Grammar
Ojibwe Grammar
Ojibwe verbs are organized into classes based on transitivity and grammatical animacy. Start with VII verbs below; more categories will be added over time.
Grammatical Elements & Morphemes
Browse every documented prefix, suffix, and particle -- tense markers, negation, plurals, and more.
VII — Verb Intransitive Inanimate
AvailableAn inanimate subject and no object -- e.g. colors, weather, and other states of things rather than people or animals.
VAI — Verb Animate Intransitive
Coming soonAn animate subject and no object, e.g. "s/he sleeps."
VTA — Verb Transitive Animate
Coming soonAn animate subject acting on an animate object, e.g. "s/he sees him/her."
VTI — Verb Transitive Inanimate
Coming soonAn animate subject acting on an inanimate object, e.g. "s/he sees it."
Noun Animacy & Plurals
AvailableHow nouns divide into animate and inanimate, why it matters, and the plural rule of thumb (-g animate, -n inanimate) -- with examples from this course's own dictionary.
The course notes write out only VII (“Verb Intransitive Inanimate”) and describe the other classes by their properties. The VAI/VTA/VTI expansions shown here follow the Saint Paul Public Schools VII article and the supplemental grammar reference, which both spell out all four classes the same way.