magkano
/maɡˈkano/
In Tagalog, "how much" is expressed as magkano.
magkano is used as an interrogative pronoun to ask about the cost, price or monetary value of something. While Magkano ito? is the standard way to ask for the price of an object you are holding or pointing to, you may also see the non-standard, shortened form Magkano 'to? used in casual conversations.
Meaning: what is the cost/price? (det)
Which one should you use?
Use magkano specifically when asking about price or monetary value. If you want to ask for a count of items (how many), you should use ilan instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word magkano is an interrogative pronoun that does not change its form based on the number of items being priced.
How do you pronounce it?
/maɡˈkano/
Did you know?
- In the Philippines, asking magkano is often the start of a social negotiation called tawad, where the buyer asks for a discount. It is culturally expected in non-mall settings to negotiate the price after the first answer.
- The word magkano is actually a linguistic relative of the word 'what' in some older Philippine languages, which is why it looks so much like 'ano' (what).
- Because magkano is tied to the concept of 'value', it cannot be used to ask 'how much' in terms of intensity, such as 'how much do you love me?', which requires a different structure entirely.
Examples in context
- Magkano ang mga karot?How much are the carrots?This sentence shows how to use magkano to ask about the price of carrots.Tatoeba #11820208 by qwertzu, translation #10238354 by ddnktr
- Magkano mo iyan binili?How much did you buy that for?This sentence demonstrates using magkano to ask about the purchase price of an item.Tatoeba #11302990 by qwertzu, translation #4133561 by CK
- Magkano ang kailangan mo?How much money do you want?This sentence shows using magkano to ask about the amount of money needed.Tatoeba #5300933 by katalex, translation #16790 by CK
- Magkano ang mga ito?How much are these?
- Ano ang price range ng mga ito?What is the price range of these?
- 54 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maria and Juan are at a fruit stand.
- MariaMagkano ang isang mangga?How much is one mango?
- JuanSampung piso lang po.Only ten pesos.
- MariaSige, kukuha ako ng lima.Okay, I will take five.
- JuanSalamat, Maria.Thank you, Maria.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “how much” translations and entries magkano, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries magkano, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
