This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this fifth and final beginner lesson on Chamorro classifiers, we’ll learn how to use iyo, which is used to express general ideas of what belongs to us, such as “mine” or “yours”. It’s also often used to indicate possession of non-Chamorro words. As always, this post includes explanatory notes, practice sentences, English translations, and Chamorro audio recordings by Jay Che’le to support your learning. Happy studying!

Contents

1. Introduction to “Iyo”
2. How to Say “Mine”
3. How to Say “My Board Game”
4. How to Say “Belonging to Juan”
5. How to Say “Juan’s Board Game”
6. Summary
7. ➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson
8. Documentation & Further Study
   1. Notes
   2. References
   3. Further Reading

Introduction to “Iyo”

In this final lesson on talking about what belongs to us in Chamorro, we’ll learn how to use iyo, a word that means “belonging to”.¹ With it, you can say things like “mine”, “yours”, or show that something belongs to a specific person.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to:

• Create the basic forms of “yours” and “mine”
• Add a specific item: “My board game”
• Say that something belongs to someone: “Belonging to Juan”
• Combine both ideas: “Juan’s board game”

Let’s begin by building the basic forms with iyo.

How to Say “Mine”

Sometimes you want to show that something belongs to you without naming the item itself. In this case, you use iyo with a possessive pronoun. This allows you to say things like “mine,” “yours,” or “theirs.”

We’ll start building our basic patterns by attaching possessive pronouns to the end of iyo.

Here’s the core pattern:

iyo + possessive pronoun

In the table below, we’ll practice with all the possessive pronouns:

Chamoru	English
iyo-ku	mine
iyo-mu	yours
iyo-ña	hers/his/its
iyo-ta	ours (inclusive)
iyon-miyu	yours (plural)
iyon-ñiha	theirs (plural)
iyon-måmi	ours (exclusive)

📝Change to iyon for Plural Pronouns: When attaching the pronouns -miyu, -ñiha and -måmi, iyo becomes iyon.

The sentences below use these phrases in statements and questions for everyday life:

Chamoru	English
Iyo-ku esti.	This is mine.
Iyo-mu enao.	That is yours.
Pinelo’-ku na iyo-ña ayu.	I thought that was hers.
Kao iyo-ta?	Is it ours?
Iyon-miyu esti, ti iyon-ñiha.	This is yours, not theirs.
Månggi iyon-ñiha?	Where is theirs?
Kao iyon-måmi pat iyon-ñiha?	Is it ours or theirs?

Now let’s expand these phrases to say things like My board game.

How to Say “My Board Game”

If you want to move beyond “mine” and name the item itself, simply add the noun after the iyo phrase: iyo phrase + object.

Let’s practice with this pattern:

[iyo- + possessive pronoun] + noun

To keep our practice focused, we’ll be using iyo-ku in our drills below:

Chamoru	English
iyo-ku board game	my board game
iyo-ku pickup truck	my pickup truck
iyo-ku laptop	my laptop
iyo-ku neosporin	my neosporin
iyo-ku shopping cart	my shopping cart

❓When Do I Use Iyo? You might be wondering: “When do I say iyo-ku laptop instead of laptop-hu? Is there a difference?” In everyday speech, iyo often feels more natural with non-Chamorro words.² For example, iyo-ku neosporin may be easier and quicker to say than neosporin-hu.

As a general guideline, try using iyo- with borrowed or non-Chamorro words: iyo-ku bush cutter, iyo-ku space heater, iyo-ku laser cutter.

If there is a Chamorro word for the item, attach the possessive pronoun directly instead: i magågu-hu, i yabi-hu, i talayå-hu.

