A verb applicative is a morpheme that increases the valency of a verb by adding a new core argument to it. The new argument is a former complement.

For example:

Original: "The cat sleeps on the mat."

Applicated: *"The cat onsleeps the mat."

Passive applicated: *"The mat is onslept (by the cat)."

Tagalog, like other Filipino languages, has a curious system (called a trigger system) that allows multiple kinds of applicatives on verbs to specify different roles for the main argument.