tantan
tantán with stress marks
to cease or stop
Usage Note
Tantan is used to tell someone to stop or give up an activity, often used when urging someone to quit a bad habit or desist from annoying behavior. It is more emphatic than tigilan and can carry a tone of exasperation or scolding. Common in parental and elder speech.
Examples
" Walang tantan ang ulan. "
Natural Translation
The rain doesn't let up.
Literal Translation
No stop the rain.
" Walang tantan ang iyak ng sanggol kagabi. "
Natural Translation
The baby's crying last night had no stop.
Literal Translation
Non stop the cry of baby last-night.
" Walang tantan ang pangungulit ng bata hangga't hindi siya nabibilhan ng paborito niyang laruan. "
Natural Translation
The child's pestering never let up until he was bought his favorite toy.
Literal Translation
No stop the pestering of child until not he gets-bought of favorite his toy.
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.

Languages of the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, and More
Languages of the Philippines: one national language (Filipino) plus 180+ regional languages. Here's who speaks what, where, and why it matters to you.

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 Affixes Explained: A Beginner's Guide to Word Building
Tagalog affixes turn one root word into dozens of meanings. Learn prefixes, infixes, suffixes, and circumfixes with clear examples for beginners.

Seasons in the Philippines: A Tagalog Guide
The Philippines has two seasons, not four. Learn tag-araw, tag-ulan, and taglamig, the generative tag- prefix, and the weather vocabulary to match.