Localize Tl

Localize: Tagalog / Filipino (tl → Tagalog / Wikang Filipino)

You are translating source text into Tagalog / Filipino for the Philippines. This skill captures grammar, register, UI conventions, formatting, and Tagalog-specific failure modes — including the famously complex focus / trigger system that distinguishes Tagalog from every Indo-European language.

Scope & Variants

One UI standard, two names for it:

• tl-PH — Tagalog as the regional Luzon language (the historical basis for the national language).
• fil-PH — Filipino, since the 1987 Constitution, is the national language of the Philippines. It is based on Tagalog but officially incorporates vocabulary from other Philippine languages (Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Bikol, Waray, etc.) and from Spanish/English.

For UI work, use the Filipino register since Filipino is the official national variant and the form taught in schools, used in government, and used in mass media. In practice, ~95% of Filipino UI text is identical to Tagalog UI text — the differences are mostly in formal/literary registers and in some vocabulary expansion.

ISO codes: tl (Tagalog) and fil (Filipino) are both used. CLDR uses fil for the national language; tl is the older code. Many software systems still use tl as the locale code. Treat them as effectively interchangeable for UI purposes.

Native names:

• Tagalog — Tagalog (the language as spoken historically in Luzon)
• Filipino / Wikang Filipino — the national language

Co-official language: English (since the 1935 Constitution). Most Filipinos are bilingual; Taglish (Tagalog-English code-switching) is normal in everyday speech, advertising, and casual media. Formal UI should default to pure Filipino, but tech terms borrowed from English are widely accepted.

Identity Guardrail — Austronesian, NOT Spanish, NOT Chinese (CRITICAL)

Tagalog/Filipino is an Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language. Its closest distant relatives are Indonesian, Malay, Javanese, Hawaiian, Maori, Malagasy. Like all Austronesian languages it has:

• Verb-initial / predicate-initial word order (V1)
• Focus / trigger system with case markers
• Agglutinative affixes (prefix, infix, suffix, circumfix, reduplication)
• No grammatical gender
• No articles in the European sense

Despite ~30% Spanish loanwords (silya from silla "chair", kotse from coche "car", kwento from cuento "story", libro "book", pera "money", mesa "table", bintana "window", kusina "kitchen", banyo "bathroom"), Tagalog is NOT a Romance language and shares no grammatical structure with Spanish. Loanwords adapted Tagalog phonotactics — they don't bring Spanish grammar with them.

Despite Chinese loanwords (mostly from Hokkien — bihon "rice noodles", siopao, ate "older sister", kuya "older brother", lola "grandmother", lolo "grandfather", pansit), Tagalog is NOT a Chinese language and shares no grammatical structure with Mandarin or Hokkien.

Despite English co-official status and heavy Taglish in daily life, the Tagalog grammar — focus system, V1 word order, ang/ng/sa case markers, mga plural, na/-ng ligature — is fully intact and what makes Filipino "Filipino".

Common identity errors to avoid:

• ❌ Translating as if it were Spanish ("La mga file" — using Spanish article la with Tagalog mga is nonsensical)
• ❌ Translating as if it were English with substituted words (SVO Anglo word order, no ligature, no case markers)
• ❌ Treating it as a "simple" or "broken" language because it lacks gender/articles — the focus system is grammatically richer than most European languages
• ❌ Confusing with Cebuano (Bisaya) — a different Philippine Austronesian language with ~20M speakers, NOT mutually intelligible with Tagalog. Cebuano uses "ang" similarly but vocabulary differs widely (Cebuano: unsa, asa, kanus-a / Tagalog: ano, saan, kailan)
• ❌ Confusing with Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray — other major Philippine languages, all distinct

Register

Tagalog/Filipino formality is signaled primarily by:

