“Do you speak English?” in every Philippine language
Do you speak English? across 9 languages, and what the differences tell you.
Last updated
Side by side
| Language | Do you speak English? |
|---|---|
| English | Do you speak English? |
| Tagalog | Marunong ka bang mag-Ingles? |
| Ilocano | Makasaoka iti Ingles? |
| Cebuano | Kamao ka mo-English? |
| Hiligaynon | Kabalo ka mag-English? |
| Waray | Maaram ka mag-English? |
| Bikol | Tataong ka mag-English? |
| Kapampangan | Balu meng mag-English? |
| Pangasinan | Antam so mansalitay English? |
What the pattern shows
The verb for 'to know how' differs completely: kamao, kabalo, maaram, tataong. None of them is the Tagalog 'marunong'.
No two languages here use the same word. That is unusual even on this list, and it is the clearest possible answer to whether these are dialects of one another.
Where this comes from
This row is one of 84 concept pages drawn from a parallel set of everyday vocabulary held across nine languages. You can browse all of them, download the whole set under CC BY-SA 4.0, or paste text to find out which language it is.
Compiled from published general reference and pending review by native speakers. If something here is wrong in a language you speak, please tell us.