saboy
sáboy with stress marks
act of splashing or dousing liquid/sand
Usage Note
Saboy describes the act of flinging or scattering a liquid or loose material — water, sand, or flower petals — over an area or person. It appears in everyday contexts like watering plants and in ceremonial acts such as scattering rice or flowers at weddings and festivals.
Examples
" Saboyan mo ng tubig ang halaman. "
Natural Translation
Splash water on the plant.
Literal Translation
Douse you of water the plant.
" Malakas ang saboy ng tubig. "
Natural Translation
The splash of water is strong.
Literal Translation
Strong the splash of water.
" Sa kasalan, masayang isinaboy ng mga panauhin ang mga talulot ng bulaklak habang naglalakad ang bagong kasal. "
Natural Translation
At the wedding, the guests joyfully scattered flower petals as the newlyweds walked by.
Literal Translation
At-the wedding, happily scattered by-the guests the petals of flower while walking the newly married.
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 workActor Focus Verbs
Object Focus Verbs
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
Magkano: How to Ask "How Much" in Tagalog
Magkano means how much in Tagalog. Learn to ask a price, tell it apart from ilan and gaano, sound polite with po, and haggle at the palengke.
Tagalog Word Order: Sentence Structure Made Simple
Why Tagalog puts the verb first, and how ang, ng, and sa markers work. A clear guide to VSO word order, forming questions, and negation.
Is Tagalog Hard to Learn? An Honest Answer
Tagalog takes around 1,100 hours to reach professional proficiency. Here is what is easy, what is hard, and what to expect at 3, 6, and 12 months.
Tagalog Time Expressions: Past, Present & Future Guide
Tagalog has no tenses — it uses aspect. Learn time words, days of the week, clock time, and the aspect system, with vocabulary tables and cultural notes.