Skip to content

kanina

kanína with stress marks

a while ago (today)

adverb ka-NI-na Native origin Common
Illustration of "kanina" (a while ago (today))

Usage Note

Kanina refers to a point in time earlier within the same day and is paired with verbs in the completed aspect. It is never used for events on previous days, as its scope is strictly limited to the current day's past.

Examples

Beginner

" Kumain ako kanina. "

Natural Translation

I ate a while ago.

Literal Translation

Ate I a-while-ago.

Intermediate

" Umalis siya kanina. "

Natural Translation

He/she left a while ago.

Literal Translation

Left he/she a while ago.

Advanced

" Tumawag siya kanina habang nasa labas ako, kaya hindi ko nasagot ang kaniyang tawag. "

Natural Translation

She called a while ago while I was outside, so I wasn't able to answer her call.

Literal Translation

Called she a-while-ago while at outside I, so not I able-to-answer the her call.

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

Derived Words

Explore Tagalog by topic

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