Using lao is a simple way to start connecting ideas as you move beyond basic sentences. So far, you might say separate thoughts like “I am not hungry. I am thirsty.” With lao, you can combine them into a more complete idea: “I am not hungry, but I am thirsty.” In this lesson, we’ll practice combining basic sentences with lao to start extending our thoughts. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to “But” in Chamorro
2. How to Say “I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty”
3. How to Say “I’m not a healer, but I’m a midwife”
4. Summary
5. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

Introduction to “But” in Chamorro

The word Lao means “but” in Chamorro and is used to connect thoughts. It is a simple but effective addition to start forming longer thoughts in Chamorro.To use it, just put it in-between two thoughts that you want to connect.

In this lesson, we’ll practice using lao to connect the basic sentences we’ve already learned in previous lessons. Specifically, we’ll learn the following:

• Turning “I’m not hungry. I’m thirsty” into “I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty.”
• Turning “I’m not a doctor. I’m a nurse” into “I’m not a doctor, but I’m a nurse.”

In the next section, we’ll start using lao in some basic sentences.

How to Say “I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty”

Let’s say someone asks you “Are you hungry?” and you’d like to reply with “I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty.”

To form this kind of thought, form each sentence individually and put “but” in-between them. Here’s an example:

Sentence 1	Sentence 2	Full Sentence
I am not hungry.	I am thirsty.	I am not hungry, but I am thirsty.
Ti ñalang yu’.	Må’u yu’.	Ti ñalang yu’, lao må’u yu’.

We’ll practice with the full pattern shown below. If the pattern seems complicated, just remember that we are just putting lao in-between the basic sentences we already know how to form.

[Ti + Adjective + Yu’ Type Pronoun], Lao [Adjective + Yu’ Type Pronoun]

March 2026 Note: Audio is forthcoming! Sorry for the confusion!

Chamorro	English
Ti ñalang yu’, lao må’u yu’.	I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty.
Ti yafai yu’, lao matuhuk yu’.	I’m not exhausted, but I’m sleepy.
Ti manengheng yu’, lao ñålang yu’.	I’m not cold, but I’m hungry.
Ti malångu yu’ lao yayas yu’.	I’m not sick, but I’m tired.
Ti ma’å’ñao yu’, lao tristi yu’.	I’m not afraid, but I’m sad.

In the next section, we’ll practice this same pattern with nouns instead of adjectives.

How to Say “I’m not a healer, but I’m a midwife”

Let’s say someone asks us “Are you a teacher?” and we want to reply with “I’m not a teacher, but I’m a student.” We use the same form as the previous section, but with nouns instead of adjectives.

Here’s the full form we’ll practice:

[Ti + Noun + Yu’ Type Pronoun], Lao [Noun + Yu’ Type Pronoun]

March 2026 Note: Audio is forthcoming! Sorry for the confusion!

Chamorro	English
Ti suruhåna yu’, lao pattera yu’.	I’m not a healer, but I’m a midwife.
Ti kákanta yu’, lao danderu yu’.	I’m not a singer, but I’m a musician.
Ti mediku yu’, lao enfetmera yu’.	I’m not a doctor, but I’m a nurse.
Ti fafa’na’gue yu’, lao estudianti yu’.	I’m not a teacher, but I’m a student.
Ti abugao yu’, lao títugi’ yu’.	I’m not a lawyer, but I’m a writer.

Summary

In this lesson, we learned the word Lao which means “but” and is used to connect thoughts. We took our basic descriptive sentences such as “I am not hungry. I am thirsty.” and combined them into a single thought: “I am not hungry, but I am thirsty.”

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you’re ready, click the link below to continue to the next lesson where you’ll learn how to say “because” in Chamorro and use it to connect ideas into longer thoughts.

How to Say “Because” in Chamorro – Connecting Ideas in Sentences