Filipino Pronunciation of English Words

Philippines (pee-lee-pins)

candy (kehn-dee) = kendi

teacher (tee-chehr) = titser

juice (joos) = dyus

computer (kohm-pyoo-tehr) = kompyuter

drugstore (drahg-is-tohr) = dragstor

honey (hah-nee) = hani

movie (moo-bee)

Go there (go-dehr)

The “f” sound (the “ph” in Philippines) comes out as a “p.”
The “th” sound (“there”) becomes a “d.”
The “v” sound (“movie”) turns into a “b.”
The “ă” sound (“candy”) becomes a short “e.”


Although the word “Filipino” is acceptable in Filipino (the Philippine language), most Filipinos will still say Pilipino when referring to a Filipino person while speaking in Filipino/Tagalog.

This is primarily because a “p” sound is easier for a Filipino to pronounce than an “f” sound. In fact, even though the letters c, f, j, x, z, etc. have formally been included in the Philippine/Filipino alphabet, there is still an overwhelming tendency to transliterate foreign words into native pronunciation forms.

Examples of English words spelled into Filipino:

kompyuter, kwalipikasyon, okasyon, kendi, titser, indibidwal, sipilis…

2 thoughts on “Filipino Pronunciation of English Words”

  1. I remember my friend’s son said to his father, itay (dad), yu nid to go to my skul. Dad say y, r u in trobol agen. He said, no itay, I dyast want yu to si may titser tits. Dad got excited until I told him pare (Buddy or Friend), so you can see his teacher teach. Ok, let’s dyast go to da bits den so we ken go swiming.

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