This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

So far, we’ve practiced talking about actions that already happened and actions that are happening now. In this lesson, we’ll learn how to talk about actions that will happen in the future. We’ll practice simple sentence patterns that let us say things like “I will buy it,” “She will call him,” or “They will bring the food.” These patterns will help you start talking about plans, intentions, and things that haven’t happened yet. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to Future Tense in Chamorro
2. Future Tense Markers in Chamorro
3. I and We: “I will drink the coffee”
4. You and We: “You will drink the coffee”
5. She, He, They: “She will drink the coffee”
6. Will Not: “I will not drink the coffee”
7. Summary
8. 📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!
9. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson
10. Documentation & Further Study
    1. References
    2. Further Reading

Introduction to Future Tense in Chamorro

When we say things like “I will drink the coffee” or “She will visit the church”, we are talking about the things that we will do. In other words, we are making future tense statements.

Talking about the future works a bit differently in Chamorro when compared with English. In English, it’s enough to just include the word “will” to talk about a future action: I will buy the shirt. You will visit our grandmother.

Chamorro works a bit differently and uses future tense markers – usually para and/or bai – in different combinations with the Hu Type Pronouns. We’ll learn about these phrases in this lesson. Specifically:

• Learn the core patterns for marking a future tense sentence
• Making complete sentences with these core patterns
• Practicing sentences with “Will Not”

In the next section, we’ll learn how to use future markers and pronouns together.

Future Tense Markers in Chamorro

To make our basic transitive sentences into the future tense, we use future markers in front of the sentence. Which turns the sentence I drank the coffee into I will drink the coffee.

The table below shows the different combinations of Future Markers and Hu Type Pronouns. We can use these phrases when talking about actions we will do to someone or something:

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

Chamorro	English
Para bai hu / Bai hu	I will
Para bai in / Bai in	We will (exclusive)
Para un	You will
Para en	You will (plural)
Para ta	We will (inclusive)
Para u	She/He/It will
Para u ma	They will
Para u ha / Para u	They (2) will

❓How Do I Talk About 2 People? In Spoken Chamorro, the phrase para u ha is used when there are 2 people. But today’s speakers are likely to just use para u when referring to 1 person or 2 people.

I’ve included para u ha in these notes because we may see this form in older texts. Feel free to use either form in your speaking.

I and We: “I will drink the coffee”

In this first group of sentences, we’ll learn how to make future tense statements when using “me” or “we” (exclusive) pronouns:

Para Bai + [ Hu / In ] + Transitive Verb + i + Noun

Chamorro	English
Para bai hu gimen i kafe.	I will drink the coffee.
Para bai hu fåhan i lepblo.	I will buy the book.
Bai hu ekungok i kanta.	I will listen to the song.
Para bai in ayao i amot gapotulu.	We will borrow the hairspray.
Para bai in na’gasgas i kusina.	We will clean the kitchen.
Bai in kana’ i magågu.	We will hang the clothing.

You and We: “You will drink the coffee”

Next, this group of sentences only uses the para future tense marker, for sentences that use the pronoun “you”, “you all” and “we” (inclusive):

Para + [ Un / En / Ta ] + Transitive Verb + i + Noun

Chamorro	English
Para un sotta i tali.	You will let go of the rope.
Para un ågang si tatå-mu.	You will call your father.
Para en bisita i malångu.	You all will visit the sick.
Para en kånno’ i kelaguen månnok.	You all will eat the chicken kelaguen.
Para ta ayuda i biha.	We will help the elderly woman.
Para ta kåmyo i niyok.	We will grate the coconut.

She, He, They: “She will drink the coffee”

If we want to say things like “She will drink the coffee” or “They will buy the coffee”, the core pattern we use is para u.

In spoken Chamorro today, most speakers will use para u for 1-2 people, while para u ma is said when there are 3+ people. But older texts (including Spoken Chamorro) will use para u ha for talking about 2 people.

# of People	Future Marker
1	Para u
2	Para u ha / Para u
3+	Para u ma

Based on the rules above, we can use the following sentence structures:

She / He:

Para u + Transitive Verb + i + Noun

They (2 people):

Para u (ha) + Transitive Verb + i + Noun

They (3+ people):

Para u ma + Transitive Verb + i + Noun

We’ll make example sentences with all three patterns in the table below:

Chamorro	English
Para u bisita i gima’ Yu’os.	She will visit the church.
Para u fa’gåsi i magågu.	He will wash the clothes.
Para u (ha) arekla i kareta.	They (2) will repair the car.
Para u (ha) fa’tinas i kelaguen månnok.	They (2) will prepare the chicken kelaguen.
Para u ma aligao i ga’lågu.	They will look for the dog.
Para u ma ekungok i kuekuentos.	They will listen to the speaker.

Will Not: “I will not drink the coffee”

We can also express our future tense sentences in the negative, such as I will not drink the coffee. We do this by putting the negative marker ti at the beginning of the sentence.

Here are the basic phrases we can use:

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

Chamorro	English
Ti para bai hu / Bai hu	I will not
Ti para bai in / Bai in	We will not (exclusive)
Ti para un	You will not
Ti para en	You will not (plural)
Ti para ta	We will not (inclusive)
Ti para u	She/He/It will not
Ti para u ma	They will not
Ti para u ha / Ti para u	They (2) will not

Now we’ll practice using these in full sentences. Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

[Ti + Future Marker + Hu Pronoun] + Transitive Verb + i + Object

Chamorro	English
Ti para bai hu kånno’ i niyok.	I will not eat the coconut.
Ti para bai in rega i cha’guan.	We will not water the grass.
Ti para u apåsi i tenderu.	He will not pay the storekeeper.
Ti para u ha faisen i fafa’nå’gue.	They (2) will not ask the teacher.
Ti para u ma atende i dinanña.	They will not attend the gathering.
Ti para un ekungok i kanta.	You will not listen to the song.
Ti para en taitai i katta.	You all will not write the letter.
Ti para ta tattiyi i kareta.	We will not follow the car.

Summary

In this lesson, we learned how to make future tense statements with transitive verbs. We learned about the different future markers that are required for talking in the future tense, along with the different combinations of future markers and hu type pronouns.

📝 Study Resource: Practice on Quizlet!

If you want additional practice with the example sentences in this lesson, use this Quizlet Deck for study and review.

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

And that concludes this lesson! Click the link below to read part 7 in this blog series, and learn how to make statements about what we must or should do:

How to Say “I Must Drink the Coffee” in Chamorro – Expressing Obligation 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. “TENSE.” In Chamorro Reference Grammar, 261-264. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Topping, D.M. “GRAMMAR NOTES 2.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 106-108. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.

Topping, D.M. “8.2 REPETITION DRILL.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 109. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.

Topping, D.M. “8.3 SIMPLE SUBSTITUTION DRILL.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 109-110. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.