This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

Now that we’ve practiced describing completed actions, it’s time to talk about what people are doing right now. In this lesson, we’ll learn how to form present-tense sentences with transitive verbs—actions that someone does to something else. Using clear, repeatable patterns, we’ll practice sentences like “I am buying it,” “She is calling him,” or “They are cleaning the house.” These patterns will help you describe actions as they happen and expand your everyday speaking ability. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to Present Tense in Chamorro
2. How to Reduplicate Words
3. Practicing Reduplication
4. How to Say “I am drinking the coffee”
5. Summary
6. 📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!
7. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

Introduction to Present Tense in Chamorro

When we say things like I am drinking the coffee or I am reading the book, we are talking about actions that are currently happening. In other words, we are speaking in the present tense.

In Chamorro, speaking in the present tense typically requires that we transform our action words with something called reduplication, which just means we are repeating certain syllables in a word.

There are different forms of reduplication in Chamorro, and are used depending upon the meaning we are trying to express. In this lesson, we will focus on the form of reduplication that allows us to talk about actions that are currently happening.

Specifically, we’ll do the following:

• Learn how to reduplicate action words so we can talk in present tense
• Practice this reduplication to get a feel for it
• Learn how to use them in sentences to say things like “I am drinking the coffee”

How to Reduplicate Words

Now we will practice applying reduplication so we can speak in the present tense. To reduplicate a word in Chamorro, we do the following:

1. Find the stressed syllable in the word (typically it’s the second-to-last syllable)
2. Repeat the first vowel and any consonants attached to that vowel

When reduplicating a word, we also need to keep the following in mind:

If the stressed syllable is a vowel: Repeat the vowel and add a glota after it.

• Example: the word o‘mak becomes ó’o’mak.
• Example: the word ákuentusi becomes á’akuentusi

If the stressed syllable has a combination of vowels: Only repeat the first vowel and the consonant attached to the front of that first vowel. This makes the reduplicated word easier to say.

• Example: the word saonao becomes sásaonao. (Don’t say saosaonao)
• Example: the word taitai becomes tátaitai (Don’t say taitaitai)

If the stressed syllable ends in a consonant: If the stress syllable ends in a consonant, that final consonant is not repeated (in general). This helps to reduce the drag in our mouths, making the words easier to say.

• Example: the word na’gåsgås becomes na’gågasgas. (Don’t say na’gåsgåsgås).

In the next section we’ll apply these rules and practice reduplicating words.

Practicing Reduplication

In this section, we’ll turn from theory to practice and start reduplicating different verbs. Read the word in the first column and try to reduplicate it according to the guidelines from the previous section.

Word	Reduplicated	English
gimen	gígimen	drinking
kånno’	kåkånno’	eating
usa	ú‘usa	using
taitai	tátaitai	reading
fa’tinas	fa’títinas	making
fåhan	fåfåhan	buying
chule’	chúchule’	taking
li’e’	lí‘li’e’	seeing
hungok	húhungok	hearing
ekungok	é‘ekungok	listening to

In the next section, we’ll start using these words in complete sentences.

How to Say “I am drinking the coffee”

Talking about current actions like “I am drinking the coffee” actually uses the same form as the past tense sentences we’ve already learned how to make. The only difference is that we reduplicate the action word.

Here is the full pattern we’ll practice:

Hu Type Pronoun + Reduplicated Transitive Verb + i + Object

Chamorro	English
Hu gigimen i kafe.	I am drinking the coffee.
Hu kåkånno’ i hineksa’.	I am eating the cooked rice*.
Ha fåfåhan i franela.	He is buying the t-shirt.
Ha e’ekungok i dandan.	She is listening to the music.
Ta e’egga’ i mubi.	We are watching the movie. (incl.)
Ta tataitai i lepblon Harry Potter.	We are reading the Harry Potter book. (incl.)
Ma chuchule’ i kareta.	They are taking the car.
Ma fa’titinas i kelaguen uhang.	They are making the shrimp kelaguen.
In arerekla i telebikbik.	We are repairing the television. (excl.)
In hahatsa i kahon.	We are lifting the box. (excl.)
Un kuentutusi i taotao guafi.	You are talking to the fireman.
Un bebende i gima’.	You are selling the house.
En huhuchom i tenda.	You all are closing the store.
En bababa i paketi.	You all are opening the package.

Summary

In this lesson, we learned how to talk about current actions and say things like I am drinking the coffee. To make these sentences we learned about Chamorro reduplication, which is repeating syllables in a word. We also practiced reduplicating words before using them in basic sentences.

📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!

If you want additional practice with the sentences in this lesson, use this Quizlet Flashcard Deck as a supplementary study tool.

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you are ready, click the link below to continue to the next lesson in this Beginner Chamorro series, where you’ll learn how to add locations to your sentences:

How to Say “I Drank the Coffee at the Restaurant” in Chamorro – Adding Places to Your Actions