Skip to content

nakawin

nakawín with stress marks

to steal [it]

verb na-ka-WIN OF VERB Native origin Less Common

From root: nakaw

Conjugations

Past (Completed)

ninakaw

ni-NA-kaw

stole

Present (Incomplete)

ninanakaw

ni-na-NA-kaw

is being stolen

Future (Contemplated)

nanakawin

na-na-ka-WIN

will be stolen

Usage Note

Nakawin is the object-focus infinitive of nakaw, used when the item being stolen is the grammatical focus. It appears in both serious criminal contexts and playful, figurative speech — particularly in romantic discourse where affections or moments are described as being stolen. The actor-focus counterpart is magnakaw; the adjective form nakaw means stolen.

Examples

Beginner

" Sinubukan niyang nakawin ang pera. "

Natural Translation

He tried to steal the money.

Literal Translation

Tried he-that steal the money.

Intermediate

" Sinubukan niya na nakawin ang bisikleta sa tapat ng bahay. "

Natural Translation

They tried to steal the bicycle in front of the house.

Literal Translation

Tried they to steal the bicycle in front of house.

Advanced

" Mahirap nakawin ang puso ng dalaga kung wala kang tiyaga at tunay na pagmamahal na maibibigay. "

Natural Translation

It is hard to steal the young woman's heart if you have no patience and no true love to give.

Literal Translation

Hard steal the heart of young-woman if none you patience and true that love that can-be-given.

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

Word family

nakaw has 2 related forms built from the same root.

See all

Explore Tagalog by topic

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