handa
handâ with stress marks
ready; food prepared for a gathering
Usage Note
Handa as an adjective means prepared or ready for an event or task. As a noun it refers to food or a feast prepared for a celebration — may handa at a party signals that a meal has been laid out for guests — and both senses are extremely common in everyday Filipino life.
Examples
" Handa ka na ba? "
Natural Translation
Are you ready now?
Literal Translation
Ready you already question?
" Handa na ang lahat para sa handaan bukas. "
Natural Translation
Everything is ready for the party tomorrow.
Literal Translation
Ready already the all for the feast tomorrow.
" Maraming handa sa hapag-kainan ngayong Pasko dahil gusto ni Lola na masaya at busog ang lahat ng bisita. "
Natural Translation
There is a lot of food on the dining table this Christmas because Grandma wants all the guests to be happy and full.
Literal Translation
Many food on dining-table this Christmas because wants by Grandma that happy and full the all of guests.
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.
Tagalog Word Order: Sentence Structure Made Simple
Why Tagalog puts the verb first, and how ang, ng, and sa markers work. A clear guide to VSO word order, forming questions, and negation.
Tagalog Question Words: Ano, Sino, Saan & More
Tagalog question words like ano, sino, and saan need the right frame to work. Learn the ang-vs-pronoun rule, confusable pairs, and the ba particle with audio.
Filipino Family Words and Honorifics: Ate, Kuya & Tita
Filipino family words like ate, kuya, tita, tito, lolo, and lola go far beyond family — learn how Filipinos use them with strangers, plus mano po etiquette.
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.