Choose the -in family when an established verb selects an affected, created, consumed, or otherwise targeted patient as pivot. Choose the -an/-han family when an established verb selects an endpoint, location, surface, container, addressee, or affected site as pivot. The difficulty is lexical: frequent -an verbs such as buksan and hugasan select patient-like objects, so no single spatial rule covers the whole suffix.
Both families normally mark the actor with ng/ni or an ng-form pronoun and the selected pivot with ang/si. Their English translations often use the same active verb, so select from the Filipino participant frame, not the nearest English preposition. All unlabelled examples are neutral contemporary Filipino.
The quick comparison
| Decision point | -in family | -an/-han family |
|---|---|---|
| Typical selected pivot | affected patient, product, content, target | endpoint, addressee, surface, container, place, affected site |
| Basic examples | sulatin, tawagin, basahin, bilhin | sulatan, tawagan, lagyan, puntahan |
| Actor marking | ng/ni, or ko/mo/niya... | ng/ni, or ko/mo/niya... |
| Pivot marking | ang/si | ang/si |
| Lexical warning | buksan, hugasan, and other patient-like -an verbs must be learned whole | |
The label -in family names a paradigm, not a suffix that stays visible in every aspect form: sulatin—sinulat—sinusulat—susulatin. The parallel -an paradigm is sulatan—sinulatan—sinusulatan—susulatan.
Step 1: identify the participant you want as pivot
The root sulat gives a clean contrast. Sulatin selects a text to be composed; sulatan selects the person or surface written to or on.
Sulatin mo ang maikling buod bago ang pagpupulong.
Write the short summary before the meeting. (-in; text as patient pivot)
Sulatan mo si Tita Remy bago matapos ang bakasyon.
Write to Aunt Remy before the vacation ends. (-an; addressee as endpoint pivot)
The actor is mo in both. What changes is the selected pivot: ang maikling buod is produced text, while si Tita Remy is the endpoint of correspondence.
Completed forms preserve the contrast:
Sinulat ni Jomar ang talumpati para sa pagtatapos.
Jomar wrote the graduation speech. (-in; produced text pivot)
Sinulatan ni Jomar ang punong-guro tungkol sa sirang bubong.
Jomar wrote to the principal about the damaged roof. (-an; addressee pivot)
See the -in function guide and -an function guide for full paradigms.
Step 2: check whether animacy changes the likely role
With tawag, an animate pivot can appear in either family, but the conventional event differs.
Tawagin mo si Dr. Ramos; naghihintay na ang susunod na pasyente.
Call Dr. Ramos over; the next patient is already waiting. (-in; summoned person as target pivot)
Tawagan mo si Dr. Ramos kapag lumabas na ang resulta.
Phone Dr. Ramos once the result is available. (-an; contacted person as endpoint pivot)
Tawagin commonly means call out to, summon, or name; tawagan commonly means contact by telephone. Context can create overlap in English translation, but the Filipino families remain lexically distinct. Animacy makes an addressee reading plausible; it does not by itself select -an.
Step 3: distinguish an item from its source or target
The kuha family contrasts the thing taken with a source or photographic target.
Kunin mo ang sobre sa ibabaw ng aparador.
Get the envelope from on top of the cabinet. (-in family; thing taken as pivot)
Kunan mo ng larawan ang lumang gusali bago ito gibain.
Take a photograph of the old building before it is demolished. (-an family; photographic target as pivot)
In the second sentence, ang lumang gusali is selected target and ng larawan is the produced theme. The reduced form kunan is established; expanded kuhanan also occurs in contemporary usage. That root-specific variation does not authorize arbitrary sound deletion.
Step 4: learn patient-like -an verbs as lexical families
Some ordinary affected-patient verbs use -an/-han, not -in:
Buksan ninyo ang pinto sa likod para makapasok ang karpintero.
Open the back door so the carpenter can enter. (-an family with patient-like pivot)
Hugasan mo ang mga garapon bago lagyan ng atsara.
Wash the jars before putting pickles in them. (-an family with patient-like pivot)
The door and jars are affected objects, yet standard Filipino uses buksan and hugasan, not invented buksin and hugasin. Semantics narrows the choice; lexical convention decides it.
