Locative voice selects an affected place, surface, container, source, goal, recipient, or addressee as pivot. That participant takes the ang series, while the actor and a placed or transferred theme commonly take ng-series forms. A separate setting or endpoint can still take the sa series. English prepositions alone cannot predict this organization.
The label locative is therefore broader than physical location. This page develops the core pattern introduced in locative voice without pretending that every root freely forms an -an verb.
The Core Marker Map
| Role in a locative-voice clause | Common phrase | Personal phrase | Typical example |
|---|---|---|---|
| affected location/goal pivot | ang | si/sina or ang-form pronoun | ang pinto, si Lino |
| actor non-pivot | ng | ni/nina or ng-form pronoun | ng karpintero, ni Lira |
| placed/transferred theme | commonly ng | lexically variable; do not substitute ni mechanically | ng bagong hawakan |
| secondary setting, source, or endpoint | sa | kay/kina | sa pagawaan, kay Nena |
Because actor and theme may both begin with ng, role interpretation depends on the verb's established frame, lexical meaning, animacy, and context. The two phrases are not grammatically identical simply because their surface marker matches.
Affected Surface as Pivot
Kinabitan ni Ruel ng bagong bisagra ang pinto sa silid-aklatan.
Ruel fitted the library door with a new hinge. (door as affected surface pivot)
Ang pinto is the location pivot. Ni Ruel is the personal actor, and ng bagong bisagra is the item attached. Sa silid-aklatan identifies the door's larger location; it is not a second pivot.
Compare actor voice for the same installation:
Nagkabit si Ruel ng bagong bisagra sa pinto ng silid-aklatan.
Ruel attached a new hinge to the library door. (actor voice)
Kinabitan ni Ruel ng bagong bisagra ang pinto ng silid-aklatan.
Ruel fitted the library door with a new hinge. (locative voice)
Actor voice makes si Ruel pivot and leaves the door in a sa phrase. Locative voice makes the door pivot, changes Ruel to ni Ruel, and leaves the hinge ng-marked. English can translate both actively; calling the second passive misses the selected surface and the marker remapping.
Containers and Areas That Receive Something
Nilagyan ng nars ng malamig na pomento ang namamagang tuhod.
The nurse put a cold compress on the swollen knee. (affected body area pivot)
The knee is not merely where an unrelated event happens; it is the target surface that receives the compress. Both ng nars and ng malamig na pomento are non-pivots, but the first is actor and the second theme.
Tinamnan ng samahan ng mga punlang narra ang bakanteng lote sa tabi ng paaralan.
The association planted narra seedlings on the vacant lot beside the school. (affected area pivot)
Here ang bakanteng lote is the area changed by planting. Sa tabi ng paaralan locates that lot and remains oblique. In actor voice, the corresponding organization is Nagtanim ang samahan ng mga punlang narra sa bakanteng lote.
The presence of an English in/on/at phrase is not enough to license locative voice. Nagluto si Ada sa kusina merely places Ada's cooking in a setting. A form such as nilutuan requires an established lexical relation—often a person or place for whom/where cooking is directed—not any incidental kitchen.
Human Goals and Addressees
An animate participant can be construed as a goal or recipient and become the locative pivot.
Sinulatan ni Lea si Ramon ng maikling liham tungkol sa bagong iskedyul.
Lea wrote Ramon a short letter about the new schedule. (addressee pivot)
Si Ramon is the personal pivot, so the actor is ni Lea. The written item appears as ng maikling liham. Do not write ang Ramon; a singular personal-name pivot requires si.
Pinadalhan ng kooperatiba ng bigas ang mga pamilyang naapektuhan ng baha.
The cooperative sent rice to the families affected by the flood. (recipient group as pivot)
The common-noun recipient group takes ang. The actor and transferred theme both take ng. With a named recipient, use the personal series: Pinadalhan ni Cora si Tiya Lusing ng gamot.
Traditional teaching may call these ganapan or direksiyonal focus patterns. This guide keeps locative voice as the main term because physical places, addressees, recipients, and goals share the structural property of being selected as pivot.
Pronouns Make the Alignment Visible
Nilagyan ko siya ng malinis na benda bago kami umalis sa klinika.
