From root: ulam
Usage Note
Pag-uulam refers to the choice or practice of eating a particular dish with rice, such as in the phrase pag-uulam ng bagoong.
Examples
" Ano ang pag-uulam natin? "
Natural Translation
What are we having with our rice?
Literal Translation
What the having-viand our?
" Mahal ang pag-uulam ngayon. "
Natural Translation
Side dishes are expensive today.
Literal Translation
Expensive the act-of-having-viands today.
" Sa probinsya, karaniwan ang pag-uulam ng bagoong o tuyo kapag wala namang masyadong pera. "
Natural Translation
In the province, having shrimp paste or dried fish as a viand is common when there isn't much money.
Literal Translation
In province, common the having-viand of shrimp-paste or dried-fish when none indeed much money.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workWord family
ulam has 5 related forms built from the same root.
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

Filipino Food: 12 Essential Dishes (With Tagalog Names)
Filipino food, from adobo to halo-halo: learn the Tagalog names, pronunciations, and ingredients behind 12 dishes you'll want to try on your first trip.

Tagalog Greetings: How to Say Hello, Goodbye & Po/Opo
Master Tagalog greetings with pronunciation: kumusta, magandang umaga, po and opo polite forms, time-of-day phrases, and the mano po tradition.

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.

May vs Mayroon vs Meron: Have & There Is
May vs mayroon in Tagalog finally made simple: one rule decides which to use, plus how meron and wala fit the same have and there-is family.