Inuktut has a set of verb endings to join an event with another event happening at the same time.
| Pisulauqtunga nirillunga. | I walked as I ate. |
| Uqalimaaqtuni sinililauqtuq | While he was reading, he fell asleep. |
Here is a complete list of these verb endings:
| nirillunga | while I was eating... |
| nirillutit | while you were eating ... |
| nirilluni | while he was eating ... |
| nirillunuk | while the two of us were eating ... |
| nirilluta | while we (3+) were eating ... |
| nirillusik | while the two of you were eating... |
| nirillusi | while you (3+) were eating ... |
| nirillutik | while the two of them were eating ... |
| nirillutik | while they (3+) were eating ... |
The affixes above are used with verbs that end in a vowel. When working with a verb that ends in a consonant, the beginning of the affix changes from ll to t:
| uqaq- | to speak |
| uqaqtunga | while I was speaking ... |
| uqaqtutit | while you were speaking ... |
| uqaqtuni | while he was speaking ... |
| uqaqtunuk | while the two of us were speaking ... |
| uqaqtuta | while we (3+) were speaking ... |
| uqaqtusi | while you (3+) were speaking ... |
| uqaqtutik | While the two of them were speaking ... |
| uqaqtutik | While they (3+) were speaking ... |
Important: All of the above endings are used when the two actions that appear in a sentence are performed by the same person.
| Pisuttuni tikiqqaujuq | He arrived walking. |
| Anillunga paallaqqaujunga | As I was going out, I fell down. |
If we want to describe two actions happening at the same time that were performed by different people we add ti- before the ending:
| Uqaalatillutit siniliqqaujut | While you were speaking, they fell asleep. |
| Aullasimatilluta sulauqqit? | When we were away, what did you do? |
In both of the above sentences, the two verbs are being performed by different people.
The -ti- ending can be directly added to a root ending in a verb or a consonant without affecting the spelling.
There is one form of this verb ending that is irregular.
| -luni becomes -tillugu | |
| Niritillugu miqsulauqtuq. | While he ate she sewed. |
Here is a complete set of the endings beginning with ti-
| aullasimatillunga | while I was away...(you/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatillutit | while you were eating ...(I/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatillugu | while he was eating ...(I/you/we/they)... |
| aullasimatillunuk | while the two of us were eating ...(you/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatilluta | while we (3+) were eating ...(you/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatillusik | while the two of you were eating...(I/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatillusi | while you (3+) were eating ...(I/he/she/they)... |
| aullasimatillutik | while the two of them were eating ...(I/you/he/she)... |
| aullasimatillutik | while they (3+) were eating ...(I/you/he/she)... |