.

If you’re using a pronoun like ako (I) or siya (he/she), the pronoun directly follows the adjective.

To add emphasis to your adjectives, you can use intensifiers like sobra (too much) or masyado (very).

You can also use the prefix napaka- attached to a root word to mean “very”.