Usage Note
Yelo is essential for coping with the tropical heat, commonly used in desserts like halo-halo or to cool drinks. It is often sold in small plastic bags at neighborhood sari-sari stores, while 'tube ice' is a popular commercial alternative.
Examples
" Lagyan mo ng yelo ang tubig. "
Natural Translation
Put ice in the water.
Literal Translation
Put you of ice the water.
" Ang yelo ay malamig. "
Natural Translation
The ice is cold.
Literal Translation
The ice is cold.
" Mabilis natunaw ang yelo sa baso dahil sobrang init ng panahon ngayong tag-araw. "
Natural Translation
The ice in the glass melted quickly because the weather is so hot this summer.
Literal Translation
Quickly melted the ice in glass because very hot of weather this summer.
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.
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.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Tagalog?
Survival Tagalog takes ~3-4 weeks and comfortable conversation 6-12 months. FSI's 1,100 hours is the professional bar, not the talking-to-family bar.
Tagalog Question Words: Ano, Sino, Saan & More
Tagalog question words like ano, sino, and saan need the right frame to work. Learn the ang-vs-pronoun rule, confusable pairs, and the ba particle with audio.
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.