Sometimes when we talk about the people in our lives, we want to mention both their name and our relationship to them—like “My nephew Lathan” or “Our neighbor Totoro.” In Chamorro, there’s a specific way to express these kinds of phrases using the article as. In this post, we’ll practice this simple pattern that adds a subtle depth to everyday conversation. As always, you’ll find example sentences, English translations, and Chamorro audio narrations by Jay Che’le to guide your learning. Happy studying!

(Image Note: This is a Totoro-inspired AI illustration, generated for educational/non-commercial use on this blog).

Contents

1. Contents
2. Introduction to the Article As
3. Example Sentences: “The Neighbor Totoro”
4. Example Sentences: “Our Neighbor Totoro”
5. Example Sentences: “My two siblings Zana and Tara”
6. Example Sentences: “My Siblings Zana, Tara, and Trisha”
7. Summary
8. References

Introduction to the Article As

To say phrases like “Our neighbor Totoro” or “My nephew Lathan,” we use the Chamorro article as. It’s a small word that is used in a variety of Chamorro language patterns, which is why it can often be confusing for learners.

But in this lesson, we will focus on one particular usage of as, which is how it allows us to say who someone is to you (our neighbor, my nephew) and their name (Totoro, Lathan). This form is often used when we are introducing people, or else when we want to talk about the people in our lives.

Throughout this post, we’ll be applying the following concepts:

• Using the article as to link a noun (i.e.: “neighbor”) with a person’s name (i.e.: “Totoro”)
• Using possessive pronouns to indicate more specific relationships (i.e.: “our neighbor”)
• Talking about multiple people

In the next section, we’ll start building our framework and learn how to make phrases like “the neighbor Totoro”.

Note About Methodology: The Chamorro sentence patterns in this post were compiled from multiple written sources. While the examples have been adapted for clarity and practice, they are based on authentic Chamorro usage across a variety of texts. This post reflects patterns I have observed and synthesized from these materials.

Example Sentences: “The Neighbor Totoro”

We’ll start learning a foundational pattern, which we will build upon throughout this lesson. We’ll practice stating who someone is and their name to make phrases like “The neighbor Totoro” or “The child Elsie.” The basic pattern we’ll follow is this:

i + Noun + As + Person’s Name

The article as is what we are using to link the noun and the person’s name together in this particular pattern.

To get a feel for this pattern, let’s practice making these phrases with different nouns and names:

Chamoru	English
i bisinu as Totoro	the neighbor Totoro
i fafa’na’gue as Boh	the teacher Boh
i ma’gas as Juan	the boss Juan
i subrinu as Lathan	the nephew Lathan
i patgun as Elsie	the child Elsie

Now let’s use our phrases in complete sentences, to get a feel for how they might be used:

Chamoru	English
Kao un tungu’ i bisinu as Totoro?	Do you know the neighbor Totoro?
Hu gof agradesi i fafa’na’gue as Boh.	I really appreciate the teacher Boh.
Taigue i ma’gas as Juan gi che’chu’.	The boss Juan isn’t at work.
Para u asagua i subrinu as Lathan.	The nephew Lathan is going to be married.
Chatgun i patgun as Elsie.	The child Elsie smiles easily.

Great job! In the next section we are going to expand on our basic phrases to be more specific and say things like “our neighbor Totoro” or “my child Elsie.”

Example Sentences: “Our Neighbor Totoro”

In this section, we are going to add possessive pronouns to the nouns in the phrase, to make phrases like “our neighbor”, “your child”, or “his boss.” Then we will use these phrases in the complete pattern to say things like “our neighbor Totoro” or “my child Elsie.”

This is the basic pattern we will practice with:

i + [Noun + Possessive Pronoun] + As + Person’s Name

Now we will practice with this pattern and modify our phrases from the previous section by attaching possessive pronouns to the nouns. Remember that we are following all the typical rules for using Chamorro possessive pronouns. I have also bolded the possessive pronouns to more clearly see the placement:

Chamoru	English
i bisinu-ta as Totoro	our neighbor Totoro
i fafa’na’gue-ku as Boh	my teacher Boh
i ma’gås-ña as Juan	his boss Juan
i subrinun-måmi as Lathan	our nephew Lathan
i patgon-mu as Elsie	your child Elsie

Now let’s use our phrases in the example sentences from the previous section:

Chamoru	English
Kao un tungu’ i bisinu-ta as Totoro?	Do you know our neighbor Totoro?
Hu gof agradesi i fafa’na’gue-ku as Boh.	I really appreciate my teacher Boh.
Taigue i ma’gås-ña as Juan gi che’chu’.	His boss Juan isn’t at work.
Para u asagua i subrinun-måmi as Lathan.	Our nephew Lathan is going to be married.
Chatgun i patgun-mu as Elsie.	Your child Elsie smiles easily.

Awesome job! In the next section we are going to expand a little further and practice the patterns for talking about more than one person.

