Grammar » 15 » There is / There are

The affix -taqaq- is used to express the English there is / there are. It is added to the end of nouns and must be followed by a subject ending:

kaapitaqaqqa?

Is there coffee?

When we want to say "there is...", Inuktut speakers avoid the construction -taqaqtuq, and use the affix -talik instead:

ii, kaapitalik.

Yes, there is coffee.

Note that -talik is never used to make a negative sentence. Instead -taqaq- + -nngit + tuq is used.

kaapitaqanngittuq

There is no coffee.

-taqaq- deletes final consonants of any nouns it is added to:

paippaaq	paper
paippaataqaqqa?	Is there any paper?
ii, paippaatalik	Yes, there is paper.
aagga, paippaataqanngittuq	No, there is no paper.