siya
/siˈa/feminine, masculine
The Tagalog word for she is siya.
It is used for both feminine and masculine subjects.
Meaning: person (pron)
How does it change in a sentence?
The Tagalog pronoun 'siya' is gender-neutral and can mean both 'she' and 'he'.
How do you pronounce it?
/siˈa/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly try to find a gender-specific word for 'she' in Tagalog, but 'siya' covers both genders.
Did you know?
- Because the pronoun is gender-neutral, Tagalog literature and poetry often keep a character's gender a mystery long after they have been introduced as siya.
- While 'siya' is a pronoun, it shares an identical spelling with a word borrowed from the Spanish word 'silla', which means 'chair'.
- In many other Austronesian languages, such as Cebuano and Central Bikol, the word for 'he' or 'she' is also siya.
Examples in context
- Iyak siya ng iyak.She kept on crying.Tatoeba #1020812 by lareith, translation #313206 by CK
- Adik siya sa alak.She is addicted to alcohol.Tatoeba #1941593 by nonong, translation #310335 by ventana
- Pinsan mo ba siya?Is she your cousin?Tatoeba #13889168 by qwertzu, translation #11948963 by sundown
- Siya ay Pilipino.He/She is Filipino.
- Siya ang pinakamagaling na lider.He/She is the best leader.
- Siya yung kasama ko kahapon.She was the one with me yesterday.
- 548 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mark and Angela are looking at a photo of a classmate.
- MarkSino siya?Who is she?
- AngelaSiya ang bagong teacher.She is the new teacher.
- MarkMabait ba siya?Is she kind?
- AngelaOo, masayahin siya.Yes, she is cheerful.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “she” translations and entries siya, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries siya, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
