A relative clause identifies or describes a noun by embedding a clause around it: “the nurse who called,” “the form that I signed,” or “the clinic where we were treated.” Filipino does not insert separate equivalents of English who, which, and that. Instead, a linker joins the head noun to the modifying clause, and the verb’s voice normally makes the head noun the clause’s pivot.
Building a relative clause from an independent clause
Start with an independent actor-voice clause:
Naghatid ng gamot ang boluntaryo kaninang umaga.
The volunteer delivered medicine this morning.
To identify that volunteer, make boluntaryo the head noun and attach -ng. Inside the relative clause, the volunteer remains the understood pivot of actor-voice naghatid:
Kinausap ko ang boluntaryong naghatid ng gamot kaninang umaga.
I spoke with the volunteer who delivered medicine this morning.
There is no overt pronoun meaning “who” after boluntaryo. The missing participant of naghatid is understood as the head noun because actor voice makes that actor accessible as the pivot.
Now compare a patient-voice clause:
Pinirmahan ni Rosa ang pahintulot bago ang operasyon.
Rosa signed the consent form before the operation.
Nasa sobre ang pahintulot na pinirmahan ni Rosa bago ang operasyon.
The consent form that Rosa signed before the operation is in the envelope.
Patient-voice pinirmahan makes the consent form the pivot. The actor stays ni Rosa. English uses the same relative word that for many roles, but Filipino normally changes voice so that the relativized participant is the appropriate pivot.
The linker after the head noun
The head and relative clause are connected by the ordinary linker allomorphs.
| Head ending | Linker form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel | attached -ng | taong naghihintay | person who is waiting |
| n | attached -g | paaralang pinapasukan | school that someone attends |
| Other consonant | separate na | aklat na hinahanap | book that someone is looking for |
May taong naghihintay sa iyo sa may hagdan.
There is someone who is waiting for you by the stairs.
Malayo sa kanilang bahay ang paaralang pinapasukan ng magkapatid.
The school that the siblings attend is far from their home.
Nakita mo ba ang aklat na hinahanap ng tagapamahala?
Did you see the book that the manager is looking for?
The linker does not mark the relative clause as definite. May taong naghihintay introduces an indefinite person, while ang taong naghihintay refers to an ang-marked person identifiable in the larger clause. Definiteness and referentiality come from the whole noun phrase and discourse, not from -ng/na alone.
External marking belongs to the larger clause
The complete noun phrase receives ang/si, ng/ni, or sa/kay according to its role in the matrix clause. That external marker is separate from the head noun’s unspoken role inside the relative clause.
Ibinigay ko sa nars na tumulong sa aking lola ang liham ng pasasalamat.
I gave the thank-you letter to the nurse who helped my grandmother.
The whole phrase sa nars na tumulong sa aking lola is a recipient in the matrix clause. Within tumulong sa aking lola, the nurse is the understood actor-pivot. One noun phrase participates in two structural layers.
Humingi kami ng payo sa abogadong inirekomenda ng aming kapitbahay.
We asked for advice from the lawyer whom our neighbor recommended.
Externally, the lawyer is inside a sa phrase. Internally, the lawyer is the patient pivot of inirekomenda, whose actor is ng aming kapitbahay. Do not copy the external sa marker into the gap inside the relative clause.
Voice makes different roles accessible
The most important restriction is often called pivot accessibility: the ordinary gap in a Filipino relative clause corresponds to the pivot licensed by the embedded verb’s voice.
| Head’s role in the relative event | Typical voice | Example head + relative |
|---|---|---|
| Actor | Actor voice | doktor na susuri sa pasyente |
| Patient/theme | Patient voice | resultang susuriin ng doktor |
| Location | Locative voice | silid na pagdarausan ng pagsusuri |
| Recipient/beneficiary | Locative or benefactive pattern, depending on the verb | batang binigyan ng gamot |
Tahimik ang silid na pagdarausan ng pagsusuri sa mga bata.
The room where the children will be examined is quiet.
Ngumiti ang batang binigyan ng nars ng bagong kumot.
The child to whom the nurse gave a new blanket smiled.
