Ever want to say something like “There’s someone making soup” or “Somebody’s barbequing the chicken” in Chamorro? In this post, we’ll look at how to build these kinds of sentences step by step and learn simple patterns for talking about someone doing something, even when we don’t name the person. We will practice with a small selection of verbs, learn how to transform them, and practice using them in simple example sentences. As always, this post includes explanatory notes, example sentences in Chamorro, and Chamorro audio pronunciations by Jay Che’le to guide your learning. Happy studying!

Contents

Introduction to Saying “Somebody is Doing Something” in Chamorro The Transitive Verbs We Will Use in This Lesson Transformation Drills: The UM Infix Example Sentences: “There is somebody grilling the meat.” Transformation Drills: The Indefinite Man- Prefix Example Sentences: “There is somebody grilling meat.” Example Sentences: “Is somebody grilling the meat?” Wrapping Up: Lesson Summary References

Introduction to Saying “Somebody is Doing Something” in Chamorro

When we talk about somebody doing something without stating who is doing the action, we might say sentences such as “Somebody is planting the peppers” or “There is someone selling breadfruit.

To make these type of sentences in Chamorro, we will be using the word guaha, which means “there is, there exists” and pairing it with a verb – specifically, a transitive verb. Using both guaha and a verb together in this way encapsulates the idea of “Somebody is doing [an action]” in Chamorro.

The concepts we will learn in this lesson to make these sentences are as follows:

• Transformations with the UM Infix
• Transformations with the Indefinite Man- Prefix
• Transformations with Reduplication

In the next section, we will start by first reviewing the transitive verbs that we will practice with throughout this lesson.

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The Transitive Verbs We Will Use in This Lesson

To get us started, here are the transitive verbs we will be practicing with throughout these lesson notes:

fa’tinas	(Transitive Vb.) To make something
fa’gåsi	(Transitive Vb.) To wash something
fåhan	(Transitive Vb.) To buy something
bende	(Transitive Vb.) To sell something
aflitu	(Transitive Vb.) To fry something
tånom	(Transitive Vb.) To plant something
tunu	(Transitive Vb.) To barbecue something

In the next sections, we will learn how to transform these verbs to match what we are talking about. Specifically, how we transform these verbs depending upon the nature of the object – whether it is specific or nonspecific.

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Transformation Drills: The UM Infix

In our first group of sentences we will learn how to make, we will practice talking about somebody doing an action to something specific, such as in the sentences “There is somebody making the soup”; “There is somebody barbequing the chicken”; “There is somebody selling the mackerel.” In these sentences, we are saying that someone is currently doing an action (making, barbequing, selling) to a specific object (the soup, the chicken, the mackerel). 

Since we are talking about someone doing an action to something specific, we will need to transform the verb with the UM Infix and Reduplication.

The UM Infix is used because we are talking about specific things (the soup, the chicken, the mackerel). The Reduplication is also needed because we are saying that someone is currently doing the action.

Here is a quick review of how these transformations are applied:

• Reduplication generally means that we repeat the stressed syllable in the word. For a full review of reduplication rules, see this mini-guide on how to reduplicate words.
• The UM Infix is put in front of the first vowel of the word.

Now let’s practice transforming the transitive verbs in the table below. First, we will reduplicate the verb and then we will add the UM infix to the reduplicated word. I have put the word transformations in bold, to make it easier to see the changes:

fa’tinas	fa’títinas	fuma’títinas
fa’gåsi	fa’gågåsi	fuma’gågåsi
fåhan	fåfåhan	fumåfåhan
bende	bébende	bumébende
aflitu	aflíflitu	umaflíflitu
tånom	tåtånom	tumåtånom
tunu	tútunu	tumútunu

Now that we have transformed these verbs, let’s practice using them in complete sentences in the next section.

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Example Sentences: “There is somebody grilling the meat.”

Now we will practice making example sentences such as “There is somebody grilling the meat” or “There is somebody buying the meat.” To make these sentences, we will use the word guaha and follow it with a Transitive Verb that has been transformed with the UM Infix and Reduplication, and then finally the object. We will practice with the word order shown below:

Guaha + Transformed Verb + i + Object

Now let’s practice with some example sentences in the table below:

Guaha fuma’títinas i kaddu’.	Somebody is making the soup.
Guaha fuma’gågåsi i na’yan.	Somebody is washing the dishes.
Guaha fumåfåhan i hanom.	Somebody is buying the water.
Guaha bumébende i atulai.	Somebody is selling the mackerel.
Guaha umaflíflitu i guihan.	Somebody is frying the fish.
Guaha tumåtånom i denne’.	Somebody is planting the peppers.
Guaha tumútunu i katni.	Somebody is barbecuing the meat.

