This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

At the beginning of our learning, we can be focused on a lot of small sentences. Up until now these are the sentences we’ve learned how to make, sentences like “I am tired”; “They are students”; “We are tired students.” Now we are going to start making our thoughts a little longer by linking these short sentences with the word “because.” So instead of many small, disconnected thoughts we can start to smooth out our speech with sentences like “I am tired because I am a student.” In this post we will learn about the word sa’ in Chamorro and how to use it. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to “Because” in Chamorro
2. How to Say “I am tired because I am hungry”
3. Make Your Own Sentences
4. 📝 Study Resource: Keep Practicing on Quizlet!
5. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

Introduction to “Because” in Chamorro

In Chamorro, the word sa’ means “because”. Using this word is an easy way to start connecting thoughts together and make longer sentences. Let’s explore why:

At this point we have learned how to make short, descriptive sentences such as “I am tired” or “I am hungry.” We have also learned how to talk more about who we are, with sentences like “I am a student”, “I am a teacher” or “I am a mother.” And finally, we have also learned how to make negative statements such as “I am not hungry” or “I am not a student.”

Using the word sa’ in our speech is a great way to start connecting these short sentences together. Instead of saying “I am tired” and “I am hungry”, we can use sa’ to say “I am tired because I am hungry.”

🗣️Pronunciation Note for Sa’: When you say the word sa’, you say it with the same “a” sound as you find in the English words “cat” or “sat.”

How to Say “I am tired because I am hungry”

Sometimes we want to communicate two distinct thoughts in a smoother way. Instead of just saying “I am tired. I am hungry.” we may want to say “I am tired because I am hungry.”

Creating these sentences involves putting sa’ (“because”) in-between our sentences.

In this section, we’ll practice with this specific pattern:

Basic Sentence + sa’ + Basic Sentence

Our practice sentences are below. We’ll be using basic sentences like I am hungry. The work is difficult. It is expensive. Then we’ll be connecting these sentences together with sa’.

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

Chamorro	English
Yayas yu’ sa’ ñålang yu’.	I am tired because I am hungry.
Matuhok yu’ sa’ maipe i klema.	I am sleepy because the weather is hot.
Magof yu’ sa’ månnge’ i nengkånno’.	I am happy because the food is delicious.
Lalålo’ yu’ sa’ guaguan.	I am angry because it is expensive.
Maolek yu’ sa’ ti mappot i che’cho’.	I am good because the work is not difficult.
Atrasao i lahi sa’ ñateng i bas.	The man is late because the bus is slow.
O’sun i patgon sa’ ti maolek i huegu.	The child is bored because the game is not good.
Triste i palao’an sa’ chattao i dueñu.	The woman is sad because the owner is stingy.
Må’o i fafa’cho’chu’ sa’ maipe i diha.	The worker is thirsty because the day is hot.
Yåfai i nana sa’ malångu i neni.	The mother is exhausted because the baby is sick.

Make Your Own Sentences

We have practiced with some example sentences in this post, but try to make your own! You can check out the word lists on the blog to get started with more words.

📝 Study Resource: Keep Practicing on Quizlet!

In this lesson we have learned the word sa’, which means “because”, and we have used it to link our basic sentences together to create longer thoughts.

If you want more practice with the example sentences in this lesson, use this Quizlet Deck to practice your ability recall these sentences and produce them in Chamorro.

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you’re ready, click the link below to continue to the next lesson in this Beginner Chamorro series, where you’ll practice linking thoughts together with “not”, “but” and “because”:

Putting Your Chamorro Sentences Together with Not, But, and Because