Verb Reference: patay | Filipino Grammar

The root patay covers the absence of life and, by extension, an extinguished flame, a device that is off, or a system that is inactive. Bare patay is a state predicate, mamatay means enter that state, pumatay selects a cause or actor that kills, and patayin selects the living being, flame, light, or device deliberately affected. Mapatay and makapatay add result, possibility, or reduced-control meanings.

English divides this network among dead, die, kill, extinguish, and turn off. The Filipino forms are related, but they are not one English-style conjugation: affixes change both event structure and the participant selected by ang/si.

Core forms and functions

All unmarked forms are (neutral). References to people can require more respectful vocabulary depending on the setting.

Family	Basic	Completed	Incompleted	Contemplated	Typical pivot
state predicate	patay	not an aspect paradigm			dead being, extinguished flame, or inactive device/system
inchoative ma- family	mamatay	namatay	namamatay	mamamatay	being, flame, light, or device entering the dead/off state
causing actor voice	pumatay	pumatay	pumapatay	papatay	killer or cause; affected entity normally takes ng
patient/undergoer voice	patayin	pinatay	pinapatay	papatayin	selected living being, flame, light, device, or process stopped
potential/result patient voice	mapatay	napatay	napapatay	mapapatay	selected entity whose death or deactivation is possible or achieved
actor-result/ability	makapatay	nakapatay	nakakapatay / nakapapatay	makakapatay / makapapatay	actor or cause capable of producing death or shutdown

The inchoative family shows nasal substitution: the underlying root patay surfaces with m in mamatay, namatay, namamatay, and mamamatay. Do not confuse that established family with potential/result mapatay, where the root-initial p remains visible.

The reduplicated ka-copy forms nakakapatay/makakapatay are widespread in conversation and ordinary writing. Root-copy nakapapatay/makapapatay is frequent in careful and (formal) prose. Both belong to contemporary usage and keep the same marker frame; see the broader maka- ability and result family.

Patay and mamatay: state versus change

Bare patay describes a state and needs no Filipino equivalent of English be. Mamatay presents a change into that state; completed namatay reports that the change occurred.

Patay na ang baterya ng radyo, kaya hindi ito gumagana.

The radio's battery is dead now, so it does not work. (state predicate; neutral)

Namatay ang mga punla dahil dalawang araw na walang tubig.

The seedlings died because they had gone two days without water. (completed inchoative; neutral)

The same contrast applies metaphorically to lights and machines. Patay ang ilaw means the light is off; namatay ang ilaw presents it going out. A human death can also use namatay, which is neutral and direct. Pumanaw is more respectful and common in condolence notices, obituaries, and (formal) announcements.

Namamatay ang apoy kapag natatakpan ng abo ang baga.

The fire dies when the ember gets covered with ash. (habitual incompleted inchoative; neutral)

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Use bare patay for the state and mamatay/namatay for entering it. Filipino does not insert a copula before patay in a neutral predicate-initial clause.

Pumatay and patayin: cause versus selected patient

Actor-voice pumatay selects a deliberate actor or inanimate cause with ang/si. The affected being or thing takes ng. Patient-voice patayin selects an identifiable affected entity with ang, while its actor or cause takes an ng-series form.

Pumatay ng maraming bagong tanim ang matinding init noong Abril.

The intense heat killed many new plants in April. (completed causing actor voice; neutral)

Pinatay ng matinding init ang maraming bagong tanim noong Abril.

The intense heat killed many of the new plants in April. (completed patient voice; neutral)

The first clause follows ang matinding init as cause; the second follows ang maraming bagong tanim as selected patient. Pumatay therefore need not imply a human murderer: diseases, chemicals, heat, and accidents can occupy its actor/cause role.

With nonliving objects, patayin conventionally means stop, extinguish, or switch off:

Papatayin mo ba ang bentilador bago tayo umalis?

Will you turn off the fan before we leave? (interrogative contemplated patient voice; neutral)

Patayin ninyo ang maliit na apoy gamit ang basang kumot.

