Verb Reference: hiram | Filipino Grammar

The root hiram organizes a network around temporary possession: borrowing something, lending it, identifying the borrowed item, or identifying the person from whom it is borrowed. English splits this domain between borrow and lend. Filipino often keeps the root and changes the affix, voice, and marker frame.

This family is a particularly clear reason to learn roots as networks. Humiram, hiramin, hiraman, magpahiram, ipahiram, and pahiramin are related, but they do not merely differ in “tense.” Each chooses a different participant or causative perspective.

That organization follows the general principle described in multiple possible verbs from one root: aspect varies within a family, while a different affix may also change voice and valency.

Compact form-and-function map

Family	Basic / completed / incompleted / contemplated	Selected participant and frame
actor voice -um-	humiram / humiram / humihiram / hihiram	borrower: ang; item: ng; source: sa/kay
actor voice mang-	manghiram / nanghiram / nanghihiram / manghihiram	borrower: ang; often an activity or recurring disposition
patient/undergoer voice -in	hiramin / hiniram / hinihiram / hihiramin	borrowed item: ang; borrower: ng
locative voice -an	hiraman / hiniraman / hinihiraman / hihiraman	person/source borrowed from: ang; item: ng
lend, actor voice	magpahiram / nagpahiram / nagpapahiram / magpapahiram	lender: ang; borrower: sa/kay
lend, benefactive/instrumental voice	ipahiram / ipinahiram / ipinapahiram / ipapahiram	loaned item: ang; lender: ng; recipient: sa/kay
lend, causative locative voice	pahiramin / pinahiram / pinahihiram / pahihiramin	borrower/recipient: ang; lender: ng; item: ng

The identical basic and completed humiram is normal for an -um- verb beginning with h. Context and aspect-sensitive surroundings distinguish the citation-like basic form from a completed event.

Borrower pivot versus item pivot

Actor voice selects the borrower. Patient/undergoer voice selects a definite or contextually important item.

Humiram si Lino ng payong kay Marta bago umulan.

Lino borrowed an umbrella from Marta before it rained.

Hiniram ni Lino kay Marta ang payong na nasa may pinto.

Lino borrowed from Marta the umbrella that was by the door.

These sentences describe comparable events. The first answers roughly “What did Lino do?” and introduces ng payong. The second tracks the identifiable umbrella as ang payong, while borrower ni Lino is non-pivot. The source is marked with personal kay Marta in both.

Humihiram ako ng bisikleta sa pinsan ko kapag sarado na ang terminal.

I borrow a bicycle from my cousin when the terminal is already closed.

Hihiramin ko ang bisikleta bukas kung hindi ito kailangan ni Joel.

I will borrow the bicycle tomorrow if Joel does not need it.

The incomplete form suits a repeated arrangement; the contemplated form presents a planned borrowing. Patient/undergoer voice in the second selects the known bicycle.

💡

Use sa for a common-noun source and kay for a singular personal name: sa kapitbahay, kay Marta. Neither means “from” in every context; the borrowing verb supplies the source relation.

Humiram and manghiram

Both humiram and manghiram are established actor-voice verbs. Humiram readily presents one bounded borrowing event. Manghiram is common when borrowing is treated as an activity, habit, attempt, or social practice. The boundary is not absolute, and speaker preferences vary.

Nanghihiram siya ng mga lumang magasin para sa proyekto ng klase.

She has been borrowing old magazines for the class project.

It would be possible to use humihiram here as well. The mang- form gives the repeated borrowing activity slightly more prominence; it does not create a wholly different dictionary meaning.

Selecting the source with hiraman

The locative-voice -an family can select the person or place serving as the source. The item borrowed remains ng-marked.

Hiniraman namin ng hagdan ang bagong kapitbahay.

We borrowed a ladder from the new neighbor.

This construction can initially surprise English speakers because ang bagong kapitbahay is not the item. It is the selected source. If the item is the discourse center, use Hiniram namin sa bagong kapitbahay ang hagdan instead.

Lending: magpahiram, ipahiram, and pahiramin

The causative pa- reverses the everyday English lexical perspective: the possessor allows another person to use the item. Actor-voice magpahiram selects the lender, benefactive/instrumental-voice ipahiram selects the loaned item, and locative-voice pahiramin selects the temporary recipient.

Nagpahiram si Tessa ng tolda sa mga boluntaryo.

Tessa lent a tent to the volunteers.

Ipinahiram ni Tessa sa mga boluntaryo ang malaking tolda.

Tessa lent the large tent to the volunteers.

Pinahiram ni Tessa ang mga boluntaryo ng tolda.

Tessa lent the volunteers a tent.

These three clauses can describe closely related lending events, but they select the lender, the loaned item, and the temporary recipient respectively. Their participant markers change with the voice; they are not interchangeable word orders.

Do not translate both borrow and lend with bare hiram while retaining English word order. The affix and marker frame show who temporarily gives and who temporarily receives.

💡

Use the direction of temporary possession as a check: humiram follows the receiver of the item, while magpahiram follows its temporary giver.

In requests, an elliptical Pahiram is extremely common (informal/neutral conversational):

—Pahiram po ng bolpen. —Sige, ibalik mo na lang mamaya.

—May I borrow a pen? —All right, just return it later.

The understood sense is “Please let me borrow.” Po makes the request respectful; the full form Maaari po ba akong humiram ng bolpen? is more explicit and formal.

Bare hiram and common collocations

As a nonverbal predicate, hiram describes temporary, borrowed status.

Hiram lang ang kamera, kaya ingatan natin ito.

The camera is only borrowed, so let's take care of it.

Frequent combinations include hiram na gamit “borrowed item,” hiram na salita “loanword,” utang o hiram “debt or loan,” and huwag ipahiram “do not lend.” Hiram na salita extends temporary transfer metaphorically to vocabulary; in technical linguistics, salitang hiram is also established.

Hihiram muna ako ng kaunting pera kay Liza at babayaran ko siya sa Biyernes.

I will borrow a little money from Liza for now and pay her back on Friday.

Common Mistakes

❌ Humiram si Pia ng aklat si Ramon.

Incorrect — the personal source needs kay, not the ang-marker si.

✅ Humiram si Pia ng aklat kay Ramon.

Pia borrowed a book from Ramon.

❌ Humiram ko ang aklat kahapon.

Incorrect — selecting the definite book requires patient/undergoer-voice hiniram.

✅ Hiniram ko ang aklat kahapon.

I borrowed the book yesterday.

❌ Humiram ako sa iyo ng payong para sa iyo.

Grammatically confused for the intended 'I lent you an umbrella': humiram makes me the borrower.

✅ Nagpahiram ako sa iyo ng payong.

I lent you an umbrella.

❌ Hihiram ako ang kamera bukas.

Incorrect — actor voice does not select the camera as an ang-marked patient.

✅ Hihiram ako ng kamera bukas.

I will borrow a camera tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

Humiram/manghiram select the borrower; hiramin selects the item; hiraman can select the source.
Magpahiram, ipahiram, and pahiramin select the lender, the loaned item, and the temporary recipient respectively.
The source is commonly sa plus a common noun or kay plus a personal name.
The useful unit is the whole root-centered network, because affixes change participant structure as well as aspect.
Variation between humiram and manghiram is real; the activity-versus-bounded-event tendency is useful but not absolute.

Now practice Filipino

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Filipino →