Filipino verbal suffixes do not always join a base as an unchanged string. After a vowel-final base, -in and -an may surface with h, trigger contraction, or participate in a conventional stem alternation: basa → basahin, sama → samahan, bili → bilhin, dala → dalhin. After a glide-final base, the glide often remains: sabay → sabayan, sayaw → sayawan. These tendencies organize the system, but the exact derivative is partly lexical.
All unlabelled forms are neutral contemporary Filipino. Hyphens used inside analyses expose boundaries only; the established words themselves are written solidly.
The Main Surface Patterns
| Base | Expected family | Established basic form | What happens at the boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| basa “read” | patient -in | basahin | the suffix has its -hin allomorph |
| sama | target/companion -an | samahan | the suffix has its -han allomorph |
| bili | patient -in | bilhin | final vowel is absent before -hin |
| dala | patient -in | dalhin | final vowel contracts before -hin |
| laro | target -an | laruan | final o surfaces as u before the suffix |
| sabay | target -an | sabayan | final y remains; no extra h |
| sayaw | target -an | sayawan | final w remains; no extra h |
| bigay | recipient -an | bigyan | conventional contraction creates -gyan |
Calling -hin and -han allomorphs is useful, but written vowel-final shape alone does not predict every word. Ordinary spelling hides the pronunciation contrast between bása “read,” which gives basahin, and basâ “wet,” which gives basain. (The accent marks appear here only to expose stress and final glottal stop.) Forms such as bilhin, dalhin, bigyan, and kunin must be stored with their families rather than produced by one automatic sound rule.
Basahin mo ang buong kasunduan bago ka lumagda.
Read the entire agreement before you sign.
Samahan mo si Lola sa pagamutan bukas.
Accompany Grandmother to the clinic tomorrow.
Vowels Can Be Retained or Lost
With basa, the final a remains in basahin. With bili and dala, the final vowel does not surface in bilhin and dalhin.
Another established alternation appears before a suffix in laro → laruan, where final o surfaces as u. This does not license a learner to change every final vowel mechanically; the derivative still belongs to a conventional lexical family.
Bilhin ninyo ang mas matibay na kandado para sa bodega.
Buy the sturdier lock for the storeroom.
Dalhin mo rito ang mga resibo pagkatapos ng pulong.
Bring the receipts here after the meeting.
The loss is not a tense marker. These are basic patient-oriented forms, commonly used in directives and complements. Their completed forms rebuild the family differently:
Binili ni Olan ang kandado sa tindahan sa kanto.
Olan bought the lock at the corner shop.
Dinala ni Pia ang mga resibo sa tagasuri kahapon.
Pia brought the receipts to the auditor yesterday.
Bilhin → binili and dalhin → dinala show why the citation form is not an invariant stem. Patient voice and aspect determine which material surfaces.
Glides Usually Block h Insertion
Final y and w already provide consonantal material at the suffix boundary. Established derivatives therefore commonly retain the glide without inserting h.
Sabayan mo si Lino sa paglakad dahil madulas ang daan.
Walk alongside Lino because the road is slippery.
Sinabayan ni Lino ang kaniyang ama hanggang sa terminal.
Lino accompanied his father as far as the terminal.
Sayawan natin ang mga panauhin bago matapos ang programa.
Let us dance for the guests before the program ends.
The spelling sabayan, not sabayhan, reflects the glide-final base. Bigyan, however, also ends in y historically within bigay but exhibits lexical contraction. This is the crucial limit: similar-looking bases can have different conventional outputs.
Aspect Across the Derived Family
Patient -in/-hin and target/locative -an/-han do not behave identically across aspect.
| Family | Basic | Completed | Incompleted | Contemplated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| basa, patient | basahin | binasa | binabasa | babasahin |
| sama, companion pivot | samahan | sinamahan | sinasamahan | sasamahan |
| laro, interaction target | laruan | nilaruan | nilalaruan | lalaruan |
| bigay, recipient pivot | bigyan | binigyan | binibigyan | bibigyan |
The patient suffix of basahin is absent in binasa/binabasa and returns in babasahin. The target suffix remains in sinamahan/sinasamahan/sasamahan. Aspect is therefore built within a particular voice family, not appended after a permanent English-like infinitive.
The neighboring irregular-family guide shows how these boundary alternations can extend into larger stem changes.
Binibigyan ng barangay ng libreng binhi ang mga bagong magsasaka.
The barangay gives the new farmers free seeds.
The recipient ang mga bagong magsasaka is the pivot; ng libreng binhi is the transferred theme. The contraction in bigyan does not change that valency.
Lexical Variation: Kuha
The patient family of kuha is especially instructive. Kunin is a highly frequent basic form, with kinuha, kinukuha, kukunin across aspect. Kuhanin is also an accepted variant recorded in contemporary dictionaries. Neither form should be used to infer a universal contraction or -hanin rule.
Kunin mo ang susi sa ibabaw ng mesa.
Get the key from on top of the table.
—Kinuha mo ba ang sobre? —Hindi pa; kukunin ko pagkabalik ko.
—Did you get the envelope? —Not yet; I will get it when I return.
The exchange controls one root across completed and contemplated aspect. Negation leaves the intended aspect intact.
Common Mistakes
❌ Basain mo ang ulat bago ang pulong.
Wrong for ‘read the report’ — basain belongs to the different root basa meaning ‘wet.’
✅ Basahin mo ang ulat bago ang pulong.
Read the report before the meeting.
❌ Bilihin mo ang kandado para sa bodega.
Nonstandard for the intended patient verb — the established form contracts to bilhin.
✅ Bilhin mo ang kandadong may dalawang susi.
Buy the lock that has two keys.
❌ Sabayhan mo si Lino sa pag-uwi.
Incorrect — glide-final sabay takes -an without inserted h.
✅ Sabayan mo si Lino sa pag-uwi dahil gabi na.
Accompany Lino home because it is already late.
❌ Dinala-ed ni Pia ang mga papeles sa hukuman.
Incorrect — dinala already carries completed Filipino aspect.
✅ Dinala ni Pia ang mga papeles sa hukuman bago magtanghali.
Pia brought the papers to court before noon.
Key Takeaways
- Vowel-final bases often select -hin/-han, but retention and contraction are lexical.
- Glide-final y/w commonly remain without an extra h.
- Aspect can remove, restore, or preserve suffixal material according to the voice family.
- Forms such as bilhin, dalhin, bigyan, and kunin must be learned as complete paradigm members.
- Similar spelling can hide different roots, as basahin “read” versus basain “wet.”
Now practice Filipino
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- Affixation with Vowel-Initial RootsC1 — Build verb families from vowel-initial roots while preserving glottal boundaries, reduplicated vowels, and standard hyphenation.
- Stress Shifts in Derived VerbsC1 — Track how infixation, reduplication, suffixation, and lexical variation shape stress across Filipino verb families.
- Suppletive and Highly Irregular Verb FamiliesC1 — Learn the small set of Filipino predicate systems with replacement forms and the larger set of verb families with lexical stem alternations.
- Reduplication in Verb FormationA2 — Recognize partial and full reduplication in Filipino verbs without confusing aspect marking, lexical derivation, and standard hyphenation.
- Hyphenation with Affixes and ReduplicationA1 — Use Filipino hyphens at selected morpheme boundaries and in full reduplication while keeping ordinary affixed and partially reduplicated forms solid.
- Vowel Sequences and GlidesA1 — Distinguish separate vowel syllables from the y and w glides that shape Filipino syllables and connected speech.