Skip to content

sumalakay

sumalakáy with stress marks

to attack or charge

verb su-ma-la-KAY AF VERB Native origin Less Common

From root: salakay

Conjugations

Past (Completed)

sumalakay

su-ma-la-KAY

attacked

Present (Incomplete)

sumasalakay

su-ma-sa-la-KAY

is attacking

Future (Contemplated)

sasalakay

sa-sa-la-KAY

will attack

Usage Note

Sumalakay is the actor-focus -um- form of salakay, placing the attacker or invading force as the sentence topic. It is used in military, historical, and sports contexts and carries the connotation of an organized charge or raid rather than a solitary assault, with the object-focus partner salakayin placing the target as the topic.

Examples

Beginner

" Sumalakay ang mga sundalo. "

Natural Translation

The soldiers attacked.

Literal Translation

Attacked the soldiers.

Intermediate

" Nagsimula sumalakay ang mga sundalo sa kampo. "

Natural Translation

The soldiers started to attack the camp.

Literal Translation

Started to attack the soldiers at camp.

Advanced

" Bago pa man magbukang-liwayway, sumalakay na ang mga kawal sa kuta ng kalaban upang gulatin ang mga ito sa kanilang pagtulog. "

Natural Translation

Even before dawn broke, the warriors attacked the enemy's fortress to catch them by surprise in their sleep.

Literal Translation

Before even break-dawn, attacked already the warriors at fortress of enemy to surprise the these in their sleep.

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

salakay has 1 related form 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.