Verb families with -an/-han commonly select a place, surface, container, goal, or addressee as the ang/si-marked pivot. Sulatan selects the person or surface written to, lagyan selects what receives something, and puntahan selects a destination. Other lexical families, such as buksan and hugasan, select an affected entity that looks more patient-like than spatial.
This range explains the title “locative and patient voice.” The suffix has no single English translation such as to, at, on, or -en. Its function emerges from an established root-plus-affix construction. The actor normally appears in an ng/ni form, while an added theme may also take ng. All unlabelled forms below are neutral contemporary Filipino.
Common -an/-han families
| Root | Basic form | Selected pivot | Typical contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| sulat | sulatan | addressee or writing surface | write to/on |
| punta | puntahan | destination or person approached | go to, visit, attend to |
| lagay | lagyan | container or receiving surface | put something in/on |
| tanim | taniman; tamnan | ground or site planted | plant something on |
| tawag | tawagan | person or office contacted | call |
| bukas | buksan | affected object | open |
| kuha | kunan; kuhanan | source or photographic target | take from; photograph |
The surface suffix cannot be added mechanically. Some roots use -an, some surface with -han, and others undergo reduction: lagay → lagyan and bukas → buksan. A few common families have accepted alternatives: kuha has reduced kunan alongside expanded kuhanan, while tanim has taniman alongside syncopated tamnan. These are separate conventional paradigms, not permission to delete sounds from any -an verb freely.
The marker guide for locative voice develops the participant frame in more detail.
A selected endpoint becomes pivot
Sulatan mo si Lolo Pabling bago dumating ang kaniyang kaarawan.
Write to Grandpa Pabling before his birthday arrives.
Basic sulatan forms a command. The understood actor is mo, while personal endpoint si Lolo Pabling is pivot. English uses to before the addressee, but Filipino encodes the endpoint in the verb family and pivot marking.
Puntahan natin ang bagong sentro ng kalusugan pagkatapos ng tanghalian.
Let's go to the new health center after lunch.
Basic puntahan selects the destination ang bagong sentro ng kalusugan. Inclusive actor natin includes the addressee. This is not a word-for-word equivalent of English go: actor-voice pumunta would instead select the traveler as pivot and mark the destination with sa.
A receiving place can be affected
Locative voice often presents a place or container as changed by what is put there.
Lagyan mo ng yelo ang pitsel bago ihain ang katas.
Put ice in the pitcher before serving the juice.
Ang pitsel is the receiving container pivot. Mo is actor and ng yelo is the placed theme. Two participants can therefore have ng-series marking in the same construction: an actor pronoun and a common-noun theme.
Taniman natin ng kamatis ang bakanteng bahagi ng hardin.
Let's plant tomatoes in the empty part of the garden.
The ground ang bakanteng bahagi ng hardin is pivot; ng kamatis is what will be planted. Locative voice packages the ground as an affected site, not merely a background setting.
Patient-like -an verbs are lexical
Some frequent -an verbs select an entity that English simply treats as a direct object.
Buksan mo ang bintana para pumasok ang malamig na hangin.
Open the window so the cool air can come in.
Hugasan ninyo ang mga tasa bago magsara ang kusina.
Wash the cups before the kitchen closes.
The window and cups are affected patients. Calling every -an form purely locative would hide this lexical development; calling -an a general object marker would miss sulatan, puntahan, and lagyan. Learn the selected role with the verb.
Aspect forms preserve the family
The suffixal family combines with aspect morphology:
| Basic | Completed | Incompleted | Contemplated |
|---|---|---|---|
| sulatan | sinulatan | sinusulatan | susulatan |
| puntahan | pinuntahan | pinupuntahan | pupuntahan |
| lagyan | nilagyan | nilalagyan | lalagyan |
| buksan | binuksan | binubuksan | bubuksan |
The completed and incompleted forms generally contain -in- morphology; contemplated forms lack it and use reduplication. The lexical surface changes remain visible throughout.
Controlled voice comparison
Sumulat si Mila kay Tita Puring tungkol sa ani.
Mila wrote to Aunt Puring about the harvest.
