English can relativize an oblique phrase while leaving a preposition at the end: “the town we went to,” “the child she cooked for,” “the knife he cut it with.” Standard Filipino does not normally copy that pattern. A linker relative makes the head correspond to the embedded pivot, so speakers often change voice to select the destination, recipient, beneficiary, or instrument as pivot.
When the head denotes a mere setting rather than a participant selected by an established voice form, Filipino commonly uses kung saan or another kung + question word construction.
Strategy by intended role
| English relation | Filipino strategy | Example phrase |
|---|---|---|
| destination/place gone to | locative voice | bayang pinuntahan namin |
| recipient/addressee | locative/recipient-selecting voice | aplikanteng pinadalhan ko |
| beneficiary | benefactive voice | batang ipinagluto niya |
| instrument | instrumental voice | kutsilyong ipinanghiwa niya |
| mere setting | kung saan clause | silid kung saan nagpulong sila |
These voice families are partly lexical. Do not manufacture an -an or i- verb merely because English supplies to, for, or with.
Promote a destination with locative voice
Begin with an independent actor-voice clause:
Pumunta kami sa bayang malapit sa dagat noong Hunyo.
We went to the town near the sea in June. (independent actor-voice clause)
The town is a sa-marked destination. To make it the head of a linker relative, choose the established locative-voice verb pinuntahan:
Tahimik ang bayang pinuntahan namin noong Hunyo.
The town we went to in June is quiet. (locative relative)
The embedded actor becomes ng-form namin; the town corresponds to the unspoken locative pivot. English word order hides both changes.
Hindi ko makita sa mapa ang baryong dinaanan natin kahapon.
I cannot find on the map the village we passed through yesterday.
Completed locative-voice dinaanan selects the route/location head. Inclusive natin refers to the speaker and addressee.
Recipients and beneficiaries
Dumating na ang aplikanteng pinadalhan ko ng paalala kagabi.
The applicant to whom I sent a reminder last night has arrived.
Pinadalhan selects the recipient as pivot. Ko is non-pivot actor, and ng paalala is the conveyed theme.
Natuwa ang pamilyang ipinagluto ni Tess ng mainit na lugaw.
The family for whom Tess cooked hot rice porridge was pleased.
Benefactive ipinagluto selects the family as the beneficiary pivot. The actor is ni Tess and the prepared item ng mainit na lugaw. Actor-voice nagluto si Tess ng lugaw para sa pamilya expresses the same event with a different pivot; it does not directly license pamilya as a linker-relative gap.
Animacy makes recipients and beneficiaries plausible, but it does not automatically license a verb form. Lexical convention determines whether speakers use -an, ipag-, a para sa phrase, or a paraphrase.
Instruments and means
Nasaan ang gunting na ipinanggupit mo ng makapal na karton?
Where are the scissors that you used to cut the thick cardboard?
Instrumental ipinanggupit selects gunting as the missing pivot. Mo is actor and ng makapal na karton the affected material.
Itinabi ng kusinero ang sandok na ipinanghain niya ng sopas.
The cook set aside the ladle that he used to serve soup.
Not every tool noun permits a freely coined ipang- form. Both the derived verb and its participant frame must be established in usage. A natural two-clause paraphrase is better than an uncertain morphological invention.
Mere settings: use kung saan
Isasara muna ang bulwagan kung saan nag-ensayo ang koro.
The hall where the choir rehearsed will be closed temporarily.
The hall is a setting of actor-voice nag-ensayo, not its pivot. Kung saan supplies a non-DP spatial relation while allowing ang koro to remain actor pivot.
Compare a selected location:
Isasara muna ang bulwagang pinagdausan ng paligsahan.
The hall in which the competition was held will be closed temporarily.
Lexicalized locative expression pinagdausan presents the hall as the selected venue. The two constructions are close in English, but the Filipino analysis differs. See relative clauses with kung saan.
