How to Say “I Stayed” in Chamorro – Talking in Past Tense With Intransitive Verbs

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about actions that already happened in Chamorro — things like “I walked,” “you rested,” or “they stayed.” You’ll practice common action words and learn the patterns used to describe past actions when someone is simply doing something, rather than doing something to someone else. By the end, you’ll be able to build simple past-tense sentences and start talking about what you or others did. Happy studying!

Last Updated: March 26, 2026

Contents

Introduction to Past Tense Actions (Without Objects)

When we express thoughts like “I walked. I danced. I swam.” these are examples of actions that we don’t do to someone or something else. In other words, we are doing actions with intransitive verbs.

In this lesson, we’ll learn how these sentences are formed in Chamorro. Specifically, we’ll be learning the patterns for how to use intransitive verbs in past tense sentences, and we’ll group them by the kind of word transformations they need.

How to Say “I Stayed”

Now we’ll turn to making some basic sentences. The key thing to remember is that with these verbs, they need to be transformed so we can use them to refer to actions that have already happened. Since we’re using intransitive verbs, the word order is VERB-SUBJECT.

While our sentence pattern remains the same, not every verb takes the same form. So in this section, we’ll learn the patterns for the following three groups:

The verbs that need the UM Infix
The verbs that need the MA- Prefix
The verbs that don’t need a transformation

In the next section, we’ll start with the verbs that use the UM Infix.

Using the “UM” Verbs

In this section, we’ll learn how to make sentences like “We stayed. You rested. They stood.” These verbs need to be transformed with the UM Infix in order to be used in sentences like these.

Before we make our sentences, we’ll first practice transforming the verbs with the UM Infix:

Root Word	+UM Infix
hånao	humånao
deskånsa	dumeskånsa
åsson	umåsson
tohge	tumohge
o’mak	umo’mak
tånges	tumånges
såga	sumåga

Now we’ll use these in basic sentences. The word order of these sentences is Verb-Subject. Essentially, the verb comes before the person who is doing the action.

Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

[UM + Intransitive Verb] + Yu’ Type Pronoun

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

Chamorro	English
Humånao yu’.	I went.
Dumeskånsa hao.	You rested.
Umåsson gue’.	He/she laid down.
Tumohge siha.	They (2) stood.
Umo’mak hamyo.	You (2) bathed.
Tumånges ham.	We (2) cried.
Sumåga hit.	We (2) stayed.

📝1-2 People Only: These sentences refer only to one or two people because verbs in this form apply to singular and dual subjects. To refer to three or more people, the verb must instead use the plural man- prefix.

Using the “MA-” Verbs

Some of our verbs need to be transformed with the MA- Prefix to be used in past tense sentences. Let’s practice transforming these verbs:

Root Word	+MA- Prefix
cho’cho	macho’cho’
tå’chong	matå’chong
udai	ma‘udai
pokkat	mamokkat

Now we’ll use these action words in complete sentences. We’ll also be using the word order of Verb-Subject, but this time we’re using the verbs that are transformed with the MA- Prefix.

Here’s the full pattern:

[MA- Prefix + Intransitive Verb] + Yu’ Type Pronoun

Chamorro	English
Macho’chu’ yu’.	I worked.
Matå’chung hit.	We (2) sat down.
Ma’udai siha.¹	They (2) rode.
Mamokkat hamyo.	You (2) walked.

¹ When using ma’udai in a sentence, it’s commonly paired with the vehicle that you rode. For example: Ma’udai siha gi boti. Ma’udai siha gi kareta. Ma’udai siha gi batkun aire.

📝1-2 People Only: These sentences also refer only to one or two people because verbs in this form apply to singular and dual subjects. To refer to three or more people, the verb must also take the plural man- prefix. For example: manmacho’chu’, manmatå’chung, manma’udai, manmamokkat.

Using the Verbs With No Transformation

In this final section, we’ll practice with the verbs that don’t need to be transformed. They still follow the same overall sentence pattern:

Intransitive Verb + Yu’ Type Pronoun

Chamorro	English
Makmåta hao.	You woke up.
Maigo’ gue’.	He/she/it slept.
Måtai siha.	They (2) died.
Maigo’ñaihon ham.	We (2) napped.
Malågu hamyo.	You (2) ran.
Måtto hit.	We (2) arrived.

📝1-2 People Only: These sentences refer only to one or two people because verbs in this form apply to singular and dual subjects. To refer to three or more people, the verb must be transformed with the plural man- prefix.

What happens if I don’t transform the verb?

In general, if you forget to apply -UM- or MA- to intransitive verbs that require them, it is likely that speakers will understand what you are trying to say, but it won’t be exact and may sound kind of funny. Take the example of baila:

Transformed?	Chamorro	English
Yes	Bumaila yu’.	I danced.
No	Baila yu’.	I am a dance.

Quizlet Study Resource

Here’s a Quizlet flashcard deck I made to help learn the verb conjugations from these notes: Intransitive Verbs – Past Tense.

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

And that concludes this lesson! Click the link below to read the next lesson in this series and learn how to make present tense sentences with intransitive verbs:

How to Say “I Am Walking” in Chamorro – Talking in Present Tense With Intransitive Verbs

⬅️ Back to Previous Lesson

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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.

Lengguahi-ta

How to Say “I Stayed” in Chamorro – Talking in Past Tense With Intransitive Verbs

Introduction to Past Tense Actions (Without Objects)