In this post, we will learn how to say the words for “this” and “that” in Chamorro. We will also go over how to use these words with nouns, to make simple sentences such as “This is coffee” or to use phrases with “this and that” in sentences with verbs. Happy studying!

Contents
Introduction to This/That This is Coffee This Coffee Sentence Drills References

Introduction to This/That

In Chamorro, there are 3 words we can use to express “this” or “that”, and the word you use depends upon the closeness of the object to the speaker and the person being spoken to. In general, we can understand the terms to be as follows:

• This (close to the speaker)
• That (close to the person being spoken to)
• That Over There (far away from the speaker and the person spoken to)

The words we most commonly use today for “this”, “that” and “that over there” are below:

Chamoru	English	When to Use
Esti	This	Close to speaker
Enao	That	Close to person spoken to
Ayu / Eyu	That (Over There)	Far from speaker and person spoken to

The following questions with este/enao/eyu are great for beginners to use. You can use them to point at objects and ask speakers “What is this/that/that over there?” And when you are creating your own flashcard decks or study materials, when learning new vocabulary you can prompt yourself with “what” or “who” questions to engage in question and answer dialogue.

Chamoru	English
Håfa esti?	What is this?
Håfa enao?	What is that?
Håfa ayu / eyu?	What is that (over there)?
Håyi esti?	Who is this?
Håyi enao?	Who is that?
Håyi ayu / eyu?	Who is that (over there)?

There are also older words for “this” or “that” which have fallen out of common use. I’ve occasionally seen and heard the word ini, which is an older word for este. Topping also mentions the words yenao and yuhi, but I have yet to see or hear those words anywhere.

For the purposes of this post, I will focus on phrase and sentence drills that use este, enao, and ayu/eyu.

This is Coffee

If we want to make simple, descriptive statements such as “This is coffee” or “That is water” we can pair our words for this/that/that (over there) with a noun with the following sentence structure:

Noun + Este / Enao / Ayu

Let’s practice some sentence drills:

Chamoru	English
Kafe esti.	This is coffee.
Hånom enao.	That is water.
Niyok ayu.	That (over there) is a coconut.
Månnok esti.	This is a chicken.
Tinanom enao.	That is a plant.
åcho’ eyu.	That (over there) is a rock.
Lumot esti.	This is moss.
Chå enao.	That is tea.
Gupot ayu.	That (over there) is a party.

This Coffee

If we slightly rearrange the order of our words, we can make phrases that indicate we are talking about “this coffee” or “that water.” Use the linking particle na in between the words:

Este / Enao / Ayu + Na + Noun

Now for some drills:

Chamoru	English
Esti na kafe.	This coffee.
Enao na hånom.	That water.
Ayu na niyok.	That coconut (over there).
Esti na månnok.	This chicken.
Enao na tinanom.	That plant.
Eyu na åcho’.	That rock (over there).
Esti na lumot.	This moss.
Enao na chå.	That tea.
Ayu na gupot.	That party (over there).

Sentence Drills

Finally, let’s use our phrases from the previous section in some basic action sentences to see how it looks. I will be using basic transitive sentences, and I will just be putting the phrases from the previous section after the verb as the object. In each sentence below, the verb will be underlined, and the phrase with this/that/that over there will be italicized:

Chamoru	English
Para u gimen esti na kafe.	He will drink this coffee.
Para bai hu fåhan enao na hånom.	I will buy that water.
Kao siña un kåtga ayu na niyok?	Can you carry that coconut (over there)?
Ti hu li’e‘ esti na månnok.	I did not see this chicken.
Rega enao na tinanom.	Water that plant.
Atan eyu na åcho’.	Look at that rock (over there).
Kao ma rikohi esti na lumot?	Did they gather this moss?
Ti ha fa’tinas enao na chå.	She didn’t prepare that tea.
Siña in hingok ayu na gupot.	We can hear that party (over there).

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.

• Sentence drills: pg. 70 – 71

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. (1980). Chamorro Reference Grammar (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia). University of Hawaii Press.

• Overview of este/enao/eyu: pg. 112 – 114