Can you imagine life without the 5 senses? It’s hard! So, today, we’ll learn the five senses in Tagalog – pandama, panlasa, pandinig, paningin, and pang-amoy.
One of the first things that children learn, not just Filipinos, is the five senses of our body. Learning about the five senses is important in our daily life. It makes us aware of the things around us and even in the universe.
We can’t imagine our life without the five senses. If you’re into traveling and learning about different cultures, learning about the five senses will surely make your whole trip memorable. It’s like you’re in a whole new different universe. Through the sense of sight and touch, you’ll see lots of beautiful places and enjoy the weather there. You’ll enjoy the delicious food and how it smells through the sense of smell and taste. You’ll hear how natives communicate with each other through the sense of hearing.
Five Senses In Tagalog
Life will be hard without the five senses. This is one of the first lessons teachers teach their students in school. So, here are the five senses in Tagalog and their meaning in English.
Paningin (Sight)
Example sentence: Ang ganda ng Pilipinas ay nakabibihag ng aking paningin. (The beauty of the Philippines captures my sight.)
The first of the five senses that we will discuss is the paningin or the sense of sight. It involves the eyes or mata in Tagalog/Filipino. We use the sense of sight to determine the shape, size, and appearance of an object, basically everything that you can see.
In the Philippines, there are really lots of beautiful places that will captivate your sight. You’ll never get tired of them because almost everywhere you go, the Philippines will truly give you treats for the eyes.
Here are some basic sensory words for the sense of sight.
| Tagalog | English Translation | Example Sentence |
| kulay | color | Kulay bughaw ang langit. (The sky is color blue.) |
| size | laki | Kung uusapan ang laki, maliit lamang ang Pilipinas. (In terms of size, the Philippines is only small.) |
| shape | hugis | Ang hugis ng keyk na gusto ko ay bilog. (The shape of the cake that I want is circle.) |
| appearance | anyo | Huwag husgahan ang panlabas na anyo ng isang tao. (Don’t judge the outer appearance of a person.) |
| malaki | big | Malaki ang bulkang Mayon. (Mt. Mayon is big.) |
| maliit | small | Mas maliit ang Chocolate Hills kumpara sa bulkang Mayon. (Chocolate hills is smaller compares to Mt. Mayon.) |
| maganda | beautiful | Isang magandang bansa ang Pilipinas. (The Philippines is a beautiful country.) |
| ugly | pangit/ hindi kaaya-aya | Huwag sabihang pangit ang isang tao. (Do not tell someone that they are ugly.) |
| matangkad/mataas | tall | Matangkad ang mga manlalaro ng Gilas Pilipinas. (The players of Gilas Pilipinas are tall.)(Do not tell someone that they are ugly.) |
| mababa/maliit | short/small | Mababa lang ang bundok na rating aakyatin. (The mountain that we will climb is small.” |
| mahaba | long | Mahaba and kaniyang pasensya. (Her patience is long.) |
| maikli | short | Maikli lamang and buhay. (Life is short.) |
| makulay | colorful | Gawin nating makulay ang mundo. (Let’s make the world colorful.) |
Pang-amoy (Smell)
Example Sentence: Malakas ang kaniyang pang-amoy kaya nalaman niyang nagluluto si Nanay ng adobo. (His sense of smell is really strong that’s why he knew that mom is cooking adobo.)
Have you smelled the fragrance of Sampaguita, the national flower of the Philippines? How about the smell of Lechon when it is being roasted? I bet you can’t resist it. But you can’t enjoy the smell of these things without the sense of smell.