Non-pivot actors require restructuring
In patient/undergoer voice, the actor is ng-marked. A standard linker relative cannot simply leave that non-pivot actor as its gap. Change to actor voice when the actor is the intended head:
Sinuri ng inhinyero ang tulay bago ito buksan.
The engineer inspected the bridge before it was opened. (patient/undergoer voice)
Dumating na ang inhinyerong sumuri sa tulay.
The engineer who inspected the bridge has arrived. (actor relative)
Actor-voice sumuri makes the engineer accessible as the head; patient sa tulay receives the frame conventional for this use of sumuri. Voice selection is not optional stylistic passivization.
Questions, negation, and accepted recasts
Alin ang kahong hindi nilagyan ni Ruel ng babalang etiketa?
Which is the box that Ruel did not put a warning label on?
Negation remains inside the locative relative. It denies the labeling event without changing the box's pivot role.
—Nakausap mo ba ang gurong pinagtanungan ko tungkol sa matrikula? —Oo, nasa tanggapan pa siya.
—Did you speak with the teacher whom I asked about tuition? —Yes, she is still in the office.
Pinagtanungan selects the person approached as the locative/addressee-like pivot. In less formal conversation, speakers may split a difficult relative into two sentences: Nakausap mo ba ang guro? Siya ang pinagtanungan ko... This is an accepted clarity strategy, not a failure of grammar.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying an English stranded preposition
❌ Tahimik ang bayan na pumunta kami sa.
Incorrect — Filipino does not strand sa after an actor-voice clause this way.
✅ Tahimik ang bayang pinuntahan namin.
The town we went to is quiet.
2. Leaving the embedded actor ang-marked after changing voice
❌ Dumating ang batang pinadalhan ako ng aklat.
Incorrect — ako must become ng-form ko inside the recipient-selecting relative.
✅ Dumating ang batang pinadalhan ko ng aklat.
The child to whom I sent a book arrived.
3. Treating a mere setting as a pivot without a licensing verb
❌ Binuksan ang silid na nagtrabaho si Lira kahapon.
Incorrect — actor-voice nagtrabaho does not leave a location-pivot gap.
✅ Binuksan ang silid kung saan nagtrabaho si Lira kahapon.
They opened the room where Lira worked yesterday.
4. Relativizing an undergoer with actor voice
❌ Nasira ang makinang nag-ayos si Pio noong Lunes.
Incorrect for ‘the machine Pio repaired’ — nag-ayos selects Pio as actor head.
✅ Nasira ang makinang inayos ni Pio noong Lunes.
The machine that Pio repaired on Monday broke down.
Key Takeaways
- Standard linker relatives make their head correspond to an embedded pivot.
- Promote a destination, recipient, beneficiary, or instrument with an established voice form when possible.
- Use kung saan when a place is a setting rather than a selected locative participant.
- Changing voice changes the markers on every expressed participant.
- Lexical restrictions are real; paraphrase instead of inventing a plausible-looking affixed verb.
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Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- Ang-Marked Head Relative ClausesC1 — Build ang-marked noun phrases whose linked relative clauses describe the head through a voice-compatible pivot gap.
- Relative Clauses with kung saanC1 — Use kung saan to relate a place head to a spatial setting while distinguishing this construction from locative-voice relatives and embedded questions.
- Locative Voice: Relative ClausesB2 — Build relative clauses whose head is an affected place, surface, container, destination, or addressee selected by locative voice.
- Benefactive Voice: Relative ClausesB2 — Build relative clauses whose head is the beneficiary pivot, using the right benefactive verb, linker, markers, and aspect.
- Instrumental and Conveyance Voice: Relative ClausesB2 — Build relative clauses whose head is a conveyed theme, placed item, encoded content, instrument, or means.
- Choosing i- versus -in-B1 — Choose i- or -in families by deciding whether the pivot is conveyed, placed, applied, benefited, or directly affected—and by checking the root's lexical pattern.