Skip to content

isla

ísla with stress marks

island

noun IS-la Spanish origin Less Common
Illustration of "isla" (island)

Usage Note

Isla is a Spanish loanword for island, and it is central to Filipino geographic identity given that the Philippines is an archipelago of over 7,000 islands. The native equivalent pulo is also widely used and tends to be more informal in register.

Examples

Beginner

" Pumunta kami sa isla. "

Natural Translation

We went to the island.

Literal Translation

Went we to island.

Intermediate

" Maganda ang isla ng Boracay. "

Natural Translation

The island of Boracay is beautiful.

Literal Translation

Beautiful the island of Boracay.

Advanced

" Bawat isla sa Pilipinas ay may sariling wika at kultura na ikinararangal ng mga residente nito. "

Natural Translation

Every island in the Philippines has its own language and culture that its residents take pride in.

Literal Translation

Each island in Philippines has own language and culture that take-pride-in the residents its.

Free · iOS & Android

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 work

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.