Learn Ilocano and Tagalog
Guides built on the same checked data as the rest of the site. Where a claim comes from a published source it is cited; where we could not confirm something, we left it out rather than guessing.
Comparing the two languages
Ilocano vs Tagalog: The Real Differences
How Ilocano and Tagalog actually differ — language family, linkers, case markers, negation and vocabulary — with worked examples of each.
Can Tagalog Speakers Understand Ilocano?
Why comprehension between Ilocano and Tagalog runs almost entirely one way, and what the two languages genuinely share.
Ilocano Pronouns vs Tagalog Pronouns
The full Ilocano pronoun system — absolutive, ergative and oblique — including the dual number English cannot express.
Vocabulary
Ilocano–Tagalog False Friends That Catch People Out
Words that exist in both languages with different meanings — apo, baga, daya, saan — and why machine translation handles them badly.
Ilocano Numbers and How They Are Built
Native Ilocano numerals with their Tagalog equivalents, the rule for building numbers above ten, and when Ilocano speakers use Spanish numbers instead.
Ilocano Days of the Week and Time Expressions
The Ilocano days, times of day and words for today, tomorrow and yesterday, each with its Tagalog equivalent.
Writing and pronunciation
Translation quality
Guides on Ilocano pronouns and month names are not published yet. We could not source them reliably enough, and a pronoun table that is nearly right is worse than none at all.