Verb Reference: takip | Filipino Grammar

The root takip covers physical covering, concealment, and obstruction from view. Magtakip selects the person doing the covering, takpan selects the opening, surface, container, or body part covered, itakip selects the cloth, lid, hand, or other object used as a cover, and matakpan presents something as becoming covered or as possible to cover. Bare takip is also the ordinary noun “cover” or “lid.”

English cover keeps the same verb in “cover the bowl with a plate” and “put the plate over the bowl.” Filipino can describe the same arrangement while selecting either the bowl or the plate. The difference is a voice-and-valency contrast, not free word order.

Core forms and functions

All unmarked forms are (neutral). The aspect columns do not correspond one-to-one to English tense.

Family	Basic	Completed	Incompleted	Contemplated	Typical pivot
actor voice	magtakip	nagtakip	nagtatakip	magtatakip	person covering; covered target or covering action is non-pivot
locative/patient -an voice	takpan	tinakpan	tinatakpan	tatakpan	selected opening, surface, container, body part, or content covered
instrumental/conveyance i- voice	itakip	itinakip	itinatakip	itatakip	selected lid, cloth, hand, or other covering object
stative/potential -an voice	matakpan	natakpan	natatakpan	matatakpan	selected target that becomes covered, obscured, or can be covered

The -an form is reduced: takip + -an → takpan, not takipan. Its paradigm remains takpan, tinakpan, tinatakpan, tatakpan. This conventional stem alternation must be learned; it does not permit arbitrary vowel deletion from other roots.

Takpan and itakip: covered target versus covering object

Takpan selects the entity whose opening or surface is covered. The thing used as a cover takes ng. Itakip reverses that selection: the covering object takes ang, and its target normally follows sa.

Tinakpan ni Arun ng malinis na platito ang tasa.

Arun covered the cup with a clean saucer. (completed target-oriented voice; neutral)

Itinakip ni Arun sa tasa ang malinis na platito.

Arun put the clean saucer over the cup as a cover. (completed instrumental/conveyance voice; neutral)

The result can be identical. The first clause follows ang tasa, the covered target; the second follows ang malinis na platito, the cover being positioned. English changes its phrasing but does not make this selection as grammatically central. Compare locative voice with instrumental and conveyance voice.

Tinatakpan ng makapal na kurtina ang bintana kapag tirik ang araw.

A thick curtain covers the window when the sun is high. (habitual target-oriented voice; neutral)

Itatakip mo ba sa paso ang lumang sako kapag lumakas ang ulan?

Will you put the old sack over the pot when the rain becomes heavy? (interrogative contemplated i- voice; neutral)

Takpan does not require a completely enclosed target. A hand can cover part of a face, a cloud can obscure the sun, and a screen can block a view. The common semantic thread is loss of exposure or visibility.

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Use takpan ... ng cover ang target when the covered target is pivot; use itakip ... sa target ang cover when the cloth, lid, hand, or other covering object is pivot.

Magtakip: follow the person performing the action

Actor-voice magtakip selects the person or group doing the covering. Its most natural uses often name a body part or describe a repeated protective action.

Nagtakip ng ilong ang mga pasahero nang pumasok ang usok sa sasakyan.

The passengers covered their noses when smoke entered the vehicle. (completed actor voice; neutral)

Nagtatakip ng mga punla ang mga magsasaka tuwing may babala ng matinding ulan.

The farmers cover the seedlings whenever there is a heavy-rain warning. (habitual incompleted actor voice; neutral)

When a particular target is already prominent, takpan is usually more direct: Takpan mo ang pagkain “Cover the food.” An actor-voice command Magtakip ka ng pagkain would instead invite a context where the addressee is being assigned a covering task and food is non-pivot; it is not the default translation of every English imperative.

Matakpan: become covered or successfully conceal

Matakpan selects an entity that becomes covered, is obscured without a foregrounded agent, or can be successfully covered. Completed natakpan commonly reports a resulting state caused by weather, movement, or an unintended obstruction.

