Leksion Chamoru: Para bai hu... (I will...)

The future tense in Chamorro is rather lengthy to explain, so I'll start out with a lesson on how to say "I will..." First off there are three rules to remember all future forms, not just the 1st person singular form.

1. The base form of the verb is always used.
   (The "root" of the verb, and the affixed man- form: såga/mañåga, fåhan/mamåhan/manmamåhan, etc.)
2. Hu-type pronouns are always used, rather than yo'-type pronouns, even with "um" verbs.
   (If a pronoun is going to be used, it has to be a hu-type.)
3. Verbs which normally use man- in the non-future form will take on fan- in the future form.
   (When the normal base verbs uses man-, change it to fan- in the future: mañåga => fañåga, mamåhan => famåhan, etc.)

Don't worry, this sounds complicated, but it's actually not that bad.

Simply put, to say "I will..." you just use "Para bai hu...." in front of the verb phrase.

• Såga = To stay ("root" form)
  Sumåga yo'. = I stay/stayed. (non-future)
  Para bai hu såga. = I will stay. (future)
• Fåhan = To buy ("root")
  Hu fåhan i pån. = I bought the bread. (non-future, definite object)
  Mamåhan yo' pån. = I bought bread. (non-future, indefinite object)
  Para bai hu fåhan i pån. = I will buy the bread. (future, definite object)
  Para bai hu famåhan pån. = I will buy bread. (future, indefinite object)
• Hånao = To go ("root)
  Humånao yo'. = I went. (non-future)
  Para bai hu hånao. = I will go. (future)
• Taitai = To read ("root")
  Hu taitai i lepblo. = I read the book. (non-future, definite)
  Manaitai yo' lepblo. = I read a book. (non-future, indefinite)
  Para bai hu taitai i lepblo. = I will read the book. (future, definite)
  Para bai hu fanaitai lepblo. = I will read a book. (future, indefinite)

In all four cases, we're just using the base form of the verb, and changing from man- to fan- when needed.

Note: Generally, in the "para bai hu..." construction, you can omit the "para" and/or the "hu" without significantly changing the meaning.