In Filipino, the word for the sense of smell is pang-amoy. The body part that is involved here is the nose or long in Tagalog/Filipino. There are easy-to-remember sensory words that can be used for the sense of smell, like the following:
| Tagalog | English Translation | Example Sentence |
| mabango | fragrant | Mabango ang Sampaguita. (Sampaguita is fragrant.) |
| mabaho | smelly | Mabaho ang tubig sa Ilog Pasig. (The water in the Pasig River is smelly.) |
| walang amoy | no smell/odorless | Walang amoy ang bulaklak. (The flower has no smell.) |
| malansa | smelly | Nangamoy malansa ang damit ko pagtapos kong mamalengke. (My clothes smelled fishy when I go to the market.) |
Pandama (Touch)
Example Sentence: Malakas ang aking pandamang may mali kahit hindi ka nagsasalita. (I have a strong feeling that there’s something wrong even though you’re not speaking.)
Pandama is the Filipino word for the sense of touch. It is basically responsible for everything that you people are feeling, The body part that is responsible for this is the skin. The word feelings in Tagalog is damdamin. So, here are some basic Filipino words related to the sense of touch.
| Tagalog | English Translation | Example Sentence |
| mainit | hot | Mainit ang panahon. (The weather is hot.) |
| malamig | cold | Malamig ang panahon. (The weather is cold.) |
| makinis | smooth | Makinis ang balat niya. (Her skin is soft.) |
| magaspang | rough | Magaspang ang liha. (The sand paper is rough.) |
| matulis | sharp | Matulis ang kutsilyo. (The knife is sharp.) |
| basa | wet | Basa pa ang damit na aking sinampay. (The clothes that I hung is still wet.) |
| tuyo | dry | Tuyo na ang damit. (The clothes are already dry.) |
| madulas | slippery | Madulas ang daan kapag umuulan. (The road is slippery when it rains.) |
| matigas | hard | Matigas ang bato. (The rock is hard.) |
| malambot | soft | Malambot ang tinapay. (The bread is soft/tender.) |
Pandinig (Hearing)
Example Sentence: Masarap sa pandinig ang kaniyang tinig. (Her voice is pleasant to hear.)
One of the best things that you can probably hear when you visit the Philippines is their beautiful voice. It’s no surprise that Filipinos are good at singing. In fact, some of the world-famous Filipino singers are Charice Pempengco (Now Jake Zyrus), Morisette Amon, KZ Tandingan, Regine Velasquez, Leah Salonga, and more.
The Tagalog/Filipino word pandinig means “sense of hearing” in English. To widen your vocabulary, here are some words related to hearing in Tagalog/Filipino.
| Tagalog | English Translation | Example Sentence |
| maingay | noisy | Maingay ang klase. (The class is noisy.) |
| tahimik | quiet | Tahimik sa silid-aklatan. (It’s quiet in the library.) |
| malakas | loud | Malakas ang tugtog sa piging. (The sounds are loud in the party.) |
| mahina | soft/inaudible | Mahina ang kaniyang boses. (His voice is inaudible.) |
| nakabibingi | defeaning | Nakabibingi ang malakas na tugtog. (The loud music is defeaning.) |
Panlasa (Taste)
Example Sentence: Patok sa panlasa ng mga Pilipino ang mga pagkaing Koreano. (Korean food satisfies the taste of Filipinos.)
This is the Tagalog/Filipino word for the sense of taste. It is used to describe the taste of food and other things that you can taste. In the Philippines, there are lots of delicious Filipino food to try. Starting from snacks down to dishes. But, if you really want to channel your inner Filipino, try eating balut or any ihaw-ihaw.
For now, let us learn the following Tagalog/Filipino words that are related to the sense of taste.
| Tagalog | English Translation | Example Sentence |
| masarap | delicious | Masarap ang sinigang. (Sinigang is delicious.) |
| maasim | sour | Maasim ang mangga. (The mango is sour.) |
| maalat | salty | Maalat ang adobo. (Adobo is salty.) |
| matamis | sweet | Matamis ang halo-halo. (The Halo-halo is sweet.) |
| mapait/mapakla | bitter | Mapait ang ampalaya. (The bitter gourd is bitter.) |
| maanghang | spicy | Maanghang ang sisig. (The sisig is spicy.) |
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