The -in- patient voice: Incompleted-Aspect Formation | Filipino Grammar

The incompleted form of an -in patient-voice family combines completed-type in/ni morphology with initial root reduplication and removes the suffix of the basic form. Thus basahin → binabasa, sulatin → sinusulat, lutuin → niluluto, and ayusin → inaayos. The general reduplication guide places this operation in the wider aspect system.

The form presents the event from inside its development or recurrence. It may mean that a selected patient is being affected now, was being affected at a past reference point, or is affected habitually. It is not a present tense or an English passive progressive.

Build from the root and the family

For many consonant-initial roots, reduplicate the first consonant-vowel sequence and place -in- after that first consonant: s + in + u + sulat → sinusulat. Roots such as luto and linis use a prefix-like ni- surface pattern: ni + lu + luto → niluluto. With a vowel-initial root, in- precedes the reduplicated vowel: in + a + ayos → inaayos.

Root	Basic	Completed	Incompleted	What changes
sulat	sulatin	sinulat	sinusulat	repeat su
basa	basahin	binasa	binabasa	repeat ba; omit -hin
luto	lutuin	niluto	niluluto	prefix-like ni- + repeated lu
pili	piliin	pinili	pinipili	repeat pi
ayos	ayusin	inayos	inaayos	in- repeated initial a
inom	inumin	ininom	iniinom	in- repeated initial i

The consecutive vowels in inaayos and iniinom reflect real morphological boundaries but require no special accent marks. Ordinary Filipino spelling does not mark their stress or glottal stops.

Inaayos ng elektrisista ang ilaw sa kusina ngayon.

The electrician is repairing the kitchen light now.

Sinusulat ni Jam ang buod habang sariwa pa ang talakayan sa isip niya.

Jam is writing the summary while the discussion is still fresh in her mind.

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The basic suffix does not survive in incompleted forms. Think root + patient family + incompleted operations, not basic form + extra syllable.

Ongoing now, backgrounded then, or habitual

Context chooses the time reading while the incompleted form supplies the internal or recurring event view.

Ongoing at speech time

Niluluto pa ni Omar ang munggo, kaya huwag munang ihain ang kanin.

Omar is still cooking the mung-bean stew, so do not serve the rice yet.

Pa confirms continuation. Patient pivot ang munggo is affected over time; actor ni Omar remains non-pivot.

Backgrounded in past time

Binabasa ko ang liham nang biglang tumunog ang alarma.

I was reading the letter when the alarm suddenly sounded.

The reading supplies the background, while completed tumunog interrupts it. Nang introduces the event at that point; phrase marker ng would be wrong here.

Habitual or repeated

Kinukuha ng tagapaghatid ang mga parsela tuwing alas tres ng hapon.

The courier collects the parcels every day at three in the afternoon.

Iniinom ni Lolo Ben ang gamot pagkatapos mag-almusal.

Grandpa Ben takes the medicine after breakfast.

These are recurring routines, not actions necessarily underway now. English therefore uses a simple present even though Filipino uses incompleted morphology.

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Translate the context rather than assigning one English tense. Binabasa can mean “is reading,” “was reading,” or “reads regularly.”

Voice stays stable when aspect changes

Compare the same root and participant frame:

Pinutol ni Celia ang lubid kaninang umaga.

Celia cut the rope this morning.

Pinuputol ni Celia ang lubid nang dumating ang bantay.

Celia was cutting the rope when the guard arrived.

Completed pinutol packages the cutting as bounded. Incompleted pinuputol views it internally. In both, ang lubid is patient pivot and ni Celia is actor.

The same aspect does not force the same voice. Actor-voice nag-aayos si Leo ng bisikleta and patient-voice inaayos ni Leo ang bisikleta can both describe ongoing repair; the pivot and marker package differ.

Inaayos ni Leo ang bisikletang gagamitin sa karera.

Leo is repairing the bicycle that will be used in the race.

The relative clause identifies a specific bicycle, making patient voice natural, but specificity does not mechanically create the morphology. The verb family and discourse choice still matter.

Negation and questions

After hindi, an actor clitic normally follows the negator before the verb. Incompleted morphology may remain even when the event is denied, particularly for habitual nonoccurrence or an expected event not yet underway.

Hindi ko ginagamit ang lumang kalan dahil may tagas iyon.

I do not use the old stove because it has a leak.

Hindi pa nila binubuksan ang pinto dahil may pulong sa loob.

They are not opening the door yet because a meeting is taking place inside.

Binubuksan belongs to the -an family of bukas, not to -in. Its presence here is deliberate: aspectual meanings cross voice families, but affix membership stays lexical.

—Binabasa mo pa ba ang mahabang ulat? —Oo, pero huling bahagi na lang ang natitira.

—Are you still reading the long report? —Yes, but only the last section remains.

In the question, mo pa ba follows the initial predicate in natural clitic order. The patient remains ang mahabang ulat.

Lexical limits and root families

A root is a family of constructions, and one citation form hides the derivational system. Sulat gives sinusulat when the selected text is patient pivot, isusulat in an i- family when selected content will be put into writing, and sinusulatan when an addressee or surface is the selected endpoint.

The incompleted pattern is regular only inside a known family. Standard Filipino has hinuhugasan from basic hugasan, not invented hinuhugas from an assumed -in family. It has ibinibigay in an i- family that selects the conveyed thing as pivot; widespread contemporary binibigay is a shortened variant, not an -in family form. It does not use invented ginigbigay.

Irregular basic forms can have transparent incompleted forms. Bilhin has binibili, kunin has kinukuha, and gawin has ginagawa. Do not reduplicate the shortened citation form as kukunin for ongoing action; kukunin is contemplated.

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Memorize the pair basic + incompleted for irregular families: kunin–kinukuha, bilhin–binibili, gawin–ginagawa.

Common Mistakes

Keeping the basic suffix

❌ Binasahin pa ni Rica ang mga komento sa panukala.

Incorrect — incompleted patient voice removes the -hin of basic basahin.

✅ Binabasa pa ni Rica ang mga komento sa panukala.

Rica is still reading the comments on the proposal.

The repeated ba and completed-type -in- morphology together mark incompleted aspect.

Doubling the completed form

❌ Sininusulat ni Arman ang pangalan ng mga dadalo.

Incorrect — do not add a new si syllable to completed sinulat.

✅ Sinusulat ni Arman ang pangalan ng mga dadalo.

Arman is writing the names of those who will attend.

The form is s + in + u + sulat, yielding sinusulat.

Attaching English -ing

❌ Niluluto-ing namin ang gulay sa mahinang apoy.

Incorrect — English -ing cannot attach to a Filipino aspect form.

✅ Niluluto namin ang gulay sa mahinang apoy.

We are cooking the vegetables over low heat.

The incompleted form already supplies the internal event view.

Using an actor-pivot pronoun

❌ Pinipili ako ang kulay para sa bagong karatula.

Incorrect patient-voice alignment — the actor requires an ng-form pronoun.

✅ Pinipili ko ang kulay para sa bagong karatula.

I am choosing the color for the new sign.

Ko is the non-pivot actor; ang kulay is patient pivot.

Key Takeaways

Incompleted -in forms combine in/ni morphology, initial root reduplication, and loss of the basic suffix.
Root shape determines the surface pattern: sinusulat, niluluto, inaayos, iniinom.
The aspect covers present progress, past background, habits, and repeated events.
Patient-pivot marking remains stable across aspect, even under negation.
Irregular and competing verb families must be learned from attested forms, not generated from English glosses.

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