The incompleted form of an -um- actor-voice verb presents an event from inside its development or recurrence. It can describe something happening now, something that was unfolding at a past reference point, or a repeated habit. Calling it “present tense” misses most of that range.
Formation combines -um- with reduplication. For consonant-initial roots, copy the root's first consonant–vowel sequence after inserting -um-; for vowel-initial roots, copy the initial vowel after um-. The form remains actor voice throughout.
The general introduction to verb aspect explains why this category is not a tense. This page concentrates on the -um- surface pattern and its range of readings.
How the form is built
| Root | Basic/completed | Incompleted structure | Incompleted form |
|---|---|---|---|
| kain | kumain | k + um + a + kain | kumakain |
| bili | bumili | b + um + i + bili | bumibili |
| sulat | sumulat | s + um + u + sulat | sumusulat |
| takbo | tumakbo | t + um + a + takbo | tumatakbo |
| alis | umalis | um + a + alis | umaalis |
| akyat | umakyat | um + a + akyat | umaakyat |
| uwi | umuwi | um + u + uwi | umuuwi |
The structural spacing belongs only in the analysis column. Ordinary running text uses unhyphenated kumakain, bumibili, sumusulat, tumatakbo, umaalis, umaakyat, and umuuwi.
Sumusulat si Luisa ng ulat habang tahimik pa ang opisina.
Luisa is writing a report while the office is still quiet.
Umaakyat ang mga tagapag-ayos sa entablado para ikabit ang mga ilaw.
The crew members are going up onstage to install the lights.
The first examples show activity in progress. The actor pivots are si Luisa and ang mga tagapag-ayos; ng ulat is the non-pivot product of the writing, while sa entablado is an oblique destination.
One form, several incompleted readings
The shared core is an event viewed as internally ongoing or recurring. Context selects the more specific reading.
Ongoing now
Kumakain pa si Inez, kaya huwag munang ligpitin ang mesa.
Inez is still eating, so do not clear the table yet.
Pa marks continuation, and muna delays the instruction. The visible situation supports a present-progressive English translation.
Ongoing at a past reference point
Kumakain kami nang biglang nawalan ng kuryente kagabi.
We were eating when the power suddenly went out last night.
Kagabi places the scene in the past, while kumakain views the eating from within. Nang introduces the interrupting event; it must not be written as marker ng.
Habitual or repeated
Bumibili si Tino ng pandesal sa kanto tuwing umaga.
Tino buys bread rolls at the corner every morning.
Umuuwi ang kapatid ko sa probinsiya kada dalawang linggo.
My sibling goes home to the province every two weeks.
The events are not necessarily underway at speech time. Tuwing umaga and kada dalawang linggo create recurring schedules, so English naturally uses a simple present.
Controlled comparison with completed aspect
Sumulat si Dalia sa konseho tungkol sa baha noong Martes.
Dalia wrote to the council about the flooding on Tuesday.
Sumusulat si Dalia sa konseho tuwing may problema sa kanal.
Dalia writes to the council whenever there is a drainage problem.
Completed sumulat packages Tuesday's writing as a bounded whole. Incompleted sumusulat presents a recurring practice. The same root and actor-voice alignment remain: si Dalia is pivot, while sa konseho marks the addressee or destination.
The contrast is aspectual, not agreement. The verb does not change for ako, ikaw, siya, kami, tayo, or sila.
Negation and questions
Negation and interrogation retain the incompleted form when the intended event view is ongoing or habitual.
Hindi bumibili si Arnel ng de-latang pagkain kapag may sariwang gulay.
Arnel does not buy canned food when fresh vegetables are available.
—Bumibiyahe pa ba si Cora papuntang Maynila bawat linggo? —Hindi na; nagtatrabaho na siya malapit sa bahay.
—Does Cora still travel to Manila every week? —Not anymore; she now works near home.
