How To Address Family & Relatives In Filipino

Some families are big. Some families are small. Some families like to cook together and end up burning food together, so they order pizza instead. Don’t get me wrong, pizza is always good. But burning food sucks, especially when you’re already hungry and have to wait even longer for food to be delivered. Ugh.

However, there is something to be said about the family that cooks and burns food together: they stay together. If you think about it, despite the burning part of the cooking event, nothing was really much of a disaster. Because through it all, many memorable moments were made in the never-boring kitchen of a home sweet home.

Take Filipino families, for example. Food plays a central role in gatherings and celebrations. Food in Filipino families is the chain that links and unites each other from grandparents to grandchildren. So, it doesn’t matter if a dish is missing an ingredient or two. When it’s made with love and care, it will still be delicious and filling, and it will never leave you hungry, especially whenever you are around family and loved ones.

• parent: magulang (mah-goo-lang)
• parents: mga magulang (ma-nga mah-goo-lang)
• family: pamilya (pa-mil-yah)
• mom: mama (ma-ma), nanay (na-nay), inay (ee-nay), nay (ee-nay), ina (ee-nah)
• dad: papa (pa-pa), tatay (ta-tay), itay (ee-tay), tay (tay), ama (ah-mah)
• grandma: lola (loh-lah)
• grandpa: lolo (loh-loh)
• grandchild: apo (ah-poh)
• grandchildren: mga apo (ma-nga ah-poh)
• child: anak (ah-nak)
• children: mga anak (ma-nga ah-nak)
• daughter: anak na babae (ah-nak na ba-ba-eh)
• son: anak na lalake (ah-nak na la-la-keh)
• sibling: kapatid (ka-pa-tid)
• siblings: mga kapatid (ma-nga ka-pa-tid)
• sister: kapatid na babae (ka-pa-tid na ba-ba-eh)
• brother: kapatid na lalake (ka-pa-tid na la-la-keh)
• aunt: tiya (tee-yah), tiyahin (tee-yah-hin)
• uncle: tiyo (tee-yoh), tiyohin (tee-yoh-hin)
• niece: pamangkin (pa-mang-kin)
• nephew: pamangkin (pa-mang-kin)
• cousin: pinsan (pin-san)
• wife: asawa (ah-sah-wah)
• husband: asawa (ah-sah-wah)