"GOD BLESS YOU" IN CHAMORRO

I have noticed from time to time that some people experience trouble saying "God bless you" in Chamorro.

It could be politicians ending a speech; priests in their remarks; ordinary comments made by just about anybody.

They all get "God" right.  That's easy.  Si Yu'us.

Now comes the hard part.  "Bless you."

Bendise means "bless."  But when the act is to be done on someone, the verb form binendise is used.

Now comes the "you."  In Chamorro, that can come in three forms.

When speaking to just one single individual, the pronoun un is used.

So, "Si Yu'us un binendise" means "God bless you - the one person."

When speaking to two people, un becomes en.

So, "Si Yu'us en binendise" means "God bless you - two people."

When speaking to three or more people, keep the en but also add fan.  Fan indicates that there are three or more people being addressed.

So, "Si Yu'us en fan binendise" means "God bless you - three or more people."

Keep this Handy

ONE PERSON	SI YU’US UN BINENDISE
TWO PEOPLE	SI YU’US EN BINENDISE
THREE OR MORE PEOPLE	SI YU’US EN FAN BINENDISE

God bless!