From root: mata
Conjugations
Past (Completed)
minata
mi-na-TA
belittled
Present (Incomplete)
minamata
mi-na-ma-TA
belittling
Future (Contemplated)
mamatahin
ma-ma-ta-HIN
will belittle
Usage Note
Matahin is used to describe looking down on or belittling someone, often implying a sense of superiority or disdain. It is derived from the root word for 'eye,' suggesting the act of viewing someone as insignificant or of lower status.
Examples
" Huwag mong matahin ang kapwa. "
Natural Translation
Don't belittle your fellow man.
Literal Translation
Don't you belittle the fellow.
" Ayaw kong matahin ang kaklase ko. "
Natural Translation
I don't want to belittle my classmate.
Literal Translation
Dislike I belittle the classmate my.
" Madalas matahin ng mayayaman ang mga taong walang pinag-aralan, kahit marami sa kanila ang matalino. "
Natural Translation
The rich often belittle people who have no education, even though many of them are intelligent.
Literal Translation
Often belittle by the rich the people that no education, even-if many of them the intelligent.
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 workWord family
mata has 7 related forms built from the same root.
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
Tagalog Greetings: How to Say Hello, Goodbye & Po/Opo
Master Tagalog greetings with pronunciation: kumusta, magandang umaga, po and opo polite forms, time-of-day phrases, and the mano po tradition.
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.
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.
Seasons in the Philippines: A Tagalog Guide
The Philippines has two seasons, not four. Learn tag-araw, tag-ulan, and taglamig, the generative tag- prefix, and the weather vocabulary to match.