This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In everyday conversation, we often need to tell someone to do something—bring it here, open the door, or call me. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to form commands in Chamorro using transitive verbs, allowing you to direct actions toward a specific person or an object. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to Commands in Chamorro
2. How to Say “Drink the coffee”
3. Adding Locations: “Drink the coffee in the kitchen”
4. 📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!
5. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson
6. Documentation & Further Study
   1. References
   2. Further Reading

Introduction to Commands in Chamorro

When we tell others things like Drink the coffee or Wipe the table, we are giving them commands, which the grammar books call imperative statements.

In this lesson, we’ll practice patterns for telling people to do an action to someone or something else, which will follow the same general patterns of action statements we’ve been learning up to this point. This means we’ll be using transitive verbs and specific objects.

In the next section, we’ll jump right in and practice making basic commands.

How to Say “Drink the coffee”

For basic commands in Chamorro, a simple rule is to take our basic transitive sentence, such as Hu gimen i kafe and remove the pronoun at the start of the sentence. And voila, you have a basic command statement! You can also use this structure when talking to any number of people.

Essentially, we are just using our transitive verb in its root form, and following it with an object. The structure is as follows:

Transitive Verb + i + Object

Now let’s look at some example sentences in the table below:

Chamorro	English
Taitai i lepblo.	Read the book.
Saosao i lamasa.	Wipe the table.
Na’gasgas i sapåtos.	Clean the shoes.
Fa’gåsi i magågu.	Wash the clothing.
Fåhan i guihan.	Buy the fish.
Rega i cha’guan.	Water the grass.
Nå’yi i arina.	Add the flour.
Chuda’ i hanom.	Pour the water.
Daggao i bola.	Throw the ball.
Atan i chalan.	Look at the road.

Adding Locations: “Drink the coffee in the kitchen”

We can also expand these sentences by adding locations or descriptions to our objects. If you need a review on how to add locations to sentences in Chamorro, see my post on Adding Locations to Sentences in Chamorro.

To add locations to our basic commands, we can follow this sentence structure:

Transitive Verb + i + Object + [gi + Location]

Now let’s practice this structure with some example sentences in the table below:

Chamorro	English
Gimen i kafe gi kusina.	Drink the coffee in the kitchen.
Saosao i applacha’ na lamasa.	Wipe the dirty table.
Na’gåsgas i sapåtos gi sanhiyong.	Clean the shoes outside.
Fåhan i dangkolo’ na guihan gi metkao.	Buy the big fish at the market.
Taitai i lepblo gi eskuela.	Read the book at the school.
Rega i cha’guan gi hatdin.	Water the grass in the garden.
Aflitu i mannok gi kusinan sanhiyong.	Fry the chicken in the outside kitchen.
Baba i dangkolo’ na bentåna.	Open the big window.
Na’måpao i maipe na kåddo.	Cool off the hot soup.
Kana’ i fetgon na tu’åya.	Hang up the wet towel.

📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!

In this lesson we learned how to make simple commands in Chamorro, using transitive verbs. If you would like more practice with the example sentences from 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, where you’ll learn how to talk about actions that you will do in the future:

How to Say “I Will Drink the Coffee” in Chamorro – Talking in Future Tense with Transitive Verbs

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Documentation & Further Study

References

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. Chamorro Reference Grammar (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia). University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Topping, Donald M. Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition). University of Hawaii Press, 1980.

Further Reading

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. “MODE.” In Chamorro Reference Grammar, 264-265. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Topping, D.M. “GRAMMAR NOTES.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 206-207. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.