Skip to content

kamayan

to shake hands with

verb ka-ma-YAN OF VERB Less Common
Illustration of the root word "kamay" (hand)
Illustration from root: kamay

From root: kamay

Conjugations

Past (Completed)

kinamayan

ki-na-ma-YAN

shook hands with

Present (Incomplete)

kinakamayan

ki-na-ka-ma-YAN

shaking hands with

Future (Contemplated)

kakamayan

ka-ka-ma-YAN

will shake hands with

Usage Note

Kamayan is used when shaking hands with someone as a greeting, a sign of agreement, or to offer congratulations. It implies a formal or social interaction where physical contact through the hands is the focus of the gesture.

Examples

Beginner

" Kamayan mo ang lolo mo. "

Natural Translation

Shake hands with your grandfather.

Literal Translation

Shake-hands-with you the grandfather your.

Intermediate

" Gusto kong kamayan ang bagong guro. "

Natural Translation

I want to shake hands with the new teacher.

Literal Translation

Want I to-shake-hands-with the new teacher.

Advanced

" Pagkatapos ng mahabang pag-uusap, nagkasundo sila at kinamayan ang isa't isa bilang tanda ng kasunduan. "

Natural Translation

After the long conversation, they came to an agreement and shook hands with each other as a sign of the deal.

Literal Translation

After of-the long conversation, agreed they and shook-hands-with the each-other as sign of-the agreement.

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

Word family

kamay has 6 related forms built from the same root.

See all

Explore Tagalog by topic

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