Sinulatan ni Mila si Tita Puring tungkol sa ani.
Mila wrote to Aunt Puring about the harvest.
Actor-voice sumulat selects si Mila and marks the personal endpoint with kay. Completed locative/goal-voice sinulatan selects si Tita Puring and marks the writer ni Mila. English leaves the same actor in subject position, concealing the Filipino alignment change.
Questions, negatives, and conversation
Hindi tinawagan ni Odel ang klinika dahil sarado na iyon.
Odel did not call the clinic because it was already closed.
Negation does not change the -an family's pivot: ang klinika remains the contacted goal and ni Odel remains actor.
—Aling kahon ang lalagyan mo ng mga lumang larawan? —Iyong matibay na nasa aparador.
—Which box will you put the old photographs in? —The sturdy one in the cabinet.
Contemplated lalagyan selects questioned container aling kahon. The answer is a natural recoverable-head phrase; iyong matibay means “that sturdy one.”
Lexical limits and category overlap
An -an form can also be a noun: taniman may mean “plantation,” kainan “eating place,” and laruan “toy.” Syntax and context identify whether the form is a basic verb, a contemplated verb in some paradigms, or a noun. There is no reason to treat every final -an as the same suffix.
Some speakers also have overlapping constructions for particular roots, but overlap is lexical rather than a free choice. Standard Filipino is substantially Tagalog-based; regional extensions should be labelled rather than promoted as universal rules.
Common Mistakes
Treating -an as an English preposition
❌ Lutuan mo ang kusina mamayang gabi.
Incorrect for simply ‘cook in the kitchen’ — the setting alone does not license this locative-voice verb.
✅ Magluto ka sa kusina mamayang gabi para sa mga bisita.
Cook in the kitchen tonight for the guests.
Leaving the selected location as a sa phrase
❌ Lagyan mo ng takip sa malaking palayok.
Incorrect as a complete locative-voice command — the selected container must be the pivot.
✅ Lagyan mo ng takip ang malaking palayok bago pakuluan ang sabaw.
Put a lid on the large pot before boiling the soup.
Marking the actor as pivot
❌ Sinulatan si Mila si Tita Puring tungkol sa ani.
Incorrect — sinulatan selects the addressee as pivot, so the writer takes ni.
✅ Sinulatan ni Mila si Tita Puring tungkol sa ani noong Lunes.
Mila wrote to Aunt Puring about the harvest on Monday.
Inventing an English tense ending
❌ Binuksan-ed ni Raul ang bodega kahapon.
Incorrect — completed binuksan never takes English -ed.
✅ Binuksan ni Raul ang bodega kahapon para sa inspeksiyon.
Raul opened the warehouse yesterday for the inspection.
Key Takeaways
- -An/-han families select places, surfaces, goals, addressees, or lexical patient-like pivots.
- The actor uses an ng/ni form, and a placed theme may also be ng-marked.
- Surface forms such as lagyan, buksan, kunan, and puntahan must be learned as attested words.
- Aspect adds internal morphology and reduplication without changing the selected role.
- A citation form hides the wider derivational family and cannot be generated from an English preposition.
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Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- The -an locative and patient voice: Completed-Aspect FormationB1 — Form completed -an/-han verbs with internal -in- morphology while preserving lexical suffix and stem alternations.
- The -an locative and patient voice: Incompleted-Aspect FormationB1 — Form incompleted -an/-han verbs with internal -in-, partial reduplication, and the family’s established stem alternations.
- The -an locative and patient voice: Contemplated-Aspect FormationB1 — Form contemplated -an/-han verbs through partial reduplication without completed -in- morphology.
- The -an locative and patient voice: Valency, Voice, and Lexical RestrictionsB1 — Map the actors, themes, places, addressees, and patient-like pivots licensed by established -an/-han verb families.
- Marker Choice with Locative-Voice VerbsA1 — Learn how locative voice promotes a place, surface, goal, or addressee to ang/si pivot while other participants take ng forms.
- Locative VoiceB1 — Use locative voice to select an affected place, surface, container, goal, or addressee as the pivot.