Basic Actions Part 17: Expressing Likes and Dislikes in Chamorro pt. 3 – “I like this.”

We will continue learning how to make basic expressions of likes and dislikes in Chamorro, and learn how to make statements such as “I like this”; “I like these”; and “I like this coffee.” This post will be using the Chamorro word ya- and pairing it with possessive pronouns and the words este, enao, or eyu to make these statements. If you need a review on the word ya-, please see my post Expressing Likes and Dislikes in Chamorro, pt. 1. And if you want to review the words este, enao, or eyu please see my post on how to say This and That in Chamorro. Happy studying!

Contents
I like this. I like these. I like this coffee. I like these chocolates. The woman likes this coffee Juan likes this coffee Basic Conversation Practice References

I Like This

We can get started with expressing some basic likes using the words this and that, such as “I like this” or “She likes those.” For this structure, we just add the words este, enao, or ayu/eyu at the end of the sentence. And then to make statements where you like multiple things, such as “I like these” or “She likes those”, just add the word siha at the end. Here are our basic sentence structures:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + Este / Enao / Eyu

Chamoru	English
Ya-hu este.	I like this.
Ya-mu enao.	You like that.
Ya-ña eyu.	He/She/It likes that (over there).
Ya-ta este.	We like this.
Yan-miyu eyu.	You (all) like that (over there)
Yan-måmi enao.	We like that.
Yan-ñiha este.	They like this.

I Like These

And then to make our objects plural and say things like “I like those” or “She likes these” we can add the word siha after the este / enao / eyu. Follow this basic structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + Este / Enao / Eyu + Siha

And now for some sentence drills:

Chamoru	English
Ya-hu este siha.	I like these.
Ya-mu enao siha.	You like those.
Ya-ña eyu siha.	She likes those (over there).
Ya-ta este siha.	We like these.
Yan-miyu eyu siha.	You (all) like those (over there).
Yan-måmi enao siha.	We like those.
Yan-ñiha este siha.	They like these.

I Like This Coffee

In our basic sentence structure, we can also express likes for “this coffee” or “that kelaguen.” To do this, we can put the words este, ennao, or ayu/eyu plus the linking article “na” in front of our noun. Here is the structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + este / enao / eyu + na + Noun

First, let’s practice the basic pattern of putting este / enao / eyu with our nouns to say things like this water. We will practice just with este na in the following drills:

Este na + Noun

Object	Chamoru	English
hånom	este na hånom	this water
fina’mames	este na fina’mames	this dessert
estoria	este na estoria	this story
tinanom	este na tinanom	this plant
kånton tåsi	este na kånton tåsi	this beach

Now to get used to the basic pattern, let’s use ya-hu with the above drills. We just put ya-hu in front of our objects:

Ya-hu + Este Na + Noun

Object	Chamoru	English
hånom	Ya-hu este na hånom.	I like this water.
fina’mames	Ya-hu este na fina’mames.	I like this dessert.
estoria	Ya-hu este na estoria.	I like this story.
tinanom	Ya-hu este na tinanom.	I like this plant.
kånton tåsi	Ya-hu este na kånton tåsi.	I like this beach.

And now let’s try out a variety of different sentences, to practice using different pronouns and objects:

Chamorro	English
Ya-hu este na kafé.	I like this coffee.
Ya-mu enao na kelaguen mañåhåk.	You like that rabbit-fish kelaguen.
Ya-ña eyu na chån å’paka.	She likes that white tea.
Ya-ta este na dåndan Chamoru.	We like this Chamorro music.
Yan-miyu enao na bilembinas.	You (all) like that starfruit.
Yan-måmi eyu na lepblo.	We like that book.
Yan-ñiha este na somnak.	They like this sunshine.