Example Sentences: “My two siblings Zana and Tara”

In the previous sections we practiced talking about only one person, with phrases like “Our neighbor Totoro” or “My nephew Lathan.” But what if we want to talk about multiple people? In this section we’ll learn a pattern for talking about 2 people and then conclude the lesson with a pattern for talking about 3+ people.

In Chamorro, if we want to talk about two people, the common pattern is to use the phrase i dos in front of our noun. And then we want to make sure to include both people’s names. Here’s the pattern we’ll practice with:

i dos + [Noun + Possessive Pronoun]+ As + [Name yan Name]

I know this pattern looks kind of long, but it will feel more intuitive when we practice with actual words and names. Let’s practice in the table below:

Chamoru	English
i dos che’lu-hu as Zana yan Tara	my two siblings Zana and Tara
i dos abok-hu as Isa yan Alicia	my two friends Isa and Alicia
i dos patgon-hu as Juan yan Maria	my two children Juan and Maria
i dos primu-hu as Royce yan Sam	my two cousins Royce and Sam
i dos bisinu-hu as Totoro yan Gigi	my two neighbors Totoro and Gigi

Let’s put these phrases into full sentences:

Chamoru	English
Gaige gi giput i dos che’lu-hu as Zana yan Tara.	My two siblings Zana and Tara are at the party.
Mångge i dos abok-hu as Isa yan Alicia?	Where are my two friends Isa and Alicia?
Malingu i dos patgon-hu as Juan yan Maria	My two children Juan and Maria are missing.
Umabak i dos primu-hu as Royce yan Sam.	My two cousins Royce and Sam got lost.
Kao un tungu’ i dos bisinu-hu as Totoro yan Gigi?	Do you know my two neighbors Totoro and Gigi?

💡Practice With Different Possessive Pronouns: I am only using the possessive pronoun -hu in these examples to keep things simpler. For your own practice, try switching out the pronouns for additional practice and variety, such as changing bisinu-hu to bisinun-måmi or che’lu-hu to che’lun-ñiha.

In the next and final section, we’ll practice the patterns when we want to talk about more than 2 people.

Example Sentences: “My Siblings Zana, Tara, and Trisha”

What if we want to talk about 3 or more people, like with the phrase “My siblings Zana, Tara, and Trisha?”

The good news is that the basic structure remains the same. In the case of 3 or more people, we lead with a plural noun that describes our relationship (“my siblings”), followed by the article “as”, and then followed with a simple list of the people’s names (“Zana, Tara, and Trisha”). And since we want to talk about 3+ people, leave off the i dos.

Here’s the pattern we will practice with:

i + [Plural Noun + Possessive Pronoun] + As + [Name, Name, … yan Name]

To get a feel for this structure, let’s practice making some different phrases with this pattern:

Chamoru	English
i mañe’lu-hu as Zana, Tara, yan Trisha	my siblings Zana, Tara, and Trisha
i manabok-hu as Isa, Alicia yan Rachel	my friends Isa, Alicia and Rachel
i famagu’on-hu as Juan, Maria yan Rosa	my children Juan, Maria and Rosa
i mamprimu-hu as Royce, Sam yan Gabe	my cousins Royce, Sam and Gabe
i mambisinu-hu as Totoro, Gigi yan Calcifer	my neighbors Totoro, Gigi and Calcifer

In the sentences above I used only a list of three names, but you can always add more to your list. Now that we have a feeling for the pattern, let’s use these phrases in full sentences. Where applicable, I am also using the plural man- prefix in front of adjectives and verbs to reflect that we are talking about 3+ people.

Chamoru	English
Manggaigi gi giput i mañe’lu-hu as Zana, Tara, yan Trisha	My siblings Zana, Tara, and Trisha are at the party.
Manmångge i manabok-hu as Isa, Alicia yan Rachel?	Where are my friends Isa, Alicia and Rachel?
Manmalingu i famagu’on-hu as Juan, Maria yan Rosa.	My children Juan, Maria and Rosa are missing.
Manabak i mamprimu-hu as Royce, Sam yan Gabe.	My cousins Royce, Sam and Gabe got lost.
Kao un tungu’ i mambisinu-hu as Totoro, Gigi yan Calcifer?	Do you know my neighbors Totoro, Gigi and Calcifer?

Summary

And that wraps up this lesson! In these notes we have learned a language pattern for saying a person’s relationship to us and their name. We applied the following concepts:

• The article as to link who the person is (my nephew, my neighbor) with their name (Lathan, Totoro)
• Talking about two people with i dos
• Talking about 3+ people with plural nouns

💡Study Tip: If you want to talk about your day or week in Chamorro, practice using these phrases in basic sentences to get started. If you want to say you talked to your sister, instead of just saying Hu kuentusi i che’lu-hu (I talked to my sister), you can say Hu kuentusi i che’lu-hu as Maria (I talked to my sister Maria).

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References

Lujan, Schyuler E. Compilation of Chamorro Sentence Patterns. 2025. Unpublished manuscript.