A Filipino root does not normally correspond to one English verb with a set of tense endings. It names the lexical center of a family of constructions. From sulat, speakers use sumulat, magsulat, sulatin, isulat, sulatan, and other established verbs. Each member has its own voice, participant frame, aspect forms, and sometimes a specialized meaning.
This is why a vocabulary entry such as “sulat = write” is only an index. Even an affixed citation form such as sumulat identifies just one branch of the family. To produce a clause, choose the construction that fits the event and the participant you are presenting as pivot. All unlabelled forms below are neutral contemporary Filipino.
The companion page on choosing a dictionary citation form shows how to record these branches efficiently.
A map of the sulat family
These are common contemporary patterns, not an exhaustive list.
| Citation form | Voice / selected pivot | Typical marker frame | Usual contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| sumulat | actor voice; writer | sumulat si writer kay addressee | write, compose, or correspond |
| magsulat | actor voice; writer | magsulat ang writer ng text | engage in writing; write something |
| sulatin | patient voice; text | sulatin ni writer ang text | write or compose the selected text |
| isulat | patient/undergoer voice; content/theme | isulat ni writer ang content sa surface | put selected content into writing |
| sulatan | locative/endpoint voice; addressee or surface | sulatan ni writer ang endpoint | write to or write on the selected endpoint |
The English glosses overlap. The differences emerge most reliably from the Filipino marker frames and from natural contexts. Sumulat and magsulat also overlap for many speakers; preferences vary with construction and region. This accepted variation does not make all members interchangeable.
Sulatin and isulat can likewise overlap when a text or message is the pivot. The “compose the selected text” versus “put the selected content into writing” contrast is a useful tendency, not a rigid rule valid in every context; conventional collocations and speaker preference decide many borderline cases.
Actor-voice alternatives can overlap
Sumulat si Lina kay Mang Orly para humingi ng payo.
Lina wrote to Mang Orly to ask for advice.
Nagsulat si Lina ng maikling liham bago pumasok sa trabaho.
Lina wrote a short letter before going to work.
Completed sumulat naturally foregrounds the act of writing or corresponding and marks a named addressee with kay. Completed nagsulat readily presents an activity with a non-pivot product ng maikling liham. Speakers can sometimes use the other actor-voice family in related contexts, so there is no universal formula such as “-um- is brief, mag- is long.” Learn the collocation and frame.
Aspect must be built within the chosen family. Sumulat has incompleted sumusulat and contemplated susulat; magsulat has nagsusulat and magsusulat.
Sumusulat si Lina kay Mang Orly tuwing may mahalagang desisyon.
Lina writes to Mang Orly whenever there is an important decision.
Magsusulat si Lina ng buod pagkaraan ng pulong.
Lina will write a summary after the meeting.
The first incompleted form is habitual; the second contemplated form presents an unbegun task. Neither verb changes for the third-person actor.
Changing the pivot selects another family
Compare the next controlled pair. The real-world event is similar, but the pivot changes.
Nagsulat si Dado ng listahan ng mga bibilhin sa palengke.
Dado wrote a list of things to buy at the market.
Sinulat ni Dado ang listahan sa likod ng lumang resibo.
Dado wrote the list on the back of an old receipt.
Nagsulat is actor voice: si Dado is pivot and the product is ng listahan. Sinulat, the completed form of patient-voice sulatin, makes ang listahan the pivot and marks Dado with ni. This is not English active versus passive; Dado is the actor in both clauses.
The i- family can select the content being put into written form:
Isulat mo ang numero ng klinika sa kuwaderno para hindi mo makalimutan.
Write the clinic's number in the notebook so you do not forget it.
The command uses basic isulat, understood actor mo, content pivot ang numero ng klinika, and destination sa kuwaderno. English again says write, but the Filipino construction specifies an alignment.
The -an family instead selects an endpoint such as an addressee or marked surface:
Sinulatan ni Rina ang bawat magulang tungkol sa bagong iskedyul.
Rina wrote to every parent about the new schedule.
Completed sinulatan makes ang bawat magulang the endpoint pivot. The meaning “write to” is conventional for this animate endpoint. With an appropriate context, sulatan can also select a physical surface that receives writing. Animacy and lexical plausibility help identify the interpretation.
Another root can package a change or an action
The root bukas shows that derivation can change valency, not just voice.
Biglang bumukas ang bintana habang natutulog kami.
The window suddenly opened while we were sleeping.
