How to Say “How” in Chamorro

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, we’ll explore different ways to ask how something is done in Chamorro. These are the kinds of questions we use when we’re curious about a process — whether we’re asking How was the soup made? or How does one fish? Chamorro uses the word taimanu (“how”) in several patterns, and we’ll learn some of the most common ones that are easy for beginners to apply. We’ll start with questions about actions done to something, like making rope or building a shelter. Then we’ll shift to questions about activities, such as swimming, dancing, or running on the sand. Each pattern builds on the last, helping you expand the core patterns step-by-step.

As always, this lesson includes example sentences, English translations, and audio narrations by Jay Che’le to guide your learning. Happy studying!

Last Updated: April 6, 2026

Contents

Introduction to “How” in Chamorro

When we ask “how” questions, like “How was the steamed rice cake made?” or “How do you fish?” we are asking about the manner in which something was done. In Chamorro, these questions use the word taimanu (“how”), which is used by itself or in the phrase håfa taimanu.

There are many different patterns with the word taimanu in Chamorro, and in this lesson we’ll practice some foundational forms. Specifically, we’ll learn patterns for the following:

Asking how a specific item was made: “How was the soup made?”
Asking about processes: “How is the soup made?”
Asking how an action is done in general: “How does one fish?”

“How” Questions About Actions (with Objects)

In this section, we’ll form how about actions that are done to something — questions like How was it made? or How is the rope made? These kinds of questions help us talk about specific items and the processes behind them. We’ll learn simple patterns you can use again and again, and build them step by step.

Asking About Specific Items

Sometimes we want to ask how something was done, such as How was it made? How was it built? Other times, we want to know about a particular process, such as How is the rope made? How is the shelter built?

In this section, we’ll practice both of these question patterns, starting with How was it made?

Asking “How was it made?”

Asking questions like “How was it made?” use action words that need objects, which are called transitive verbs. To form these kinds of questions, we need to put these verbs into a different form.

Specifically, we need to put the Passive Ma- Prefix in front of our verb. Before we form complete sentences, let’s practice getting our action words into the necessary form.

Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

Ma- + Transitive Verb

Root Word	+ Ma- Prefix	English
fa’tinas	mafa’tinas	was made
na’setbi	mana’setbi	was used
håtsa	mahåtsa	was built / was lifted
na’lågu	mana’lågu	was cooked
fa’maolek	mafa’maolek	was repaired

Now we’ll start making sentences, starting with questions like How was it made? How was it built?

Make these questions by saying Håfa Taimanu (“how?”) in front of our action word.

Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

Håfa Taimanu + [ Ma- + Transitive Verb]

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas?	How was it made?
Håfa taimanu mana’setbi?	How was it used?
Håfa taimanu mahåtsa?	How was it built?
Håfa taimanu mana’lågu?	How was it cooked?
Håfa taimanu mafa’maolek?	How was it repaired?

Asking “How was the rope made?”

Imagine you are seeing a specific item, like traditionally made rope or a throw net, and you want to ask about those specific items: How was the rope made? How was the throw net used?

Just use the sentences from the previous section, and add the item at the end of the sentence.

Specifically, here’s the pattern to practice:

Håfa Taimanu + [ Ma- + Transitive Verb] + i + Object

Let’s get used to this new pattern by practicing with the same verb (mafa’tinas) and different items:

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas i tali?	How was the rope made?
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas i talaya?	How was the throw net made?
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas i karetan guaka?	How was the bull cart made?

Now let’s practice with some variety:

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas i tali?	How was the rope made?
Håfa taimanu mana’setbi i talaya?	How was the throw net used?
Håfa taimanu mahåtsa i liheng?	How was the shelter built?
Håfa taimanu mana’lågu i kamuti?	How was the sweet potato cooked?
Håfa taimanu mafa’maolek i karetan guaka?	How was the bull cart repaired?

Asking About Specific Processes

Now we’ll practice patterns for asking about specific processes — questions like How is it made? or How is it built?

❓What’s the difference? These may look similar to the earlier questions (How was it made? How was it built?), but Jay and I think there’s a subtle difference. Here, it feels like we’re focusing more on the overall process, not just on how one specific item was created. In our experience, we can think about the difference like this:

Scenario 1:
We’re looking at a piece of traditionally made rope and want to know how that rope was made. In this case, we could ask How was it made? or How is it made? Either one works, because we’re talking about the specific rope in front of us.

Scenario 2:
We’re curious about traditional ropemaking in general, so we ask How is it made? or Can you teach me how traditional rope is made? Here, we’re not asking about one particular rope — we want to understand the general process of ropemaking.