I Like These Chocolates

Now let’s modify our sentence “I like this coffee” and make the object plural to say things like “I like these books.” To get started, let’s look at how we can make basic phrases such as “these chocolates” or “those books.” We use este, enao, or eyu with the word siha, which one of the ways we can make things plural in Chamorro. Then we link that together with a noun. Let’s use this basic structure:

este / enao / eyu + siha + na + noun

Now let’s practice this basic structure with nouns:

Chamorro	English
este siha na tinanom	these plants
este siha na chukulåti	these chocolates
este siha na magågu	these clothes
enao siha na bilembinas	those starfruits
enao siha na guihan	those fish
eyu siha na lepblo	those books
eyu siha na nengkånno’	those foods

Now we will practice using our new phrases in complete sentences to say things such as “I like these plants” or “They like those books.” To do this, we add ya- + possessive pronoun at the front of our phrase, like in the sentence structure below:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + este / enao / eyu + siha + na + Noun

And now for some sentence drills:

Chamorro	English
Ya-hu este siha na tinanom.	I like these plants.
Ya-mu este siha na chukulåti.	You like these chocolates.
Ya-ña este siha na magågu.	He likes these clothes.
Yan-måmi enao siha na bilembinas.	We like those starfruits.
Yan-ñiha enao siha na guihan.	They like those fish.
Ya-ta eyu siha na lepblo.	We like those books.
Yan-miyu eyu siha na nengkånno’.	You all like those foods.

Special Note on Plural Nouns: As a reminder, there are some nouns in Chamorro that are already in the plural form, and don’t require a siha. These are words like famagu’on, famalao’an, and lalåhi. To use these words in the phrases above, you can just leave off the siha to get phrases like eyu na famalao’an = those women; este na famagu’on = these children.

The Woman Likes This Coffee

Now we are going to add noun subjects to our basic sentences to say things like “The woman likes this coffee” or “The man likes that car.” We do this by adding i + Noun after the possessive pronoun, followed by the este/enao/eyu + noun, like in this structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + [ i + Noun ] + [ este / enao / eyu + na + Noun ]

To get some basic practice, to see the pattern more clearly, we will make some sentences with just one subject, i palao’an:

Object	Chamoru	English
hånom	Ya-ña i palao’an este na hånom.	The woman likes this water.
fina’mames	Ya-ña i palao’an este na fina’mames.	The woman likes this dessert.
estoria	Ya-ña i palao’an este na estoria.	The woman likes this story.
tinanom	Ya-ña i palao’an este na tinanom.	The woman likes this plant.
kånton tåsi	Ya-ña i palao’an este na kånton tåsi.	The woman likes this beach.

And now let’s practice this pattern with different subjects for more variety:

Chamoru	English
Ya-ña i palao’an este na chukulåti.	The woman likes this chocolate.
Ya-ña i patgon enao na hugeti.	The child likes that toy.
Ya-ña i lahi eyu na kulot.	The man likes that color (over there).
Ya-ña i biha este na guihan.	The elderly woman likes this fish.
Yan-ñiha i famagu’on eyu na fafa’någue.	The children like that teacher (over there).
Yan-ñiha i famalao’an enao na kuekuentos.	The women like that speaker.
Yan-ñiha i lalåhi este na kareta.	The men like this car.

The Woman Likes These Chocolates

And to wrap up this section, we can also make the objects plural by following the same previous patterns and adding the word siha after este, enao or eyu. We will use this sentence structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + [ i + Noun ] + [ este / enao / eyu + siha ] + na + Noun

To practice the basic pattern, let’s again practice with a single subject, i palao’an, and modify the sentences from the previous section:

Object	Chamoru	English
hånom	Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na hånom.	The woman likes these waters.
fina’mames	Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na fina’mames.	The woman likes these desserts.
estoria	Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na estoria.	The woman likes these stories.
tinanom	Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na tinanom.	The woman likes these plants.
kånton tåsi	Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na kånton tåsi.	The woman likes these beaches.

And now for more variety, we can make the objects plural in these sentences that have different subjects:

Chamoru	English
Ya-ña i palao’an este siha na chukulåti.	The woman likes these chocolates.
Ya-ña i patgon enao siha na hugeti.	The child likes these toys.
Ya-ña i lahi eyu siha na kulot.	The man likes those colors (over there).
Ya-ña i biha este siha na guihan.	The elderly woman likes these fish.
Yan-ñiha i famagu’on eyu siha na fafa’någue.	The children like those teachers (over there).
Yan-ñiha i famalao’an eyu siha na kuekuentos.	The women like those speakers (over there).
Yan-ñiha i lalåhi este siha na kareta.	The men like these cars.