1. Pronoun choice (kayo plural/formal vs ikaw/ka singular informal)
2. Politeness particles (po/opo — inserted to mark respect)
3. Vocabulary register (formal/literary vs colloquial)

| Level | Form | Use case | |---|---|---| | Formal w/ po | kayo + po/opo | Speaking to elders, customers, respect contexts; "Salamat po" | | Formal w/o po | kayo | Business UI, professional software (DEFAULT FOR UI) | | Informal | ikaw / ka | Casual, peer-to-peer, friend-to-friend | | Inclusive "we" | tayo | Includes listener — warm, inclusive UI tone | | Exclusive "we" | kami | Excludes listener — "we, the company" |

po and opo — Politeness Particles

po and opo are inserted into utterances to mark respect/politeness. They have no direct English equivalent — closest analogy is the deferential softening of "sir/ma'am" but particles, not nouns.

| Plain | With po (polite) | |---|---| | Salamat (Thanks) | Salamat po. (Thank you, sir/ma'am) | | Oo (Yes, informal) | Opo. (Yes, polite) | | Hindi (No) | Hindi po. (No, polite) | | Anong oras na? (What time is it?) | Anong oras na po? | | Pwede ba? (May I?) | Pwede po ba? (May I, please?) |

Default for product UI: NO po/opo. Po/opo is reserved for spoken interpersonal contexts and direct customer-service tone. UI buttons, status messages, and labels should be neutral imperative — adding "po" to "I-save" sounds weirdly conversational for a button.

| Wrong (po in UI) | Correct (neutral UI) | |---|---| | I-save po | I-save | | Mag-log in po | Mag-log in | | Salamat po sa paggamit | (acceptable in marketing/welcome screens) Salamat sa paggamit is more neutral |

Use po/opo sparingly — only in: customer-service prompts ("Paano po kami makakatulong?" = How may we help you?), thank-you screens, formal error messages where extra deference is warranted.

kayo vs ikaw

• kayo — plural "you" AND formal singular "you" (like Spanish "usted" or French "vous"). DEFAULT for UI.
• ikaw / ka — informal singular "you". Use for casual brand voice, youth apps.

ka is a clitic that attaches to the previous word; ikaw is the full form. Both informal.

| Form | Example | |---|---| | Formal | "Maligayang pagdating sa inyong bagong account." (Welcome to your new account — formal inyong) | | Informal | "Maligayang pagdating sa iyong bagong account." (informal iyong) |

tayo vs kami (Inclusive vs Exclusive "We")

This is critical for UI tone:

• tayo — inclusive "we" — includes the listener/reader. Use when the action involves both system+user.
• kami — exclusive "we" — excludes the listener. Use when speaking AS the company/system TO the user.

| Wrong | Correct | Reason | |---|---|---| | "Magse-save kami ng file mo" | "Magse-save tayo ng file mo" | The user IS doing the saving with us — use inclusive tayo | | "Tayo ay magpapadala ng email" | "Magpapadala kami ng email" | The company sends the email TO the user — use exclusive kami | | "Mag-start na tayo!" (Let's start) | ✅ correct — inclusive tayo for shared action | | "Sasabihan namin kayo." (We will notify you) | ✅ correct — exclusive kami because the system notifies, the user receives |

Formal vs Colloquial Vocabulary

Professional UI must use standard Filipino, not colloquial shortenings:

| Colloquial (AVOID in UI) | Formal (USE in UI) | Meaning | |---|---|---| | di / 'di | hindi | not / no | | 'yung / yun | iyon / ang | the / that | | 'to / 'yan | ito / iyan | this / that | | lang | lamang | only / just (lang is widely used informally but formal text prefers lamang) | | 'wag | huwag | don't | | kasi | dahil / sapagkat | because | | pano | paano | how | | san | saan | where | | kelan | kailan | when | | sino | sino (same) | who | | meron / 'meron | mayroon | there is / has |

Colloquial forms are acceptable in: casual/youth-oriented apps with explicit informal tone, social/chat features, marketing targeting Gen-Z.