Patterns for scenario 2 are what we’ll practice in this section.

For complete transparency, we are not 100% certain about this distinction — this reflects how we’d use these questions in everyday conversation. We’ll be sure to update these notes if we learn something different 🙂

Asking “How is it made?”

Asking questions like How is it made? requires one small change to our verbs: attach the Possessive Pronoun -ña to the end.

Let’s practice transforming our verbs below:

Ma- + Transitive Verb + -ña

+ Ma- Prefix	+ Possessive Pronoun -ña
mafa’tinas	mafa’tinås-ña
mana’setbi	mana’setbé-ña
mahåtsa	mahatså-ña
mana’lågu	mana’lagu-ña
mafa’maolek	mafa’maolek-ña

Now let’s use these verbs in complete sentences. We simply put Håfa Taimanu (“how?”) in front of our new word:

Håfa Taimanu + [ Ma- + Transitive Verb + -ña]

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinås-ña?	How is it made?
Håfa taimanu mana’setbe-ña?	How is it used?
Håfa taimanu mahatså-ña?	How is it built?
Håfa taimanu mana’lagu-ña?	How is it cooked?
Håfa taimanu mafa’maolek-ña?	How is it repaired?

Asking “How is the rope made?”

When you want to ask about a specific process, such as how traditional rope is made, we can just add the item at the end of our sentences.

Here’s the pattern we’ll practice:

Håfa Taimanu + [ Ma- + Transitive Verb + -ña] + i + Object

First, let’s practice with one verb to get used to the pattern:

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas-ña i tali?	How is the rope made?
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas-ña i talaya?	How is the throw net made?
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinas-ña i karetan guaka?	How is the bull cart made?

Now let’s practice with more variety:

Chamorro	English
Håfa taimanu mafa’tinås-ña i tali?	How is the rope made?
Håfa taimanu mana’setbe-ña i talåya?	How is the throw net used?
Håfa taimanu mahatså-ña i liheng?	How is the shelter built?
Håfa taimanu mana’lagu-ña i kamuti?	How is the sweet potato cooked?
Håfa taimanu mafa’maolek-ña i karetan guaka?	How is the bull cart repaired?

“How” Questions About Actions (without Objects)

Now we’ll shift to a different kind of how question — ones about actions that don’t involve an object. These are questions like How does one fish? How does one dance? How does one run on the sand?

In the previous section, our how questions were about actions done to something (like making rope or building a house). Here, we’re asking about actions people do on their own. The patterns are a little different, but the idea is the same: we’re showing curiosity about how something is done.

Let’s take a look at how these questions work in Chamorro.

Asking “How does one fish?”

When we want to learn, in general, about how an action is done, we just put a past tense intransitive verb after the question word “how”.

These questions are phrased like “How does one fish?” or “How does one dance?” In everyday English, we often make this sound more natural by saying “How do you fish?” or “How do you dance?” But the idea isn’t to ask about your personal technique — we’re asking about the general process. It’s a way of saying, “How is this activity done?” rather than “How do you do it?”

To form these questions, we’ll practice this pattern below:

Taimanu + Past Tense Intransitive Verb

Chamorro	English
Taimanu pumeska?	How does one fish?
Taimanu bumaila?	How does one dance?
Taimanu muñangu?	How does one swim?
Taimanu malågu?	How does one run?
Taimanu dumeskånsa?	How does one rest?

Asking “How does one fish in the ocean?”

If we want to expand our sentences with more detail and ask “How does one fish in the sea?” or “How does one fish in the river?“, we just add a place to the end of the sentence.

Here’s the full pattern we’ll practice:

Taimanu + Past Tense Intransitive Verb + [ gi + Location ]

Chamorro	English
Taimanu pumeska gi tasi?	How does one fish in the ocean?
Taimanu bumaila gi giput Chamoru?	How does one dance at a Chamorro party?
Taimanu muñangu gi sadduk?	How does one swim in the river?
Taimanu malågu gi inai?	How does one run on the sand?
Taimanu dumeskånsa gi papa tronku?	How does one rest under the tree?

Summary

In this lesson, we explored different ways to make how questions in Chamorro. First, we used action words to ask about specific things — questions like How was it made? or How is the rope made? Then we shifted to action words without objects and practiced questions like How does one swim? We also expanded these by adding locations, such as How does one swim in the river?

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Documentation & Further Study

References

__. 2024. _Revised and Updated Chamorro-English Dictionary. Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas/ Kkoor Aramasal Marianas (IKNM/KAM). https://natibunmarianas.org/chamorro-dictionary/.

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 “How” in Chamorro

Introduction to “How” in Chamorro