How to Say “I Want Coffee” in Chamorro – Expressing Desires and Preferences

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, you learn how to talk about what you want in Chamorro using malago’. You’ll practice making simple sentences like “I want coffee” and “I want this coffee,” learn how to say what you don’t want, and ask everyday questions such as “Do you want coffee?” Happy studying!

Last Updated: March 26, 2026

Contents

Introduction to “Want” in Chamorro

When we want to talk about what we want in Chamorro, we can use the word malago’ or malagu’ which means “to want”. This is an action word that we can use to talk about the things we want (“I want coffee”) or the actions we want to do (“I want to drink coffee.”)

In this lesson, we’ll focus on practicing the patterns for talking about the things we want. Specifically, we’ll practice the following:

Talking about what we want: “I want coffee”
Talking about what we don’t want: “I don’t want coffee”
Asking if you want something: “Do you want coffee?”

In the next section, we’ll start with our first pattern: “I want ___”.

How to Say “I want coffee”

If we want to express wants, such as “I want coffee” or “We want fried rice”, we start our sentences with the word malago’. We follow it with the pronoun (“I, We, You, etc.”) and the thing that we want (“Coffee” or “Fried Rice”).

Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + Noun

Chamorro	English
Malago’ yu’ kafé.	I want coffee.
Malago’ hao nengkånnu’.	You want food.
Malago’ gue’ fina’mámes.	She wants dessert.
Malago’ siha hånom.	They (2) want water.
Malago’ ham inaflíton hinéksa’.	We (2) want fried rice.
Malago’ hamyu kåddun månnuk.	You (2) want chicken soup.
Malago’ hit tinála’ kåtni.	We (2) want dried meat.

📝Reminder for 3+ People: If we want to make these sentences refer to groups of 3 or more, we must use manmalago’, which is the word malago’ transformed with the plural man- prefix.

“I want the coffee”

To express wants for specific objects (i.e.: “I want the coffee” rather than “I want coffee”) we simply add ni in front of our noun. Please note that ni is a contraction of nu i so you may hear both used in speech.

Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + [ Ni + Noun ]

Chamorro	English
Malago’ yu’ ni kafé.	I want the coffee.
Malago’ hao ni nengkånnu’.	You want the food.
Malago’ gue’ ni fina’mámes.	She wants the dessert.
Malago’ siha ni hanom.	They (2) want the water.
Malago’ ham ni inaflíton hinéksa’.	We (2) want the fried rice.
Malago’ hamyu ni kaddun månnuk.	You (2) want the chicken soup.
Malago’ hit ni tinála’ kåtni.	We (2) want the dried meat.

📝Remember Vowel Harmony: For the word you say right after ni, remember to apply vowel harmony rules.

“I want this coffee”

We can express wants for “this” or “that”, such as “I want this” or “I want that”. To form these sentences, use nu and follow it with esti (“this”), enao (“that”) or eyu (“that over there”).

Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + [ Nu + Este / Enao / Eyu ]

Chamorro	English
Malago’ yu’ nu este.	I want this.
Malago’ siha nu enao.	They (2) want that.
Malago’ hit nu eyu.	We (2) want that (over there).

If you want to express things like “I want this coffee” or “I want that dessert”, just add na + Noun to the end, where the noun represents the specific item you want.

Here’s the full pattern:

Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + [ Nu + Este / Enao / Eyu ] + [ Na + Noun ]

Chamorro	English
Malago’ yu’ nu este na kafé.	I want this coffee.
Malago’ hao nu enao na nengkånnu’.	You want that food.
Malago’ gue’ nu eyu na fina’mámes.	She wants that dessert (over there).
Malago’ siha nu enao na hånom.	They (2) want that water.
Malago’ ham nu este na inaflíton hinéksa’.	We (2) want this fried rice.
Malago’ hamyu nu eyu na kåddun månnuk.	You (2) want that chicken soup (over there).
Malago’ hit nu enao tinála’ kåtni.	We (2) want that dried meat.

How to Say “I don’t want coffee”

If you want to talk about what you don’t want, put the Negative Marker “Ti” in front of your sentence. In other words, begin your sentence with the phrase Ti Malago’ (“don’t want”):

Ti Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + Noun

Chamorro	English
Ti malago’ yu’ kafé.	I don’t want coffee.
Ti malago’ hao nengkånnu’.	You don’t want food.
Ti malago’ gue’ fina’mámes.	She doesn’t want dessert.
Ti manmalago’ siha hånom.	They (3+) don’t want water.
Ti malago’ ham inaflíton hinéksa’.	We (2) don’t want fried rice.
Ti manmalago’ hamyu kåddun månnuk.	You (3+) don’t want chicken soup.
Ti manmalago’ hit tinála’ kåtni.	We (3+) don’t want dried meat.

🛑Say Mungnga’ Yu’ When Replying to Questions: These example sentences are meant as statements for expressing what you don’t want. But if you are asked directly if want something and you don’t want it, it’s more typical to respond with Mungnga’ or Mungnga’ yu’ rather than Ti malago’.

How to Say “Do you want coffee?”

Imagine you want to ask someone if they want coffee, dessert or food. Just add the Question Word “Kao” in front of our basic sentence. Essentially, open your thought with Kao malago’:

Kao Malago’ + Yu’ Type Pronoun + Noun

Chamorro	English
Kao malago’ yu’ kafé?	Do I want coffee?
Kao malago’ hao nengkånnu’?	Do you want food?
Kao malago’ gue’ fina’mámes?	Does she want dessert?
Kao manmalago’ siha hånom?	Do they (3+) want water?
Kao malago’ ham inaflíton hinéksa’?	Do we (2) want fried rice?
Kao manmalago’ hamyu kåddun månnuk?	Do you (3+) want chicken soup?
Kao manmalago’ hit tinála’ kåtni?	Do we (3+) want dried meat?

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you’re ready, click the link below to continue to the next lesson in this Beginner Chamorro series:

How to Say “I Like You” in Chamorro – Expressing Likes to Someone

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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 Want Coffee” in Chamorro – Expressing Desires and Preferences

Introduction to “Want” in Chamorro