Verb Reference: sira | Filipino Grammar

The root sira covers damage, malfunction, spoilage, and figurative ruin. Bare sira describes a broken state, masira presents something becoming damaged, masiraan selects someone affected when a possession or body part fails, sirain selects what an actor damages, and manira selects a damaging actor. The related siraan family conventionally means harm someone's reputation or damage part of something.

English break can be intransitive or transitive with little visible change: “the pump broke” versus “the flood broke the pump.” Filipino distinguishes the result-oriented nasira from actor-and-patient sinira.

Core forms and functions

Family	Basic	Completed	Incompleted	Contemplated	Typical pivot
state predicate	sira	—	—	—	broken or malfunctioning entity
potential/result patient/undergoer voice	masira	nasira	nasasira	masisira	entity becoming damaged or spoiled
potential/result locative voice	masiraan	nasiraan	nasisiraan	masisiraan	possessor affected when a possession or body part fails
patient/undergoer voice	sirain	sinira	sinisira	sisirain	thing, plan, relationship, or reputation damaged
bounded actor voice	sumira	sumira	sumisira	sisira	person or force causing a particular instance of damage
actor voice with nasal substitution	manira	nanira	naninira	maninira	person or force causing damage
locative voice (affected target)	siraan	siniraan	sinisiraan	sisiraan	person or name defamed; part damaged

Manira reflects nasal substitution: the s of sira does not remain after mang-. Its actual forms are manira, nanira, naninira, maninira, not mechanically built spellings such as mangsira. See nasal substitution at root boundaries for the wider pattern.

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Use sira for a state, nasira for becoming damaged, and sinira when a cause or actor damages a selected thing.

Sira: a property predicate

Bare sira says that an object is broken, defective, out of order, or spoiled. It needs no equivalent of English is. Before a noun, vowel-final sira takes linker -ng.

Sira ang bentilador sa silid-pulong.

The fan in the meeting room is broken.

Huwag gamitin ang sirang hagdan hangga't hindi ito naaayos.

Do not use the damaged staircase until it is repaired.

With food, sira can mean spoiled. With a schedule, plan, or relationship, it can mean disrupted or damaged. Context supplies the relevant standard of proper functioning.

Sira na ang gatas; huwag mo nang inumin.

The milk is spoiled; do not drink it anymore.

Masira: foreground the resulting damage

The ma- family presents a change into a damaged state or the possibility of that change. A cause may follow sa/dahil sa or appear in a subordinate clause, but no deliberate agent is required.

Nasira ang bomba noong mawalan ng kuryente.

The pump broke when the power went out.

Nasasira ang mga gulay kapag naiwan sa araw nang matagal.

The vegetables spoil when left in the sun for a long time.

Masisira ang sahig kung palaging may tumutulong tubig.

The floor will be damaged if water keeps dripping onto it.

Here tumutulong is tumutulo plus the linker -ng before tubig; it is not a form of the unrelated root tulong “help.”

Completed nasira can describe damage whose exact cause is unknown or irrelevant. It does not itself mean “someone accidentally broke it,” although that inference is common.

Masiraan: select the affected possessor

The ma-...-an family shifts the pivot from the failed entity to the person or group adversely affected by the failure. The failed possession or body part takes ng, so English often translates the construction with have or suffer rather than a form of break.

Nasiraan kami ng sasakyan sa gitna ng biyahe.

Our vehicle broke down in the middle of the trip.

Baka masiraan tayo ng preno sa mahabang lusong.

We might suffer brake failure on the long descent.

Compare Nasira ang sasakyan namin, which selects the vehicle, with Nasiraan kami ng sasakyan, which selects the affected travelers. This is a voice-and-valency contrast, not merely alternative word order.

Sirain: select what is damaged or ruined

Patient/undergoer-voice sirain selects an affected object, plan, event, reputation, relationship, or experience. The actor or inanimate cause takes an ng form.

Sinira ng malalaking alon ang daungan.

The large waves damaged the harbor.

Sinisira ng tagas ang kisame sa ikalawang palapag.

The leak is damaging the ceiling on the second floor.

Huwag mong sirain ang tiwala ng mga taong tumulong sa iyo.

Do not destroy the trust of the people who helped you.

An inanimate cause such as waves is licensed in the actor-like ng role. Filipino voice does not require that every actor be intentional or human.

