The root sabi organizes speech around speaker, message, and addressee. Magsabi selects the speaker, sabihin selects what is said, sabihan selects the person told, and ipagsabi selects information disclosed or spread. Bare sabi also introduces reported statements in extremely common expressions such as Sabi niya... “He/She says...”
English distinguishes say and tell, but its word order does not predict Filipino voice marking. Learn each form together with its marker frame.
Core forms and functions
| Family | Basic | Completed | Incompleted | Contemplated | Typical pivot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| actor voice | magsabi | nagsabi | nagsasabi | magsasabi | speaker |
| patient/undergoer voice | sabihin | sinabi | sinasabi | sasabihin | message or propositional content |
| locative voice (addressee selected) | sabihan | sinabihan | sinasabihan | sasabihan | person told, advised, warned, or instructed |
| potential/result patient/undergoer voice | masabi | nasabi | nasasabi | masasabi | content managed, happened, or able to be said |
| benefactive/instrumental voice (disclosure) | ipagsabi | ipinagsabi | ipinagsasabi | ipagsasabi | information revealed or spread |
Sabihin shows an established paradigm: sinabi, sinasabi, sasabihin. The suffix appears in the basic and contemplated forms but not in the completed or incompleted forms. Store the principal parts rather than building them from an English tense table; irregular reduplicated forms gives the broader comparison.
Magsabi: select the speaker
Actor-voice magsabi marks the speaker with ang/si. A short nominal message can take ng, an addressee takes sa/kay, and a full reported proposition commonly follows na.
Nagsabi si Liza ng totoo sa kaniyang mga magulang.
Liza told her parents the truth.
Nagsasabi ang guwardiya sa mga bisita na maghintay muna sa labas.
The guard tells visitors to wait outside first.
Magsasabi ako kay Dina kapag handa na ang mga dokumento.
I will tell Dina when the documents are ready.
For a specific person addressed, magsabi sa/kay is required. English tell someone has no overt preposition, which often leads learners to omit this marker.
Sabihin: select the message
Patient/undergoer-voice sabihin presents a word, fact, message, or proposition as pivot. The speaker takes an ng form and the addressee takes sa/kay.
Sinabi ni Omar kay Tess ang bagong oras ng pagpupulong.
Omar told Tess the new meeting time.
Sinasabi ng ulat na bumaba ang bilang ng mga reklamo.
The report says that the number of complaints decreased.
Sasabihin ko sa iyo ang dahilan kapag tayo na lang ang narito.
I will tell you the reason when only the two of us are here.
An inanimate source such as ulat can occupy the actor-like ng role because texts and signs conventionally convey content. This does not turn ng ulat into an English by-phrase.
Sabihan: select the addressee
Locative-voice sabihan selects the person who receives information, advice, instruction, or warning. The speaker takes an ng form, while the content often follows ng, tungkol sa, or a linked clause.
Sinabihan ni Aya ang kapatid niya tungkol sa pagbabago ng iskedyul.
Aya told her sibling about the schedule change.
Sinasabihan ng nars ang mga pasyente na dalhin ang kanilang kard.
The nurse tells the patients to bring their cards.
Sabihan mo ako kung hindi ka makakarating sa oras.
Tell me if you cannot arrive on time.
The selected addressee must be capable of receiving communication in the intended reading. For content-centered wording, switch to sabihin sa... ang....
Controlled comparison: speaker, content, and addressee
Nagsabi si Ana ng balita kay Lito.
Ana told Lito some news. (Ana is the speaker pivot.)
Sinabi ni Ana kay Lito ang balita.
Ana told Lito the news. (The news is the content pivot.)
Sinabihan ni Ana si Lito tungkol sa balita.
Ana told Lito about the news. (Lito is the addressee pivot.)
The participants overlap, but the markers shift as a system: si Ana → ni Ana, ng/ang balita, and kay/si Lito. This is why memorizing only “sabi = say” is inadequate.
Masabi and ipagsabi
Masabi can express ability, successful expression, or an utterance that escaped unintentionally. Context decides whether nasabi means “managed to say” or “happened to say.”
Hindi ko masabi sa kaniya ang nangyari dahil natatakot akong mag-alala siya.
I cannot tell him or her what happened because I am afraid they will worry.
Nasabi ko ang sikreto bago ko napansing naroon pala si Mina.
I blurted out the secret before I noticed that Mina was there.
Ipagsabi often carries a disclosure or spreading nuance. It is common in warnings about confidential information.
Huwag mong ipagsabi ang pasya hangga't hindi pa nilalagdaan ang kasunduan.
Do not disclose the decision until the agreement has been signed.
Bare sabi, ibig sabihin, and report particles
Bare sabi behaves noun-like in Sabi ni Mara... “According to what Mara said...” and Ano ang sabi niya? “What did he/she say?” Ibig sabihin is the fixed expression “mean,” literally involving intended meaning rather than a freely inflected use of sabihin.
Sabi raw ni Mara, ililipat sa Lunes ang pagpupulong.
Mara reportedly said that the meeting will be moved to Monday.
Because sabi ends in a vowel, careful usage selects raw, not daw. Colloquial variation occurs, but the sound-conditioned default is best in careful writing.
—Ano ang ibig sabihin ng paunawang ito? —Sinasabi nito na bawal munang pumasok.
—What does this notice mean? —It says that entry is temporarily prohibited.
Common Mistakes
Using a direct-object pronoun after sinabi
❌ Sinabi niya ako na maaga ang alis.
Incorrect — with content-selecting sinabi, the addressee requires sa akin.
✅ Sinabi niya sa akin na maaga ang alis.
He/She told me that the departure is early.
Keeping the speaker as pivot with sinabi
❌ Sinabi si Joel ang totoo sa pulong.
Incorrect — sinabi selects the content, so Joel takes ni.
✅ Sinabi ni Joel ang totoo sa pulong.
Joel told the truth at the meeting.
Omitting the addressee marker after magsabi
❌ Nagsabi si Joel ang guro tungkol sa sira.
Incorrect — the person addressed takes sa/kay, while actor voice selects Joel.
✅ Nagsabi si Joel sa guro tungkol sa sira.
Joel told the teacher about the damage.
Confusing message and addressee pivots
❌ Sinabihan ni Lea ang balita sa mga magulang niya.
Wrong for a content pivot — sinabihan selects a person told, not the news.
✅ Sinabi ni Lea sa mga magulang niya ang balita.
Lea told her parents the news.
Key Takeaways
- Magsabi selects the speaker; an addressee takes sa/kay.
- Sabihin selects content, while sabihan selects the person told.
- Masabi adds ability, successful expression, or unintended utterance depending on context.
- Ipagsabi commonly implies disclosure or spreading information.
- Bare sabi and fixed ibig sabihin have established syntax that cannot be copied directly from English say/tell/mean.
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