50 Essential Bisaya Words and Meanings for Everyday Conversation

One of the most useful question words you can learn. You will hear it constantly in ordinary conversation.

You will often hear nganong when it connects directly to what follows. The sentence around it tells you which form fits.

Useful whenever somebody arrives, calls, is mentioned or needs identifying.

A very common question. In real life it can sound as much like “where have you got to?” as a request for a precise location.

Useful for plans, visits, journeys and all the conversations about when something is actually going to happen.

Unsaon carries the idea of how something can be done, handled or dealt with. A one-word English translation misses that nuance.

Simple on paper, but worth getting used to hearing because fast speech can make it sound shorter and softer.

Depending on the sentence, dili may come across as “no”, “not” or “don’t”. It is everywhere.

Think less about one fixed English translation and more about presence: something exists, is there or is available.

Wala expresses absence, but it is also used for the left-hand side: sa wala means “on the left”. Context does the work.

A high-frequency time word for the present moment or the current day.

If you searched “later in Bisaya”, this is usually the word you wanted.

Short, practical and used constantly when making plans.

Learn it alongside karon, unya and ugma and you immediately gain a useful set of time anchors.

Useful when somebody is telling you where to sit, stop, place something or wait.

Usually points to a place away from the speaker.

Notice the ra. That tiny word is one of the things that makes everyday Bisaya sound natural.

A useful opposite to duol, especially when travelling around Cebu and the Visayas.

For directions, tuo is the right-hand side. It can carry other meanings elsewhere, so let the sentence guide you.

Once you know balik and unya, you already understand a phrase you are likely to hear in everyday life.

A core everyday word built around going, walking or leaving.

Far more useful than memorising an elaborate textbook sentence for “please wait”.

One of the most useful phrases you will learn. Food is social, and kaon turns up everywhere.

The root appears in different forms as sentences change, but recognising it gives you the important part of the meaning.

Parents may become particularly familiar with this one. Whether the children cooperate is another question.

You will meet several forms built around sulti, which is why recognising the root is so helpful.

For a beginner, “listen” is the meaning to remember first.

Also appears when people talk about watching television, a film, a video or something happening nearby.

Another good example of a word that becomes clearer in full sentences than in an English-to-Bisaya pair.

Completely ordinary everyday Bisaya, with a familiar-looking Spanish history.

Family conversations are full of who is at home, going home or waiting at somebody else’s house.

A useful example of basic words clicking together: once wala is familiar, the whole sentence becomes easy to read.

The natural English depends on the situation. Bisaya does not need to draw exactly the same line that English does.

Longer than most words on this page, but useful enough to learn early.

You will also recognise it in greetings such as maayong buntag — good morning.

Learn this before eating with a Bisaya family. It will earn its keep.

That one-word reaction is wonderfully useful in conversation.

The feeling is wider than one neat English box. Situation and tone decide which translation sounds natural.

You will also meet related forms such as nalipay, so recognising the root helps even when the word changes shape.

It can describe how you feel or how exhausting something is. After a long hot day, this one tends to stick.

Useful for drinks, weather, water and somebody setting the air-conditioning far too low.

You will not need to spend long in Cebu before finding an opportunity to use it.

Simple, warm and one of the best first Bisaya words to learn.

You will also hear English “please” in mixed conversations, but palihug is useful to recognise and use.

A natural thing to say when somebody is leaving, travelling or heading home.

Gyud — commonly written jud in messages — adds strength or certainty. Think conviction rather than one fixed English word.

Unta can express hope, a wish or something that might have happened. Its exact feeling comes from the sentence around it.

Man often needs no separate English word. It can add explanation, emphasis or conversational tone.

Ba often marks something as a question. Once you start hearing it, everyday yes/no questions become easier to spot.

Tiny and everywhere. It is exactly the kind of word that makes a big difference once you start listening to real speech.