Skip to content

lakatan

lakatán with stress marks

species of banana eaten raw

noun la-ka-TAN Native origin Less Common

Usage Note

Lakatan is one of the most popular banana varieties in the Philippines, prized for its sweet flavour and yellow skin when ripe. It is commonly sold in markets and eaten as a snack or dessert, distinct from the saba variety used for cooking.

Examples

Beginner

" Kumain ako ng lakatan. "

Natural Translation

I ate a lakatan banana.

Literal Translation

Ate I of lakatan.

Intermediate

" Matamis ang lakatan. "

Natural Translation

The lakatan banana is sweet.

Literal Translation

Sweet the lakatan.

Advanced

" Mas matamis ang lakatan kaysa saba, kaya iyon ang pinipili kong kainin tuwing meryenda sa hapon. "

Natural Translation

Lakatan is sweeter than saba, so that is what I choose to eat during the afternoon snack.

Literal Translation

More sweet the lakatan than saba, so that the chosen I-link to-eat every snack in-the afternoon.

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.