Critical Hard Rules

1. Verb-Initial Word Order (V1) — severity 2.0

Tagalog is verb-initial / predicate-initial. The predicate (verb or adjective) comes FIRST. This is the opposite of English SVO and the opposite of Spanish SVO. Trying to translate by preserving English word order is a hallmark of bad MT output.

| English (SVO) | Tagalog (V1) | Gloss | |---|---|---| | I am eating. | Kumakain ako. | Am-eating I | | The user saved the file. | Nag-save ng file ang user. | Saved NG file ANG user | | The system is loading. | Naglo-load ang system. | Is-loading ANG system | | You are welcome. | Walang anuman. | Lit. "(There is) nothing" | | The file is large. | Malaki ang file. | Big ANG file (predicate-adjective first) | | The file is being saved. | Sine-save ang file. | Being-saved ANG file |

Pronoun and ang-phrase order after the verb:

• Verb + clitic pronouns + ang-phrase + ng-phrase + sa-phrase

Verb        Clitic    Topic(ANG)       Object(NG)       Location(SA)
Binili      mo        ang libro        —                sa tindahan.
You-bought  ang book                                     at the store.

Common errors:

• ❌ "Ako ay kumakain." (I am eating — using ay inversion) — grammatically valid but stilted/literary. Default V1 is "Kumakain ako."
• ❌ "Ang user nag-save ng file." — wrong order; verb must come first
• ✅ "Nag-save ang user ng file." or "Nag-save ng file ang user." — verb first

Inverted form with ay: Tagalog allows SVO-ish reordering via the linker ay ("Si Maria ay kumakain"), but this is formal/literary and not the default UI register. Use V1 unless you have a specific reason (e.g., emphatic, formal speech writing).

2. The Focus / Trigger System (Pokus) — severity 3.0

This is THE defining feature of Tagalog grammar. Every Tagalog verb is conjugated for focus (which argument is "topical" / marked by ang) AND for aspect (completed / incompleted / contemplated). There is no straight English equivalent — closest analogy is active vs passive vs locative voice but extended to more roles.

The Three Case Markers

| Marker | Role | Description | |---|---|---| | ang (or si for personal names) | Topic / focused argument | Definite, salient — what the sentence is "about" | | ng (pronounced "nang") (or ni for personal names) | Non-topic agent / patient / possessor | The other argument | | sa (or kay for personal names) | Oblique | Location, direction, recipient, beneficiary |

The Same Event, Different Focus

The same action "bought" can be expressed multiple ways depending on which argument is in focus:

| Sentence | Focus | Gloss | |---|---|---| | Bumili ang lalaki ng tinapay. | Actor focus | "The MAN bought bread." (focus on who did it) | | Binili ng lalaki ang tinapay. | Object focus | "The man bought the BREAD." (focus on what was bought) | | Binilhan ng lalaki ng tinapay ang tindahan. | Locative focus | "The man bought bread AT THE STORE." (focus on where) | | Ibinili ng lalaki ng tinapay ang anak. | Beneficiary focus | "The man bought bread FOR THE CHILD." (focus on for whom) |

Notice: the verb affix changes to match the focus, AND the case markers (ang/ng) shift accordingly.

Focus Affixes Summary

| Focus | Affixes | Example (root: kain = eat) | |---|---|---| | Actor | -um-, mag-, mang- | kumain (ate — actor focus), nagluto (cooked — actor focus, more deliberate) | | Object (patient) | -in, i- | kainin (to eat it), kinain (was eaten — object focus), ibigay (to give it) | | Locative (location/goal) | -an | kainan (eating place / eat at), buksan (open it / open at) | | Beneficiary | ipag-, i- | ipagluto (cook for someone) | | Instrumental | ipang- | ipanghiwa (cut with) | | Potentive (ability/accidental) | maka-, ma- | nakakain (was able to eat / accidentally ate) |

For UI commands the most common are:

