The fastest words to learn are the ones you see most. This deck lists the 60 most common Filipino words, each with a clear English meaning and a real example sentence. Study them below, or download the deck for Anki or Quizlet.
The best Filipino flashcards to learn first are the words you meet most often. This free deck pairs the 60 most common Filipino words, like bahay, tao, tubig, with a plain English meaning and a real example sentence for each. Download it as a CSV for Anki or Quizlet, or learn the words in context by reading.
CSV columns are word, translation, example (with a header row). Ready to import into Anki, Quizlet, or any spaced-repetition app.
60 most common Filipino words · Updated July 2026
| Filipino | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bahay | house; home | Malaki ang bahay namin. |
| tao | person; human being | Maraming tao sa palengke. |
| tubig | water | Uminom ako ng tubig. |
| pagkain | food | Masarap ang pagkain dito. |
| araw | day; sun | Sumisikat ang araw sa umaga. |
| gabi | night; evening | Matutulog ako ngayong gabi. |
| oras | time; hour | Anong oras na? |
| kaibigan | friend | Siya ang aking kaibigan. |
| pamilya | family | Mahal ko ang aking pamilya. |
| bata | child | Naglalaro ang bata sa labas. |
| lalaki | man; male | Matangkad ang lalaking iyon. |
| babae | woman; female | Guro ang babaeng iyon. |
| paaralan | school | Pumunta ako sa paaralan. |
| trabaho | work; job | Maraming trabaho ngayon. |
| pera | money | Wala akong pera ngayon. |
| kotse | car | Bago ang kotse niya. |
| libro | book | Binabasa ko ang libro. |
| mesa | table | Nasa mesa ang plato. |
| lungsod | city | Malaki ang lungsod ng Maynila. |
| bansa | country; nation | Ang Pilipinas ay isang magandang bansa. |
| kumain | to eat | Kumain na ako. |
| uminom | to drink | Uminom siya ng gatas. |
| matulog | to sleep | Gusto kong matulog na. |
| maglakad | to walk | Maglakad tayo papunta sa paaralan. |
| tumakbo | to run | Tumakbo ang bata palabas. |
| magsalita | to speak; to talk | Marunong siyang magsalita ng Ingles. |
| makinig | to listen | Makinig ka sa guro. |
| magbasa | to read | Gusto kong magbasa ng libro. |
| magsulat | to write | Magsulat ka ng iyong pangalan. |
| pumunta | to go | Pumunta kami sa palengke kahapon. |
| dumating | to arrive | Dumating na ang bus. |
| umalis | to leave; to depart | Umalis na siya kanina. |
| bumili | to buy | Bumili ako ng bagong sapatos. |
| magluto | to cook | Magluto tayo ng hapunan. |
| tumingin | to look | Tumingin siya sa akin. |
| maganda | beautiful; nice | Maganda ang bulaklak na ito. |
| mabait | kind | Mabait ang guro namin. |
| malaki | big; large | Malaki ang elepante. |
| maliit | small; little | Maliit ang aso ko. |
| mainit | hot | Mainit ang kape. |
| malamig | cold | Malamig ang panahon sa umaga. |
| masaya | happy | Masaya ako ngayon. |
| malungkot | sad | Malungkot siya kahapon. |
| bago | new | Bago ang telepono ko. |
| matanda | old (person); elderly | Matanda na ang lolo ko. |
| ako | I; me | Ako ay estudyante. |
| ikaw | you (singular) | Ikaw ba ang guro? |
| siya | he; she | Siya ay masipag. |
| kami | we (excluding listener) | Kami ay galing sa palengke. |
| tayo | we (including listener) | Kumain na tayo. |
| sila | they | Sila ay magkaibigan. |
| ito | this | Ano ito? |
| iyon | that | Ibigay mo sa akin iyon. |
| oo | yes | Oo, tama ka. |
| hindi | no; not | Hindi ako gutom. |
| at | and | Kumain at uminom kami. |
| saan | where | Saan ka pupunta? |
| ano | what | Ano ang pangalan mo? |
| sino | who | Sino ang kasama mo? |
| bakit | why | Bakit ka umiiyak? |
Flashcards fix words in memory; reading teaches you to use them. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Filipino with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, and save any word to review later. Free to start.
The deck is built from high-frequency words, the ones that make up most of everyday Filipino. Learning them first gives you the biggest return per card, because you will meet them again and again the moment you start reading or listening.
Flashcards work best with spaced repetition: review a card, and if you knew it, wait longer before seeing it again. Anki and Quizlet both do this automatically. Download the CSV, import it, and review a few minutes a day. Keep the example sentence on the card so you learn how the word actually behaves, not just its dictionary gloss.
One honest limit: flashcards build recognition, but you learn to use a word by meeting it in real context. Pair this deck with reading. When a word you drilled shows up in a story, it stops being a flashcard and becomes part of the language. That pairing is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Best Filipino books for your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the Filipino CEFR test (A1 to C2) →
How long does it take to learn Filipino? See the timeline →
Start with the most frequent words. A few thousand high-frequency Filipino words cover the majority of everyday text, so each of those cards pays off far more than a rare one. This deck gives you the top 60 to begin with, each with a meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the word in context rather than in isolation. When a card sticks, meet the word again in a real book to lock it in.
Click Download CSV to save the deck, then in Anki choose File, Import and select the file. Map the first column to the front (the Filipino word) and the second to the back (the meaning); the third column holds an example sentence you can add to the back too. The first row is a header, so tell Anki to ignore it or delete that one card. For Quizlet, use Copy for Quizlet and paste into the import box with Tab between term and definition.
Flashcards are excellent for building recognition and drilling the first few thousand words, but on their own they teach words out of context. You learn to use Filipino, not just recognize it, by reading and hearing the words in real sentences. The efficient combination is flashcards for raw vocabulary plus reading for context, collocation and grammar. That is exactly what Lingo7 is built around.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 common words cover most everyday Filipino text, and around 5,000 gets you comfortably through many novels. You do not need all of them before you start: with sentence-aligned translation you can begin reading real Filipino at a couple of thousand words and pick up the rest from context. This deck is a fast way to front-load the most useful 60.