Natakpan ng makapal na ulap ang buwan bago nagsimula ang ulan.

The moon was obscured by thick clouds before the rain began. (completed result; neutral)

Hindi matatakpan ng maliit na banig ang buong bintana.

The small mat will not cover the entire window. (negative contemplated potential; neutral)

Although both tinakpan and natakpan can be translated “was covered,” tinakpan presents a deliberate covering event, while natakpan foregrounds the achieved or incidental result. The difference is event structure, not active versus passive in the English sense.

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Contrast deliberate Tinakpan niya ang bintana “They covered the window” with resultative Natakpan ng sanga ang bintana “A branch ended up blocking the window.”

Nouns, concealment, and lexical extensions

Bare takip names a lid, cap, or cover: takip ng garapon, takip ng bote, and takip ng aklat. In those phrases, ng is the genitive or associative phrase marker, not the linker. Modifiers take the regular linker allomorphs: malinis na takip after final s, bagong takip from vowel-final bago + -ng, and luntiang takip from luntian + -g.

—Nasaan ang takip ng pitsel? —Ginamit ni Lino; itinakip niya sa mangkok ng prutas.

—Where is the pitcher's lid? —Lino used it; he put it over the fruit bowl. (neutral exchange)

Lexicalized pagtakpan/pinagtakpan means conceal or cover up a fault, act, or person. It carries an implication of protecting someone or preventing discovery and is not merely the ordinary physical takpan.

Pinagtakpan ng opisyal ang pagkakamali ng kaniyang tauhan.

The official covered up their subordinate's mistake. (figurative; formal-neutral)

The compound takipsilim means twilight and is written as one lexicalized word. It is not a verb form meaning “cover the darkness.” English extensions also require care: “cover the expenses” is sagutin or tustusan ang gastos; “cover the news” is ibalita; and “cover someone's shift” is halinhan or pumalit sa kaniya.

Common Mistakes

Failing to use the reduced -an stem

❌ Takipan mo ng plato ang mangkok.

Incorrect in the standard verb family — takip plus -an has the conventional reduced form takpan.

✅ Takpan mo ng plato ang mangkok.

Cover the bowl with a plate. (target-oriented command; neutral)

Keeping the actor as si with tinakpan

❌ Tinakpan si Arun ng platito ang tasa.

Incorrect — tinakpan selects the cup, so the personal-name actor takes ni.

✅ Tinakpan ni Arun ng platito ang tasa.

Arun covered the cup with a saucer. (target-oriented voice; neutral)

Reversing cover and target with itakip

❌ Itinakip ni Arun sa platito ang tasa.

Grammatical only with the unintended meaning that Arun used the cup to cover the saucer; the sa phrase names the target.

✅ Itinakip ni Arun sa tasa ang platito.

Arun used the saucer to cover the cup. (instrumental/conveyance voice; neutral)

Translating cover expenses literally

❌ Tatakpan ng samahan ang lahat ng gastos sa paglalakbay.

Incorrect for financial coverage — physical or concealing takpan is not the idiomatic verb here.

✅ Sasagutin ng samahan ang lahat ng gastos sa paglalakbay.

The association will cover all the travel expenses. (neutral)

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The useful network distinguishes actor magtakip, selected covered target takpan, selected covering object itakip, incidental or possible coverage matakpan, and noun takip.

Key Takeaways

Takpan ... ng cover ang target selects what is covered; itakip ... sa target ang cover selects what is used as the cover.
Magtakip follows the person doing the covering, especially in task and body-part expressions.
Matakpan/natakpan highlights possible, achieved, or incidental obstruction rather than deliberate agency.
The conventional patient/locative form is takpan, not takipan.
Figurative English cover often requires sagutin, tustusan, ibalita, halinhan, or lexicalized pagtakpan.

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