Sumira, manira, and siraan

Sumira often presents a particular damaging act, especially in questions and relative clauses. Manira more readily presents destructive activity, a tendency, or malicious conduct. The distinction is useful but not absolute; lexical context and speaker preference create overlap.

Sumira sa ani ang malakas na ulan at hangin.

The heavy rain and wind damaged the harvest.

Actor-voice manira selects a person, group, animal, or force engaged in causing damage. It often has a negative evaluative tone because the activity is destructive.

Nanira ng mga pananim ang malakas na hangin sa baybayin.

The strong coastal wind damaged crops.

Huwag kang manira ng gamit na hindi naman sa iyo.

Do not damage things that do not belong to you.

Siraan most commonly selects a person or name whose reputation is attacked. Its contemplated form is sisiraan, with -an retained.

Siniraan ng dating kasosyo si Lina sa harap ng mga kliyente.

A former business partner defamed Lina in front of the clients.

Hindi ko sisiraan ang pangalan niya kahit hindi kami magkasundo.

I will not damage his or her reputation even though we disagree.

The noun paninira covers malicious damage, vandalism, or defamation depending on context. These reputation uses carry a stronger social accusation than simply saying that information is negative.

Controlled comparison: result and caused damage

Nasira ang bubong sa bagyo.

The roof was damaged in the storm. (The resulting damage is foregrounded.)

Sinira ng bagyo ang bubong.

The storm damaged the roof. (The roof is pivot and the storm is the cause.)

Nanira ng mga bubong ang bagyo sa tatlong barangay.

The storm damaged roofs in three barangays. (The damaging cause is pivot.)

These can describe closely related events, but they do not merely change English word order. They select the result-bearing entity, the affected patient, or the damaging cause as pivot.

Idiomatic and sensitive uses

Sira ang araw can describe a day ruined by an event, while sirain ang plano means spoil a plan. Parang sirang plaka “like a broken record” is (informal) and criticizes repetition.

Parang sirang plaka ang paalala ko, pero kailangan talagang patayin ang ilaw bago umalis.

My reminder sounds like a broken record, but the light really must be turned off before leaving. (informal)

The expression sira ang ulo is an (informal, offensive) insult referring to irrationality or mental illness. Learners should recognize it but avoid using it, particularly about health or disability.

Questions and connected use

—Sino ang sumira sa kandado? —Hindi ko alam; sira na iyon nang dumating ako.

—Who broke the padlock? —I don't know; it was already broken when I arrived.

Sumira is an actor-question form built with -um-, common especially in sino ang sumira...? The wider actor family also includes manira, whose habitual or malicious activity reading is often stronger. This is accepted lexical overlap, not a single predictable affix rule.

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In questions about responsibility, Sino ang sumira...? is often more natural than forcing manira. Store frequent frames alongside the full root network.

Common Mistakes

Using a caused-damage form for an unexplained malfunction

❌ Sinira ang makinang panahi kagabi.

Wrong for ‘The sewing machine broke’ — sinira implies an actor-like cause.

✅ Nasira ang makinang panahi kagabi.

The sewing machine broke last night.

Keeping the damaging actor as pivot with sinira

❌ Sinira si Tomas ang laruan ng bata.

Incorrect — sinira selects the toy, so Tomas takes ni.

✅ Sinira ni Tomas ang laruan ng bata.

Tomas broke the child's toy.

Adding an English-style copula before sira

❌ Ay sira ang preno ng bisikleta.

Unnatural as a neutral clause — sira is already the predicate.

✅ Sira ang preno ng bisikleta.

The bicycle's brake is broken.

Preserving the root-initial s after mang-

❌ Huwag kang mangsira ng mga halaman sa liwasan.

Incorrect surface form — nasal substitution gives manira.

✅ Huwag kang manira ng mga halaman sa liwasan.

Do not damage the plants in the plaza.

Key Takeaways

Bare sira is a property predicate; sirang contains the linker before a noun.
Masira/nasira foregrounds becoming damaged or spoiled.
Masiraan/nasiraan selects the possessor affected when something belonging to them fails.
Sirain/sinira selects what an actor or cause damages.
Manira selects a damaging actor and shows nasal substitution.
Siraan conventionally targets reputation, while sumira is common in actor questions such as Sino ang sumira...?

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