kandila
kandíla with stress marks
candle
Usage Note
Kandila is a Spanish loanword for candle and is deeply embedded in Filipino Catholic practice — lit during prayers, placed on home altars, offered at church, and used during All Saints' Day at cemeteries. Lighting a kandila for the souls of the dead is a universal Filipino memorial practice, and candles also serve a practical role during frequent power outages.
Examples
" Sinindihan niya ang kandila. "
Natural Translation
He lit the candle.
Literal Translation
Lit he the candle.
" Nag-ilaw ng kandila ang pamilya sa sementeryo noong Undas. "
Natural Translation
The family lit candles at the cemetery during All Saints' Day.
Literal Translation
Lit-candle the family at-the cemetery during Undas.
" Tuwing may brownout, naghahanda kami ng kandila at posporo upang hindi malublog sa dilim ang buong bahay. "
Natural Translation
Whenever there's a power outage, we prepare candles and matches so the whole house won't be plunged into darkness.
Literal Translation
Every-time there-is brownout, prepare we of candle and matches so-that not plunged in darkness the whole house.
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 workRelated Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
Tagalog Verb Focus System Explained (It's Not Active vs. Passive)
The Tagalog verb focus system isn't active vs. passive. Learn actor focus, object focus, and more with clear examples that finally make it click.
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.
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.
Magkano: How to Ask "How Much" in Tagalog
Magkano means how much in Tagalog. Learn to ask a price, tell it apart from ilan and gaano, sound polite with po, and haggle at the palengke.