Pig Latin Translator

Convert English text into Pig Latin using the standard rule: move each word's leading consonant cluster to the end and add "ay," or just add a vowel-start suffix like "way" when the word already begins with a vowel sound.

Quick Facts

Rule
Move the leading consonant cluster to the end, then add "ay"
Vowel-start words only get the suffix (nothing moves). "Qu" moves as one unit, and a mid-word "y" counts as a vowel.

Your Results

Calculated
Pig Latin translation
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Full translated phrase
Words translated
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Tokens containing letters
Letters added
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Growth from added suffixes
First word example
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Before → after

Ready

Enter a word or phrase, choose a suffix, and press Translate.

About the Pig Latin Translator

This tool converts English text into Pig Latin, the classic word-game language that reshuffles the letters of each word using a simple, well-known rule set. It does not use randomness or guesswork — every word follows the same deterministic transformation based on whether it starts with a consonant sound or a vowel sound.

The standard rule

Pig Latin has two cases, and every English word falls into one of them:

  • Word starts with a consonant sound: move every consonant letter before the word's first vowel to the end of the word, then add "ay." Pig → igpay. Latin → atinlay. Smile → ilesmay (the whole "sm" cluster moves together).
  • Word starts with a vowel sound: nothing moves — just add a suffix to the end. The most common convention adds "way," so eat → eatway and omelet → omeletway. Some speakers use "yay" or plain "ay" instead; this calculator lets you pick.

Two special cases

Two letter combinations need special handling to match how English is actually pronounced:

  • "Qu" moves as one unit. Because "qu" represents a single consonant sound (kw), it is never split. Queen → eenquay, not "ueenqay."
  • "Y" depends on position. At the start of a word, y behaves like a consonant, so yellow → ellowyay. Anywhere else in the word, y behaves like a vowel and stops the leading consonant cluster, so gym → ymgay and rhythm → ythmrhay.

What this calculator assumes

Only the letters A-Z are translated; any leading or trailing punctuation (commas, periods, quotation marks) stays attached to the word in its original place, and digits pass through untouched. With Preserve original casing selected, a capitalized word keeps its capital letter in the translated form and an ALL-CAPS word stays ALL-CAPS. Words that contain internal punctuation — contractions like "don't," for example — are a genuine edge case in Pig Latin folklore with no single agreed-upon rule, so this tool passes them through unchanged rather than guessing.

A brief history

Pig Latin is an informally transmitted word game rather than a documented invention with a known creator or publication date. It has circulated in American English for well over a century, showing up in children's play and casual writing since at least the 1800s, and it spread mostly by ear rather than by any published rulebook. That word-of-mouth history is exactly why the vowel-start suffix still varies by speaker and region today — there was never a single authority to standardize it.

Reading Pig Latin back

Decoding is the mirror image of encoding, though this calculator only translates from plain English into Pig Latin. To read a Pig Latin word by eye, drop the trailing suffix ("ay," "way," or "yay") first. If letters remain before that suffix, move them from the end of the word back to the front to rebuild the original. "Igpay" drops "ay" to leave "igp," then the trailing "p" moves to the front, giving "pig." "Eenquay" drops "ay" to leave "eenqu," then the trailing "qu" moves to the front, giving "queen." With a little practice this becomes fast enough to follow along in conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the rules for standard Pig Latin?
For a word that starts with a consonant sound, move every consonant before the first vowel to the end of the word and add "ay." Pig becomes igpay, latin becomes atinlay, and smile becomes ilesmay. For a word that starts with a vowel sound, nothing moves — you just add a suffix such as "way," "yay," or "ay" to the end, so eat becomes eatway.
What happens to words that start with a vowel?
No letters are moved. The calculator simply appends the vowel-start suffix you choose ("way" is the most common convention, with "yay" and plain "ay" also in use) to the end of the original word. Omelet becomes omeletway, apple becomes appleway, and igloo becomes iglooway.
How are "qu" and "y" handled?
"Qu" is treated as one consonant unit because it represents a single "kw" sound, so queen moves the whole "qu" cluster to become eenquay, not "ueenqay." A "y" is treated as a consonant only when it is the first letter of a word (yellow becomes ellowyay); anywhere else in the word it counts as a vowel, so gym becomes ymgay.
Does this handle punctuation, numbers, and capitalization?
Only letters A-Z are translated; leading or trailing punctuation such as commas and periods stays attached in place, and digits pass through unchanged. With Preserve original casing selected, a capitalized word stays capitalized in its translated form and an all-caps word stays all-caps; words that contain internal punctuation, like contractions, are passed through untranslated.

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