Roles of the Tagalog POD

In sentences with a verb, the role of the POD (p. 30) is indicated by the verb affix. Examples:

Kumain* ng mangga ang babae.

The woman ate a mango. The woman ate some mangoes.

* The affix -um- indicates that the POD is the doer of the action.

Kinain* ng babae ang mangga.

The woman ate the mango. Lit. The mango was eaten by the woman.

* The affix -in- indicates that the POD is the object of the action.

In sentences with a verb, the POD can take on the role of doer, object, direction, location, beneficiary, instrument, cause or reference of the action.

Note:

1. The direction of an action is the person or thing, for which or in whose direction the action is performed. See also: Difference between direction and object (p. 42)

2. The beneficiary of an action is the person or thing—

• that benefits from the action, or
• in whose stead the action is performed.

3. The instrument of an action is the instrument or tool used to perform the action.

4. The reference of an action is what the action is about.

5. In a few cases, the doer of an action is the person or thing experiencing the action, state or condition (the “experiencer” of an action). Examples: -in ³ (p. 105), ma-…-an ¹ (p. 121).

6. In a few cases, the object of an action that is the POD, is the person, animal or thing permitted or asked to perform the action. Examples: pag-…-in ¹ (p. 170), papang-…-in (p. 175).

7. A few verb affixes are used in sentences with no POD. See also: mag- ⁵ (p. 129), magka- ¹ (p. 134) and (-)um- ² (p. 177).

Sentences:

doer	Sumulat sa teacher ang babae.	The woman wrote (to) the teacher.
object	Isinulat ng babae ang adres.	The woman wrote (down) the address. Lit. The address was written (down) by the woman.
direction	Sinulatan ng babae ang teacher.	The woman wrote (to) the teacher. Lit. The teacher was written (to) by the woman
	Sinulatan ng babae ang mesa.	The woman wrote on the table. Lit. The table was written on by the woman.
location	Pinagsulatan ng babae ang mesa.	The woman wrote at the table. Lit. The table was written at by the woman.
benefi­ciary	Ipinagsulat ng babae ang bata’.	The woman wrote for (on behalf of) the child. Lit. The child was written for by the woman.
instru­ment	Ipinangsulat ng babae ang ballpen.	The woman used the pen to write. Lit. The pen was written with by the woman.
cause	Ikinagalit ng babae ang sitwasyon.	The woman got angry because of the situation. Lit. The situation caused the woman to get angry.
reference	Pinag-usapan nila ang sitwasyon.	They talked about the situation. Lit. The situation was talked about by them.

doer
Sumulat sa teacher ang babae.
The woman wrote (to) the teacher.

object
Isinulat ng babae ang adres.
The woman wrote (down) the address. Lit. The address was written (down) by the woman.

direction
Sinulatan ng babae ang teacher.
The woman wrote (to) the teacher. Lit. The teacher was written (to) by the woman
Sinulatan ng babae ang mesa.
The woman wrote on the table. Lit. The table was written on by the woman.

location
Pinagsulatan ng babae ang mesa.
The woman wrote at the table. Lit. The table was written at by the woman.

benefi­ciary
Ipinagsulat ng babae ang bata’.
The woman wrote for (on behalf of) the child. Lit. The child was written for by the woman.

instru­ment
Ipinangsulat ng babae ang ballpen.
The woman used the pen to write. Lit. The pen was written with by the woman.

cause
Ikinagalit ng babae ang sitwasyon.
The woman got angry because of the situation. Lit. The situation caused the woman to get angry.

reference
Pinag-usapan nila ang sitwasyon.
They talked about the situation. Lit. The situation was talked about by them.

Please respect copyright. Learn more