3 Suvit?

Dialogue: What are you doing?

Inuapik:
Qanuiliuqpit?ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᐱᑦ? What are you doing?
Jaaki:
Maanna?ᒫᓐᓇ? Right now?
Inuapik:
ii, maanna.ᐄ, ᒫᓐᓇ Yes, now.
Jaaki:
Uqalimaaqtunga. Ivvilli?ᐅᖃᓕᒫᖅᑐᖓ. ᐃᕝᕕᓪᓕ? I am reading. What about you?
Inuapik:
Miqsuqtunga. Unnuksaq qanuiliurniaqpit?ᒥᖅᓱᖅᑐᖓ. ᐅᓐᓄᒃᓴᖅ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕐᓂᐊᖅᐱᑦ? I am sewing. And, what will you be doing this afternoon?
Jaaki:
Iqalliarniaqtunga.ᐃᖃᓪᓕᐊᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᖓ. I will be going fishing.
Inuapik:
Asu. Qaukpalli, qanuiliulaaqpit?ᐊᓱ. ᖃᐅᒃᐸᓪᓕ, ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᓛᖅᐱᑦ?I see. What will you be doing tomorrow?
Jaaki:
Umiaqtulaaqtunga.ᐅᒥᐊᖅᑐᓛᖅᑐᖓ. I will be going boating.
Inuapik:
Hii.ᕼᐄ. Okay, then.

Vocabulary
maanna
now
ullumi
today
ullaaq
morning
unnuk
evening
qaukpat
tomorrow
ippaksaq
yesterday
qanuiliuqpit?
What are you doing?
qanuiliuniaqpit?
What will you be doing (later today)?
qanuiliulaaqpit?
What will you be doing? (tomorrow or further in the future)
qanuiliuqqauvit?
What did you do earlier today?
qanuiliulauqpit?
What did you do? (yesterday or further in the past)
Qaukpat qanuiliulaaqpa?
What is he/she doing tomorrow?
aullaqtuq
departs (he/she...)
aullarniaqtuq
depart, he/she will... (later today)
aullalaaqtuq
depart, he/she will.... (tomorrow or later)
aullaqqaujuq
departed, he/she...(earlier today)
aullalauqtuq
departed, he/she... (yesterday or earlier)
pisuktuq
walking (she/he is...)
titiraqtuq
writing (he/she is...)
ilinniaqtuq
learning (he/she is...)
miqsuqtuq
sewing (he/she is...)
sanajuq
working (he/she is...)

Grammar

7 » Future Tense Affixes

 

Inuktitut has a number of ways of talking about events that will happen in the future.

One way is to insert the affix -niaq between the verb and the subject ending. -niaq- is used only for events that will happen later the same day.

Suvit? What are you doing?
Suniaqpit? What will you be doing?
   
nirijunga I am eating.
niriniaqtunga I will be eating.

When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in q, the q changes to r.

kaapituq + niaq + tunga =  
kaapiturniaqtunga I will be drinking coffee.
When -niaq- is added to a root ending in k, it changes the final k to ng.
malik + niaq + tuq =  
malingniaqtuq He/she will follow.
When -niaq- is added to a root ending in t, it changes the final t to n.
tavvaniit + niaq + tuq =  
tavvaniinniaqtuq He/she is going to be here.

The double n above is not just a quirk of spelling. When you pronounce this word, you have to hold the n sound for twice as long as you would a single n.

-laaq- is another affix that is used to talk about the future. -laaq- is used for events that will be happening the next day or further into the future.
Arvialiarniaqtunga I am going to Arviat (later that day).
Arvialialaaqtunga I will be going to Arviat (sometime in the future).
   
takuutiniaqpugut See you soon!
takuutilaarivugut See you later/ See you then!
 
pinasuarusiulaaqtumi next week
If -laaq- is added to a stem that ends in a consonant, it deletes the last consonant.
aullaq + laaq + tuq =  
aullalaaqtut They will depart.
 
Finally, be aware that when starting a sentence with the idea 'when', you use different words, depending on whether you are talking about an event in the future or in the past:
Qakugu utirniaqpa? When will she be back?
Qanga utilauqpa? When did she get back?

8 » Past Tense Affixes

There are a few ways that we can talk in Inuktitut about events that have happened in the past.

Firstly, we can attach an affix to a verb that marks the past tense.

-qqau- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened earlier in the day.

niriqqaujuq He/she ate earlier.
sanaqqaujunga I worked (earlier that day).

-lauq- is used to describe actions that have happened yesterday or in the not too distant past.

Ippaksaq sanalauqtuq. He/she worked yesterday.
miqsulauqtunga I sewed.

Note that when any of the above affixes are added to a root ending in a consonant, they delete the final consonant.

tikit + qqau + juq =  
tikiqqaujuq  He/she arrived earlier.
   
pisuk + lauq + tut =  
pisulauqtut They walked (yesterday or earlier).