With a vowel-initial root, aspectual reduplication copies the initial vowel: alis → umaalis/aalis, inom → umiinom/iinom, and aral → nag-aaral/mag-aaral. The resulting adjacent vowels are meaningful pieces of the word, not accidental double letters. They must be kept in careful spelling and pronounced with Filipino syllable and glottal structure rather than merged into an English-style long vowel.
All unlabelled forms on this page are neutral contemporary Filipino. Ordinary spelling does not mark the glottal onset normally heard before a native vowel-initial root.
The Core Paradigms
| Root and family | Completed | Incompleted | Contemplated | Aspectual copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| alis, actor voice | umalis | umaalis | aalis | a- |
| akyat, actor voice | umakyat | umaakyat | aakyat | a- |
| inom, actor voice | uminom | umiinom | iinom | i- |
| alis, patient voice | inalis | inaalis | aalisin | a- |
| inom, patient voice | ininom | iniinom | iinumin | i- |
| aral, mag- actor voice | nag-aral | nag-aaral | mag-aaral | a- |
In umaalis, the pieces are approximately um- + a- + alis; in aalis, they are a- + alis. A spelling rule that simply deletes one of two identical vowels would erase the aspectual copy.
Umaakyat si Pilo sa bubong tuwing nililinis niya ang alulod.
Pilo climbs onto the roof whenever he cleans the gutter.
Aakyat si Pilo sa bubong kapag humina na ang hangin.
Pilo will climb onto the roof once the wind has weakened.
Completed and Incompleted in the Same Past Setting
Umalis si Lira nang alas-sais kahapon at naabutan niya ang unang biyahe.
Lira left at six yesterday and caught the first trip.
Umaalis na si Lira nang tumawag ang drayber kahapon.
Lira was already leaving when the driver called yesterday.
Both clauses are explicitly past. Completed umalis treats the departure as a bounded event; incompleted umaalis na places the listener inside its unfolding phase. English uses “left” versus “was leaving,” but Filipino makes an aspect contrast, not a past-versus-present contrast.
The same incompleted form can instead be habitual:
Umaalis nang maaga ang unang bus kapag Sabado.
The first bus leaves early on Saturdays.
Here kapag Sabado produces a recurring reading. The nang after umaalis modifies how the bus leaves; it is not the phrase marker ng.
Actor and Patient Voice Keep Different Families
Inaalis ng katiwala ang mga sirang ilaw ngayong umaga.
The caretaker is removing the broken lights this morning.
Aalisin ng katiwala ang huling sirang ilaw mamayang hapon.
The caretaker will remove the last broken light this afternoon.
The root-initial a is copied in both voices, but voice determines the rest of the word and the markers. Patient-voice inaalis/aalisin selects ang mga sirang ilaw or ang huling sirang ilaw as pivot and marks the actor with ng. Actor-voice umaalis/aalis normally means “leave” and selects the departing participant. Learners therefore need the entire lexical family, not a formula detached from voice.
The standard incompleted patient form is iniinom, not iiniinom: completed ininom, incompleted iniinom, contemplated iinumin. Infix position and reduplication interact, so adjacent vowels are not identical across every family.
Iniinom ng pasyente ang gamot pagkatapos ng hapunan.
The patient takes the medicine after dinner.
The displayed form above contains the standard sequence iniinom; its recurring interpretation comes from the context. The advanced vowel-initial affixation guide compares these voice families in more detail.
Why Some Forms Take a Hyphen
Prefixes ending in a consonant preserve a visible boundary before a vowel-initial root. Thus nag-aral, nag-aaral, and mag-aaral use a hyphen. The -um- and -in- families are conventionally written solid: umalis, umaalis, inalis, inaalis.
Nag-aaral si Sela sa kusina habang natutulog ang sanggol.
Sela is studying in the kitchen while the baby sleeps.
Mag-aaral si Sela sa Davao sa susunod na taon.
Sela will study in Davao next year.