Put out the small fire using a wet blanket. (patient-voice command; neutral)

Context resolves the polysemy. Pinatay ang ilaw is ordinary and harmless; pinatay ang tao states that the person was killed. The grammar is the same, but animacy changes the lexical interpretation drastically.

💡

Never use pinatay when you merely mean that someone died. Namatay ang tao reports death; Pinatay ang tao asserts an external killer or cause.

Mapatay and makapatay: achieved result and dangerous capacity

Mapatay selects the entity whose death, extinction, or shutdown can be achieved. Completed napatay often backgrounds intention and highlights the result, though context may still contain an agent.

Napatay ng mga bumbero ang apoy bago iyon umabot sa katabing bahay.

The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire before it reached the neighboring house. (completed achieved result; neutral)

Hindi mapapatay ng tubig ang apoy mula sa nasusunog na mantika.

Water will not extinguish a fire caused by burning cooking oil. (negative contemplated result; neutral)

Makapatay selects a cause or actor capable of producing the result. It often appears in warnings, scientific explanations, and reports without asserting that the result actually occurs every time.

Maaaring makapatay ng mga isda ang sobrang pataba na umaagos sa lawa.

Excess fertilizer flowing into the lake can kill fish. (potential actor-result; formal/educational)

Collocations, idioms, and register

Common combinations include patay ang makina, namatay ang kuryente, patayin ang ilaw, and napatay ang apoy. Ikinamatay names something as the cause of death in (formal/news and medical) language: ang pinsalang ikinamatay niya “the injury that caused their death.” This form belongs to the same semantic network but is not interchangeable with ordinary namatay.

—Patay na ba ang kalan? —Oo, at isinara ko na rin ang balbula ng tangke ng gas.

—Is the stove off now? —Yes, and I also closed the gas tank valve. (neutral exchange)

Idiomatic patay na oras means a quiet or low-activity period and is common in (informal) conversation. Patay na patay kay ... means deeply infatuated with someone and is also (informal). These expressions do not describe literal death. Avoid them in solemn contexts, where their tone can sound flippant.

English kill also has figurative senses that need different roots. “Kill time” is magpalipas ng oras, “kill a proposal” may be ibagsak or harangin ang panukala, and “the joke killed” has no natural word-for-word patay equivalent.

Common Mistakes

Inserting an English-style copula before patay

❌ Ay patay ang baterya ng radyo.

Incorrect as a neutral predicate-initial clause — patay itself is the predicate; ay is not English 'is.'

✅ Patay ang baterya ng radyo.

The radio's battery is dead. (state predicate; neutral)

Marking the actor-voice victim with ang

❌ Pumatay ang matinding init ang maraming punla.

Incorrect — pumatay selects the heat as pivot, so the affected plants take ng.

✅ Pumatay ng maraming punla ang matinding init.

The intense heat killed many seedlings. (causing actor voice; neutral)

Saying killed when died is intended

❌ Pinatay ang matandang puno dahil sa sakit.

Incorrect for 'the tree died from disease' — pinatay asserts that something killed or deliberately destroyed it.

✅ Namatay ang matandang puno dahil sa sakit.

The old tree died from disease. (completed inchoative; neutral)

Using an actor-voice form as a patient-voice command

❌ Pumatay mo ang ilaw bago lumabas.

Incorrect — the selected light and ng-form actor require patient-voice patayin.

✅ Patayin mo ang ilaw bago lumabas.

Turn off the light before going out. (patient-voice command; neutral)

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The useful network separates state patay, change mamatay, causing actor pumatay, selected patient patayin, achieved patient result mapatay, and capable cause makapatay.

Key Takeaways

Bare patay is a state predicate; mamatay/namatay presents entry into that state.
Pumatay ... ng selects the killer or cause; patayin ... ang selects the affected being, flame, light, or device.
Mapatay foregrounds possible or achieved effect on a patient; makapatay foregrounds a capable actor or cause.
Animacy makes pinatay mean killed with living patients but turned off or extinguished with many inanimate patients.
Use respectful pumanaw where social context calls for a gentler or formal reference to human death.

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