The Cebuano/Bisaya word batan-on means “young”. Pronounced ba-TAN-on, it is used as a adjective by native Cebuano speakers across Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and much of Mindanao. This page covers what batan-on means in Bisaya, how to pronounce it correctly, how to use it in a sentence, and related words in the same category.
Bisaya word
batan-on
English meaning
young
Part of speech
Adjective
In Bisaya (Cebuano), batan-on translates to “young”.
As a adjective in the Adjectives category, “batan-on” is part of the core Bisaya vocabulary that learners encounter early on. Native speakers use it across all registers — casual home conversations in Cebu, busy marketplaces in Bohol, and everyday interactions throughout the Visayas and Mindanao.
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable — say it louder and slightly longer.
Bisaya stress is phonemic — the wrong stress can make a word hard for native speakers to recognise. For batan-on, put the main stress on the uppercase syllable in ba-TAN-on. A good technique is to clap on the stressed syllable as you say the word: ba-tan-on. Once the rhythm is natural, drop the clapping and let muscle memory take over.
Bisaya adjectives like "batan-on" (young) typically come before the noun they describe, similar to English. You can intensify them using "kaayo" — for example, "batan-on kaayo" means "very young". Negation is done with "dili" (not) or "wala" depending on context. Mastering descriptive adjectives like "batan-on" is one of the quickest ways to make your Bisaya sentences richer and more expressive.
Expand your vocabulary by learning other Bisaya adjectives in the same category as “batan-on”.
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