In nag-aaral, one a is the copy and the next begins aral. Standard spelling does not write nag-a-aral. Hyphenation identifies the prefix boundary; it does not separate every morpheme mechanically. See the hyphenation guide for the wider convention.
Time and Modal Scope
Contemplated forms usually present an event as unbegun, but they are not English future-tense forms. A past viewpoint can project an event that was still ahead:
Akala ni Sela, aalis ang bus pagkaraan ng tanghalian, pero napaaga ang biyahe.
Sela thought the bus would leave after lunch, but the trip departed early.
Conversely, modal predicates can license a basic form without the contemplated copy:
Kailangan nating umalis bago mag-alas-sais.
We need to leave before six.
Basic umalis is selected as the complement of kailangan. English speakers should not force aalis merely because the departure lies in the future. Aspect and clause type both matter.
Negation, Questions, and Natural Speech
Hindi pa umaalis ang bangka dahil malakas pa ang alon.
The boat is not leaving yet because the waves are still strong.
—Iinom ba kayo bago bumiyahe? —Oo, iinom muna kami ng kape.
—Will you have a drink before traveling? —Yes, we'll drink coffee first.
Iinom retains the two written i vowels. Exclusive kami excludes the person asking. Rapid conversation may compress adjacent vowels or smooth glottal boundaries (informal), but careful writing preserves forms such as aalis ako and iinom ako.
Common Mistakes
❌ Aalalis si Lira pagkatapos ng pulong.
Incorrect — the initial a is copied once before the full root alis.
✅ Aalis si Lira pagkatapos ng pulong para maabutan niya ang bus.
Lira will leave after the meeting so that she can catch the bus.
❌ Uma-alis ang unang bus nang maaga kapag Sabado.
Incorrect standard spelling — established umaalis is written solidly.
✅ Umaalis nang maaga ang huling bus kapag may bagyo.
The last bus leaves early when there is a storm.
❌ Nagaaral si Sela para sa pagsusulit ngayong gabi.
Incorrect standard spelling — nag- keeps a hyphen before vowel-initial aral.
✅ Nag-aaral si Sela para sa pagsusulit habang tahimik ang bahay.
Sela is studying for the exam while the house is quiet.
❌ Iinom-ed si Pilo ng tubig bago umakyat.
Incorrect — English -ed cannot attach to a Filipino aspect form.
✅ Uminom si Pilo ng tubig bago siya umakyat sa tore.
Pilo drank water before he climbed the tower.
Key Takeaways
- Vowel-initial roots normally copy their initial vowel in incompleted and contemplated aspect.
- Adjacent vowels are structurally meaningful: umaalis, aalis, umiinom, iinom.
- Mag-/nag- take a hyphen before a vowel-initial root; um-/in- families are written solidly.
- Aspect supplies event contour, while adverbials and context supply time.
- Voice and lexical family determine the full word; vowel copying alone does not.
Related Topics
- First-Syllable ReduplicationB1 — Form common incompleted and contemplated verbs by copying the initial prosodic material of an established root or stem rather than blindly repeating letters.
- Reduplication After PrefixesB1 — Locate aspectual reduplication inside prefixed verb families such as nagluluto, nagpapaluto, nakikipag-usap, and ipinapadala.
- Affixation with Vowel-Initial RootsC1 — Build verb families from vowel-initial roots while preserving glottal boundaries, reduplicated vowels, and standard hyphenation.
- Reduplication in Verb FormationA2 — Recognize partial and full reduplication in Filipino verbs without confusing aspect marking, lexical derivation, and standard hyphenation.
- The Glottal Stop in FilipinoA1 — Learn how the Filipino glottal stop begins vowel-initial words, separates vowels, and distinguishes vowel-final words.
- Hyphenation with Affixes and ReduplicationA1 — Use Filipino hyphens at selected morpheme boundaries and in full reduplication while keeping ordinary affixed and partially reduplicated forms solid.