A Simple Guide for Those Who Suffer in Silent H
If you ever paused while typing and asked yourself, “May H or wala?” welcome to the club.
You’re not alone.
And no—you’re not bad at Tagalog.
Here’s the honest truth: there is no formal rule that teaches how to use the letter H in Tagalog.
It’s not something clearly explained in school. You don’t get a formula. You don’t get patterns. Most of the time, you’re expected to just know.
That’s why many of us struggle.
Language starts in the ear, not on paper. We learn words by hearing them first. And depending on where you grew up, what you heard shaped how words settled in your head.
If you grew up around Kapampangan speakers—like I did—the H is often soft or almost absent.
Baha sounds like baa.
Hirap sounds like irap.
So when you start writing in Tagalog later on, the confusion makes sense. Your spelling follows your hearing. And only when you write do you realize—hhhay, may mali pala.
That’s where the disconnect happens. Tagalog spelling is not always phonetic.
Many H’s are historical. They exist in writing even when they barely exist in speech.
This is why words like hugas, hintay, and handa keep their H even when you add mag- or nag-.
The H was already there. It wasn’t added. It was inherited.
But if the root word never had an H, don’t invent one.
Ayos stays ayos.
Isa stays mag-isa.
No imaginary H allowed.
Some words even change meaning with just one H:
• ilaw is light
• hilaw is uncooked
• uli means again
• huli means caught or late
Same letters. One H. Totally different story.
So how do you get better?
Not through rules—because there aren’t any.
The real fix is exposure.
Reading Tagalog articles, essays, and books trains your eyes the way listening trains your ears. Over time, correct spelling starts to look right, even if you can’t explain why.
And that’s enough.
If you hesitate before typing an H, it doesn’t mean you’re weak in the language. It means your hearing was shaped by your surroundings. And that’s normal.
If the H feels like it just slipped in and doesn’t belong, it probably doesn’t.
If removing the H turns the word into something else, it probably matters.
Simple guide. Less stress.
You’re not alone in this.
You were taught to listen first—long before you were taught how to spell.
——
Remembering Ben David (February 19, 1937–February 11, 2012), an actor and radio personality known as the “King of Over-Acting” in the 1970s—born to Kapampangan parents, shaped by the same soft sounds many of us grew up hearing.
⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ
