Here’s a list of 30 transitive verbs that beginners can use in basic action sentences. If you would like to read my blog series on how to use these verbs at a beginner level, start reading the first post in the series called Introduction to Transitive Verbs in Chamorro. This post includes 30 verbs, example sentences, audio in Chamorro, and a Quizlet flashcard deck as an extra study resource. Happy studying!
Transitive Verbs Group 1
| Chamoru | Ingles | Sentensia |
| gimen | to drink | Hu gimen i hanom. I drank the water. |
| kånno’ | to eat | Hu kånno’ i bilembinas. I ate the starfruit. |
| toktok | to hug | Ha toktok yo’. She hugged me. |
| chiku | to kiss | Un chiku i palao’an. You kissed the woman. |
| taitai | to read | Ha taitai i patgon i lepblo. The child read the book. |
| tuge’ | to write | Ma tuge’ i katta. They wrote the letter. |
| ekungok | to listen to | En ekungok i fafa’nå’gue. You all listened to the teacher. |
| kuentusi | to talk to | I biha ha kuentusi yo’. The elderly woman talked to me. |
| fa’nå’gue | to teach | Ha fa’nå’gue i leksion. She taught the lesson. |
| tungo’ | to know | Ti hu tungo’ hao. I don’t know you. |
Transitive Verbs Group 2
| Chamoru | Ingles | Sentensia |
| huchom | to close, shut | Ha huchom i petta. He shut the door. |
| baba | to open | Un baba i bentåna. You opened the window. |
| fåhan | to buy | I nanan biha ha fåhan i kamuti. The grandmother bought the sweet potato. |
| bende | to sell | I famalao’an ma bende i flores. The women sold the flowers. |
| ayao | to borrow | Hu ayao i lepblo. I borrowed the book. |
| na’ayao | to lend | Ha na’ayao si Juan ni kareta. She lent Juan the car. |
| guaiya | to love | Hu guaiya hao. I love you. |
| chatli’e’ | to hate | Hu chatli’e’ hao. I hate you. |
| cho’gue | to do | En cho’gue i tareha. You all did the task / chore. |
| usa | to use | Ta usa i labadot. We used the sink. |
Transitive Verbs Group 3
| Chamoru | Ingles | Sentensia |
| yamak | to break (physically) | Ma yamak i famagu’on i bentåna. The children broke the window. |
| arekla | to repair | Si tatan-ñiha ha arekla i bentåna. Their father repaired the window. |
| nå’i | to give | Ma nå’i i nengkånno’. They gave the food. |
| chule’ | to take (non-living) | Un chule’ i litråtu. You took the picture. |
| konne’ | to catch, to take (living) | Hu konne’ si nanå-hu para i Gima’ Yu’os. I took my mother to the church. Ma konne’ i guihan. They caught the fish. |
| aligao | to look for | I nana ha aligao i patgon. The mother looked for the child. |
| sodda’ | to find | In sodda’ i patgon. We found the child. |
| fa’tinas | to make, prepare, cook | Ta fa’tinas i rosketti. We made the rosketti. |
| fa’gåsi | to wash | I patgon ha fa’gåsi i kannai-ña. The child washed his hands. |
| na’lå’la | to make alive | Hu na’lå’la i tilifon-hu. I turned on my phone. |
Study Resources
Quizlet Study Deck: https://quizlet.com/891642294/transitive-verbs-for-beginners-flash-cards/?i=5mjs3n&x=1qqt
Great post, Shai! One thing to be aware of is the NA’-formed verbs. Remember that these words are created from NA’ + verb so just make sure that the objects that follow the verb are the right ones. Whenever we use NA’-formed verbs, it’s similar to English when we use the phrases to make/let something/someone BE or DO something.
Examples:
BE:
“I warmed/heat up the soup” – “I made the soup hot.” – hu na’maipe i kaddo.
“I chilled the drinks.” – “I made the drinks cold.” – hu na’manengheng i gimen.
“She hurt me.” – “She made me ashamed.”
DO:
“I made her cry” – hu na’kåti gue’.
“I made Lola sing, because she has a lovely voice.” – hu na’kånta si Lola, sa’ bonitu bos-ña.
“I like Don, because he makes me laugh.” – Ya-hu si Don, sa’ ha na’chåchalek yo’.
So…
Na’lå’la’ i tilifon-hu – “to make alive” my phone – to turn on my phone (this one makes sense)
BUT,
Na’ayao i karetå-hu – “to make/let borrow” my car – to make (someone) borrow” my car
So, the object that should follow na’ayao should be a person, because it’s the person who you are allowing to borrow the object.
In your example, the exclusion of the person would be understood as:
Hu na’ayao (gue’) ni ( I lent my cousin my car.
Hu na’ayao si George ni karetå-hu. I let George borrow my car. –> I lent George my car.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank-you again for the encouragement and the explainations! They help me see that I still need to practice my understanding of what the correct object is for the na’ formed verbs. And your example sentences are so helpful – I can understand why my original usage of na’ayao does not work. From your explainations and examples, I can see how I originally interpreted na’ayao as making or letting an object being borrowed, when it’s actually making / letting someone borrow something. I will update the sentence and the recording to reflect this – thank-you again!
LikeLike
Pingback: Basic Actions Part 1: Making Past Tense Sentences in Chamorro With Transitive Verbs – “I drank the coffee.” – Lengguahi-ta
Pingback: Basic Actions Part 2: Making Past Tense Sentences in Chamorro with Descriptions – “I drank the hot coffee.” – Lengguahi-ta