In this post, we’ll continue learning basic sentence structures to express likes and dislikes in Chamorro. In the last post we covered how to express likes for pronouns, with sentences such as “I like you.” In this post we’ll learn how to express likes for nouns in sentences such as “I like coffee”; “I like the coffee”; “The woman likes coffee”; and “Juan likes coffee.” We continue using the word ya- and pairing it with possessive pronouns to make these statements, with plenty of sentence drills to help us practice the patterns. If you need a review on the word ya-, please see my post on Expressing Likes and Dislikes in Chamorro, pt. 1. Happy studying!

Contents
I like coffee. I like the coffee. The woman likes coffee. Juan likes coffee. Negative Statements With Ti Questions With Kao Basic Conversation Practice Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References

I Like Coffee

Now that we know how to combine our verb ya- with the possessive pronouns, let’s make some basic sentences to talk about what the things we like. In this first sentence type, we will express likes for non-specific things (i.e.: I like coffee versus I like the coffee or I like that coffee). The basic structure is:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + Noun

Chamorro	English
Ya-hu kafé.	I like coffee.
Ya-mu kelaguen mañåhåk.	You like rabbit-fish kelaguen.
Ya-ña chån å’paka.	She likes white tea.
Ya-ta dåndan Chamoru.	We like Chamorro music.
Yan-miyu bilembines.	You (all) like starfruit.
Yan-måmi uchan.	We like rain.
Yan-ñiha somnak.	They like sunshine.

I Like The Coffee

We can also say that we like something specific, such as in the sentence “I like the coffee” rather than just “I like coffee.” To do this, just put the article i in front of the noun in the sentence:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + i + Noun

And to practice, let’s take our sentences from the previous section and add the article i to see how this transforms the sentence:

Chamorro	English
Ya-hu i kafé.	I like the coffee.
Ya-mu i kelaguen mañåhåk.	You like the rabbit-fish kelaguen.
Ya-ña i chån å’paka.	She likes the white tea.
Ya-ta i dandan Chamoru.	We like the Chamorro music.
Yan-miyu i bilembines.	You all like the starfruit.
Yan-måmi i ichan.	We like the rain.
Yan-ñiha i semnak.	They like the sunshine.

The Woman Likes Coffee

We can also make sentences where we describe who likes something, such as”The woman likes coffee” or “The children like candy.” To do this, we can use the following sentence structure:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + Noun + [ i + Noun ]

In this structure, the first noun is the thing that the subject likes. The i + noun at the end of the sentence is the subject, meaning the who or what is doing the liking. Let’s practice with the sentences below:

Chamorro	English
Ya-ña kafé i palao’an .	The woman likes coffee.
Ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk i bihu.	The elderly man likes rabbit fish kelaguen.
Ya-ña chån å’paka i nana.	The mother likes white tea.
Ya-ña dåndan Chamoru i neni.	The baby likes Chamorro music.
Yan-ñiha bilembines i famagu’on.	The children like starfruit.
Yan-ñiha uchan i lalåhi.	The men like rain.
Yan-ñiha somnak i famalao’an.	The women like sunshine.

Juan Likes Coffee

We can also make these statements refer to specific people and say things like “Maria likes coffee.” To do this, we can add the article si and a person’s name at the end of our basic sentence:

Ya- + Possessive Pronoun + Noun + [ si + Proper Name ]

Now let’s practice with multiple examples:

Chamorro	English
Ya-ña kafé si Juan.	Juan likes coffee.
Ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk si Maria.	Maria likes rabbit fish kelaguen.
Ya-ña chån å’paka si Denang.	Denang likes white tea.
Ya-ña dåndan Chamoru si Kiko’.	Kiko’ likes Chamorro music.
Ya-ña bilembines si Kika.	Kika likes starfruit.

Negative Statements With Ti

We can also express dislikes by simply adding the negative marker ti in front of our basic sentences. Here are all the previous sentences, expressed in the negative:

Chamorro	English
Ti ya-hu kafé.	I don’t like coffee.
Ti ya-mu kelaguen mañåhåk.	You don’t like rabbit-fish kelaguen.
Ti ya-ña chån å’paka.	She doesn’t like white tea.
Ti ya-ta dåndan Chamoru.	We don’t like Chamorro music.
Ti yan-miyu bilembines.	You all don’t like starfruit.
Ti yan-måmi uchan.	We don’t like rain.
Ti yan-ñiha semnak.	They don’t like sunshine.
Ti ya-hu i kafé.	I don’t like the coffee.
Ti ya-mu i kelaguen mañåhåk.	You don’t like the rabbit-fish kelaguen.
Ti ya-ña i chån å’paka.	She doesn’t like the white tea.
Ti ya-ta i dandan Chamoru.	We don’t like the Chamorro music.
Ti yan-miyu i bilembines.	You all don’t like the starfruit.
Ti yan-måmi i ichan.	We don’t like the rain.
Ti yan-ñiha i semnak.	They don’t like the sunshine.
Ti ya-ña kafé i palao’an.	The woman doesn’t like coffee.
Ti ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk i bihu.	The elderly man doesn’t like rabbit fish kelaguen.
Ti ya-ña chån å’paka i nana.	The mother doesn’t like white tea.
Ti ya-ña dandan Chamoru i neni.	The baby doesn’t like Chamorro music.
Ti yan-ñiha bilembines i famagu’on.	The children don’t like starfruit.
Ti yan-ñiha uchan i lalåhi.	The men don’t like rain.
Ti yan-ñiha somnak i famalao’an.	The women don’t like sunshine.
Ti ya-ña kafé si Juan.	Juan doesn’t like coffee.
Ti ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk si Maria.	Maria doesn’t like rabbit fish kelaguen.
Ti ya-ña chån å’paka si Denang.	Denang doesn’t like white tea.
Ti ya-ña dåndan Chamoru si Kiko’.	Kiko’ doesn’t like Chamorro music.
Ti ya-ña bilembines si Kika.	Kika doesn’t like starfruit.