Binuksan ni Ruel ang bintana dahil mainit sa silid.
Ruel opened the window because the room was hot.
Bumukas presents a one-participant change: the window becomes open. Binuksan presents a two-participant action and selects the window as patient pivot. Actor-voice nagbukas supplies yet another two-participant alignment. A single English dictionary headword open conceals these Filipino construction choices.
Citation forms hide aspect families
A citation is not the entire verb. Patient-voice sulatin has completed sinulat, incompleted sinusulat, and contemplated susulatin. Locative sulatan has sinulatan, sinusulatan, and susulatan. Similar-looking aspect operations attach to different voice and valency families.
Hindi pa sinusulat ni Bea ang pinal na ulat dahil kulang ang datos.
Bea is not yet writing the final report because the data are incomplete.
Sinusulat is incompleted patient voice. Hindi pa says the expected writing has not begun within the relevant interval; it does not turn the verb into an English present tense.
A short exchange
—Susulatan mo ba ang may-ari ng bahay? —Oo, at isusulat ko rin ang petsa ng paglipat namin.
—Will you write to the owner of the house? —Yes, and I will also write down the date of our move.
Susulatan selects the owner as endpoint pivot. Isusulat selects the date as content pivot. Both are contemplated, but reduplication operates inside different derivational families. The exchange shows why selecting “future of write” is not enough.
Lexical and register limits
The family shown here is productive enough to reveal patterns, but it is not a template that licenses every imaginable affix combination. Some constructed forms are unattested, rare, regional, or carry meanings not predictable from their pieces. Neutral standard Filipino uses the established forms above. A dictionary, corpus, or reliable speaker can confirm uncertain derivatives; formal written contexts may prefer more explicit participant phrases, but the same basic voice system operates across registers.
Common Mistakes
Using the bare root as a projected verb
❌ Sulat ako kay Tita Nena bukas.
Incorrect for a neutral projected statement — the bare root does not supply the needed actor-voice contemplated form.
✅ Susulat ako kay Tita Nena bukas tungkol sa bakasyon.
I will write to Aunt Nena tomorrow about the vacation.
Combining patient voice with actor-voice markers
❌ Sinulat si Dado ng listahan sa kusina.
Incorrect for the intended patient-voice clause — the writer needs ni and the selected text needs ang.
✅ Sinulat ni Dado ang listahan habang nag-aalmusal.
Dado wrote the list while eating breakfast.
Assuming one affix has one English translation
❌ Ang -an ay palaging nangangahulugang ‘to’ sa Ingles.
Incorrect claim — -an participates in several locative, recipient, affected-site, and lexicalized constructions.
✅ Sa sulatan, maaaring piliing pivot ang taong sinusulatan o ang ibabaw na sinusulatan.
With sulatan, the person written to or the surface written on may be selected as pivot.
Adding an English tense ending
❌ Nagsulat-ed si Poldo ng tala pagkatapos ng panayam.
Incorrect — completed nagsulat never takes English -ed.
✅ Nagsulat si Poldo ng tala pagkatapos ng panayam.
Poldo wrote notes after the interview.
Key Takeaways
- A root is a network of related constructions, not a single inflecting English-style verb.
- Different affixed verbs may change voice, selected pivot, valency, or lexical meaning.
- Two families can overlap, as sumulat and magsulat sometimes do, without becoming freely interchangeable.
- Every citation form expands into its own aspect paradigm.
- Learn the marker frame with each verb; a one-word English gloss hides the derivational system.
Related Topics
- Roots, Affixes, and Verb WordsA2 — See how Filipino roots combine with prefixes, infixes, suffixes, and reduplication to form lexical verb families marked for voice and aspect.
- Productive versus Lexicalized AffixesA2 — Learn when Filipino verb affixes support new formations and when an affixed verb's established meaning and participant frame must be learned as a unit.
- Valency and Participant StructureA2 — Map the actors, patients, recipients, locations, beneficiaries, and instruments licensed by Filipino verb constructions and their voice frames.
- Choosing a Dictionary Citation FormA2 — Interpret root entries and infinitive-style headwords so that one dictionary form leads to the correct aspect-and-voice family.
- How to Build and Read a Verb ParadigmA2 — Build useful Filipino verb paradigms by crossing an attested voice family with aspect forms, surface changes, and participant-marker frames.
- Voice and Focus: The Big PictureB1 — Understand Filipino voice as a system that aligns verb morphology with the actor, patient, location, beneficiary, or instrument chosen as pivot.