The -an locative and patient voice: Contemplated-Aspect Formation | Filipino Grammar

Contemplated -an/-han forms present a locative or patient-like event as not yet begun. They normally omit the completed -in- morphology and use partial reduplication: sulatan → susulatan, puntahan → pupuntahan, buksan → bubuksan. Lexical reductions continue in lagyan → lalagyan. Accepted variants keep their own shapes: kunan → kukunan beside kuhanan → kukuhanan.

English commonly translates these forms with will, but contemplated aspect is broader than future tense. It can express a plan, intention, prediction, conditional consequence, or event viewed prospectively from another point. The selected location, goal, surface, addressee, or patient remains pivot. All unlabelled examples are neutral contemporary Filipino.

Basic and contemplated principal parts

Root	Basic	Contemplated	Selected pivot
sulat	sulatan	susulatan	addressee or surface
punta	puntahan	pupuntahan	destination/person visited
lagay	lagyan	lalagyan	receiving place/container
bukas	buksan	bubuksan	affected patient
tawag	tawagan	tatawagan	person or office contacted
tira	tirhan	titirhan	place inhabited
kuha	kunan	kukunan	source/photographic target
kuha	kuhanan	kukuhanan	source/photographic target; expanded variant
tanim	taniman	tataniman	ground planted
tanim	tamnan	tatamnan	ground planted; syncopated variant

The contemplated form is built inside an attested family, not by removing letters from a completed word. Full taniman → tinaniman → tataniman and syncopated tamnan → tinamnan → tatamnan are parallel accepted paradigms. The same logic distinguishes reduced kunan from expanded kuhanan.

Compare this system with infinitive and contemplated forms.

Plans and intended endpoints

Susulatan ni Mara ang mga magulang tungkol sa pagbabago ng iskedyul.

Mara will write to the parents about the schedule change.

Pupuntahan namin ang munisipyo pagkatapos ng pagpupulong.

We will go to the municipal hall after the meeting.

The addressees and destination are pivots. Actors ni Mara and exclusive namin remain non-pivots. Reduplication marks the events as unbegun; it does not create English subject agreement.

Lalagyan ni Pio ng bagong bisagra ang sirang pinto bukas.

Pio will put a new hinge on the broken door tomorrow.

The receiving surface ang sirang pinto is pivot, while ng bagong bisagra is the placed theme. Bukas supplies future calendar time; lalagyan supplies contemplated aspect.

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Build contemplated -an forms from the lexical root and basic family: reduplicate the appropriate first consonant–vowel sequence, retain the suffixal relationship, and do not insert completed -in-.

Patient-like contemplated forms

Bubuksan ng guwardiya ang maliit na tarangkahan pagdating ng mga manggagawa.

The guard will open the small gate when the workers arrive.

Bubuksan selects an affected patient. This common lexical pattern shows why English prepositions cannot define -an: the translation contains no to, on, or at.

Tatawagan ni Mila ang dentista kapag nakuha na niya ang resulta.

Mila will call the dentist when she has received the result.

The contacted person ang dentista is goal-like and animate, while the actor is ni Mila. A personal name would take pivot marker si, not ang.

Prospective conditions and sequences

Tataniman natin ng halamang-gamot ang gilid ng bakuran kung papayag ang may-ari.

We will plant medicinal herbs along the edge of the yard if the owner agrees.

Inclusive natin includes the addressee. The ground is pivot and the herb is ng-marked theme; the conditional does not alter that frame.

Kukunan ni Aya ng larawan ang lumang simbahan bago magsimula ang pagkukumpuni.

Aya will photograph the old church before the restoration begins.

Kukunan continues the reduced kunan family. Expanded kukuhanan, from kuhanan, is also accepted with the same photographic-target meaning. The choice is lexical variation, not a difference in voice or aspect.

Controlled comparison: command versus projection

Puntahan mo ang punong barangay bago mag-alas-singko.

Go see the barangay captain before five o'clock.

Pupuntahan mo ang punong barangay bukas para kunin ang pahintulot.

You will go see the barangay captain tomorrow to get permission.

Basic puntahan forms a positive command. Contemplated pupuntahan states an unbegun event. Both select the person approached as pivot ang punong barangay and mark the actor with mo.

Negation, questions, and a short exchange

Hindi titirhan ng pamilya ang bahay hangga't hindi naaayos ang bubong.

The family will not live in the house until the roof is repaired.

Negator hindi denies the projected inhabiting event. The contemplated form and location pivot remain intact.

Hindi mo ba tatawagan si Aling Rosa tungkol sa nawawalang susi?

Aren't you going to call Aling Rosa about the missing key?

Short actor pronoun mo follows hindi, then ba. Personal contacted pivot is si Aling Rosa.

—Aling silid ang lalagyan natin ng mga bagong estante? —Iyong katabi ng aklatan.

—Which room will we put the new shelves in? —The one beside the library.

The questioned room is the receiving-location pivot. Inclusive natin makes the project shared with the addressee.

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Future time does not determine voice. English “will put the shelves in the room” still requires choosing whether the shelves, the room, or the actor is the Filipino pivot.

Forms that overlap with nouns

Lalagyan can be a contemplated verb “will put in/on” or a noun “container.” Taniman is a basic verb “plant on” and also a noun “plantation.” Titirhan is verbal in the paradigm above, while related noun formations may have other established meanings. Syntax, markers, and the participant frame identify the category.

This overlap is lexical and cannot be solved by translating one surface word in isolation. A dictionary citation hides both the aspect paradigm and the possibility of separately lexicalized nouns.

Common Mistakes

Using completed aspect for an unbegun plan

❌ Pinuntahan namin ang tanggapan bukas ng umaga.

Wrong for the intended future plan — pinuntahan presents the visit as complete.

✅ Pupuntahan namin ang tanggapan bukas ng umaga bago ang pagdinig.

We will go to the office tomorrow morning before the hearing.

Reduplicating too much

❌ Sususulatan ni Mara ang lahat ng kasapi mamaya.

Incorrect — contemplated sulatan copies su- once.

✅ Susulatan ni Mara ang lahat ng kasapi mamaya tungkol sa botohan.

Mara will write to all the members later about the vote.

Substituting patient voice for the target-selecting form

❌ Kukunin ni Aya ng larawan ang lumang simbahan sa dapithapon.

Incorrect marker frame — patient-voice kukunin cannot select the photographed target while retaining ng larawan in this construction.

✅ Kukunan ni Aya ng larawan ang lumang simbahan sa dapithapon.

Aya will photograph the old church at dusk.

Adding English person agreement

❌ Tatawagans ni Mila ang dentista mamayang hapon.

Incorrect — Filipino verbs do not take English third-person -s.

✅ Tatawagan ni Mila ang dentista mamayang hapon tungkol sa kaniyang ngipin.

Mila will call the dentist this afternoon about her tooth.

Key Takeaways

Contemplated -an/-han forms use partial reduplication without completed -in- morphology.
They present events as unbegun, planned, predicted, or prospective—not simply future tense.
Accepted alternatives retain their own forms: kunan → kukunan beside kuhanan → kukuhanan, and taniman → tataniman beside tamnan → tatamnan.
The selected place, goal, addressee, surface, or patient stays pivot under negation and in questions.
Learn principal parts and marker frames because surface forms may also overlap with nouns.

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