LESSON TRANSCRIPT

All About #5
Top 5 Must-Know Phrases for
Learning Filipino

CONTENTS
2 INTRODUCTION
2 LESSON FOCUS
3 OUTRO

# 5
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INTRODUCTION

Betsey: Mabuhay! Hello everyone! Betsey: here.

Becky: Hello everyone, welcome back to FilipinoPod101.com. T his is All-About,
Lesson 5 - T op 5 Must-Know Phrases for Learning Filipino. I’m Becky. In this lesson,
you will learn some useful phrases in Filipino.

LESSON FOCUS

Betsey: T hese will help you get started on having conversations with others. In this
lesson, we'll teach you five phrases.
Becky: Yes, phrases that you’ll be really glad you learned.
Betsey: What's more, we'll teach you not only the phrases, but when and where to use
them. We’re going to give you the phrase, pause for you to repeat it, explain it, and
then move on to the next phrase.
Becky: Remember to tell us if you like this format in the comments of this lesson! Ok,
let’s get started.
Betsey: ‘Mabuhay.’ (Pause)
Becky: One of the first words you find out when you’re learning a new language is how
to say “hello”.
Betsey: Now by definition, ‘Mabuhay’ does mean “Hello”, “Goodbye” or “Welcome”. It
can also be translated literally as “Long life” in Filipino.
Becky: Yes. So as you can probably already tell by the association, Filipinos are warm
and welcoming people. But using this in a casual greeting like a “hello!” and a “Hi”
sounds a bit unnatural.
Betsey: So a more relaxed and casual way to say this is ‘Kumusta’ which is “Hi” or
“Hello”. ‘Kumusta’. (slow) ‘Ku-mus-ta’. T his is another useful phrase. Once more,
‘Kamusta’. If you think it sounds familiar, you're right. It comes from the Spanish phrase
‘Como estas?’
Becky: It is indeed very similar. Unlike in Spanish, it’s just one word for “How are
you?” and if you just use it on its own, it can be interpreted as very casual, just like
saying “What’s up?”
Betsey: T o add a more formal tone to it you can say ‘Kumusta po kayo?’ ‘po’ is used
to indicate formality or to show respect. ‘Kayo’ means “you”.
Becky: Alright. What’s next?
Betsey: ‘Salamat.’ (slow) ‘Sa-la-mat’. Like in any language or situation, “T hank you” is
a must-learn phrase. T o say, “T hank you very much”, you add ‘Maraming’ before
‘Salamat’, which means “Many”. ‘Maraming Salamat’. (slow) ‘Ma-ra-ming Sa-la-mat’.
Becky: And what’s next?
Betsey: ‘Wag nalang.’ (slow) ‘Wag na-lang.’Of course, you also need to know how to
say “No, thank you”. ‘Wag’ means “Do not” and ‘nalang’ comes from the word ‘lang’,
which means “only”. Altogether, ‘Wag nalang’ indicates “No thank you”. You can also
say ‘Salamat nalang’. (slow) ‘Sa-la-mat na-lang’. With ‘nalang’ it means “thank you

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only”. By adding ‘nalang’, it shows that you feel bad about declining the offer.
Becky: Good to know. What’s our next phrase?
Betsey: ‘Pasensya na.’ (slow) ‘Pasensya na.’ T his “I’m sorry.” It’s also very helpful to
know. ‘Pasensya’ means “Patience”. By adding ‘Na’ it indicates your need for the
action. So for this phrase, it shows your need for “patience” or “forgiveness”.
Becky: Is there anything else we need to know about this phrase?
Betsey: ‘Na’ is also useful because it can be used in many phrases like ‘Halika na’
meaning “Come here” or “Let’s go”.
Becky: It can also give a friendlier tone to your phrases, so it can be very helpful.
Betsey, what’s our last phrase?
Betsey: ‘Opo’ (slow) ‘Opo’.
Becky: Now, you may have heard this in phrases before and it means, “Yes”. But it’s
used in formal situations, and usually towards someone you respect. It is often used to
address people who are older than the actual speaker.
Betsey: Filipino culture very much treasures respect to the elderly, so this is a
commonly used word. ‘Oo’ also means, “yes” but this one is only used for your peers
and friends. ‘Oo’. ‘Po’ is used in the same way. It’s useful because you can use ‘po’
after any kind of sentence, to indicate formality or respect.
Becky: For example, using the phrase we learned earlier...
Betsey: ... ‘Kamusta’...
Becky: can easily be made into a formal phrase just by adding...
Betsey: ...‘po’...
Becky: ...to the end.
Betsey: Which gives us ‘Kamusta po’? T he same goes for ‘salamat’. You can easily
say ‘salamat po’ to get the same effect.
Becky: Ok, well I think these are all useful phrases to know.
Betsey: Yes, you will probably hear and use them every day!

OUTRO

Becky: T hat’s all for this lesson. Please join us for the next one. Until then, bye
everyone!
Betsey: Paalam!

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