Ilocano Grammar List

Dependent subject pronouns occur with noun and adjective predicates and actor-focus verbs. Negation can supply a different host.

Place a short singular possessor directly after the possessed noun.

Identify plural possessors and preserve the inclusive–exclusive contrast.

This actor-focus marker forms established verbs such as uminum and gumatang.

Use ken to coordinate participants or statements.

Build a descriptive noun phrase and distinguish it from a property statement.

Build possession phrases in possessed-noun–marker–possessor order.

The verb presents an event's stage and voice; a time expression locates it.

Actions, classifications, and properties commonly precede their participants. Identification and fronted-topic constructions have other orders.

Modern Ilocano spelling distinguishes consonant length and joins dependent pronouns to their hosts. Pronunciation notation may show additional details.

Man softens an appeal while the verb and pronouns identify its action and participants.

Classification and identity clauses use noun phrases without a separate present-tense word for English is or are.

An adjective can make a complete property statement without a separate present copula.

Recognize the linker between connected words or larger grammatical units.

Adda introduces something that exists or reports someone's presence; a possessed noun can express having.

Adda with a possessed noun expresses having through the existence of a possessed thing.

Many ag- verbs select the performer as central; their basic forms can express contemplated actions or instructions.

Ania commonly begins a question followed by a noun phrase or ti-marked action expression.

Apay requests the reason for an action or situation.

Awan denies existence or presence; a possessed noun can express having none.

Identify several referents while retaining the three-way distance contrast.

Identify one referent through the three-way pointing contrast.

A short pronoun can attach to the negative host before the predicate.

Locate a situation or destination relative to the participants.

Haan shares saan's ordinary linked negation function.

Imm- and internal -imm- express completed -um- events; internal -im- is documented before a consonant.

These words set temporal reference; idi and inton also introduce when-clauses.

Iti and kadagiti introduce common-noun oblique phrases, including objects, recipients, and locations.

Kadi marks a yes-or-no question; short pronouns can precede it.

Choose the short subject form according to whether the addressee belongs to your group.

Kasano asks how; the following expression identifies the activity or severity being assessed.

Identify plural addressees, a respectfully addressed person, or a third-person group with dependent subject forms.

Personal oblique phrases identify recipients, associates, and other participants licensed by the predicate.

Mano asks how many or how much; the noun and context identify what is counted or measured.

Nag- presents an ag- family action as completed while keeping actor focus.

The surrounding construction distinguishes contrast from comparison.

Personal-name marking distinguishes singular and associative plural reference. Direct address and oblique roles use different frames.

Saan denies an action, property, identity, or other predicate.

A or nga links the negative expression to its predicate; a dependent pronoun may intervene.

Location questions identify what is being located and request its whereabouts.

Independent singular pronouns identify participants and can stand alone as answers. Isu does not distinguish grammatical gender.

Siasino requests a person's identity; sinno is another attested form.

A ta clause can explain why something happens or why an action is requested.

These markers identify common-noun phrase structure and often number. Their functions extend beyond English the.

Short yes/no replies depend on the question; full predicate replies make the situation explicit.

The lexical verb determines which participant -an selects.

The suffix -en forms many contemplated patient-focus verbs.

Use the genitive series when another participant is selected.

Na- adjectives describe nouns or serve directly as predicates without a separate present-tense word for ‘is’.

This bound particle updates an earlier or expected situation.

Comparative copying expresses a greater degree of a property; ngem names the comparison standard.

Unay intensifies the quality named by the preceding expression.

Identify both the copied segment and the function of repetition.

Interpret voice and participant marking together.

An inton clause supplies a future-time setting.

Instructions retain the verb’s participant relationships.

A contemplated action with tayo can invite the speaker and listener to act together.

Maika- forms identify positions in an ordered series.

An idi clause gives a past-time setting for another situation.

Completed forms change aspect while retaining patient focus.

A short predicate pronoun follows saan without changing its participant role.

Short pronouns precede particles in these documented combinations.

Personal names, common nouns and identifying action expressions retain their own marking in questions.

Learn the base, complete formed word and lexical class together.

A relative clause identifies or describes a noun through an event or situation.

Partial repetition can mark noun plurality; full repetition can instead express abundance.

Read aspect separately from the event’s temporal location.

Use attested forms such as kadakkelan ‘biggest’ and kabassitan ‘smallest’ to identify an extreme.

Context distinguishes an amount or count from an individual object’s size.

Ongoing copying preserves actor-focus participant marking.

Amin can precede a linked noun or follow an oblique personal pronoun; aminen can express all already.

The selected role of an i- verb depends on its lexical construction.

Kaano works with future and completed events; the marked event expression retains its own formation.

Compare likeness or specify a role such as “as a teacher.”

