Basic Greetings and Expressions in Tagalog

In Brief

Use magandang plus a part of the day for greetings such as Magandang umaga (“Good morning”), and use kumusta to ask how someone is. Add po to a statement or question when showing respect; use opo as a respectful “yes.” With friends and peers, these markers are usually omitted.

Overview

Greetings are among the first things you need at A1 because they let you begin and end an interaction before you can build long sentences. In Tagalog, the words themselves are only part of the message. Your choice between ka and kayo, and whether you add po, also signals how you relate to the person you are addressing.

English often expresses politeness through tone, indirect wording, or words such as “please.” Tagalog does that too, but it also has small politeness markers. Po is a particle (a short word that adds social meaning rather than naming an object or action). It can make a greeting, answer, request, or question respectful. Opo is the corresponding respectful affirmative answer: “yes.”

Everyday Filipino speech frequently mixes Tagalog and English, but the Tagalog expressions in this article are complete, natural tools in their own right. Learn them as flexible patterns rather than as one-to-one replacements for English phrases.

How It Works

Greetings for different times of day

The pattern is magandang + time expression. Magandang is a linking form of maganda (“beautiful” or “good”); here it produces the conventional sense “good …” before the following word.

Tagalog	Usual meaning	When to use it
Magandang umaga.	Good morning.	In the morning
Magandang tanghali.	Good day / Good noon.	Around midday
Magandang hapon.	Good afternoon.	In the afternoon
Magandang gabi.	Good evening.	In the evening or at night
Magandang araw.	Good day.	A general daytime or formal greeting

Add po for respect: Magandang umaga po. Unlike English “good night,” Magandang gabi can greet someone when you meet them at night; it is not restricted to parting or going to bed.

A simple Kumusta? works at many times of day and is similar to “How are you?” or “How’s it going?” The spelling Kamusta is also common in informal use, but kumusta is the standard form taught here.

Asking how someone is

Tagalog distinguishes two common forms of “you” in these phrases:

Pattern	Meaning	Typical relationship
Kumusta ka?	How are you?	One friend, peer, child, or familiar person
Kumusta kayo?	How are you? / How are you all?	One person addressed respectfully, or two or more people
Kumusta po kayo?	How are you?	One elder or respected person; explicitly polite

Ka is singular and familiar. Kayo is plural, but it also addresses one person respectfully. This means that Kumusta kayo? can be either plural or polite; the situation tells you which meaning is intended. Adding po makes the respectful reading especially clear.

Common answers include:

• Mabuti naman. — “I’m fine.” Here naman gives the reply a natural conversational tone; it need not be translated word for word.
• Mabuti po. — “I’m fine.” (respectful)
• Ayos lang. — “I’m okay.” (casual)
• Okay lang. — “I’m okay.” (very common informal mixed usage)
• Hindi mabuti. — “Not good.”
• Ikaw? — “And you?” (familiar singular)
• Kayo po? — “And you?” (respectful)

Using po and opo

Use po inside a sentence, greeting, question, or short answer:

• Salamat po. — Thank you.
• Hindi po. — No. (respectful)
• Saan po? — Where? (respectful)
• Paalam na po. — Goodbye now. (respectful)

Use opo as a respectful “yes,” whether it stands alone or begins an answer:

• Opo. — Yes.
• Opo, naiintindihan ko. — Yes, I understand.

The ordinary familiar “yes” is oo. The ordinary “no” is hindi; its respectful form is hindi po, not hindi opo. At the beginner level, a reliable rule is: use po with elders, customers, teachers, and others whom you wish to address respectfully; use opo when answering “yes” to them.

Thanks, apologies, and courtesy

Expression	Meaning	Note
Salamat.	Thank you.	Neutral or familiar
Maraming salamat.	Thank you very much.	Literally “many thanks”
Walang anuman.	You’re welcome.	Literally “nothing at all”
Pakiusap.	Please / a request	Used when making or introducing a request
Paki- + action	Please …	A productive request pattern, as in Pakibukas (“Please open it”)
Pasensya na.	Sorry / Please be patient with me.	Common for minor inconvenience or fault
Paumanhin.	Excuse me / My apologies.	More formal
Makikiraan po.	Excuse me; may I pass?	Useful when moving through a crowd

English “please” does not map to one universal Tagalog word. Po adds respect, but it does not by itself turn an order into a polite request. A request may use paki-, an appropriate verb form, polite tone, and po together: Pakibukas po ang pinto (“Please open the door”). For now, memorize complete useful phrases rather than attaching po to every command.

Saying goodbye

Paalam is the direct standard word for “goodbye.” The particle na often conveys that the departure is now taking place: Paalam na. In everyday conversation, these are also common:

• Sige, paalam. — All right, goodbye.
• Ingat! — Take care!
• Ingat po kayo. — Take care. (respectful)
• Hanggang sa muli. — Until next time. (more formal or deliberate)
• Kita tayo ulit. — See you again.

Sige is highly flexible. During a farewell it can mean “all right then” and help close the conversation; in other contexts it can mean “go ahead,” “okay,” or “sure.”

