In this post, let’s learn how to make basic commands with intransitive verbs and learn to say things like, “Stay at the house” or “Walk to the store.” We’ll cover the basic verb conjugations needed and how to add time and location to our commands.

Contents
Intro to Commands with Intransitive Verbs Basic Commands With Intransitive Verbs Adding Time or Place Special Note for “Don’t” Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References

Intro to Commands With Intransitive Verbs

When we make basic commands with intransitive verbs, the verbs take the same form as is used for creating future tense statements. It is best to absorb the patterns of speech through reading and listening, to get the feel for how the different verbs are conjugated. But in general, we use the root form of the intransitive verb when making commands to 1-2 people, but there are exceptions. These exceptions usually begin with ma- and some of them are shown in the table below:

Root Word	Form for Commands For 1-2 People
tå’chong	fatå’chong
pokkat	famokkat
makmåta	fakmåta
malågu	falågu
måtto	fåtto
cho’cho’	facho’cho’

Important Note: To make commands to 3+ people, all verbs must take the plural man- prefix, which becomes fan- for commands. In this set of notes, we will be reviewing the forms needed for making commands to 1-2 people, and the plural man- prefix will be covered in a separate post.

Basic Commands With Intransitive Verbs

To make the simplest of commands, all we need to do is say a single word, which is either the intransitive verb in its root form, or the form listed for one of the exceptions above. All the commands below are to be said to 1-2 people only:

Chamorro	English
Hånao.	Go.
Såga.	Stay.
Maigo’.	Sleep.
Deskånsa.	Rest.
Tohge.	Stand.
Fatå’chong.	Sit.
Famokkat.	Walk.
Fakmåta.	Wake up.
Falågu.	Run.
Fåtto.	Arrive.
Facho’cho’.	Work.

Adding Time or Place

To add more color to our commands above, we can specify a time or a place. To review how to add locations to sentences, see my notes on Adding Location – “I drank the coffee at the restaurant.”

Chamorro	English
Hånao para i kareta.	Go to the car.
Såga gi gima’.	Stay in the house.
Maigo’ gi kuatto.	Sleep in the room.
Deskånsa gi såla.	Rest in the livingroom.
Tohge gi papa’ i trongku.	Stand underneath the tree.
Fatå’chong gi fi’on-hu.	Sit next to me.
Famokkat para i saddok.	Walk to the river.
Fakmåta gi oran alas sais.	Wake up at 6 o’clock.
Falågu gi kanton chålan.	Run on the side of the road.
Fåtto gi egga’an.	Arrive in the morning.
Facho’cho’ gi tenda.	Work at the store.

Special Note for “Don’t”

If you want to make commands in the negative, meaning you want to tell someone not do something, you use the word mungnga. You can pair the word mungnga with verbs to make more specific statements, but for now to keep things simple just use the following general statements:

Chamorro	English
Mungnga.	Don’t
Mungnga macho’gue enao.	Don’t do that.
Mungnga masångan enao.	Don’t say that.

More detailed notes on how to use mungnga will be covered in a separate post.

Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

And that concludes this lesson! Click the link below to read the next lesson and learn how to make statements about what we must or should do, with intransitive verbs:

Basic Actions Part 14: Using Debidi With Intransitive Verbs to Talk About What We Must or Should Do  – “I must stay”

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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.

• Drills for Imperative Statements: pg. 206 – 207

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

• Verb Conjugations for Imperative Statements: pg. 264 – 265
• Fan- prefix for Imperative Forms: pg. 177
• Munga / Mungnga for Don’t: pg. 90, 267