This post is part of our 50 lesson Beginner Chamorro learning path.

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!

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🌱 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.

🌱 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 in English:

Sentence 1	Sentence 2	Combined
I am not hungry.	I am thirsty.	I am not hungry, but I am thirsty.

Now let’s practice making these kinds of sentences in Chamorro, beginning with “I” statements to keep things simple. Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

Ti _____ yu’ + lao + _____ yu’.

We’ll fill in the blanks with the descriptive words we learned in the lesson on How to Say “I’m hungry”.

Audio Note: Chamorro audio recordings will be added at a later date. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Chamorro	English
Ti ñalang yu’, lao må’u yu’.	I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty.
Ti tristi yu’, lao malångu yu’.	I’m not sad, but I’m sick.
Ti ma’u yu’, lao ñålang yu’.	I’m not thirsty, but I’m hungry.
Ti malångu yu’, lao tristi yu’.	I’m not sick, but I’m sad.
Ti maguf yu’, lao maolik yu’.	I’m not happy, but I’m good/alright.

Now let’s flip the pattern and start with the positive statement (“I am thirsty”) and end with the negative statement (“but I’m not hungry”). Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

_____ yu’ + lao + ti _____ yu’.

Audio Note: Chamorro audio recordings will be added at a later date. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Chamorro	English
Ñålang yu’, lao ti ma’u yu’.	I’m hungry, but I’m not thirsty.
Tristi yu’, lao ti malångu yu’.	I’m sad, but I’m not sick.
Må’u yu’, lao ti ñalang yu’.	I’m thirsty, but I’m not hungry.
Malångu yu’, lao ti tristi yu’.	I’m sick, but I’m not sad.
Maolik yu’, lao ti maguf yu’.	I’m good/alright, but I’m not happy.

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

🌱 How to Say “I’m not a teacher, but I’m a student”

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 can use the same pattern we’ve already learned, except we’ll fill in our blanks with nouns.

Here’s the full form we’ll practice, and we’ll fill in the blanks with nouns:

Ti _____ yu’ + lao + _____ yu’.

Audio Note: Chamorro audio recordings will be added at a later date. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Chamorro	English
Ti fáfa’na’gui yu’, lao estudiånti yu’.	I’m not a teacher, but I’m a student.
Ti pípeska yu’, lao guågualu’ yu’.	I’m not a fisherman, but I’m a farmer.
Ti polisia yu’, lao taotao guåfi yu’.	I’m not a police officer, but I’m a fireman.
Ti médiku yu’, lao enfetmera yu’.	I’m not a doctor, but I’m a nurse.
Ti estudiånti yu’, lao fáfa’na’gui yu’.	I’m not a student, but I’m a teacher.

🌱 Question and Answer Dialogue Practice

In this section, we’ll start to use our new sentences in some basic question and answer dialogue. We’ll be using the question word kao that we learned in the previous lesson. For our answers, we’ll use åhi’ (“no”) and answer with our sentences that connect thoughts with lao.

Audio Note: Chamorro audio recordings will be added at a later date. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Chamoru	English
Kao ñålang hao? Åhi’, ti ñalang yu’, lao må’u yu’.	Are you hungry? No, I’m not hungry, but I’m thirsty.
Kao malångu hao? Åhi’, ti malångu yu’, lao tristi yu’.	Are you sick? No, I’m not sick, but I’m sad.
Kao estudiånti hao? Åhi’, ti estudiånti yu’, lao fáfa’na’gui yu’.	Are you a student? No, I’m not a student, but I’m a teacher.
Kao médiku hao? Åhi’, ti médiku yu’, lao enfetmera yu’.	Are you a doctor? No, I’m not a doctor, but I’m a nurse.
Kao pípeska hao? Åhi’, ti pípeska yu’, lao guågualu’ yu’.	Are you a fisherman? No, I’m not a fisherman, but I’m a farmer.

📝 Summary

In this lesson, we learned the word lao, which means “but” and is used to connect thoughts. Building on the descriptive sentences from previous lessons, we practiced joining two simple ideas into a single sentence. For example, “I am not hungry. I am thirsty.” becomes “I am not hungry, but I am thirsty.” This allows us to express more complete thoughts and communicate with greater detail.

➡️ 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 – “I’m tired because I’m hungry”