Juan Likes This Coffee

We can also add a person’s name to these types of sentences, to say things like “Juan likes this coffee” or “Maria likes that song.” To do this, we add si + Proper Name after the possessive pronoun, such as in this structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + [ si + Proper Name ] + este / enao / eyu + na + Noun

Now let’s practice our previous sentences with this new pattern, by swapping out our noun subject with a person’s name:

Chamorro	English
Ya-ña si Juan este na kafé.	Juan likes this coffee.
Ya-ña si Manet este na guma’.	Manet likes this house.
Ya-ña si Maria este na såbanås.	Maria likes this blanket.
Ya-ña si Elsie enao na lemmai.	Elsie likes that breadfruit.
Ya-ña si Fred enao na magågu.	Fred likes that clothing.
Ya-ña si Sus enao na eskuela.	Sus likes that school.
Ya-ña si Kiko’ eyu na setbesa.	Kiko’ likes that beer (over there).
Ya-ña si Julie eyu na ga’lågu.	Julie likes that dog (over there).
Ya-ña si Kika eyu na yininga’.	Kika likes that drawing (over there).

Juan Likes These Chocolates

In our final sentence pattern, we will now add nouns after the este siha, enao siha, or eyu siha to express likes for things like “these chocolates” or “those clothes.” To do this, just add a siha after the este, enao, or eyu as shown in the sentence structure below:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + [ si + Proper Name ] + [ este / enao / eyu + siha ] + [ na + Noun ]

Chamorro	English
Ya-ña si Juan este siha na chukulåti.	Juan likes these chocolates.
Ya-ña si Manet este siha na guma’.	Manet likes these houses.
Ya-ña si Maria este siha na såbanås.	Maria likes these blankets.
Ya-ña si Elsie enao siha na lemmai.	Elsie likes those breadfruits.
Ya-ña si Fred enao siha na magågu.	Fred likes those clothes.
Ya-ña si Sus enao siha na eskuela.	Sus likes those schools.
Ya-ña si Kiko’ eyu siha na setbesa.	Kiko’ likes those beers (over there).
Ya-ña si Julie eyu siha na ga’lågu.	Julie likes those dogs (over there).
Ya-ña si Kika eyu siha na yininga’.	Kika likes those drawings (over there).

Basic Conversation Practice

Now we will put it all together and go over some basic question and answer practice with these sentences. As a reminder, we put the question word kao in front of our statements to turn them into questions. We put the negative marker ti to state them in the negative. And we will also use the words hunggan (yes) and åhe’ (no) in our replies.

Chamoru	English
Kao ya-mu enao? Hunggan, ya-hu este.	Do you like that? Yes, I like this.
Kao yan-miyu eyu siha? Hunggan, yan-måmi eyu siha.	Do you all like those? Yes, we like those.
Kao ya-ña este na fina’mames? Åhe’, ti ya-ña enao na fina’mames.	Does she like this dessert? No, she doesn’t like that dessert.
Kao yan-ñiha eyu siha na magågu? Åhe’, ti yan-ñiha eyu siha na magågu.	Do they like those clothes? No, they don’t like those clothes.
Kao ya-ña i palao’an este siha na kånton tåsi? Hunggan, ya-ña i palao’an este siha na kånton tåsi.	Does the woman like these beaches? Yes, the woman likes these beaches.
Kao ya-ña si Juan eyu siha na chukulåti? Åhe’, ti ya-ña si Juan eyu siha na chukulåti.	Does Juan like those chocolates? No, Juan does not like those chocolates.
Kao ya-ña si Fred enao siha? Hunggan, ya-ña si Fred este siha.	Does Fred like those? Yes, Fred likes these.
Kao yan-miyu este? Hunggan, yan-måmi enao.	Do you all like this? Yes, we like that.
Kao ya-ña i patgon eyu siha na lepblo? Åhe’, ti ya-ña i patgon eyu siha na lepblo.	Does the child like those books? No, the child does not like those books.
Kao ya-mu este na guihan? Hunggan, ya-hu enao na guihan.	Do you like this fish? Yes, I like that fish.

And that concludes this lesson! Click the link below to read the fourth and final part in this blog series on basic expressions for likes and dislikes in Chamorro:

Basic Actions Part 17: Expressing Likes and Dislikes in Chamorro pt. 4 – “What do you like?”

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References

Topping, D. M., & Ogo, P. M. (1980). Spoken Chamorro with Grammatical Notes and Glossary (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia) (2nd ed.). University of Hawaii Press.

• Rules for using ya-: pg. 94
• Using ya- with specific objects (I like the car) : pg. 135