Questions With Kao

Finally, we can turn any of our previous sentences in this post into a question by adding the question word kao to the front of our sentences. We can add this in front of both positive and negative statements to make them into questions. Here’s a selection of the previous sentences, turned into questions so we can practice:

Chamorro	English
Kao ya-hu kafé?	Do I like coffee?
Kao ya-mu kelaguen mañåhåk?	Do you like rabbit-fish kelaguen?
Kao ya-ña chån å’paka?	Does she like white tea?
Kao ya-ta dåndan Chamoru?	Do we like Chamorro music?
Kao yan-miyu bilembines?	Do you all like starfruit?
Kao yan-måmi uchan?	Do we like rain?
Kao yan-ñiha somnak?	Do they like sunshine?
Kao ti ya-mu i kafé?	Do you not like the coffee?
Kao ti ya-mu i kelaguen mañåhåk?	Do you not like the rabbit-fish kelaguen?
Kao ti ya-ña i chån å’paka?	Does she not like the white tea?
Kao ti ya-ta i dandan Chamoru?	Do we not like the Chamorro music?
Kao ti yan-miyu i bilembines?	Do you all not like the starfruit?
Kao ti yan-måmi i ichan?	Do we not like the rain?
Kao ti yan-ñiha i semnak?	Do they not like the sunshine?
Kao ya-ña kafé i palao’an?	Does the woman like coffee?
Kao ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk i bihu?	Does the elderly man like rabbit fish kelaguen?
Kao ya-ña chån å’paka i nana?	Does the mother like white tea?
Kao ya-ña dandan Chamoru i neni?	Does the baby like Chamorro music?
Kao yan-ñiha bilembines i famagu’on?	Do the children like starfruit?
Kao yan-ñiha uchan i lalåhi?	Do the men like rain?
Kao yan-ñiha somnak i famalao’an?	Do the women like sunshine?
Kao ti ya-ña kafé si Juan?	Does Juan not like coffee?
Kao ti ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk si Maria?	Does Maria not like rabbit fish kelaguen?
Kao ti ya-ña chån å’paka si Denang?	Does Denang not like white tea?
Kao ti ya-ña dåndan Chamoru si Kiko’?	Does Kiko’ not like Chamorro music?
Kao ti ya-ña bilembines si Kika?	Does Kika not like starfruit?

Basic Conversation Practice

And now we will put it all together with some basic question and answer dialogues! In these dialogues, I will be using the words hunggan (yes) and åhe’ (no) to form our replies. I will also use connector words like lao (but) and sa’ (because) to chain our sentences together to express longer thoughts.

Chamoru	English
Kao ya-mu kafé? Hunggan, ya-hu kafé sa’ mångnge’.	Do you like coffee? Yes, I like coffee because it is delicious.
Kao ya-ña somnak? Åhe’, ti ya-ña somnak sa’ ti ya-ña i minaipe’.	Does she like sunshine? No, she doesn’t like sunshine because she doesn’t like the heat.
Kao ya-ña bilembines i palao’an? Åhe’, ti ya-ña sa’ taisabot.	Does the woman like starfruit? No, she doesn’t like it because it lacks flavor.
Kao ti ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk si Maria? Åhe’, ti ya-ña kelaguen mañåhåk, lao ya-ña kelaguen gåmson.	Does Maria not like rabbit-fish kelaguen? No, she doesn’t like rabbit-fish kelaguen, but she likes octopus kelaguen.
Kao ti yan-ñiha chån å’paka i famalao’an? Åhe’, ti yan-ñiha chån å’paka, lao gof yan-ñiha chån betde.	Do the women not like white tea? No, they don’t like white tea, but they really like green tea.
Kao ya-ña kafé si Juan? Hunggan, gof ya-ña kafé si Juan.	Does Juan like coffee? Yes, Juan really likes coffee.
Kao ya-mu uchan? Hunggan, ya-hu uchan, lao ya-hu somnak lokkue’.	Do you like rain? Yes, I like rain, but I also like sunshine.
Kao ya-ña dåndan Chamoru si Kiko’? Hunggan, ya-ña dåndan Chamoru si Kiko’ sa’ bibu.	Does Kiko’ like Chamorro music? Yes, Kiko’ likes the Chamorro music because it is lively.
Kao yan-ñiha bilembines? Åhe’, ti yan-ñiha bilembines.	Do they like starfruit? No, they don’t like starfruit.
Kao ti ya-mu kafé? Åhe’, ti gef ya-hu kafé, lao ya-hu chån betde.	Do you not like coffee? No, I don’t really like coffee, but I like green tea.

Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

And that concludes part 2 of our series on how to make basic expressions of likes and dislikes in Chamorro! Click the link below to continue to part 3 in this series, where we will incorporate este, enao and eyu into our statements about likes and dislikes:

Basic Actions Part 17: Expressing Likes and Dislikes in Chamorro pt. 3 – “I like this.”

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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.

• Rules for using ya-: pg. 94
• Using ya- with specific objects (I like the car) : pg. 135