Demonstrative Pronouns: Nitó, Niyán, and Niyón

There are more Filipino demonstrative pronouns used aside from the ones previously discussed. Nitó, niyán, and niyón are demonstrative pronouns that are used to replace nouns or noun phrases if the verb of the sentence has an actor-focus. It is also similar to “this”, “that”, and “that, over there”, but function differently from “itó”, “iyán”, and “iyon”.
These pronouns are used if the verb has an actor-focus (the action is done by a person or thing). Nouns or noun phrases starting with ng can be replaced with nitó, niyán and niyón with respect to the distance of the speaker to the person/object. Read the examples and know how and when to each Filipino demonstrative pronoun.Not all verbs with an actor-focus can be used with nitó, niyán, and niyón. Verbs with object-focus (action that is done to a person or thing) are used with itó, iyán, and iyón. See and try to compare how these demonstrative pronouns are used with different focuses.Nitó, niyán, and niyón can also be used as possessive pronouns, which will be discussed in the next lessons.