apil

The word apil is the most common way to express membership or inclusion in Cebuano. It is used in several ways:

• As a Predicate: In predicate-initial sentences, apil starts the sentence to mean 'is included'. Example: Apil ang plete. (The fare is included).
• As a Noun and Negation: Apil can function as a noun meaning 'share', 'part', or 'involvement'. Both walay (literally 'has no part/involvement') and dili are common ways to express exclusion. While they often convey the same English meaning ('not included'), they follow different underlying grammar rules. Walay is an existential negator ('has no inclusion'), whereas dili negates states or adjectives ('is not included'). You can say Walay apil ang bugas or Dili apil ang bugas (Rice is not included). A highly frequent synonym for inclusion, especially in negation, is labot (e.g., Walay labot - Not included / Excluded).
• As a Verb: It takes different focus affixes depending on the role of the participants. Use moapil for actors joining a group or event. For the person or thing being included, use the patient focus form apilon when treating the person or thing as the direct object being affected (e.g., Apilon nako akong ate - I will include my sister). Use the conveyance or theme focus form iapil when the nuance is moving or adding a theme into something else, like a list or group (e.g., Iapil ang mga bata - Include the children). Note that in practical, everyday usage, apilon and iapil are highly interchangeable when meaning 'to include someone or something'.
• Locative Use: The form apilan uses locative focus to mean 'to add to' or 'to include in'. Example: Apilan nako og isda ang order. (I will include fish with the order). The locative-focus command form is apili, which is very common for making requests to add something to one's share or to include someone in an action (e.g., Apili ko - Include me / Get some for me too).
• Potentive Affixes: Use na- for accidental or passive inclusion (e.g., Naapil ang akong ngalan - My name was included) and naka- for the ability or opportunity to join (e.g., Nakaapil ko sa dula - I was able to join the game).
• Causative Form: Using the causative prefix pa-, paapil means 'to let someone join' or 'to ask to be included'. When making a command, the patient-focus command suffix -a is added, as in Paapila ko. (Let me join).
• Prepositional Use: It can function like 'including' before a noun phrase. Example: Tanan sila, apil si Juan. (All of them, including Juan).
• Adverbial Use: It can be used to mean 'even' or 'also' when emphasizing inclusion. Example: Apil ang bata nihilak. (Even the child cried).
• Meddling: The reduplicated form apil-apil (or labot-labot) means to meddle or interfere. It is often used with ayaw og to say 'don't meddle'. A common derived noun or adjective is apil-apilon, which means a meddlesome person or a busybody.

In casual speech, apil is the default. In very formal contexts, you might encounter lakip, which serves the same purpose but sounds more literary.