In the next section, we will start learning how to make sentences where the object is nonspecific.

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Transformation Drills: The Indefinite Man- Prefix

In the section type of sentence we will learn how to make, we will practice talking about somebody doing an action to something nonspecific, such as in the sentences “There is somebody making soup”; “There is somebody barbequing some chicken”; “There is somebody selling mackerel.” In these sentences, we are saying that someone is currently doing an action (making, barbequing, selling) to a nonspecific object (soup, some chicken, mackerel). 

Since the object is nonspecific, we will transform our verbs with the Indefinite Man- Prefix. And since we are talking about somebody currently doing the action, we will also transform the verb with reduplication.

Let’s practice transforming the transitive verbs in the table below. First, we will transform them with the Indefinite Man- Prefix, then we will reduplicate those transformed words.

fa’tinas	mama’tinas	mama’títinas
fa’gåsi	mama’gåsi	mama’gågåsi
fåhan	mamåhan	mamåmåhan
bende	mambende	mambébende
aflitu	manaflitu	manaflíflitu
tånom	manånom	manånånom
tunu	manunu	manúnunu

Now that we have transformed the transitive verbs, let’s practice using them in complete sentences in the next section.

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Example Sentences: “There is somebody grilling meat.”

In this section, we will practice making sentences like “There is somebody grilling meat”. We start the sentence with the word guaha and follow it with a transitive verb that has been transformed with the Indefinite Man- Prefix and Reduplication. Then we add the object. In this sentence type, we do not use the article i in front of the object.

We will follow the word order shown below:

Guaha + Transformed Verb + Object

Now let’s practice with some example sentences in the table below:

Guaha mama’títinas kåddu’.	Somebody is making soup.
Guaha mama’gågåsi na’yan.	Somebody is washing dishes.
Guaha mamåmåhan hånom.	Somebody is buying water.
Guaha mambébende atulai.	Somebody is selling mackerel.
Guaha manaflíflitu guihan.	Somebody is frying fish.
Guaha manånånom donne’.	Somebody is planting peppers.
Guaha manúnunu kåtni.	Somebody is barbecuing meat.

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Example Sentences: “Is somebody grilling the meat?”

And finally, we can take any of the example sentences in the previous sections and turn them into questions, by simply adding the question word kao to the front of the sentence.

Let’s first practice with sentences that talk about specific objects, such as “Is somebody grilling the meat?” We will follow the sentence structure shown below:

Kao Guaha + Transformed Verb* + i + Object

*Remember that the transitive verb is transformed with the UM Infix and Reduplication for these sentences!

Now let’s practice with some example sentences in the table below:

Kao guaha fuma’títinas i kaddu’?	Is somebody making the soup?
Kao guaha fuma’gågåsi i na’yan?	Is somebody washing the dishes?
Kao guaha fumåfåhan i hanom?	Is somebody buying the water?
Kao guaha bumébende i atulai?	Is somebody selling the mackerel?

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Example Sentences: “Is somebody grilling meat?”

And we can also use kao guaha with the sentences referring to nonspecific things. Again, we simply add the question word kao to the front of the sentence. We will follow this word order:

Kao Guaha + Transformed Verb* + Object

*Since we are talking about nonspecific objects, the transitive verb is transformed with the Indefinite Man- Prefix and Reduplication in these sentences!

Now let’s practice with some example sentences in the table below.

Kao guaha mama’títinas kåddu’?	Is somebody making soup?
Kao guaha mama’gågåsi na’yan?	Is somebody washing dishes?
Kao guaha mamåmåhan hånom?	Is somebody buying water?
Kao guaha mambébende atulai?	Is somebody selling mackerel?

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Wrapping Up: Lesson Summary

And that concludes this lesson! In this post, we explored how to use the word guaha to express that someone is doing something—like “Someone is making soup” or “Someone is barbequing the chicken.” We looked at how guaha works with transitive verbs, and how to transform those verbs so they fit naturally within this sentence pattern. With enough practice, these structures will start to feel more familiar and easier to use. Keep going and don’t be afraid to repeat these patterns until they stick. Every sentence you practice brings you one step closer to conversational fluidity!

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References

Sentence patterns were read in the story Gupot Nobena written by Carmen C. Blas and other texts.