• i- prefix (object focus, attaches to English/foreign roots) — i-save, i-delete, i-click, i-upload
• -in suffix (object focus, often native roots) — kainin (eat it), buksan (open it — note: -an for buksan because it's locative)
• mag- prefix (actor focus, intentional action) — mag-log in, mag-upload (as "to perform the act of uploading")
• -um- infix (actor focus) — kumain, sumulat

i- vs mag- vs -in for UI Buttons

This is the most practically important distinction:

| Pattern | When to use | Examples | |---|---|---| | i- + root | Object focus on an English/foreign root — when the button acts ON an object (file, item) | I-save, I-delete, I-upload, I-edit, I-cancel, I-publish, I-sync | | mag- + root | Actor focus — when the user performs an action (less about acting on an object) | Mag-log in, Mag-sign up, Mag-search (Maghanap), Mag-print | | -in suffix | Object focus on a native root | Buksan (open), Kanselahin (cancel — native), Burahin (delete — native), Tanggalin (remove), Hanapin (search — native) | | -an suffix | Locative focus on a native root | Buksan (open — locative because "open AT something"), Lagyan (put on) |

Both forms often coexist in modern Filipino UI:

• I-save / Mag-save → both used
• I-delete / Burahin → both used (I-delete uses English root, Burahin uses native)
• I-cancel / Kanselahin → both used (Kanselahin uses Spanish-derived native form)

3. Aspect (NOT Tense) — severity 2.5

Tagalog verbs encode aspect, not tense. There are three aspects:

| Aspect | Meaning | Encoding | |---|---|---| | Perfective (completed) | Action completed | Affix only, no reduplication | | Imperfective (incompleted) | Action in progress or habitual | Reduplication of first CV of root/affix | | Contemplated (not yet started) | Future-like, planned | Reduplication WITHOUT the realis marker | | Infinitive | Citation form | Plain affix |

Example: kain (eat) — actor focus with -um-

| Aspect | Form | English approximation | |---|---|---| | Infinitive | kumain | to eat | | Perfective (completed) | kumain | ate | | Imperfective (ongoing) | kumakain | is eating / eats (habitually) | | Contemplated (future) | kakain | will eat |

Note: the infinitive and the perfective have the same form for -um- verbs. Context disambiguates.

Example: save (foreign root) — object focus with i-

| Aspect | Form | English approximation | |---|---|---| | Infinitive | i-save | to save | | Perfective | i-save / na-save / sini-save (completed: nai-save) | saved | | Imperfective | sine-save / sini-save | saving | | Contemplated | ise-save / ise-save | will save |

Reduplication is critical for "loading" states in UI:

• ❌ "I-save..." (with ellipsis but no reduplication — looks like infinitive, not "saving")
• ✅ "Sine-save..." / "Sini-save..." (imperfective — actually means "saving")
• ✅ "Naglo-load..." (loading — actor focus imperfective of "load")
• ✅ "Ina-upload..." (being uploaded — imperfective object focus)
• ✅ "Dina-download..." (being downloaded)

4. mga (Plural Marker) — severity 1.5

mga (pronounced "manga") is the plural/collective marker. It goes BEFORE the noun.

| Singular | Plural | |---|---| | tao (person) | mga tao (people) | | libro (book) | mga libro (books) | | file | mga file | | user | mga user | | bata (child) | mga bata (children) |

Critical rules for when to use mga:

Rule 1: REQUIRED for plural nouns in plain text

• ❌ "Mag-upload ng File" (when source is "Upload Files" — plural) → ✅ "Mag-upload ng mga file"
• ❌ "Pumili ng item" (when source is "Select items") → ✅ "Pumili ng mga item"
• ❌ Removing mga from a plural translation CHANGES THE MEANING from plural to singular

Rule 2: OMITTED with numbers / quantifiers

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Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: i18n-agent
• Source: i18n-agent/i18nstack
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://i18nagent.ai

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.