The guide's primary umbrella term benefactive/instrumental voice covers several established families that select a non-actor role as pivot. Two important subtypes are treated here: conveyance, in which an i- verb commonly selects something transferred, placed, applied, worn, or encoded; and instrumental, in which an ipang- or lexical i- family selects the tool, material, or means used. The morphology does not have one invariant English translation.
Traditional descriptions may call these pokus sa kagamitan, pokus sa ganapan, or circumstantial/conveyance focus depending on the selected role and analysis. What matters for learners is the complete lexical frame.
Representative Role Frames
| Family | Pivot | Other roles | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ibigay | conveyed theme with ang | actor ng/ni; recipient sa/kay | give or hand over |
| ilagay | placed theme with ang | actor ng/ni; destination sa | put or place |
| isulat | content with ang | writer ng/ni; surface sa | put into writing |
| ipanghiwa | instrument with ang | actor and cut theme with ng | use for cutting |
| ipambayad | money/means with ang | actor ng/ni; obligation sa | use as payment |
Ipinadala ni Luna kay Berto ang mga larawang kuha sa paligsahan.
Luna sent Berto the photographs taken at the competition. (conveyed-theme pivot)
Ang mga larawan is the conveyed pivot. Ni Luna is actor and kay Berto recipient. English places Berto next to sent, but Filipino keeps the recipient oblique in this frame.
A Controlled Conveyance Comparison
Nagpadala si Luna ng mga larawan kay Berto pagkatapos ng paligsahan.
Luna sent photographs to Berto after the competition. (actor voice)
Ipinadala ni Luna kay Berto ang mga larawan pagkatapos ng paligsahan.
Luna sent Berto the photographs after the competition. (conveyance voice)
Actor-voice nagpadala selects si Luna and marks the theme with ng. Conveyance ipinadala selects ang mga larawan, changes Luna to ni Luna, and retains the recipient kay Berto. Natural English uses active clauses for both.
The conveyance construction often tracks a specific item through a discourse, but specificity is not a marker-substitution rule. Actor voice can retain a demonstratively specific theme under ng, while an i- pivot can introduce a newly selected item.
Placement and Encoded Content
Inilagay ng tagapag-ingat sa tuyong estante ang mga lumang mapa.
The custodian placed the old maps on the dry shelf.
The maps are placed-theme pivot; the shelf is destination. Locative voice would require a different form to select the receiving surface.
Isinulat ni Dalisay sa pisara ang bagong iskedyul ng mga ensayo.
Dalisay wrote the new rehearsal schedule on the board.
Ang bagong iskedyul is content put into writing. With locative sinulatan, a surface or addressee can instead become pivot. These related forms are not freely interchangeable synonyms.
Instrumental Voice Selects the Means
Hiniwa ni Mila ang kalabasa gamit ang mabigat na kutsilyo.
Mila cut the squash using the heavy knife. (patient voice plus instrument phrase)
Ipinanghiwa ni Mila ng kalabasa ang mabigat na kutsilyo.
Mila used the heavy knife to cut squash. (instrument pivot)
The second clause selects ang mabigat na kutsilyo as instrument pivot. Actor ni Mila and cut theme ng kalabasa are non-pivots. Voice reorganizes the same practical event around the tool.
Nasal assimilation changes the visible form of ipang- before some roots:
Ipinambayad ni Nilo sa renta ang perang natanggap niya sa proyekto.
Nilo used the money he received from the project to pay the rent.
Underlying ipang- + bayad surfaces with m before b: basic ipambayad, completed ipinambayad. The money/means is pivot; the obligation remains sa renta. The i- valency guide explains why lexical frame matters more than a one-affix gloss.
Instrument, Beneficiary, and Theme Are Distinct
Ibinili ni Nilo ng gamot ang kaniyang lola.
Nilo bought medicine for his grandmother. (beneficiary pivot)
Ipinambili ni Nilo ng gamot ang perang ipinadala ng kaniyang kapatid.
