bansa
bansâ with stress marks
country
Usage Note
Bansa is the standard term for a country, used in both formal news and everyday talk about travel or identity. It is pronounced with a quick glottal stop at the end, though the accent mark is usually omitted in casual writing.
Examples
" Saang bansa ka galing? "
Natural Translation
What country are you from?
Literal Translation
Which country you from?
" Mahal ko ang aking bansa. "
Natural Translation
I love my country.
Literal Translation
Love I the my country.
" Maraming bansa ang tumulong nang sumapit ang malaking lindol sa aming lalawigan. "
Natural Translation
Many countries helped when the big earthquake struck our province.
Literal Translation
Many country that helped when arrived the big earthquake in our province.
Take Tagalog with you
The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workDerived Words
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
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.
May vs Mayroon vs Meron: Have & There Is
May vs mayroon in Tagalog finally made simple: one rule decides which to use, plus how meron and wala fit the same have and there-is family.
Languages of the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, and More
Languages of the Philippines: one national language (Filipino) plus 180+ regional languages. Here's who speaks what, where, and why it matters to you.
Seasons in the Philippines: A Tagalog Guide
The Philippines has two seasons, not four. Learn tag-araw, tag-ulan, and taglamig, the generative tag- prefix, and the weather vocabulary to match.