In this post, we’ll learn how to talk about when we must or shoud do something, such as in sentences like “I must drink the coffee” or “I should buy the coffee.” In Chamorro, we do this by using the word debidi with our future tense statements. We’ll review how to use debidi and do some sentence drills for practice. Happy studying!
| Contents |
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| Introduction to Must / Should in Chamorro How to Use Debidi Practice Drills With Debidi Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References |
Introduction to Must / Should in Chamorro
The Chamorro word debidi can be translated to either must or should, and is followed by sentences that are in the future tense. To use debidi, convert a sentence to the future tense and then add debidi to the front. For a review on how to create basic future tense sentences with transitive verbs, see this post: Basic Actions Part 6: Future Tense
The word debidi can be a bit confusing, because it can be translated to either should or must. So how do we know which one it is? For myself, I tend to pay attention to the context of the conversation or writing.
How to Use Debidi
To use debidi, we can simply create a future tense sentence, drop the para (if there is one) and then add debidi to the front.
For a basic structure, we can do this:
| Debidi + Future Tense Marker (without para) + Hu Type Pronoun + Transitive Verb + i + Object |
For me, it’s helpful to see the different sentence structures between past tense, future tense, and then future tense statements with debidi di because the differences between them are actually pretty minimal. This is helpful, because with just a few words added or removed, we can easily move between tenses:
| Tense | Sentence |
| Past | Hu gimen i kafe. I drank the coffee. |
| Future | Para bai hu gimen i kafe. I will drink the coffee. Bai hu gimen i kafe. I will drink the coffee. |
| Debidi + Future | Debidi bai hu gimen i kafe. I must/should drink the coffee. |
Important Note: One thing I’ve noticed is that the word debidi by itself seems to indicate that the sentence is in future tense, and so the word para is often dropped when debidi is used. It might not be wrong to include the word para when using debidi, but it appears redundant to use both.
Practice Drills With Debidi
Here are some practice drills using debidi with sentences taken from my previous post on Making Future Tense Statements in Chamorro With Transitive Verbs.
As a reminder, all of these sentences are using transitive verbs only, and I have dropped the future marker para since we are using debidi:
| Chamoru | Ingles |
| Debidi bai hu gimen i kafe. | I should/must drink the coffee. |
| Debidi bai hu fåhan i lepblo. | I should/must buy the book. |
| Debidi bai in na’gasgas i kusina. | We should/must clean the kitchen. |
| Debidi un ågang si tatå-mu. | You should/must call your father. |
| Debidi en bisita i malångu. | You all should/must visit the sick. |
| Debidi en kanno’ i kelaguen månnok. | You all should/must eat the chicken kelaguen. |
| Debidi ta ayuda i biha. | We should/must help the elderly woman. |
| Debidi u bisita i gima’ Yu’os. | She should/must visit the church. |
| Debidi u arekla i kareta. | They (2) should/must repair the car. |
| Debidi u ma aligao i ga’lågu. | They should/must look for the dog. |
Study Tip: To find more transitive verbs to practice with, just grab your copy of the Chamorro-English Dictionary by Donald M. Topping, Pedro M. Ogo, and Bernadita C. Dungca. Look for the words with a number “1” after it, because these can be used as transitive verbs.
Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson
And that concludes this lesson! Click the link below to read part 8 in this blog series, and learn how to make statements about what we can and can’t do:
References
Topping, D. M., & Ogo, P. M. (1980). Spoken Chamorro with Grammatical Notes and Glossary (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia) (2nd ed.). University of Hawaii Press.
- Debidi sentence drills: pg. 298 – 299
Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. (1980). Chamorro Reference Grammar (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia). University of Hawaii Press.
- Debidi needing future form construction: pg. 263
Lengguahi-ta 
Hafa adai Shai! You are correct that what usually follows “debidi” is a future statement, and if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. When you’re talking about something that you MUST or SHOULD do, it is an action that is not done, not in progress, but to BE DONE.
Debidi bai hu famåhan lechi, sa’ hokkok esta lechi.
Debidi un na’tungo’ yu’ yanggen malago’ hao humanao.
Debidi u kuentos yanggen guaha malago’-ña.
There are other phrases that work this way as well. When you use the phrase ADAHI NA what should follow is also a future statement. And it makes sense here as well because it’s a future condition that you wish does not happen. For example: Adahi na un atrasao…Careful/make sure that you’ll be late…I know it probably looks/sounds weird, but basically saying “you’ll be late” careful that THAT doesn’t happen, or in other words, don’t be late!
Other examples:
Adahi na u poddong i basu-mu! Make sure your cup doesn’t fall!
Adahi na ti un sangåni si Jack! Make sure you tell Jack!
NOTE: “Adahi na” can also be used with past statements to indicate suspicion or as a gentle warning to someone that something might’ve occurred.
Other expressions that use a future statement are ones that begin with negative “ni”, or neither/nor. They often translate to “not even” in statements where the person is commenting on something that the subject could have, at the very least, done, but didn’t.
Examples:
Ni u atan yu’…Not even to look at me.
Ni un ågang yu’…Not even for you to call me.
Ni u fa’gåsi i na’yan-ña. Not even for her to wash her dishes. (She can’t even do that.)
Another “not even” but understood differently from above is “nisikiera”.
Nisikiera un famåhan chåda’. (lit. meaning “not even for you to buy eggs”, actual meaning: “you should’ve bought eggs”.)
Nisikiera u ågang yu’. (lit.: “not even for him to call me”, actual: “he should’ve called me”)
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Si Yu’os Ma’åse for this detailed reply! You are right, when I think about the concept of debidi, it does make sense that we are talking about something in the future. I also appreciate the examples of the other phrases that work similarly – the “adahi na” is actually one I’d heard before (specifically, the “adahi na un atrasao”) and it did seem weird when I was trying to literally translate it – but now the examples help! And the examples with the negative “ni” are new for me, so I’ll be reviewing and keeping an ear/eye out for that usage. Thank-you so much again!
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