Tagalog – Words that express gratitude
My wife and I decided to accept an invitation from her sister to visit Manila. We are currently on vacation in Asia and have decided to fly to Manila. My wife is Filipino and I am American. We had a nice flight to Manila. The hostess greeted us with the formal “Mahubay” (Welcome) and led us to our seats.
My wife’s sister’s husband picked us up at the airport. We were glad to see you and we appreciated you taking the time to pick us up. He said, “Salamat sa pagpunta”, which translates as “thank you for coming.”
After the drive from the airport we arrived at his house. They have a nice house with a little garden. Their son and daughter live with them. We thanked my wife’s sister for the invitation saying “Salamat sa inyo” to which she replied, “Walang anuman” which means: you’re welcome.
Once my wife and her sister got together, they had a lot to say to each other. I was amused as they also spend a lot of time exchanging news on the phone. They prefer not to text or use email.
My wife’s relative thanked us for the gifts we bought them and my sister-in-law came up to me and thanked me shyly and said that they were grateful and then they told me that “silay ay nagpapasalamat” were the words she used.
The next night, his parents were invited to dinner. Her parents live a few miles away and I was amazed at how much food was on the table. We had a great evening with everyone chatting. I speak a bit of Taglish but I didn’t have to worry because my nephew and niece were more than willing to translate conversations for me.
My niece told me that her mother and grandparents were very excited for us to visit them and that they hoped we would have a pleasant stay in Manila. They told us that they were planning a trip to the beach and that they had invited more family members to join us. I asked my niece how to say, “I would like to thank you” so I can tell my sister-in-law how much I appreciate everything she was doing for us. My niece said that the translation to say that is: Gusto kong magpasalamat syo.
We love the hospitality they show us everywhere we go. My wife’s family is very courteous, friendly and hospitable. My wife addresses her mother and father as “nanay” and “tatay.” Nanay is the Tagalog word for mother, while for “father” my wife uses the word “tatay”. My wife is a wonderful singer and she kept us entertained with her singing. We are having a great time and before I go I have memorized the following phrase in Tagalog and I plan to tell everyone: “Maraming salamat po sa lahat” which is “Thank you for everything”.
We are leaving tomorrow and I am really happy I did this trip. We haven’t left yet but we already miss our family and friends. We hope to visit the Philippines again in the near future and hopefully we will be able to stay longer next time.