Affix choice is lexical as well as structural. Not every root freely forms every voice, and an English preposition such as to, for, or in does not by itself tell you which Filipino affix is natural. Dedicated pages on actor-voice relative clauses, patient-voice relative clauses, and oblique and non-pivot relativization develop those choices.
Aspect, negation, and questions inside relatives
A relative clause can express completed, incompleted, or contemplated aspect. The head noun itself does not determine time.
Dumating na ang tagapagsaling tinawagan natin kahapon.
The interpreter whom we called yesterday has arrived.
Kilalanin natin ang mga gurong nagtuturo sa mga liblib na barangay.
Let us recognize the teachers who teach in remote barangays.
Ihahanda ko ang mga dokumentong kakailanganin ninyo sa panayam.
I will prepare the documents that you will need at the interview.
Negation and particles remain inside the embedded clause:
Nasa pulang sobre ang ulat na hindi pa nababasa ng direktor.
The report that the director has not yet read is in the red envelope.
An entire noun phrase containing a relative clause can be questioned in the matrix clause:
Aling sasakyang dumarating mula sa pantalan ang hihintayin natin?
Which vehicle arriving from the port are we going to wait for?
Here dumarating mula sa pier identifies the vehicle, while aling … ang hihintayin natin is the matrix question. The relative clause does not need its own ba.
Reference in connected discourse
Relative clauses are useful when several possible referents compete. Once a referent is established, repeating the full description may be unnecessarily heavy.
—Sino ang bagong kasama ninyo? —Siya ang inhinyerong nagdisenyo ng tulay sa San Roque. Siya rin ang mangangasiwa sa pagkukumpuni nito.
—Who is your new colleague? —She is the engineer who designed the bridge in San Roque. She will also oversee its repair.
The relative clause identifies the engineer on first mention. The following sentence uses siya because reference is now clear. Relative clauses therefore interact with coreference and information structure, not just noun formation.
Common Mistakes
Inserting an English-style relative pronoun
❌ ang boluntaryo na siya ang naghatid ng gamot
Incorrect as an ordinary integrated relative—the resumptive siya ang copies an English-style overt subject.
✅ ang boluntaryong naghatid ng gamot
the volunteer who delivered medicine
Omitting the linker
❌ ang aklat hinahanap ng tagapamahala
Incorrect—the head noun and relative clause are not linked.
✅ ang aklat na hinahanap ng tagapamahala
the book that the manager is looking for
Keeping actor voice when the head is the patient
❌ ang pahintulot na pumirma si Rosa
Incorrect for 'the consent form that Rosa signed'—actor-voice pumirma makes Rosa the pivot and supplies no patient-pivot gap.
✅ ang pahintulot na pinirmahan ni Rosa
the consent form that Rosa signed
Copying the head noun into its own gap
❌ ang ulat na hindi pa nababasa ng direktor ang ulat
Incorrect—the repeated ang ulat fills the position that should correspond to the head.
✅ ang ulat na hindi pa nababasa ng direktor
the report that the director has not yet read
Key Takeaways
Filipino relative clauses use -ng, -g, or na after the head noun and normally contain no separate word for who, which, or that. The head noun receives its external marker from the larger clause, while its understood role inside the relative clause is shaped by the embedded verb’s voice. Aspect, negation, and particles remain available inside the relative clause, and the resulting noun phrase may be definite or indefinite according to its marker and discourse context.
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.
- Oblique and Non-Pivot RelativizationC1 — Relativize destinations, recipients, beneficiaries, instruments, and settings by choosing voice promotion or an appropriate kung-plus-wh strategy.
- Headless Relative ClausesC1 — Use relative clauses without an overt noun head to mean the person, thing, or group that fits a voice-defined description.
- Actor Voice: Relative ClausesB2 — Build relative clauses whose head is the actor pivot, using the correct linker, voice form, gap, and participant marking.
- Patient Voice: Relative ClausesB2 — Build relative clauses whose head is the patient pivot, with the correct voice, linker, participant marking, and aspect.
- Existential Relative ClausesA2 — Build existential clauses with overt or understood heads, and align relative-clause voice with the participant being introduced.