Examples in Context

Tagalog	English	Note
Magandang umaga po!	Good morning!	Respectful greeting
Magandang hapon, Ana.	Good afternoon, Ana.	Familiar or neutral
Kumusta ka?	How are you?	To one familiar person
Mabuti naman. Ikaw?	I’m fine. And you?	Natural casual reply
Kumusta po kayo, Lola?	How are you, Grandma?	Po and kayo show respect
Mabuti po, salamat.	I’m fine, thank you.	Respectful reply
Salamat po sa tulong.	Thank you for the help.	Sa introduces what the thanks is for
Maraming salamat!	Thank you very much!	Stronger thanks
Walang anuman.	You’re welcome.	Conventional response
Opo, naiintindihan ko.	Yes, I understand.	Respectful affirmative
Hindi po, salamat.	No, thank you.	Respectful refusal
Pasensya na, nahuli ako.	Sorry, I’m late.	Apology for a minor fault
Makikiraan po.	Excuse me; may I pass?	Said while passing someone
Paalam na po.	Goodbye now.	Respectful farewell
Sige, ingat ka!	All right, take care!	Familiar singular farewell

Common Mistakes

Using ka for every kind of “you”

• Wrong: Kumusta ka po, Ginoo? when deliberately addressing an older stranger formally
• Better: Kumusta po kayo, Ginoo?
• Why: Ka is familiar singular. Respectful address normally uses kayo, often together with po. English has only one everyday “you,” so this distinction takes practice.

Treating opo as the polite form of every answer

• Wrong: Hindi opo.
• Right: Hindi po.
• Why: Opo means respectful “yes.” To say respectful “no,” use hindi po.

Adding po mechanically at the very end of every sentence

• Awkward: Saan kayo pupunta po?
• Natural: Saan po kayo pupunta?
• Why: Po often appears early in the clause, commonly after the first question word or short phrase. Fixed expressions such as Salamat po naturally place it at the end. Listen to whole phrases instead of relying on one rigid position rule.

Translating “good night” without considering its function

• Potential mismatch: Magandang gabi when someone is going to bed
• Better farewell: Matulog ka nang mahimbing (“Sleep well”) or simply Sige, good night in common mixed speech
• Why: Magandang gabi is primarily an evening greeting. English “good night” is often a farewell, so the situations do not match exactly.

Assuming po always means “please”

• Incomplete: Buksan po ang pinto if your goal is a gentle “Please open the door”
• Clear request: Pakibukas po ang pinto.
• Why: Po marks respect. The request structure itself—here paki-—does the work of asking politely.

Answering Kumusta? with a literal life report every time

• Overly literal habit: giving a long account when the greeting is casual
• Natural: Mabuti naman. Ikaw? or Ayos lang.
• Why: Like English “How are you?”, Kumusta? is often a social greeting. A short conventional response is normal, though a close friend may genuinely invite a fuller answer.

Usage Notes

Politeness in Tagalog depends on relationship and setting, not merely on age. Po and respectful kayo are strongly associated with addressing elders, but they can also be appropriate with customers, officials, unfamiliar adults, or anyone toward whom the speaker wishes to show deference. Families and regions differ in how frequently they use them. If a respected person speaks casually to you, that does not automatically mean you should drop po in return.

A greeting does not have to be repeated word for word. If someone says Magandang umaga po, you can answer with the same phrase, with Magandang umaga rin po (“Good morning to you too”), or with another suitable acknowledgment. Rin means “also/too” here.

Tagalog conversation often includes address terms such as Ate (“older sister,” also used respectfully for a somewhat older woman), Kuya (“older brother,” similarly extended), Tito, Tita, Lola, and Lolo. Their social use goes beyond literal family relationships. Because choosing one depends on age, closeness, and local norms, beginners should copy how trusted speakers address a particular person rather than guessing.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these details at A1, but they explain patterns you will hear later.

Po behaves like an enclitic, a small word that tends to attach to an earlier element in the clause. This is why it often appears near the beginning: Ano po ang pangalan ninyo? (“What is your name?”), not automatically at the sentence’s final edge. Other short Tagalog particles interact with it, and their natural ordering is best acquired from complete sentences.

You may also hear ho and oho instead of po and opo. They are respectful variants in some speakers’ usage, but po and opo are the safest forms for a beginner and are widely understood. Frequency and nuance vary by speaker and region.

Respect can be layered. In Kumusta po kayo?, kayo provides respectful address and po reinforces deference. In some contexts Kumusta kayo? is already courteous enough; in others, omitting po can sound noticeably less respectful. No single English translation captures this social calibration.

Finally, routine expressions can carry meanings larger than their dictionary definitions. Sige may accept a suggestion, grant permission, encourage someone, or end an exchange. Naman can soften, contrast, or connect a response to what was just said. Learn these particles through repeated situations before trying to assign each one a fixed English equivalent.

Practice Tips

1. Build three versions of each exchange. Say Kumusta ka? to a friend, Kumusta kayo? to a group, and Kumusta po kayo? to an elder. This connects the form to the relationship instead of treating politeness as decoration.
2. Rehearse two-line mini-dialogues. For example: Magandang umaga po. — Magandang umaga rin. Then: Kumusta ka? — Mabuti naman. Ikaw? Practice the response as well as the opening.
3. Listen for the position of po. When watching or hearing Tagalog, write down the few words immediately before and after po. Memorize useful chunks such as Ano po…?, Hindi po, and Salamat po rather than inventing a universal placement rule.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Politeness Markers (Po/Opo/Ho) — a fuller treatment of respectful particles and how they fit into sentences.
• Next step: Food and Eating Expressions — use greetings and courteous replies around invitations such as Kain na tayo! (“Let’s eat!”).