Step 5: keep aspect separate from suffix choice
| Family | Basic | Completed | Incompleted | Contemplated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| write selected text | sulatin | sinulat | sinusulat | susulatin |
| write to selected endpoint | sulatan | sinulatan | sinusulatan | susulatan |
| summon selected person | tawagin | tinawag | tinatawag | tatawagin |
| telephone selected person | tawagan | tinawagan | tinatawagan | tatawagan |
Surface identity can occur: tatawagin and tatawagan remain distinct through their final suffix and lexical frame. Negation does not change either family:
Hindi mo ba tinawagan ang klinika tungkol sa bagong iskedyul?
Didn't you phone the clinic about the new schedule? (negative question; completed -an family)
Connected context
—Ano ang susulatin mo sa kard? —Maikling pagbati lang, tapos susulatan ko rin si Lola sa susunod na linggo.
—What will you write on the card? —Just a short greeting, then I will also write to Grandma next week. (-in selects content; -an selects addressee)
The first susulatin selects the content. The second susulatan selects the addressee. Their near-identical English gloss is exactly why the pivot frame matters.
Register and discourse
Both families occur in conversation and formal prose. Conversation may omit a recoverable actor or theme, while careful writing often states the full participant frame to avoid ambiguity. Discourse prominence can favor sulatin when a text is being tracked or sulatan when an addressee or surface is being tracked, but only an established lexical family can select that role. Register and prominence refine a structurally licensed choice; they do not make -in and -an freely interchangeable.
Decision flow
- Confirm the established verb family for the root.
- If the intended pivot is an affected/product/content patient, test the attested -in family.
- If it is an endpoint, place, surface, container, addressee, or affected site, test the attested -an family.
- Check lexical exceptions such as buksan and hugasan.
- Choose aspect and remap the actor/pivot markers as one package.
Common Mistakes
Selecting the addressee when the text is intended as pivot
❌ Sinulatan ni Pia ang liham para sa direktor.
Incorrect for the intended meaning that Pia composed the letter — sinulatan selects an endpoint or surface, not the text as produced patient.
✅ Sinulat ni Pia ang liham para sa direktor.
Pia wrote the letter for the director. (-in; text pivot)
Using -in for a lexical -an verb
❌ Hugasin mo ang lalagyan bago ibuhos ang sabaw.
Incorrect standard form — the established patient-like family is hugasan.
✅ Hugasan mo ang lalagyan bago ibuhos ang sabaw.
Wash the container before pouring in the soup.
Leaving an -an pivot in a sa phrase
❌ Nilagyan ni Cora ng etiketa sa bawat bote.
Incorrect as a complete locative-voice clause — the selected receiving container must be the ang pivot.
✅ Nilagyan ni Cora ng etiketa ang bawat bote.
Cora put a label on every bottle. (-an; receiving container pivot)
Keeping the actor as pivot
❌ Tinawagan si Miko ang klinika bago magtanghali.
Incorrect — tinawagan selects the contacted endpoint, so Miko requires ni.
✅ Tinawagan ni Miko ang klinika bago magtanghali.
Miko phoned the clinic before noon.
Key Takeaways
The -in family commonly selects an affected patient, product, content, or target. The -an/-han family commonly selects an endpoint, addressee, surface, container, or affected site, while several frequent members have patient-like meanings. Both require an ng-form actor and ang-form pivot. Choose from the root's established lexical family, then use pivot role, aspect, and discourse to complete the clause.
Related Topics
- The -in- patient voice: Function and DistributionB1 — Understand how the -in patient-voice family selects a patient pivot and why its forms and meanings must be learned as a lexical paradigm.
- The -an locative and patient voice: Function and DistributionB1 — Understand how -an/-han verb families select places, surfaces, goals, addressees, and lexical patient-like pivots.
- Patient VoiceB1 — Use patient voice to select an affected or delimited participant as pivot while retaining the actor as a core ng-series phrase.
- Locative VoiceB1 — Use locative voice to select an affected place, surface, container, goal, or addressee as the pivot.
- Marker Choice with Patient-Voice VerbsA1 — Choose ang, ng, and personal markers with patient-voice verbs by treating the patient as pivot and the actor as non-pivot.
- Marker Choice with Locative-Voice VerbsA1 — Learn how locative voice promotes a place, surface, goal, or addressee to ang/si pivot while other participants take ng forms.