Actor Voice: Questions | Filipino Grammar

Actor voice is the natural choice when a question asks who performed an action or when a yes–no question continues to organize the event around its actor. Questions about a core patient reveal a major restriction: in a neutral fronted content question, the questioned core participant must normally match the verb's pivot. English can ask who? and what? without changing the verb, but Filipino commonly changes voice.

Match the questioned core role to voice

The clearest diagnostic pair asks about the two participants in one event.

The system across all voices is summarized in question words and voice choice.

Sino ang nag-ayos ng bentilador sa silid-aralan?

Who repaired a fan in the classroom? (actor questioned; actor voice)

Ano ang inayos ni Kiko sa silid-aralan?

What did Kiko repair in the classroom? (patient questioned; patient voice)

In the first question, actor-voice nag-ayos licenses the missing actor associated with sino; the fan stays non-pivot under ng. In the second, patient-voice inayos licenses the missing patient associated with ano; Kiko becomes the non-pivot actor ni Kiko.

Both questions have active English translations. Calling the second an optional passive obscures the Filipino grammar: the voice alternation makes the questioned core role syntactically accessible.

Information requested	Usual question pattern	Voice consequence
actor	Sino ang + actor-voice predicate...?	actor is pivot
core patient	Ano/Alin ang + non-actor-voice predicate...?	patient is pivot
location, time, reason, manner	Saan/Kailan/Bakit/Paano + clause...?	actor voice can remain if no core patient is extracted
yes/no	first constituent + ba + remainder	voice alignment remains unchanged

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For a neutral content question, ask which semantic role the question word stands for. If it is the actor, actor voice is appropriate; if it is a core patient, change to a voice that selects that patient.

Asking who acted

Sino ang + actor-voice predicate asks for an actor pivot. The patient, destination, and other participants keep their actor-voice markers.

Sino ang nagpadala ng mga larawan kay Tiya Rosa?

Who sent the photographs to Aunt Rosa?

Sino ang sasama sa mga bata papunta sa museo bukas?

Who will accompany the children to the museum tomorrow?

The first retains ng mga larawan as patient and kay Tiya Rosa as recipient. The second contains an oblique companion phrase sa mga bata and destination papunta sa museo. Sino does not force every other participant into the ng series.

Negation stays inside the actor relative-like question phrase.

Sino ang hindi dumalo sa pagsasanay kahapon?

Who did not attend the training yesterday?

The event is denied, but the questioned participant remains the actor pivot of dumalo.

Asking about oblique circumstances

Question words for location, time, reason, and manner can question an adjunct or oblique while actor voice continues to select an overt actor.

Saan bumili si Lora ng telang gagamitin sa kurtina?

Where did Lora buy the cloth that will be used for the curtain?

Kailan aalis ang pangkat papunta sa hilagang nayon?

When will the group leave for the northern village?

Bakit nagdala si Enzo ng sariling tasa sa pagtitipon?

Why did Enzo bring his own cup to the gathering?

Kanino nagpadala si Tomas ng paanyaya para sa pagtatanghal?

To whom did Tomas send an invitation to the performance?

In the last question, kanino asks for a personal recipient, corresponding to an answer such as kay Luning. It is not the core patient of nagpadala, so the actor voice need not change.

Why neutral patient questions usually change voice

English speakers may try to preserve actor voice and front ano:

Ano ang binili ni Mara sa botika?

What did Mara buy at the pharmacy? (neutral patient question; patient voice)

Patient-voice binili makes the unknown item pivot and marks the actor ni Mara. The actor-voice sequence Bumili si Mara ng ano? is possible as an (informal; echo question) when the listener did not hear or cannot believe the item. It is not the ordinary context-neutral way to ask what Mara bought.

Bumili si Mara ng ano?

Mara bought what? (informal echo question, expressing surprise or requesting repetition)

This accepted variation has a specific discourse function. Do not use it to conclude that voice is irrelevant in ordinary information questions.

Likewise, alin “which one” normally pairs with the voice selecting the choice as pivot.

Alin ang dinala ni Pio sa pagawaan—ang maliit na kahon o ang malaki?

Which one did Pio bring to the workshop—the small box or the large one?

Yes–no questions keep actor-voice alignment

The enclitic ba turns a proposition into a polar question without changing its participants. With a full noun actor, ba normally follows the predicate; a short ka comes before ba.

Nagpadala ba si Tomas ng paanyaya sa mga kapitbahay?

Did Tomas send an invitation to the neighbors?

Bumili ka ba ng gamot bago umuwi?

Did you buy medicine before going home?

In the second, ka is the actor pivot and belongs before ba in the clitic cluster. Ng gamot remains the non-pivot patient.

A negative polar question begins with hindi, with ba in its normal early position.

Hindi ba nag-iwan si Lando ng mensahe para sa iyo?

Didn't Lando leave a message for you?

Depending on intonation, this can seek information or invite confirmation of an expectation. It does not change si Lando from actor pivot to English-style subject merely because the clause is negative.

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Question force does not suspend participant marking. In a polar question, keep the statement's voice map; in a content question, choose the voice that licenses the questioned core role.

A short exchange

A: Sino ang kumuha ng susi sa mesa? B: Kumuha si Dana ng isang susi, pero naiwan niya ang isa pa.

A: Who took a key from the table? B: Dana took one key, but she left the other one.

The actor question and first answer use actor voice to identify and then track Dana's action. The second clause switches to patient voice naiwan because ang isa pa is now the selected item whose resulting location matters. Natural discourse can switch voice when the tracking center changes.

Common Mistakes

Using patient voice when asking for the actor

❌ Sino ang binili ng mga tiket para sa konsiyerto?

Incorrect for 'Who bought the tickets?' — binili selects a patient, not the unknown actor.

✅ Sino ang bumili ng mga tiket para sa konsiyerto?

Who bought the tickets for the concert? (actor voice)

Keeping actor voice when fronting a core patient

❌ Ano ang bumili si Kiko sa tindahan?

Incorrect for the intended patient question — bumili selects Kiko as actor pivot.

✅ Ano ang binili ni Kiko sa tindahan?

What did Kiko buy at the store? (patient voice)

Placing ba before the short pronoun ka

❌ Nagdala ba ka ng payong ngayong umaga?

Incorrect neutral clitic order — short ka comes before ba.

✅ Nagdala ka ba ng payong ngayong umaga?

Did you bring an umbrella this morning?

Making the patient ang-marked in an actor-voice polar question

❌ Naghanda ba si Celia ang pagkain para sa mga panauhin?

Incorrect — naghanda selects Celia as pivot, so the food is non-pivot.

✅ Naghanda ba si Celia ng pagkain para sa mga panauhin?

Did Celia prepare food for the guests? (actor voice)

Patient voice Inihanda ba ni Celia ang pagkain...? is also grammatical, but it asks about a proposition organized around the food.

Key Takeaways

Use actor voice when sino asks for the actor pivot.
A neutral question about a core patient normally selects that patient through non-actor voice.
Location, time, reason, manner, and recipient questions can retain actor voice when they question an oblique or adjunct.
Ba, negation, and intonation change question force without erasing voice alignment.
In-situ actor-voice patient questions occur as marked echo questions, not as the unrestricted neutral pattern.

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