bakawan
bakáwan with stress marks
mangrove
Usage Note
Bakawan refers to the mangrove tree and mangrove forest ecosystems that line Philippine coasts, estuaries, and tidal flats. Mangroves are critically important for coastal protection, as fish nurseries, and for carbon sequestration. Reforestation of bakawan is a major environmental advocacy effort in the Philippines.
Examples
" Marami silang itinanim na bakawan. "
Natural Translation
They planted many mangroves.
Literal Translation
Many they planted the mangrove.
" Nagdiwang ang komunidad matapos itanim ang libu-libong bakawan sa baybayin. "
Natural Translation
The community celebrated after planting thousands of mangroves along the coast.
Literal Translation
Celebrated the community after planted thousands-of mangroves at-the coast.
" Pinoprotektahan ng bakawan ang baybayin mula sa malalaking alon, kaya mahalagang alagaan ito ng mga mangingisda. "
Natural Translation
The mangroves protect the coast from big waves, so it's important for fishermen to take care of them.
Literal Translation
Being-protected of-the mangrove the coast from the big the wave, so important to-care-for it of the fishermen.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workRelated Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

Tagalog Root Words: Learn a Few Hundred, Understand Thousands
Tagalog root words unlock vocabulary fast: learn a few hundred and recognize thousands. Real word families, examples, and a practical study strategy.

Po and Opo in Tagalog: Where to Put Them Right
Po and opo confuse learners — but placement follows one rule. Where po goes in a sentence, why it's opo not 'oo po', and the pronoun shift to learn.

Ng vs Nang in Tagalog: The Spelling Rule
Ng vs nang sound identical but spell differently. Use ng to mark nouns (of, the object), and nang for how, when, repetition, and counting time.

Tagalog vs Filipino: What's the Difference & Which to Learn
Tagalog and Filipino aren't the same language — but they overlap almost completely. Here's the real difference and which one you should actually learn.