How to Say “I Will Stay” in Chamorro – Talking About the Future With Intransitive Verbs

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about things that will happen in the future in Chamorro. We’ll practice building simple sentences you can use in real conversations, such as saying where someone will go, what someone will do, or what plans are coming up — like “I will stay in Yigo” or “They will walk to the party.” You’ll also find plenty of example sentences and practice drills, with new audio recordings forthcoming. Happy studying!

Contents

  1. Introduction to Future Tense With Transitive Verbs
    1. Core Pattern With Future Markers
    2. Important Exceptions: “M” to “F” Shifts
  2. Talking About Future Actions
    1. “I will…”
    2. “We will…” (Exclusive)
    3. “You will…”
    4. “You will…” (Plural)
    5. “We will…” (Inclusive)
    6. “She / He will…”
    7. “They will…”
  3. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson
  4. Documentation & Further Study
    1. References
    2. Further Reading

Introduction to Future Tense With Transitive Verbs

To talk about what will happen in Chamorro, we use future markers at the beginning of the sentence to show that the action is in the future. This is what allows us to say things like “I will stay in Yigo” or “They will walk to the party”.

When building these kinds of sentences, we can follow a simple pattern:

Future Marker + Hu Type Pronoun + Intransitive Verb

In this lesson, we’ll practice making sentences with this pattern. Specifically, we’ll cover:

  • The core patterns with future markers and pronouns for talking about actions in the future
  • The verbs that start with the letter “m” for past tense, but change to “f” for future tense
  • Making complete sentences with these core patterns and verbs

Core Pattern With Future Markers

The future markers in Chamorro change, depending upon the type of pronoun used. Here is a chart for quick reference on which future marker to use:

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

ChamorroEnglish
Para bai hu / Bai huI will
Para bai in / Bai inWe will (exclusive)
Para unYou will
Para enYou will (plural)
Para taWe will (inclusive)
Para uShe/He/It will
Para u (ha)They (2) will

Important Exceptions: “M” to “F” Shifts

There are some intransitive verbs in Chamorro that follow a particular pattern for future tense — they often begin with the letter m in the past tense, but that m changes to f in the future tense. These are the same verbs that typically use the ma- prefix in their past tense forms.

The most common of these verbs are shown in the table below, which are good to memorize:

Root WordFuture Tense (1-2 subjects)
tå’chongfatå’chong
pokkatfamokkat
makmåtafakmåta
malågufalågu
måttofåtto
cho’chu’facho’chu’

Now let’s start making some complete sentences.

Talking About Future Actions

Let’s practice using action verbs with each of the future markers we reviewed. All of the drills in this lesson focus on sentences with one or two people. Sentences with three or more people use a different form, which will be covered in a later lesson.

“I will…”

When we want to say “I will go”, we need to begin our sentence with para bai hu. You’ll also hear speakers say bai hu, bai or bei. In this section, we’ll practice with para bai hu.

To make a simple action sentence, we just put an intransitive verb after that phrase:

Para Bai Hu + Future Tense Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para bai hu hånao.I will go.
Para bai hu facho’chu’.I will work.
Para bai hu famokkat.I will walk.
Para bai hu deskånsa.I will rest.
Para bai hu såga.I will stay.
Para bai hu kånta.I will sing.

“We will…” (Exclusive)

If we want to talk about what we will do, and we are not including who we are talking to in that “we”, we can use the phrase para bai in (“we will”) at the beginning of our sentence:

Para Bai In + Future Tense Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para bai in hånao.We (2) will go.
Para bai in facho’chu’.We (2) will work.
Para bai in famokkat.We (2) will walk.
Para bai in deskånsa.We (2) will rest.
Para bai in saga.We (2) will stay.
Para bai in kanta.We (2) will sing.

“You will…”

Let’s say you are talking to one other person, and you want to say what they’ll be doing. Use para un (“you will”) to begin your sentences:

Para Un + Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para un hånao.You will go.
Para un facho’chu’.You will work.
Para un famokkat.You will walk.
Para un deskånsa.You will rest.
Para un såga.You will stay.
Para un kånta.You will sing.

“You will…” (Plural)

If you are talking to a group of people, begin your sentence with para en (“you will”), which is the “plural” you:

Para En + Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para en hånao.You (2) will go.
Para en facho’chu’.You (2) will work.
Para en famokkat.You (2) will walk.
Para en deskånsa.You (2) will rest.
Para en såga.You (2) will stay.
Para en kånta.You (2) will sing.

“We will…” (Inclusive)

Imagine you are talking to another person, and you want to talk about what the two of you will do. Use para ta (“we will”) at the beginning of your sentence, because you are including that other person in the “we”:

Para Ta + Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para ta hånao.We (2) will go.
Para ta facho’chu’.We (2) will work.
Para ta famokkat.We (2) will walk.
Para ta deskånsa.We (2) will rest.
Para ta såga.We (2) will stay.
Para ta kånta.We (2) will sing.

“She / He will…”

When you are talking about another person and what they will do — She will go. He will walk. — use para u (“she/he will”) at the front of your sentence:

Para u + Intransitive Verb

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para u hånao.She/He will go.
Para u facho’chu’.She/He will work.
Para u famokkat.She/He will walk.
Para u deskånsa.She/He will rest.
Para u såga.She/He will stay.
Para u kånta.She/He will sing.

“They will…”

If you want to talk about what they will do and there are 2 people, many speakers will also say para u, although you may read or hear para u ha.

When speakers use para u to talk about two people, they may also add i dos (“the two”) for clarity.

Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

Para u + Intransitive Verb + i dos

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

ChamoruEnglish
Para u hånao i dos.They (2) will go.
Para u facho’chu’ i dos.They (2) will work.
Para u famokkat i dos.They (2) will walk.
Para u deskånsa i dos.They (2) will rest.
Para u såga i dos.They (2) will stay.
Para u kånta i dos.They (2) will sing.

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you are ready, click the link below to continue to the next lesson in the series, where you’ll learn how to make basic commands with intransitive verbs:

How to Say “Stay” in Chamorro – Giving Commands With Intransitive Verbs
⬅️ Back to Previous Lesson
📒 Back to Beginner Lessons

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. “Intransitive Verb saga.” In Chamorro Reference Grammar, 263. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

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

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

Topping, D.M. “8.8 REPETITION DRILL.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 112. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.

Topping, D.M. “8.12 VARIABLE SUBSTITUTION DRILL.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 114-115. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.