The person who wants the action is its understood performer; that actor is not repeated.

Kayat takes a desired person, thing or action and uses genitive-series actor forms.

Laeng limits the relevant participant, quantity, or activity.

A possibility question can concern permission, while the attested ability construction uses distinct morphology.

Madi expresses non-desire with a noun or nga-linked clause.

Mang- commonly selects the performer of a transitive action.

Established mangi- families preserve actor selection across aspect changes.

A needed resource can be ti-marked; an action clause retains its own participants.

A preceding numeral gives the count; the counted noun need not have a reduplicated plural form.

Met links a statement to an earlier point through addition, response, or contrast.

Completed aspect preserves the verb’s actor-focus participant pattern.

A no clause supplies a condition or recurring setting for the main clause.

Pay expresses continuation or something additional.

Piman! expresses sympathy or dismay in its own intonation unit.

Negative instructions preserve voice-dependent actor marking.

Tapno introduces a purpose or intended result.

Tunggal directly precedes a noun; the whole phrase retains its required marking.

With igatangan, -nak identifies “me” as beneficiary with a context-dependent buyer; -naka identifies a singular third-person buyer and “you” as beneficiary.

Describe, question or situate an activity through a noun phrase.

Use verbal content as an argument, identifying expression or topic.

Keep the beneficiary, buyer and purchased item separate.

A patient-focus clause can combine an actor pronoun with a pronoun for its selected patient.

Distinguish the reporter from the participants in the reported clause.

Connect clauses with ket; their events and context establish the relationship.

Compare equal degrees with established agka- forms.

Independent pronouns can stand alone or identify the participant selected by a predicate.

Matching letters can represent a lexical word, a verb affix or an attached pronoun or particle.

Certain ag- constructions express shared or mutual action; ag- alone does not universally mean “each other.”

These nouns identify companions through shared residence, objects or activities.

Personal oblique pronouns can identify recipients, beneficiaries, companions and other licensed participants.

Whole-word repetition gives abong-abong a small-hut meaning. Learn this attested word without extending its meaning to every repeated noun.

Naka- property formations express high degree; the established agtilmotilmon formation expresses repeated swallowing.

Ket connects a fronted topic with what is said about it.

Use actor-oriented causatives to identify who has, requests or causes an action to be done.

Distinguish having none from denying a property or action.

Bayat ti names an interval; a linked-clause frame can express overlap.

Express “because of” with a nominal reason.

Ka-…-an nouns can name abstract relations, groups, places or times; their meanings depend on the base and established word.

Kina- property nouns include kinabaknang “wealth,” kinasirib “wisdom” and kinaumno “correctness.”

Kuna reports quoted speech; kinuna explicitly presents completed reporting.

Distinguish events undergone by something from deliberate actions, while recognizing potential uses of ma-.

An “about” phrase can serve as a clause's predicate.

Keep the person able to act central, and distinguish capacity from an accomplished event.

Present an actor as joining others, sharing an activity or requesting permission to participate.

Causative voice distinguishes the causer, the person caused to act and any affected item.

Simple causee-focus causatives use pa- or the restricted causative pag- form, with suffix choice tied to the underlying verb.

Instrument-focus pag- selects what is used; nominal uses can name an implement.

Pag-...-an forms action-related place expressions; selected reduplicated forms name sources or reasons.

The paN- family names selected instruments or means; related maN- formations name agents.

Learn the nominal before frame and completion-clause after frame.

A concession leaves the main claim standing despite a circumstance that could suggest another outcome.

The property predicate determines how its evaluated or possible situation is introduced.

Plural pronouns can address one person respectfully; kin titles also convey age and relationship.

A completed-form consequence with kuma and a no-condition can express an unfulfilled alternative.

Distributive numerals give a quantity per share; full numeral repetition gives a group size.

Distinguish high degree, excessive price, and the lexical sufficient-length meaning of nagayad.

Relative clauses describe nouns; time clauses locate events, including events inside larger clauses.

Causee marking changes with causative voice and verb type.

Maintain reference while choosing the participant selected by each verb.

Interpret negative timing through the verb, time phrase and particles.

Analyze licensed layers and distinguish affixes from coincidental letter sequences.

An indirect question reports an inquiry inside a larger statement.

Distinguish actor and affected-object descriptions while tracking each clause separately.

A marked predicate can refer to a person or thing without an overt head noun.

Combined roots can name a conventional object, institution or role.

Kayat permits a shared-actor ti action; desire, possibility and necessity also have documented nga clause frames.

Predicate negation denies a property or action; focused-participant negation rejects an identification.

A ti-marked information or instruction noun frames following content.

A nominalized reporting expression presents content without nga at the constituent boundary.

A noun inside a relative clause can have a relative description of its own.