nanay-nanayan
nánay-nanáyan with stress marks
someone acting like a mother, foster mother
From root: nanay
Usage Note
Nanay-nanayan is a reduplicated form of nanay used to describe someone, typically a child, who plays the mother role in games or acts in an overly motherly way. It can be affectionate or mildly teasing depending on context.
Examples
" Naging nanay-nanayan siya sa amin. "
Natural Translation
She became a foster mother to us.
Literal Translation
Became foster-mother he/she to us.
" Itinuring ko siyang nanay-nanayan dahil siya ang nag-alaga sa akin. "
Natural Translation
I treated his/her as a foster mother because he/she took care of me.
Literal Translation
Treated I his/her foster-mother because he/she the took-care to me.
" Kahit hindi kami magkadugo, naging nanay-nanayan ko siya nang mawala ang aking ina at siya ang umaruga sa amin. "
Natural Translation
Even though we are not related by blood, she became a foster mother to me when my mother passed away and she was the one who raised us.
Literal Translation
Even-though not we share-blood, became foster-mother my she when disappeared the my mother and she the raised to us.
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 workRelated Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
How to Say Sorry in Tagalog: Patawad vs Pasensya
How to say sorry in Tagalog: patawad, pasensya na, and paumanhin compared on a simple severity-and-formality ladder so you pick the right word every time.
Spaced Repetition for Tagalog: How Flashcards Make Words Stick
Cramming Tagalog vocabulary fails. See how spaced repetition — the science behind smart flashcards — makes words stick for the long term.
Ng vs Nang in Tagalog: The Spelling Rule
Ng vs nang sound identical but spell differently. Use ng to mark nouns (of, the object), and nang for how, when, repetition, and counting time.
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.