sino: Who

Sino asks for the identity of a person: “who?” It can stand as the interrogative predicate in Sino siya? “Who is he/she?” or introduce an ang description in Sino ang tumawag? “Who called?” For a possessor, recipient, source, or other personal oblique role, Filipino normally uses kanino, not plain sino.

The human question word does not behave like an English subject pronoun that can be dropped into any position. Voice determines whether the unknown person is the actor pivot, patient pivot, or an oblique participant, and the rest of the clause keeps the corresponding markers.

Core forms and functions

The final pattern is (informal/conversational) and marked; it asks the speaker to repeat or clarify a name. Neutral information questions put sino first. The other forms are neutral in contemporary standard Filipino.

Asking for identity

Filipino does not need a copula equivalent to English is in present-time identity questions.

In the second example, si Bb. Alonzo is the personal-name phrase being identified. Si is not an article and sino does not replace it inside that phrase. The question asks what identity or relationship should be associated with the name.

With a common-noun description, use ang:

The pattern is predicate sino plus identifying pivot phrase ang bagong doktor.... English begins with who is; Filipino requires no overt “is.”

Asking who performed an action

When the missing person is the actor, actor voice naturally selects that person as pivot.

The question keeps actor-voice naghatid and non-pivot patient ng gamot. The known pivot si Bea is replaced by the interrogative identifying construction sino ang naghatid.... No auxiliary like English did is added.

Aspect remains meaningful:

Incompleted naghihintay presents the waiting as ongoing; pa adds continuation. Sino itself says nothing about time or aspect.

Asking about a human patient or selected participant

If the unknown person is affected, contacted, invited, or otherwise selected by a non-actor voice, that voice remains visible.

Patient-voice inanyayahan selects the invited person, while respectful/plural actor ninyo is ng-form. Replacing ninyo with ang-form kayo would break the voice frame.

Named actor ni Niko remains non-pivot because the person called is selected. English uses active syntax in translation, so English subject/object order cannot diagnose the Filipino voice.

See question words and voice choice for the wider principle: the natural question commonly selects the requested core participant as pivot.

Kanino for possession and oblique persons

Use kanino when the expected answer belongs to the kay/kina or possessive domain rather than the si/sina pivot domain.

The answer may be Akin iyon “That is mine” or Kay Lorna iyon “That is Lorna’s.” Here kanino asks for the possessor.

It also asks for a personal recipient or source:

The bicycle remains the pivot of ipinahiram, and short mo is the actor. Kanino asks for the recipient, corresponding to an answer such as kay Ruel or sa kaniya.

Actor-voice humingi selects kayo, while kanino identifies the personal source. English strands from or omits it; Filipino encodes the relation in kanino.

Animacy and number

The neutral domain of sino is human identity. Speakers may use it affectionately for a named pet or in personifying talk (informal), but ordinary classification of animals or objects uses ano or selection with alin.

Plain sino is not grammatically singular: context can yield one person or several. Reduplicated sino-sino explicitly invites a list or asks which people make up a group.

The expected answer may contain several names. Standard spelling uses a hyphen; the expression does not require mga before sino-sino.

Negation, ba, and conversational force

Negation stays inside the identifying description:

Actor voice identifies the person responsible; negative phase hindi pa says the expected return has not occurred.

An information question does not need ba, but sino ba is common in conversation when the speaker seeks specificity, shows curiosity, or expresses impatience.

Ba adds interactional stance rather than yes-no force here. Tone determines whether the question sounds engaged or annoyed.

A short exchange

The first question requests the actor pivot with sino. The follow-up requests a recipient with kanino. Yata signals uncertainty, while reportive raw follows vowel-final Celso in the short answer. A full version could be Ipapadala raw niya kay Mang Celso, where raw likewise follows vowel-final ipapadala.

Common Mistakes

Omitting ang before a verbal description

Fast speech may blur the boundary, but the standard identifying construction is sino ang + predicate.

Using sino for an oblique recipient

Kanino corresponds to the personal oblique role; the envelope remains the pivot of ibinigay.

Mismatching an actor question and patient voice

Actor-voice tumawag makes the unknown caller the pivot. Sa iyo marks the person contacted.

Adding mga to a reduplicated question word

Key Takeaways

Use sino for human identity and for a human pivot described by ang + predicate. Match the verb’s voice to the unknown person’s role: actor voice for “who did it,” and an appropriate non-actor voice for “whom did you affect/contact/invite.” Use kanino for possession, recipients, sources, and other personal obliques. Plain sino can receive one or several answers; sino-sino explicitly asks for a list.