The vocabulary that matters most, and the possessives that go with it
After four lessons of grammar, here is a lesson you can use tonight. Family vocabulary is the fastest-paying investment in any Philippine language, because the family is the unit that organises almost every social situation you will be in.
| Kapampangan | English | Register |
|---|---|---|
| ibpa | father | the standard word |
| indu | mother | the standard word |
| tata | dad | everyday, warm |
| ima | mum | everyday, warm |
| anak | child (son or daughter) | |
| pamilya | family |
Ibpa and indu are what you meet in prayers, songs and writing — the Kapampangan Lord's Prayer opens Ibpa mi, "Our Father." At home, most people say tata and ima. Learn both; use the warm pair when speaking to family and the formal pair when reading.
Note that anak does not specify sex. If you need to, add a lalaki (male) or a babai (female) — using the linker from lesson 15.
Kapatad is a sibling of either sex. But in practice, Kapampangans rarely call an older sibling by name — they use a title, and the title is built into the language.
| Kapampangan | English |
|---|---|
| kapatad | sibling |
| koya | older brother |
| atsi | older sister |
| kaka | older sibling; also uncle or aunt |
Addressing an older sibling — or an older cousin, or a slightly older neighbour — as koya or atsi rather than by name is a mark of respect, and the habit extends well beyond blood relatives. A shopkeeper a few years your senior may well be atsi.
Getting this right will do more for how you are received than a great deal of correct grammar.
| Kapampangan | English |
|---|---|
| apu | grandparent — and also grandchild |
| ingkung | grandfather |
| apung babai | grandmother |
Note what apu does: it names the relationship, not the direction. Your grandmother is your apu, and you are hers. English needs two separate words for a bond Kapampangan treats as one thing seen from two ends.
| Kapampangan | English |
|---|---|
| asawa | spouse (husband or wife) |
| kaluguran | friend; beloved |
| kapitbale | neighbour |
| tau | person |
| lalaki | man, boy |
| babai | woman, girl |
| matua | old; an elder |
Kapitbale is transparent once you know lesson 10's bale ("house"): a neighbour is someone whose house adjoins yours.
And asawa, like anak and kapatad, does not specify sex. Kapampangan is markedly less interested than English in encoding gender into kinship terms.
Here is where lesson 4 pays off. Possession uses the doer pronouns, after the noun:
ing indu ku — my mother
ing tata mu — your father
ing kapatad na — his/her sibling
ing pamilya mi — our family (not including you)
ing bale da — their house
And for a named person, lesson 3's nang:
ing asu nang Juan — Juan's dog
ing indu nang Maria — Maria's mother
You now have enough to say several true sentences about yourself. Read these aloud, then substitute your own details.
Ati kung metung a kapatad.
I have one sibling.
Ing lagyu nang ima ku, Maria.
My mother's name is Maria.
Ing koya ku, mestru ya.
My older brother is a teacher.
Kaluguran ke ing pamilya ku.
I love my family.
That last sentence uses ke from lesson 5 — "I … it". Two lessons ago it was an abstract grid cell. Now it is doing work in a sentence you might actually say.
Should I say tata or ibpa to my own father? Tata. Ibpa is the formal and liturgical word; using it at the dinner table would sound like saying "Father" in a Victorian novel.
Can I call a stranger koya or atsi? Yes, and it is often the warmest option — for someone a bit older than you in a shop, a tricycle, a market stall. For someone much older, use pu and a respectful term.
Why do so many of these look like Tagalog? Some are shared Austronesian inheritance (anak, asawa), some are borrowings in either direction, and some — ibpa, indu, koya, kapitbale — are distinctly Kapampangan. Do not assume a word is the same just because it rhymes.
In Pampanga, as across the Philippines, you will be asked about your family within minutes of meeting someone. It is not small talk; it is how people place you. Being able to answer in Kapampangan — even haltingly — changes that conversation entirely.
Next: Numbers, Money & Time, so you can say how many siblings, how old, and what time to arrive.