kantutay
kantútay with stress marks
wild sage
Usage Note
Kantutay refers to Lantana camara, a flowering shrub commonly found throughout the Philippine countryside, where it has traditional medicinal uses in folk medicine for treating fevers and skin ailments. Despite being considered an invasive weed in some areas, kantutay remains a familiar plant in rural communities and its bright flowers attract butterflies.
Examples
" Mabango ang bulaklak ng kantutay. "
Natural Translation
The flower of the wild sage is fragrant.
Literal Translation
Fragrant the flower of-the wild-sage.
" Lumago ang kantutay sa tabi ng daan. "
Natural Translation
Wild sage grew by the side of the road.
Literal Translation
Grew the wild-sage at-the side of-the road.
" Ginagamit pa rin ng mga matatanda sa nayon ang dahon ng kantutay bilang panlunas sa lagnat at sugat sa balat. "
Natural Translation
The elders in the village still use the leaves of the wild sage as a remedy for fever and skin wounds.
Literal Translation
Used still by-the elders in-the village the leaf of-the wild-sage as remedy for fever and wound on skin.
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.

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.

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.

May vs Mayroon vs Meron: Have & There Is
May vs mayroon in Tagalog finally made simple: one rule decides which to use, plus how meron and wala fit the same have and there-is family.

Is Tagalog Hard to Learn? An Honest Answer
Tagalog takes around 1,100 hours to reach professional proficiency. Here is what is easy, what is hard, and what to expect at 3, 6, and 12 months.