Skip to content

motor

mótor with stress marks

motor

noun MO-tor English origin Less Common

Also means

In everyday Filipino speech, 'motor' often refers specifically to a motorcycle or motorbike rather than a mechanical engine.

Usage Note

Motor is widely used in colloquial Tagalog to mean motorcycle — 'sakay ng motor' means riding a motorcycle — making it one of the most common shortenings in everyday speech. The general machine-engine sense also exists but is far less frequent in casual conversation.

Examples

Beginner

" Bago ang motor ni Tatay. "

Natural Translation

Dad's motorcycle is new.

Literal Translation

New the motorcycle of Dad.

Intermediate

" Kailangan nang palitan ang sirang motor ng ating lumang sasakyan. "

Natural Translation

The broken motor of our old vehicle needs to be replaced already.

Literal Translation

Need already to-replace the broken motor of our old vehicle.

Advanced

" Sumakay kami ng motor papuntang palengke dahil mas mabilis itong makasingit sa trapiko kaysa sa kotse. "

Natural Translation

We rode a motorcycle to the market because it can weave through traffic faster than a car.

Literal Translation

Rode we of motorcycle going-to market because more fast this can-squeeze in traffic than at car.

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.