maganda
/maɡanˈda/
The English word beautiful is maganda in Tagalog.
Maganda is an adjective used to describe someone or something as attractive. It can be used to describe people, as well as inanimate objects such as scenery or various items.
Meaning: attractive (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
You can modify maganda to change its intensity or degree. Adding the prefix napaka- creates napakaganda, which means very beautiful. To express comparison, add the prefix mas to get mas maganda, meaning more beautiful. For the superlative degree, add the prefix pinaka- to form pinakamaganda, which means most beautiful. Additionally, the phrase sadyang maganda can be used to mean truly beautiful or naturally beautiful.
How do you pronounce it?
/maɡanˈda/
Did you know?
- The word maganda is used in the standard greeting Magandang umaga, which means 'Good morning'. In this context, 'beautiful' functions as the English word 'good'.
- In certain colloquial contexts, calling someone maganda can be a polite way to address a woman, similar to calling someone 'pretty' or 'lady'.
- There is a distinction between maganda and marikit, where the latter is a more poetic or archaic version of 'beautiful' rarely used in daily speech but common in songs.
Examples in context
- Maganda po ba siya?Is she beautiful?This sentence is useful for asking if a person is beautiful using the form maganda.Tatoeba #11761981 by qwertzu, translation #2502584 by irish
- Maganda ang agilang iyan.That eagle is beautiful.This sentence is useful for describing an eagle as beautiful using the form maganda.Tatoeba #11789594 by qwertzu, translation #9462401 by CK
- Maganda ang karpet na ito.This carpet is beautiful.This sentence is useful for describing a carpet as beautiful using the form maganda.Tatoeba #11756190 by qwertzu, translation #1789182 by Spamster
- Ang damit na suot mo ay napaka-maganda!The dress you're wearing is very beautiful!
- Ang kagandahan ng Pinas ay kaakit-akit sa mga turista.The beauty of the Philippines is enchanting to tourists.
- Nakita ko ang kagandahan ng mga bulaklak sa hardin.I saw the beauty of the flowers in the garden.
- Ang outfit mo ngayon, gurly, ang ganda-ganda!Your outfit today, gurly, looks really beautiful!
- Ang sunset kanina sa beach, ang pogi! Sobrang ganda ng kulay.The sunset at the beach earlier was so beautiful! The colors were stunning.
- Ang batang 'yon ay sadyang maganda kahit walang makeup.That child is truly beautiful even without makeup.
- 45 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Jasmine and Ricardo are looking at a view of the mountains.
- JasmineMaganda ang tanawin dito.The view here is beautiful.
- RicardoOo, maganda talaga.Yes, it really is beautiful.
- JasmineGusto ko ang lugar na ito.I like this place.
- RicardoAko rin, Jasmine.Me too, Jasmine.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beautiful” translations and entries maganda, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