Nilo used the money sent by his sibling to buy medicine. (means pivot)
Ibinili selects the grandmother; ipinambili selects the money used. The small difference in form encodes a different pivot role. Do not infer participant marking from English buy alone.
Aspect and Lexical Restrictions
Ibinibigay ng kooperatiba sa mga kasapi ang libreng binhi tuwing Hunyo.
The cooperative gives free seed to its members every June.
Incompleted ibinibigay receives a habitual reading from tuwing Hunyo. The conveyed seed remains pivot.
Ipanghihiwa natin ng tinapay ang bagong kutsilyo mamaya.
We will use the new knife to slice bread later.
Contemplated ipanghihiwa presents the use as unbegun; inclusive actor natin includes the addressee. Not every tool verb freely accepts ipang-. Established forms may be productive in one domain and awkward in another, and contemporary speakers often choose gamit ang when a derived instrumental form would be unclear.
Questions, Negation, and Conversation
Hindi itinapon ni Celso ang sirang piyesa dahil maaari pa itong kumpunihin.
Celso did not throw away the broken part because it can still be repaired.
Negation leaves the selected theme as pivot.
—Ano ang ipinambukas mo ng kahon? —Ang manipis na distornilyador na nasa kabinet.
—What did you use to open the box? —The thin screwdriver in the cabinet.
The question asks for the instrument pivot. Mo is actor and ng kahon is the affected theme. Underlying ipang- + bukas surfaces with m before b, just as ipang- + bayad gives ipambayad.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ipinadala si Luna ang mga larawan kay Berto.
Incorrect — conveyance voice selects the photographs, so Luna must take ni.
✅ Ipinadala ni Luna kay Berto ang mga larawan bago siya umalis.
Luna sent Berto the photographs before she left.
❌ Inilagay ni Celso ang estante ang mga mapa.
Incorrect — the shelf is a destination and cannot be a second ang pivot.
✅ Inilagay ni Celso sa estante ang mga mapa ayon sa rehiyon.
Celso placed the maps on the shelf by region.
❌ Ipinanghiwa ni Mila ang kalabasa sa kutsilyo.
Incorrect for instrument voice — the knife, not the squash, is the selected pivot.
✅ Ipinanghiwa ni Mila ng kalabasa ang kutsilyong bagong hasa.
Mila used the newly sharpened knife to cut squash.
❌ Ibinili ni Nilo ng gamot ang perang padala.
Wrong if the remitted money is the means — ibinili selects a beneficiary, not the funds used.
✅ Ipinambili ni Nilo ng gamot ang perang padala ng kaniyang kapatid.
Nilo used the money remitted by his sibling to buy medicine.
Key Takeaways
- Conveyance i- commonly selects a transferred, placed, applied, or encoded theme.
- Instrumental ipang- and lexical i- families can select a tool, material, or means.
- Actor, theme, recipient, destination, and instrument retain distinct marker roles.
- Ibinili selects a beneficiary; ipinambili selects the means used to buy.
- Morphophonemic changes and lexical restrictions make whole-family learning essential.
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Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- Benefactive VoiceB1 — Use benefactive voice to select the person or group for whose benefit an action is performed as the pivot.
- Locative VoiceB1 — Use locative voice to select an affected place, surface, container, goal, or addressee as the pivot.
- The i- conveyance voice: Function and DistributionB1 — Learn how i- benefactive/instrumental voice selects a conveyed, placed, applied, or lexically specified participant as the pivot.
- The i- conveyance voice: Valency, Voice, and Lexical RestrictionsB1 — Map actors, themes, recipients, beneficiaries, and instruments in lexical i- benefactive/instrumental constructions.
- Instrumental and Conveyance Voice: Participant MarkingB2 — Mark actors, conveyed themes, instruments, recipients, destinations, and affected items in i- and ipang- voice constructions.
- Choosing i- versus -in-B1 — Choose i- or -in families by deciding whether the pivot is conveyed, placed, applied, benefited, or directly affected—and by checking the root's lexical pattern.