Basic Actions Part 18: Noun Subjects pt. 2 – “The woman danced”

This post will be an overview of how we can add nouns as the subjects in our basic action sentences that use intransitive verbs. We will learn the structures to express thoughts like “The woman drank the coffee” or “The child will run.” Up until now we’ve only been using pronouns as our subjects, to focus more on word order and verb transformations. So adding noun subjects will help us put more variety into our action sentences. This post will include examples for past tense, present tense, and future tense sentences that use intransitive verbs. Happy studying!

Basic Actions Part 18: Noun Subjects pt. 1 – “The woman drank the coffee”

This post will be an overview of how we can add nouns as the subjects in our basic action sentences. In all of my notes on basic sentence structures with verbs, I’ve only used pronouns (he, she, it, etc.) as the subjects to keep the focus on learning verbs and word order. In this post, we will practice word order to express thoughts like “The woman drank the coffee” or “The child will run.” This post will include examples for past tense, present tense, and future tense sentences that use transitive verbs. And audio is included with all Chamorro sentences. Happy studying!

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

To conclude this beginner series on how to express likes and dislikes in Chamorro, in this post we’ll cover how to ask more types questions about what we like. We will practice using questions words like håfa (what), månu (which), and håfa na (why) to ask questions like “What do you like?”; “Which do you like?”; and “Why do you like it?” This post includes sentence drills in Chamorro, English translations, and audio for the Chamorro. Happy studying!

Intermediate Actions Part 2: Making Past Tense Sentences in Chamorro With Indefinite Objects – “I bought coffee”

To build off of part 1 where we practiced transforming our transitive verbs with the indefinite man- prefix, in this post we will start using those transformed verbs in sentences. We will learn how to make simple sentences like “I bought coffee”; “I heard something”; or “I made some soup.” We will also add noun subjects to say things like “The woman bought coffee.” This post includes sentence drills in Chamorro with Chamorro audio, and English translations. Happy studying!

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!

Intermediate Actions Part 1: Introduction to Indefinite Objects in Chamorro – “The Coffee versus A Coffee”

In this post, we’ll start our journey on learning how to talk about indefinite objects or non-specific objects in Chamorro. A couple of years ago I wrote a rather long post about using the man- prefix with transitive verbs, back when I was first working toward a clearer understanding of indefinite objects. Now I’ll be exploring the man- prefix more systematically, starting with our transitive verbs. The use of the man- prefix surfaces repeatedly in our practice groups these days, so I guess it’s finally time to dive in!

This post is meant to be an introduction to indefinite objects and how to transform verbs with the indefinite man- prefix. If you need a more general overview of transitive verbs, I suggest starting at my Intro to Transitive Verbs post before continuing. In this post, we’ll focus primarily on practicing how to transform transitive verbs with the indefinite man- prefix. We will also talk about what learners often call “the double man- prefix and when it is used. The post will conclude with notes about the transitive verbs that don’t take the indefinite man- prefix and how to transform them. It’s a fairly long post, but hopefully it will make clear a complicated and confusing topic. Happy studying!