LESSON THREE
Greetings and Common Expressions
Aside from the borrowed Hi and Hello, Tagalogs have other forms of greetings—peppered with speech suffixes that define courtesy and deference.
I. POLITE FORMS OF ADDRESS— PÔ AND HÔ
Tagalog politeness is a trait worthy to be discussed and taught to learners of the language. Younger generations and junior employees include the terms pô or hô at the start or end of their greetings and responses to express respect for older people—parents, older relatives, and other senior individuals— or persons with honorific titles or authority—clergy, teachers, community leaders, employers, and policemen—regardless of age. Pô and hô approximately mean sir or madam in English and reflect the speaker’s good manners and his respect to the one spoken to.
Pô is not used by an older person when talking to a younger person such as a father talking to his son or daughter. Neither do equals, such as siblings or friends, use the term.
Short positive responses can be just oo or yes when speaking to a younger person or a peer in a familiar manner, but when speaking to an older person, you must use either o-pô or o-hô, both of which are the formal or polite versions of yes.
II. GREETINGS—GOOD DAY, ETC.
Greetings usually start with magandá, which means beautiful. The complete greeting is Magandá ang áraw —often shortened to Magandáng áraw —which literally means beautiful day. The most common greetings from morning to evening, in their polite forms, are:
| Magandáng áraw pô. | Good day, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng umága pô. | Good morning, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng tanghálì pô. | Good afternoon, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng hápon pô. | Good afternoon, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng gabí pô. | Good evening, sir/madam. |
Note that tanghálì is noon or midday. The period covers lunch time, from around 11 in the morning to 1 o’clock in the afternoon. This is the time when most Tagalog families prepare and have their lunch.
For equals, it is fine to drop pô and just say:
| Magandáng umága. | Good morning. |
| Magandáng hápon. | Good afternoon. |
In addition to the use of pô or hô, another polite way of greeting people is to address them in the plural form by adding sa inyó, which means to you (plural), and sa kanilá, which means to them, at the end of the greeting. In English, however, a greeting with sa kanilá at the end still translates to to you in Tagalog and not literally to them. The plural forms emphasize the greeter’s acknowledgment of the seniority or authority of the person being greeted. On the other hand, equals use sa iyó or to you (singular).
| Magandáng umága pô sa inyó. | Good morning to you, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng hápon pô sa kanilá. | Good afternoon to you, sir/madam. |
| Magandáng umága sa iyó. | Good morning to you. |
The usual responses of both older or senior individuals and equals contain rin and namán, which mean too, indicating that the one who received the greeting meant the greeter to have a similar good day.
| Magandáng umága rin sa iyó. | Good morning to you, too. |
| Magandáng umága namán. | Good morning, too. |
| Magandáng tanghálì rin pô. | Good afternoon, too, sir/madam. |
III. GREETINGS—HOW ARE YOU?
The influence of Spanish is evident in the way Filipinos, particularly Tagalogs, greet people. Derived from the Spanish “como esta,” Tagalogs use a similar greeting when they meet a friend, a relative or an acquaintance of about their age or stature. Older people also use this greeting toward younger people.
| Kumustá ka? | How are you? |
The Tagalog equivalent for the singular pronoun you is ikáw ; it becomes ka when the pronoun is used in an inverted word order (Refer to discussions on sentence formation and pronouns in Lessons Five and Six).
But when greeting an elder or superior, Tagalogs use the plural kayó and silá instead of ka. This is the polite way of greeting and asking how one is. Kayó and silá are the plural pronouns for you and they, respectively. Pô may be dropped if kayó and silá are used.
| Kumustá pô kayó? | How are you, sir/madam? |
| Kumustá silá? | How are you, sir/madam? |
Take note that it is not unusual for Tagalogs to ask about one’s family—parents, spouse, children, and everyone else in the family—when they see each other, whether the speaker is young, old or at about the same age as the person spoken to. Other cultures should see this as a reflection of the thoughtful nature of Filipinos, young and old alike.
The responses to these greetings usually include mabúti which means fine, salámat which means thank you, as well as rin and namán.
| Mabúti namán (pô). Salámat (pô). | Fine, too, sir/madam. |
| Mabúti rin (pô). Salámat. | Thank you, sir/madam. |
Salámat is optional at the end of the sentence, thus pô or hô may be attached to the first half of the response. However, it is never wrong