In the question, pa ba asks whether a former recurring pattern continues. The reply hindi na says that it has ceased. Bumibiyahe is an accepted contemporary -um- incompleted form; many speakers also use a mag- family, as in nagbibiyahe, depending on personal and collocational preference.
Aspect does not license every root
Once an -um- family is established, its incompleted pattern is highly systematic. What is not fully predictable is whether the root belongs to that family and what participant frame the resulting verb has. A root is a family of constructions, and one citation form hides the derivational system.
For example, luto normally uses nagluluto for actor-voice incompleted “is cooking,” not invented lumuluto. Bukas supports intransitive bumubukas “is opening/opens” with the opening entity as pivot, while agentive “is opening something” commonly uses nagbubukas or patient voice binubuksan, depending on alignment and meaning.
Unti-unting bumubukas ang lumang pinto kapag umiinit ang silid.
The old door gradually opens when the room gets warm.
The inanimate door is the pivot. Actor voice is a grammatical alignment label; it does not guarantee a conscious, animate agent. Here the event is an internally developing change of state.
Common Mistakes
Reduplicating before the infix
❌ Bubumili si Aira ng kape sa labas araw-araw.
Incorrect — the reduplicated vowel follows the infix in the established incompleted form.
✅ Bumibili si Aira ng kape sa labas araw-araw.
Aira buys coffee out every day.
The correct structure is b + um + i + bili, yielding bumibili.
Using the completed form for an event visibly underway
❌ Sumulat si Omar ng tala ngayon; hintayin mo siyang matapos.
Wrong for the intended ongoing meaning — sumulat presents the writing as completed.
✅ Sumusulat si Omar ng tala ngayon; hintayin mo siyang matapos.
Omar is writing a note now; wait for him to finish.
The correction changes the event view, not merely the English tense label.
Attaching English -ing
❌ Kumain-ing ang mga bata sa kusina nang dumating ako.
Incorrect — Filipino forms the incompleted aspect through its own infix-and-reduplication pattern.
✅ Kumakain ang mga bata sa kusina nang dumating ako.
The children were eating in the kitchen when I arrived.
The past frame comes from nang dumating ako; kumakain supplies the internal event view.
Treating incompleted aspect as present time only
❌ Kumain ang mga guwardiya nang tumunog ang alarma kagabi.
Wrong for the intended background meaning ‘were eating’ — completed kumain presents the meal as a whole.
✅ Kumakain ang mga guwardiya nang tumunog ang alarma kagabi.
The guards were eating when the alarm sounded last night.
The incompleted form is entirely compatible with past time.
Key Takeaways
- Form the incompleted -um- pattern with infixation plus reduplication: bili → bumibili, alis → umaalis.
- Its core meaning is an event viewed as unfolding or recurring, not “present tense.”
- Time expressions distinguish present progress, past background, and habitual recurrence.
- The form remains actor voice and keeps actor-voice marker patterns.
- Learn which roots actually license an -um- family; do not manufacture forms from English glosses.
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Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- The -um- actor voice: Function and DistributionB1 — Learn where -um- appears, how it marks actor voice, and why its distribution must be learned with each Filipino root.
- The -um- actor voice: Completed-Aspect FormationB1 — Form completed -um- actor-voice verbs and distinguish bounded events from English past tense.
- The -um- actor voice: Contemplated-Aspect FormationB1 — Form contemplated -um- actor-voice verbs and use them for events viewed as not yet begun.
- Reduplication in Verb FormationA2 — Recognize partial and full reduplication in Filipino verbs without confusing aspect marking, lexical derivation, and standard hyphenation.
- Completed versus Incompleted AspectB1 — Choose completed aspect for events viewed as bounded wholes and incompleted aspect for unfolding, recurring, or internally viewed events.
- Habitual Meaning Without a Dedicated TenseB1 — Express habits and recurring situations through incompleted aspect, frequency expressions, generic conditions, and contextual framing rather than a special habitual tense.