Type or paste text to translate it into Pig Latin as you type, or switch direction to decode Pig Latin back into English. Capital letters, punctuation and line breaks stay exactly where they were.
0 words
Word-by-word breakdown
moved consonants vowel ending more than one valid reading
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How to use the Pig Latin Translator
Pick a direction: English to Pig Latin or Pig Latin to English.
Type or paste your text in the left box. The translation appears instantly on the right.
Choose a dialect: the ending for words that start with a vowel (way, yay, hay or ay) and whether to use hyphens.
Check the breakdown to see how each word was split and which rule was used.
Copy or download the result, or press Swap to translate it back the other way.
Pig Latin rules, step by step
Pig Latin is an English language game: you rearrange each word by a simple rule so that it sounds like a secret language, while anyone who knows the trick can still decode it. The translator applies these rules to every word and leaves everything else (spaces, punctuation, numbers, emoji) untouched.
Words that start with a consonant: take every consonant before the first vowel, move that group to the end, then add ay. pig → igpay, latin → atinlay, string → ingstray, three → eethray.
Words that start with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u): keep the word as it is and add an ending. The most common endings are way, yay and hay: apple → appleway, egg → eggway.
Y is a consonant at the start of a word (yes → esyay) but a vowel inside a word (my → ymay, rhythm → ythmrhay).
QU stays together because the u is part of the same sound: queen → eenquay, square → aresquay.
Capital letters follow the start of the word: Hello → Ellohay; all-caps words stay all caps: NASA → ASANAY.
Examples
English
Pig Latin (-way)
Rule used
pig
igpay
One consonant moved + ay
smile
ilesmay
Consonant cluster “sm” moved + ay
string
ingstray
Cluster “str” moved + ay
apple
appleway
Starts with a vowel: add way
yellow
ellowyay
Y at the start is a consonant
rhythm
ythmrhay
Y inside the word is a vowel
question
estionquay
“qu” moves together
Hello, world!
Ellohay, orldway!
Capitals and punctuation kept
Decoding Pig Latin back to English
Going backwards is harder than it looks, because the rules throw away information. With the way ending, itway could come from it (a vowel word plus way) or from wit (the w moved to the end), and asway could be as or was. The decoder tries every possible split, checks each candidate against an English word list of about 109,000 words and prefers the most common words. Words with more than one valid reading are highlighted in the breakdown so you can check them. For text you want to decode exactly, translate it with the hyphenated style and the plain ay ending: it becomes it-ay and wit becomes it-way, so nothing is ambiguous.
Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of Pig Latin?
If a word starts with one or more consonants, move that consonant cluster to the end and add 'ay' (pig becomes igpay, string becomes ingstray). If a word starts with a vowel, keep it and add an ending such as 'way' (apple becomes appleway). Some speakers use 'yay' or 'hay' instead of 'way'.
How is the letter Y handled?
Y at the start of a word acts as a consonant (yellow becomes ellowyay). Inside a word Y acts as a vowel, so the consonant cluster stops before it (rhythm becomes ythmrhay, my becomes ymay).
What about words with 'qu'?
The u after q is moved together with the q because they make one sound: queen becomes eenquay and square becomes aresquay. You can turn this off if you prefer to treat u as a vowel.
Why can Pig Latin to English be ambiguous?
Some words translate to the same Pig Latin. With the 'way' ending, 'it' and 'wit' both become itway. The decoder checks an English word list to pick a real word and marks ambiguous words in the breakdown. Choosing the hyphenated style with the plain 'ay' ending (it becomes it-ay, wit becomes it-way) makes the round trip exact.
Does it keep capital letters and punctuation?
Yes. A capitalized word stays capitalized at its new start (Hello becomes Ellohay), all-caps words stay all caps, and punctuation, numbers, emoji and spacing are copied through unchanged.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The translator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored on a server.