Lesson 10 of 18 · Unit 4: Asking where, asking when
Telling Time
Reading the clock the course's way: documented hours, minutes joined with ashi, and a rule you already know.
By the end of this lesson you'll be introduced to
- The documented question that asks the time — and documented times to answer with
- How the course writes whole hours, minutes, and half past
- The little connector “ashi” you have been reading in every date sentence
- Why the time word sometimes ends in -k — a rule you already know
This is a reading lesson: the course documents a fixed set of time expressions, and by the end you can read all of them.
Asking the time
Start talking
Asking the time
NewThe course documents the question — and plenty of documented times to answer it with.
Your turn — no wrong answer
Aaniin endaso-diba'iganek?
What time is it?
Every option is a real documented time — answer with whichever you like.
Whole hours
The pattern to notice
Whole hours
NewThe notes describe the time word as a VII that literally means “it clocks” — a number piece on the front, -diba'iganed at the end. Read a few and the shape jumps out:
Naano-diba'iganed.
It's 5:00.
Midaaso-diba'iganed.
It's 10:00.
Nishwaaso-diba'iganed.
It's 8:00.
You may notice the number pieces inside these expressions. The course materials never teach them as separate words — they appear only inside documented compounds like these — so this course reads them in place rather than drilling them alone.
Try it
You want to say “It's 5:00.” Which documented expression says it?
Minutes, with ashi
One connector
Minutes, with ashi
NewMinutes ride on the end: ashi (“plus / and”), a number word, then diba'igaansan — the notes gloss it “minutes”. You have been reading ashi all along: it joins tens and ones in every date sentence at the top of the class notes.
Naano-diba'iganed ashi midaaswi diba'igaansan.
It is 5:10.
4 separate words
The hour — “it is __ o'clock”
Naano-diba'iganed
The connector — “plus”
ashi
A documented number word
midaaswi
“Minutes”
diba'igaansan
Labels describe what each documented word is doing — the words themselves come straight from the notes.
Half past has its own documented piece: ashi aabita — “and a half”. The course writes “Naano-diba'iganed ashi aabita.” for “It's 5:30.”
One honesty note: the notes write the 10:30 expression two ways on different days — with the time word spelled diba’iganed and dibaa’iganed — and give its English as both “It is 10:30.” and “It’s 10:30.”. What the sources leave open is the spelling and the wording, not what the sentence means, so this course shows it (“Midaaso-diba'iganed ashi aabita.” — It is 10:30.) and never asks you to pick between the versions.
Try it
In a documented time like “It's 10:10”, what does “ashi” do?
When the time leans on the sentence
You know this rule
When the time leans on the sentence
ReviewSometimes the time word ends in -diba'iganek instead of -diba'iganed. The notes say exactly why: in a dependent context it takes its B Form, “following the regular B Form D-to-K rule”. The o'clock word is a VII like the others — last lesson's rule, working here.
Niwii-wiisin naano-diba'iganek.
I want to eat at five o'clock.
Onizhishin zhaangaso-diba'iganek.
It's nice that it's 9:00.
Applies to: documented time expressionsThis course documents a fixed set of time expressions, and this lesson teaches exactly those. It never builds a new clock time — the materials give no standalone number words to build one from.
Try it
The time word shows up as “-diba'iganek” inside a longer sentence. What happened?
Words from these class days
New- View entry →DajiseVerb
s/he is out of time
- View entry →DawiseVerb
s/he has time
- View entry →Ma'iinganagNoun
wolves
- View entry →MakwagNoun
bears (plural)
Seen before
Review- Aandi
- Aaniindi
- Aaniindi dash
- Aaniindiish
- Anishinaabe-inini
- Anishinaabe-inini na a'aw
- biinak
- Gaa
- gaawiin aabadasinoon
- gaawiin agoodesinoon
- gaawiin onizhishinzinoon
- Giga-waabamin baanimaa
- Giga-waabamin miinawaa
- gimiwang
- Indoonjibaa (indoonjii)
- Iwidi
- Mii omaa
- minopogwadoon
- minosewan
- Niin
- Oshkibagi-ziibiing
- Wiin
- Zhaaganaashi aawi
- Zhaaganaashi-inini aawi
Check your understanding
You don't need a perfect score — finishing is what completes the lesson.
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.
- Answer the time question — not yet done
- Pick a documented hour — not yet done
- Spot what ashi does — not yet done
- Explain the -k ending — not yet done
- Finish Check your understanding — not yet done
Source
This lesson draws on two class days; the second repeats the first as midterm preparation. The historical midterm itself is kept as an artefact — it has no answer key, and nothing here invents one. Every Ojibwe expression on this page is quoted from the materials; the English explanations were written for this app.
More from this stretch
This lesson covers several class days from the original course. The extra vocabulary and documented examples those days brought are here — try each example before its English shows.
Class day: October 15
New vocabulary this day (2)
Examples from this day
Aaniin ezhiwebak?
Aaniindi wenjibaayan?
What does it say?
Aaniindi zaaga'igan?
What does it say?
Apegish awang.
What does it say?
Apegish da-zoogipong waabang wii-niso-diba'iganek.
What does it say?
Apegish minomaagwak.
What does it say?
Apegish wii-miikawaadak.
What does it say?
Binaakwe-giizis midaasogonagizi ashi naanan.
What does it say?