Choosing a Focus
Now that you know how to focus on different parts of a sentence, you may be wondering when to use each kind of focus. Unfortunately, there aren't strict rules about this. There are just some general guidelines and personal preference. The good news is that if you don't get it right, it may sound a little awkward, but you'll still be understood.
As a basic rule, you focus on what's most interesting/important.
General Guidelines
Actor Focus - talking about who did something
Action Focus - talking about what someone/something was doing
Object Focus - talking about what was done to an object (person or thing)
Recipient Focus - talking about what was done to a recipient
Here are some more specific pointers:
Actor Focus
Here are some times you might want to use Actor Focus:
Interesting/Important - If the actor is the most interesting part of the sentence. For example, everyone knows that Zack and Kyle are coming to the party, but it would be suprising to hear that Katie is coming too. You could use Actor Focus to say, "Katie is coming to the party too."
It's common for a chicken to stand on top of a shed, but it would be highly interesting if a goat did it. You could then use Actor Focus to say, "The goat was standing on the shed earlier."
Being Clear - You want to be clear who you're talking about. This can apply whenever you have multiple people or things you're talking about. Let's say you've been talking about Dave, and now you want to share something about Anna. When you first mention Anna you can use Actor Focus to emphasize that you're not talking about Dave anymore. Example: "Dave is funny. He came to my house yesterday. [← Action Focus] Anna came too. [← Actor Focus]
If you're telling a story with multiple actors, you may want to use Actor Focus to be clear about who is speaking or acting. For example, "Remy was speaking at the podium. [← Actor Focus] He shared a nice story and made everyone feel great. Kevin interrupted his speech." [← Actor Focus]
When you are correcting someone, actor focus makes the message more clear. Person 1: "Travis is cleaning up." Person 2: "No, Jack is cleaning up." Actor Focus would emphasize that Jack is cleaning up, as opposed to Travis.
A similar situation would be when you're comparing two actors. "Jenson hasn't gone yet, but Randy went twice." (That would be two actor focus sentences, joined with "but.") Putting the actor first in each part of that sentence would make it more clear who did what.
Actor Focus and Action Focus work very similarly. If you're not sure which one to use, you can just use Action Focus. Actor Focus is just there to help you emphasize who is doing something.
Action / Actor Focus
Interesting / Important - If what is happening seems interesting, you can use Action Focus. Here are a few examples:
A dog is eating, but it's not really important what the dog is eating.
"The dog is eating." — "Nagakaon ang idô." (eat = kaon, dog = idô)
You're explaining that your friend sings in the choir.
"She sings in the choir at church." — "Nagakanta siya sa choir sa simbahan." (sing = kanta, church = simbahan)
Some people showed up to an event that you weren't expecting to see yet. The fact that they arrived is noteworthy.
"They arrived!" — "Nagabot sila!" (arrive = abot)
Verb Type - Some verbs don't require an object. (See: Object vs. Recipient lesson.) Sentences with this type of verb would use either Actor or Action focus.
"I'm jumping." — "Nagalumpat ako." (jump = lumpat)
"She coughed." — "Nagobo siya." (cough = obo)
Some sentences, regardless of verb type, only have an actor performing an action. Therefore, you would use either Actor or Action focus.
"We will eat." — "Magkaon kami." (eat = kaon)
"She spoke." — "Naghambal siya." (speak = hambal)
Article - If the object in a sentence uses "a," or "an," you could use Action / Actor focus.
Example: "I bought a dog." — "Nagbakal 'ko sang idô." (buy = bakal; dog = idô)
In those sentences, "sang" is used as "a" or "an." "Sang" can technically be used as "the" when needed, but it has a leaning toward being "a" or "an."
Object Focus
The "object" in a sentence isn't always a literal object, like a lamp or a table. The object is the person or thing a verb is happening to. For example, a goat could bite a corn cob or a mailman. Whatever it bites would be considered the "object" of the sentence.
Interesting / Important - If you look at the sentence, "He announced that the store was closing," you can see what the main point is. It's not that he is announcing (action focus), or that he is the announcer (actor focus). The most important part of the sentence is what he is announcing, which is the object of the sentence. Therefore, Object Focus makes the most sense here.
There are verbs (like "announce") that tend to center around the object. Here are a few more examples:
"They ensured..." - What they ensured is important.
"We saw..." - What we saw is interesting.
"This includes..." - What it includes is the main point.
"She requested..." - You get the idea.
Sentences like this will often be Object Focus. They can still focus on other things, if some specific circumstances call for it though. For example, in the sentence "We saw..." the object would usually be the most interesting thing. But if you've been trying to see through thick fog, and then it finally clears up, you might say, "I can see!" That would be Action Focus. The fact that you could see was the most important thing in that very specific situation.
Article - If the object in a sentence uses "the," you could use Object Focus.
Example: "I brought the key." — "Gindala ko ang yabi." (bring = dala; key = yabi)
In those sentences, "ang" is used as "the." "Ang" can technically be used as "a" when needed, but it has a leaning toward being "the."
Passive Voice - Active voice is when a person/thing is doing something. Passive voice is when something happens to something.
Active: "I wrote a letter."
Passive: "The letter was written by me."
Active: "He ate the banana."
Passive: "The banana was eaten by him."
Passive voice sentences are most likely to be either Object or Recipient Focus. Active voice sentences can be any focus.
Recipient Focus
Recipient focus is the same basic idea as Object Focus.
(To review the difference between the two, see the Object vs. Recipient lesson.)
Interesting / Important - If Raymond was robbed, you could make an Action Focus sentence to say, "A guy robbed Raymond." If what was stolen from Raymond was the most important part, you could make an Object Focus sentence to say, "Raymond's wallet was stolen." If the most important part is the fact that Raymond was the person who was robbed, you could make a Recipient Focus sentence to say, "Raymond was robbed."
Passive Voice
Active: "The missionaries taught Nonoy."
Passive: "Nonoy was taught by the missionaries.
Active: "They visited the church yesterday."
Passive: "The church was visited yesterday."
Passive voice sentences are most likely to be either Object or Recipient Focus. Active voice sentences can be any focus.
"Nonoy is being taught by the missionaries." — "Ginatudloan si Nonoy sang mga missionary." (teach = tudlo; "si" is like "ang" for names)
Location Focus - Sometimes the recipient can be a location.
For example, "Are you going to her house?" "No, we're going to your house." In that second sentence you can see how it would be important to emphasize the location, "your house."
Examples:
"I will go to your house." — "Kadtoan ko ang balay 'mo." (go = kadto; house = balay)
"The house was visited by her." — "Ginbisitahan niya ang balay."(visit = bisita)
"They will go to the temple." — "Kadtoan nila ang templo."(temple = templo)
Answering Questions
When someone asks a question, they are looking for specific information. This can guide what you choose to focus on when you answer.
Q: "Why is she leaving?" A: "She's going to get some food." (Action Focus would be a good fit.)
Q: "Who is bringing the food?" A: "Allison is bringing the food." (Actor Focus would make the most sense.)
Q: "What are you doing?" A: "I'm cutting this fish." (Object Focus would work well here.)
Q: "What happened to Ellie?" A: "She was yelled at by the teacher." (Recipient focus.)