Lesson 3 of 18 · Unit 1: Foundations
Tense & Mode Prefixes
Small pieces that attach to the front of a verb and change when — or whether — something happens.
By the end of this lesson you'll be introduced to
- What it means for a small piece to add grammar to a word
- The 4 markers this class day documents, and what each one contributes
- How a documented form relates to the base word you already know
- How wide the evidence for these markers actually is
- 11 new words from this class day
What a grammatical marker does
Start here
Small pieces that change the grammar
NewSo far you've met whole words. This class day introduces something smaller: pieces that attach to the front of a verb and add grammatical information — when it happened, or whether it's wanted, expected, or possible.
The course calls them prefixes, and writes them with a trailing hyphen — that hyphen is how the material shows you where the piece ends and the word begins.
The useful part is that the word underneath doesn't disappear. You'll be able to recognise verbs you already know inside longer forms.
Try it
What does a marker like these add to a verb?
The 4 markers
NewThe notes list these four together. Only the first is called a tense — the other three are about intention, certainty and possibility, so it's worth reading each one's wording rather than treating them as a past/present/future set.
Past
Puts the form in the past — something that already happened.
- Course wording
- Past tense marker
- Evidence
- 9 documented forms in this course you can trace back to a separately documented base
Wanting / intending
Marks intention or wanting. The course glosses it “will, want to”, which is why it can look like the future marker in English but isn't the same thing.
- Course wording
- Desiderative marker ("will, want to")
- Evidence
- 2 documented forms in this course you can trace back to a separately documented base
Definite future
Marks something as definitely going to happen — the course glosses it “shall, will”.
- Course wording
- Future / definite marker ("shall, will")
- Evidence
- 9 documented forms in this course you can trace back to a separately documented base
Can / could / should
Marks possibility, ability or obligation rather than time, so it isn't a tense at all.
- Course wording
- Modal marker ("can, could, should")
- Evidence
- 7 documented forms in this course you can trace back to a separately documented base
Two of these translate into English with the word “will” — but the notes assign them different jobs: Wii- is about wanting or intending, and Da- is about something definitely happening. Watch the double vowel too: Daa- is a different marker again.
Documented forms and their bases
In real forms
Seeing the pieces
NewBelow, each row shows a word this course documents on its own, and beside it a longer form the course also documents. The coloured pieces show where the marker ends and the base word starts.
Tap any coloured piece to see what it is. Both halves of every row are separately recorded in this course's materials — this app isn't building the longer form for you.
Both are documented separately in this course. Tap either coloured piece above to see what it is.
Both are documented separately in this course. Tap either coloured piece above to see what it is.
Both are documented separately in this course. Tap either coloured piece above to see what it is.
Both are documented separately in this course. Tap either coloured piece above to see what it is.
Try it
Which part of this documented form marks that it already happened?
Gii-awan.
How wide the evidence is
How far does this go?
ReviewIn the first lesson you met VII — the course writes it out as Verb Intransitive Inanimate: a verb with an inanimate subject and no object. That matters here, because almost everything this course shows these markers on is a VII verb.
Counting the documented pairs: 27 forms can be traced back to a separately documented base, and 26 of those bases are tagged VII. One is not: Wii-wiisini (s/he will eat) — built on a verb the course doesn't give a class for.
So: these markers clearly aren't only for VII verbs, but VII is where this course shows them. Later lessons build on that.
Applies to: the documented examples in this courseThe notes give these forms and their meanings; they don't state a rule about which verbs can take which marker.
Try it
What can you safely say about where these markers appear?
Forms you'll see
These aren't new words to memorise — each one is a form of a word, shown here with the base it belongs to so you can recognise it when it turns up.
- Gii-awan. — It was foggy.
a form of Awan (fog)
- Gii-michaa. — It was big.
a form of Michaa (be big)
- Gii-noodin. — It was windy.
a form of Noodin (wind)
- Wii-wiisini — s/he will eat
a form of Wiisini (he is eating, she is eating)
- Wii-mino-giizhigad. — It will be a good day.
a form of Mino-giizhigad (be nice day)
- Da-gimiwan. — It will rain.
a form of Gimiwan (rain)
- Da-zoogipon. — It shall snow.
a form of Zoogipon (snow)
- Da-gashkawan. — It will be thick fog.
a form of Gashkawan (thick fog)
- Daa-gimiwan. — It could rain.
a form of Gimiwan (rain)
- Daa-ozhiitaa. — It should be prepared.
a form of Ozhiitaa (get ready, prepare)
- Daa-zoogipon. — It should snow.
a form of Zoogipon (snow)
Showing forms whose base is a dictionary headword. Across all four markers this course documents 27 base-and-form pairs.
Two words becoming one
NewThe same class day shows something different but related: two documented words combining into a single one. The notes write these out as equations.
Aaniin (what (concept), how) + Dash (and/but) = aaniish (and how)
Needs review — the sources give more than one meaning for part of this equation.
Gaa (no) + Wiin (by contrast) = Gaawiin (No)
Try it
Which single word do “Gaa” and “Wiin” combine into?
New vocabulary
New11 words from this class day- View entry →DashGrammar Word
and/but
- View entry →DoodemNoun
clan
- View entry →GaaGrammar Word
no
- View entry →GiinGrammar Word
you
- View entry →Giin dashOther
and you
- View entry →Mii gwayakGrammar Word
that's right
- View entry →Nishki-bakadeVerb
hangry
- View entry →WiigiwaamNoun
wigwam
- View entry →WiinGrammar Word
by contrast
Also documented that day
Recorded from the classroom moment rather than this lesson's teaching sequence — every one is a full dictionary entry you can study.
Review vocabulary
Reviewfrom earlier class daysTry it
What does this word mean?
Dash
Check your understanding
Mostly this lesson, with one question each from the two before it. Retake it as often as you like — your best result is kept.
Preparing your questions…
Finish this lesson
Work through the lesson's activities, then mark it complete. Your quiz score doesn't have to be perfect.
- Try the marker-idea check — not yet done
- Try identifying a marker inside a real form — not yet done
- Try the scope check — not yet done
- Try the word-combination check — not yet done
- Finish Check Your Understanding — not yet done
Source
Every Ojibwe word and form on this page comes from the material cited above. The English explanations were written for this app.