From root: ilaw
Conjugations
Past (Completed)
inilawan
i-ni-la-WAN
lit up something
Present (Incomplete)
iniilawan
i-ni-i-la-WAN
lighting up something
Future (Contemplated)
iilawan
i-i-la-WAN
will light up something
Usage Note
Ilawan is used when directing light toward a specific object, person, or area to provide illumination, such as using a flashlight to help someone see in the dark. It focuses on the thing or place being lit rather than the act of turning on a general light fixture.
Examples
" Ilawan mo ang daan. "
Natural Translation
Light up the road.
Literal Translation
Light-up you the road.
" Nakita ko siyang ilawan ang daan. "
Natural Translation
I saw him light up the road.
Literal Translation
Saw I him light-up the road.
" Inilawan ng bata ang madilim na sahig gamit ang flashlight para hindi matapakan ang natutulog na pusa. "
Natural Translation
The child lit up the dark floor with a flashlight so as not to step on the sleeping cat.
Literal Translation
Lit-up by-the child the dark floor using the flashlight so not step-on the sleeping cat.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workWord family
ilaw has 9 related forms built from the same root.
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

Tagalog Greetings: How to Say Hello, Goodbye & Po/Opo
Master Tagalog greetings with pronunciation: kumusta, magandang umaga, po and opo polite forms, time-of-day phrases, and the mano po tradition.

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.

Mano Po and Filipino Etiquette: A Visitor's Guide
Mano po presses an elder's hand to your forehead as a blessing. Learn who to mano, how to lip-point, and the etiquette that wins over a Filipino family.

How to Say Sorry in Tagalog: Patawad vs Pasensya
How to say sorry in Tagalog: patawad, pasensya na, and paumanhin compared on a simple severity-and-formality ladder so you pick the right word every time.