Verb Reference: sulat | Filipino Grammar

The root sulat organizes a network around writing: performing the activity, producing a particular text, putting specified content in writing, writing to an addressee, and corresponding with someone. English often expresses all of these with “write,” but Filipino chooses an affixed family according to which participant is the clause's pivot and how the writing event is viewed.

The core family

The forms below are (neutral) unless labeled otherwise. Sumulat and magsulat are both established actor-voice verbs; neither can be reduced to a universal English tense or to a simple formal–informal contrast.

Family and usual function	Basic	Completed	Incompleted	Contemplated	Typical frame
Actor voice: write, compose	sumulat	sumulat	sumusulat	susulat	ang writer + ng text + kay/sa addressee
Actor voice: engage in writing	magsulat	nagsulat	nagsusulat	magsusulat	ang writer + optional ng text
Patient voice: produce a selected text	sulatin	sinulat	sinusulat	susulatin	ng/ni writer + ang text
Conveyance voice: put selected content in writing	isulat	isinulat	isinusulat	isusulat	ng/ni writer + ang content + sa surface/document
Addressee/surface voice: write to or write on	sulatan	sinulatan	sinusulatan	susulatan	ng/ni writer + ang/si addressee or surface + ng content
Reciprocal correspondence	magsulatan	nagsulatan	nagsusulatan	magsusulatan	ang correspondents + optional ng message

The “basic” form is the citation or command-like form used in dictionaries and certain constructions. Completed, incompleted, and contemplated are aspects, not direct equivalents of English past, present, and future.

Sumulat and magsulat

Both actor-voice families select the writer with ang/si. Sumulat readily presents a bounded act of composing or sending something; magsulat readily presents writing as an activity, task, practice, or occupation. Actual usage overlaps, so this is a tendency rather than a mechanical difference.

Sumulat si Mara ng maikling liham sa punong-guro.

Mara wrote a short letter to the principal. (completed actor voice; neutral)

Nagsusulat ng mga kuwento si Lolo tuwing tahimik na ang bahay.

Grandfather writes stories whenever the house has become quiet. (habitual incompleted actor voice; neutral)

Susulat ako kay Bea kapag nakarating na kami sa Baguio.

I will write to Bea once we have reached Baguio. (contemplated actor voice; neutral)

In the last example, English permits “write Bea” in some varieties. Standard Filipino does not place the addressee directly after actor voice as an ang phrase: use kay Bea for a personal name or sa tanggapan for an office.

💡

Learn frequent verbs as root-centered networks. Knowing sulat does not mean that one affix merely changes English tense: each family also organizes writer, text, content, and addressee differently.

Sulatin and isulat: text versus content

Patient sulatin selects a text that the writer creates or works on. Conveyance isulat selects the information, wording, or symbol that is transferred onto a page, form, or other surface.

Sinulat ni Omar ang ulat bago magsara ang opisina.

Omar wrote the report before the office closed. (completed patient voice; neutral)

Isulat mo ang buong pangalan mo sa unang kahon.

Write your full name in the first box. (conveyance-voice command; neutral)

Isinusulat ng kalihim sa pisara ang mahahalagang petsa.

The secretary is writing the important dates on the board. (incompleted conveyance voice; neutral)

Compare the event structure. In Sinulat ni Omar ang ulat, the report is the selected product. In Isulat mo ang buong pangalan mo sa unang kahon, the name is selected as content and the box is its destination. This use of i- is explained further in the i- conveyance family.

Sulatan: selecting the addressee or surface

Sulatan commonly selects the person, organization, or surface toward which the writing is directed. A personal addressee therefore takes si as pivot, while the writer takes ni.

Sinulatan ni Celia ang kompanya tungkol sa sirang metro.

Celia wrote to the company about the broken meter. (completed addressee voice; neutral)

Susulatan ko si Tita Leny kapag tiyak na ang petsa ng pag-uwi.

I will write to Aunt Leny once the date of our return is certain. (contemplated addressee voice; neutral)

It can also select a physical writing surface:

Huwag mong sulatan ang likod ng orihinal na sertipiko.

Do not write on the back of the original certificate. (negative command; neutral)

The object written may appear as an ng phrase: Sinulatan niya ng numero ang sobre “She wrote a number on the envelope.” The exact semantic range of -an is lexical and must be learned; it is not always equivalent to English “on.” See the -an family.

Magsulatan profiles exchange or sustained correspondence. Its plural pivot normally denotes the participants, though the participants may also be distributed across an ang phrase and a sa phrase.

Nagsusulatan pa rin ang magkaibigan kahit magkalayo na sila.

The friends still correspond even though they now live far apart. (reciprocal incompleted; neutral)

The nouns sulat, pagsulat, and pagsusulat are also frequent. Bare sulat can mean a letter or written message; pagsulat names the act or event of writing, while pagsusulat often presents writing as an ongoing practice or field. Sulat-kamay means handwritten or handwriting, and nakasulat means written/stated.

Nakasulat sa paunawa na sarado ang klinika sa Lunes.

The notice says that the clinic is closed on Monday. (stative written result; neutral)

—Sino ang sumulat nito? —Si Pia, pero ako ang nagwasto ng huling talata.

—Who wrote this? —Pia did, but I corrected the last paragraph. (neutral conversation)

Negation and questions

Completed and incompleted clauses take hindi; commands take huwag. The particle ba follows the first phonological word or phrase, while short pronouns occupy their normal clitic positions.

Hindi pa sinusulat ni Leo ang pangwakas na bahagi.

Leo is not writing the concluding section yet. (negative incompleted patient voice; neutral)

Sinulatan mo ba ang barangay tungkol sa ilaw sa kanto?

Did you write to the barangay about the streetlight at the corner? (question; neutral)

Common Mistakes

Giving an actor-voice text ang marking

❌ Sumulat si Niko ang reklamo kagabi.

Incorrect — sumulat selects Niko as pivot, so the text takes ng.

✅ Sumulat si Niko ng reklamo kagabi.

Niko wrote a complaint last night. (actor voice; neutral)

Keeping a si-marked writer in patient voice

❌ Sinulat si Niko ang reklamo kagabi.

Incorrect — patient-voice sinulat requires ni for the personal-name writer.

✅ Sinulat ni Niko ang reklamo kagabi.

Niko wrote the complaint last night. (patient voice; neutral)

Treating an addressee like an English direct object

❌ Susulat ako si Maya mamayang gabi.

Incorrect — an addressee after actor-voice susulat takes kay, not si.

✅ Susulat ako kay Maya mamayang gabi.

I will write to Maya later tonight. (actor voice; neutral)

Omitting the destination marker after isulat

❌ Isulat mo ang numero ang sobre.

Incorrect — the selected content takes ang, but the destination needs sa.

✅ Isulat mo ang numero sa sobre.

Write the number on the envelope. (conveyance-voice command; neutral)

💡

Ask what the clause is organizing around: the writer (sumulat/magsulat), a text (sulatin), transferred content (isulat), an addressee or surface (sulatan), or correspondents (magsulatan).

Key Takeaways

Sumulat and magsulat are overlapping actor-voice families; bounded act versus writing activity is a useful tendency, not an absolute rule.
Sulatin selects a text, isulat selects content put into writing, and sulatan selects an addressee or surface.
Do not copy English “write someone”: actor voice uses kay/sa, while sulatan can make the addressee the pivot.
Aspect and voice both matter: sinulat, sinusulat, and susulatin keep the text as pivot while changing its aspectual presentation.

Now practice Filipino

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

Start learning Filipino →