I put a clean bandage on him or her before we left the clinic. (human goal pivot)
Ko is the first-person actor, while siya is the ang-form goal pivot. Ng malinis na benda is the theme. The later kami is exclusive: the addressee was not among those who left.
Pinuntahan namin sila sa pansamantalang tirahan pagkaraan ng bagyo.
We went to see them at the temporary shelter after the storm. (goal pivot)
With lexicalized puntahan, the visited people are pivot sila and the visitors are namin. Sa pansamantalang tirahan is the setting. This cannot be built by replacing every English to phrase with an ang form; it belongs to an established verb family.
Aspect Does Not Remap the Participants
Nilalagyan pa ng kawani ng tatak ang bawat sobre.
The employee is still stamping each envelope. (incompleted locative voice)
Lalagyan nila ng petsa ang mga kahon bago ipadala.
They will put a date on the boxes before sending them. (contemplated locative voice)
The event view changes from unfolding/repeated nilalagyan to contemplated lalagyan. The envelopes and boxes remain location pivots; the actors and applied items remain non-pivots. Filipino expresses aspect, not English tense agreement.
Negation, Questions, and Actual Interaction
—Nilagyan mo na ba ng etiketa ang lalagyan sa refrigerator? —Hindi pa; hahanapin ko muna ang tamang petsa.
—Have you labeled the container in the refrigerator yet? —Not yet; I'll first find the correct date. (locative-voice question and reply)
The question selects ang lalagyan as affected container. In the early enclitic cluster mo na ba, actor pronoun mo precedes na and ba, and ng etiketa is the applied theme. The answer omits the container because it is recoverable. Negation does not alter its role.
Common Mistakes
Leaving the selected location under sa
❌ Kinabitan ni Ruel ng bagong bisagra sa pinto.
Incorrect as a complete locative-voice clause—the selected door pivot is missing.
✅ Kinabitan ni Ruel ng bagong bisagra ang pinto.
Ruel fitted the door with a new hinge.
Giving both actor and location ang marking
❌ Nilagyan ang nars ng pomento ang tuhod.
Incorrect—locative voice permits only one pivot here; the nurse is the non-pivot actor.
✅ Nilagyan ng nars ng pomento ang tuhod.
The nurse put a compress on the knee.
Using a common marker with a personal pivot
❌ Sinulatan ni Lea ang Ramon ng maikling liham.
Incorrect—a singular personal-name pivot takes si, not ang.
✅ Sinulatan ni Lea si Ramon ng maikling liham.
Lea wrote Ramon a short letter.
Treating the theme as the locative pivot
❌ Tinamnan ng samahan ang mga punla sa bakanteng lote.
Incorrect for locative-voice tinamnan—the seedlings are the theme, not the selected area.
✅ Tinamnan ng samahan ng mga punla ang bakanteng lote.
The association planted seedlings on the vacant lot.
If the seedlings are to be pivot, choose an established patient/conveyance construction such as Itinanim ng samahan ang mga punla sa bakanteng lote.
Key Takeaways
- The affected place, surface, goal, recipient, or addressee is the ang/si-series pivot.
- The actor takes an ng/ni-series form; an applied or transferred theme commonly also takes ng.
- A secondary setting can remain a sa phrase even when another location-like participant is pivot.
- Aspect, negation, and interrogation do not by themselves change the marker frame.
- Locative-voice families are lexical as well as grammatical; never add -an mechanically to every root.
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Start learning Filipino →Related Topics
- Locative VoiceB1 — Use locative voice to select an affected place, surface, container, goal, or addressee as the pivot.
- The Pivot and ang-Marked PhraseB1 — Identify the Filipino pivot through the ang marker series, verb voice, referentiality, and clause structure.
- Marker Choice with Locative-Voice VerbsA1 — Learn how locative voice promotes a place, surface, goal, or addressee to ang/si pivot while other participants take ng forms.
- Actor Voice: Participant MarkingB2 — Map actor-voice pivots, patients, destinations, and recipients to the ang, ng, and sa marker series without relying on English word order.
- Patient Voice: Participant MarkingB2 — Mark patient pivots, non-pivot actors, and oblique participants correctly in Filipino patient-voice clauses.
- The -an locative and patient voice: Function and DistributionB1 — Understand how -an/-han verb families select places, surfaces, goals, addressees, and lexical patient-like pivots.