Magpa-: Tagalog Verb Affix

POD: doer

to let, make or have someone do something; or,
to enable someone to do something

root	meaning	root + affix	meaning
laba	washing of clothes	magpalaba	to have someone do the laundry
pintura	paint	magpapin­tura	to have someone paint something
gupit	haircut, the way something is cut	magpagupit	to get a haircut
kain	eating	magpakain	to feed, to let someone or an animal eat
tulog	sleep	magpatulog	to put to bed, to knock out

root	laba
meaning	washing of clothes
root + affix	magpalaba
meaning	to have someone do the laundry

root	pintura
meaning	paint
root + affix	magpapin­tura
meaning	to have someone paint something

root	gupit
meaning	haircut, the way something is cut
root + affix	magpagupit
meaning	to get a haircut

root	kain
meaning	eating
root + affix	magpakain
meaning	to feed, to let someone or an animal eat

root	tulog
meaning	sleep
root + affix	magpatulog
meaning	to put to bed, to knock out

Aspects:

basic form	completed	uncompleted	unstarted
magpagupit	nagpagupit	nagpapagupit	magpapagupit
magpatulog	nagpatulog	nagpapatulog	magpapatulog

basic form	magpagupit
completed	nagpagupit
uncompleted	nagpapagupit
unstarted	magpapagupit

basic form	magpatulog
completed	nagpatulog
uncompleted	nagpapatulog
unstarted	magpapatulog

Sentences:

Nagpagupit si Paul.	Paul got a haircut.
Nagpatulog si Jen ng bata’.	Jen put a/the child to bed.

Note:

The person permitted or asked to perform the action is generally expressed as—

• a Sa phrase (p. 59), if the underlying verb can take an object, or
• a Ng phrase (p. 59), if the underlying verb cannot take an object.

Examples:

magpa- verb	meaning	underlying verb
magpaluto’	to have someone cook	Cook can take an object. That is, someone can cook something, for example, adobo.
magpatulog	to make someone sleep	Sleep cannot take an object. That is, someone cannot “sleep” something.

magpa- verb	magpaluto’
meaning	to have someone cook
underlying verb	Cook can take an object. That is, someone can cook something, for example, adobo.

magpa- verb	magpatulog
meaning	to make someone sleep
underlying verb	Sleep cannot take an object. That is, someone cannot “sleep” something.

Thus:

Nagpaluto’ siya (ng adobo) sa katulong.	He/she had the maid cook (adobo).
Nagpatulog siya ng bata’.	He/she put a/the child to bed.

BUT: If the magpa- verb is used as a noun and the underlying verb cannot take an object, the person permitted or asked to perform the action is expressed as—

• a Sa phrase, if it is a personal name* or a personal pronoun,
• or else, either a Ng phrase or a Sa phrase.

Siya ang nagpatulog kay John.	He/she was the one who put John to bed.
Siya ang nagpatulog sa kanila.	He/she was the one who put them to bed.
Siya ang nagpatulog ng bata’.	He/she was the one who put a/the child to bed.
Siya ang nagpatulog sa bata’.	He/she was the one who put the child to bed.

* Personal names are names that refer to specific persons, animals, cartoon characters or anything with a personality.

See also:

• Verbs, adjectives etc. used as nouns (p. 85)
• Verbs used as nouns and their objects (p. 87)
• Ng personal pronouns (p. 49)
• Sa personal pronouns (p. 53)

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