Now we’ll use these phrases in example sentences:

Chamoru	English
Iyo-ku board game esti.	This is my board game.
Iyo-mu pickup truck enao.	That is your pickup truck.
Pinelo’-ku na iyo-ña laptop ayu.	I thought that was her laptop.
Kao iyo-ta microwave?	Is it our microwave?
Iyon-miyu appetizer esti, ti iyon-ñiha.	This is your appetizer, not theirs.
Månggi iyon-ñiha shopping cart?	Where is their shopping cart?
Kao iyon-måmi neosporin pat iyon-ñiha?	Is it our neosporin or theirs?

Next we’ll pair iyo with a person’s name.

How to Say “Belonging to Juan”

To say that something belongs to a specific person—like “That is Juan’s” or “That belongs to Lupe’”—use iyon followed by the person’s name.

Here’s the general pattern:

iyon + person’s name

Chamoru	English
iyon Juan	belonging to Juan
iyon Lupe’	belonging to Lupe’
iyon Elisa	belonging to Elisa
iyon Lola	belonging to Lola
iyon Raph	belonging to Raph

Now we’ll practice using these phrases in complete sentences:

Chamoru	English
Iyon Juan esti.	This is Juan’s.
Iyon Lupe’ enao.	That belongs to Lupe’.
Pinelo’-ku na iyon Elisa ayu.	I thought that (over there) is Elisa’s.
Kao iyon Lola?	Does it belong to Lola?
Iyon Raph esti, lao iyon Maria enao.	This is Raph’s, but that is Maria’s.
Månggi iyon Maria?	Where is Maria’s?
Kao iyon Jon, pat iyon-ñiha?	Is it Jon’s or theirs?

Finally, we’ll combine these patterns to say things like Juan’s board game or Lupe’s pickup truck.

How to Say “Juan’s Board Game”

To say phrases like Juan’s board game or Lupe’s pickup truck, we change the pattern slightly: we’ll use iyo-ña (“belonging to her/him”) followed by the item and the person’s name.

Here’s the full pattern:

iyo-ña + noun + si + person’s name

Chamoru	English
iyo-ña board game si Juan	Juan’s board game
iyo-ña pickup truck si Lupe’	Lupe’s pickup truck
iyo-ña laptop si Elisa	Elisa’s laptop
iyo-ña shopping cart si Maria	Maria’s shopping cart
iyo-ña Neosporin si Raph	Raph’s Neosporin

Now let’s turn these into complete sentences in the table below:

Chamoru	English
Månggi iyo-ña board game si Juan?	Where is Juan’s board game?
Nuebu iyo-ña pickup truck si Lupe’.	Lupe’s pickup truck is new.
Masakki’ iyo-ña laptop si Elisa.	Elisa’s laptop was stolen.
Mayulang iyo-ña shopping cart si Maria.	Maria’s shopping cart is broken.
Malachai iyo-ña neosporin si Raph.	Raph’s neosporin is used up.

Summary

And that concludes this lesson! We’ve practiced using the classifier iyo to make more statements about what belongs to who. Specifically, we’ve practiced the following patterns:

• We made phrases like “mine”, “yours” or “theirs” by attaching Chamorro possessive pronouns with iyo-
• We practiced making possessive statements about non-Chamorro words
• Phrases like “Belonging to Juan” or “Eliza’s laptop” were made by pairing iyon with a person’s name

➡️ Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you are ready to continue through our beginner Chamorro lessons, click the link below to start begin a new section on how to say “there is” and “there isn’t” in Chamorro.

How to Say “There Is” and “There Isn’t” in Chamorro – Talking About Existence

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Documentation & Further Study

Notes

1. Donald Topping, Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition). (University of Hawaii Press: 1980), 147. ↩︎
2. Donald Topping, Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition). (University of Hawaii Press: 1980), 151. ↩︎

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.

Further Reading

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. “Classifiers.” In Chamorro Reference Grammar, 164-166. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. “Possession with Classifiers.” In Chamorro Reference Grammar, 223-224. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Topping, D.M. “Iyo-ku.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 147. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.

Topping, D.M. “Grammar Note.” In Spoken Chamorro: With Grammatical Notes and Glossary (Second Edition), 151. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980.