Ready to start asking questions in Chamoru? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to turn any simple sentence into a yes-or-no question — like changing “You are tired” into “Are you tired?”, or “They are teachers” into “Are they teachers? To make this transformation, we will be learning about the Question Word “Kao” and how it’s used in Chamorro. Happy studying!

Contents
Introduction to Making Questions in Chamorro The Question Word “Kao” Example Sentences: “Are you hungry?” Example Sentences: “Is the woman hungry?” Make Your Own Sentences Wrapping Up: Keep Practicing on Quizlet! Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References

Introduction to Making Questions in Chamorro

Chamorro has different ways to make questions, which includes using specific question words (i.e.: what, where, when, why, who) and turning existing statements into questions. In this lesson, we will be learning how Chamorro does the latter.

To turn existing statements into questions, we will be learning about the Question Word “Kao”.

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The Question Word “Kao”

In Chamoru, the Question Word “kao” is a small word that turns a declarative statement (ie: “You are hungry”) into a question (“Are you hungry?”). It can be used on a variety of sentences in Chamorro, and in this lesson we will learn how to use it to turn our basic descriptive sentences into questions.

To turn a statement into a question using kao, we put this word in front of the sentence.

In the next two sections, we will practice making sentences with kao.

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Example Sentences: “Are you hungry?”

Here are some simple practice drills, where we are taking sentences such as “I am hungry” or “She is Chamorro” and turning them into questions like “Am I hungry” or “Is she Chamorro?”. To make these questions, we put the Question Word Kao at the beginning of our basic sentence. We will follow this word order:

Kao + [Adjective or Noun] + Yu’ Type Pronoun

Now let’s practice with some example sentences in the table below:

Kao mames?	Is it sweet?
Kao må’o hao?	Are you thirsty?
Kao estudiante siha?	Are they (2) students?
Kao manengheng hamyo?	Are you (2) cold?
Kao fafa’na’gue hao?	Are you a teacher?
Kao Chamoru gue’?	Is she Chamoru?
Kao ñålang yu’?	Am I hungry?
Kao triste siha?	Are they (2) sad?

Reminders About “It” and 3+ People: When referring to “it” in Chamorro, the pronoun gue’ is usually omitted because it is understood contextually. And all of these sentences refer to 1-2 people only, because making them refer to 3+ people requires transforming the noun or adjective with the plural man- prefix.

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Example Sentences: “Is the woman hungry?”

Now we will practice turning sentences such as “The woman is hungry” or “The woman is tall” into questions like “Is the woman hungry?” or “Is the woman tall?” If you would like a review on how to make these types of sentences, see Lesson 03: Describing Others in Chamorro.

To make these types of questions, we put the Question Word Kao at the beginning of the sentence. For these sentences, we will follow this word order:

Kao + [Adjective or Noun] + i + Noun

Now we will practice with some example sentences in the table below:

Kao lokka’ i palao’an?	Is the woman tall?
Kao magof i neni?	Is the baby happy?
Kao maipe i kafé?	Is the coffee hot?
Kao guaguan i pigas?	Is the uncooked rice expensive?
Kao kákanta i lahi?	Is the man a singer?

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Make Your Own Sentences

We have practiced with some example sentences in this post, but make sure to check out my word lists on this blog so you can make your own example sentences and drills that are meaningful to you and your life.

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Wrapping Up: Keep Practicing on Quizlet!

In this lesson we have learned how to turn our basic, descriptive sentences into yes-or-no questions with the Question Word “Kao”. Keep practicing the example sentences in this lesson with this Quizlet Deck as your supplementary study tool.

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Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you are ready to continue, click the link below for the next lesson about how to use the word “because” in Chamorro.

Lesson 07: How to Say “Because” in Chamorro – “I’m tired because I’m a student”

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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.

• Question word kao: pg. 18