Introduction to Ojibwe
Verb Grammar

Niwaabamaa a'aw memengwaa mekawaadizid. - I see that beautiful butterfly.

Participle answers the question "who?", or "what?" The correct sense of it could be translated as "someone/something, who/which is doing smth", or "someone/something, who/which is smth":

Niwaabamaag degoshingig. - I see those who arrived.

Participles are very widely used in Ojibwe. Besides nouns there are also some names for people, objects, animals, e.g., "gekinoo'amaaged" (teacher), gekinoo'amaawind" (student), "bemisemagak" (airplane), "detebised" (wheel), etc., which are used as nouns, but in fact are participles.

Verb Categories

There are four verb categories in Ojibwe:

Verbs animate inransitive (vai)
Verbs inanimate intransitive (vii)
Verbs transitive animate (vta)
Verbs transitive inanimate (vti)

Note. Transitivity. Check these examples:

1) I walk (I am walking) , you go (you are going), he stands (he is standing), we live (we are living) - verbs animate intransitive;

2) It works (it is working), it rains (it is raining), it shines (it is shining), it falls (it is falling) - verbs inanimate intransitive;

3) I see him, you hear me, he knows us, I remember you - verbs transitive animate;

4) I see it, you hear it, he knows it, I remember it - verbs transitive inanimate.

Can you check the difference between the first 1) and 2) lines and the last 3) and 4) lines? Verbs in the last two lines are used with words 'him', 'me', 'us', 'you', 'it'. These words are called objects. Objects could be also nouns: I see a boat, you hear a bird, he knows John. Such verbs which can take objects are called transitive verbs. Verbs in the first two lines can't take objects (just logically) - these are intransitive verbs, they have only subjects (those, who are doing actions are called subjects.)

In English it is not vital to know if a verb is transitive or intransitive. In Ojibwe it is. In English you can say: I eat, I eat it, I know, I know him, I know it. We use the same verbs both with and without objects. We just don't care about it.

In Ojibwe if a verb is intransitive, you can't use an object with it. At all. If you need to add an object you need to use a transitive verb. If you need to add an animate object you need to use an animate transitive verb, and if you need to add an inanimate object, you need an inanimate transitive verb.

That's why in Ojibwe there are three different verbs 'eat', three different verbs 'know', three different verbs 'hear', etc.

Verbs animate intransitive (vai) � are used with an animate subject and no object:

wiisini               he eats, he is eating
niminikwe          I drink, I am drinking
aakoziwag         they are sick
baapi                 he laughs, he is laughing
gibakade           you s. are hungry

Verbs conjugate i.e. change their form depending on person and number.
Personal pronouns are not used in conjugation. Personal prefixes and suffixes (affixes) are used instead:

The main verb form of Ojibwe verbs is 3d person singular. It means that a verb itself stands in 3d person singular and is translated as: wiisini = (he) eats, minikwe = (he) drinks, etc. That's why in 3d person singular vai verbs don't take affix.

Personal prefixes change slightly depending on the sound following after them:

For more examples see Verb Paradigms.

Note. If a vai verb ends in a short vowel /i/ or /o/, this vowel will be dropped in 1 and 2 person singulars:

wiisini (he eats)   -    niwiisin (I eat)  -   giwiisin (you eat)
gawishimo (he lies)     -    nigawishim (I lie)  -  gigawishim (you lie).

If a vai verb starts with "o", this vowel will lengthen into /oo/ taking personal prefix:

onjibaa (he is from such a place)     -    nindoonjibaa (I am from such a place)

Let's examine B form suffixes for this category using two vai verbs izhinikaazo (he has a name, he is called) ending in a vowel, and dagoshin (he arrives) ending in a consonant:

There are only three tenses in Ojibwe: Present, Past and Future.

Past Tense forms by adding a past tense prefix /gii-/. The past tense prefix stands after personal prefixes:

In changed B form past tense prefix /gii-/ changes into /gaa-/. (See also: Questions with: who, what, when, where, why, etc.)

Future Tense is formed in two different ways:

1) Simple future is formed with a prefix /ga-/ for 1st and 2nd person and with prefix /da-/ for 3d person.

2) Future with meaning of wish or want, is formed with a prefix /wii-/.
Future with /wii-/ is usually translated as «want to do smth.» or «going to do smth.», and future with /ga-/ and /da-/ - as «will (definitely) do»:

In changed B form future tense prefix /ga-/ changes into /ge-/ and /wii-/ into /waa-/. Future tense prefix /da-/ in some regions changes into /de-/, and in others into /ge-/. (See also: Questions with: who, what, when, where, why, etc.)

Note. Verb tenses are formed the same way for all verb categories.

Verbs transitive animate (vta) � are used with an animate subject and an animate object:

nindamwaa opin � I eat potato (opin/potato (singl) � animate noun)
nindamwaag opiniig � I eat potatoes (opiniig/potatoes (pl))
nimbaabaa niwaabamaa � I see my father
giwaabamaa a�aw ikwe � you s. see that woman
niwaabamaanaan a�aw ma�iingan � we (exc) see that wolf
giga-waabamin � see you later (gi-ga-waabam-in � I will see you)

This is the most difficult verb category. Vta verbs change their form depending on both subject and object person and number. Variety of forms could reach some hundreds or more.
Examples of vta verb conjugations see in Verb Paradigms.

Verbs transitive inanimate (vti) � are used with an animate subject and an inanimate object:

nimiijiin wiiyaas � I eat meat (wiiyaas/meat � inanimate noun)
giwaabandaan o�ow jiimaan � you see that boat
niwaabandaamin o�ow jiimaan � we (exc) see that boat
niwaabandaanan iniw jiimaanan � I see those boats

Vti verb conjugation depends on subject person and number and on object number.
There are two classes of vti verbs depending on a verb stem ending, consonant (class 1) or vowel (class 2). Suffixes for these two classes differ slightly.
Examples of vti verb conjugations see in Verb Paradigms.

Verbs inanimate intransitive (vii) � are used with an inanimate subject and no object:

waawiyeyaa = it is round
waabishkaa = it is white
michaa = it is big
inaande = it is of such color
bizhishigwaa = it is empty

Note. To these verbs suffix /-magad/ could be added, it has no special sense and doesn't change the sense of the verb:

waawiyeyaa-magad = it is round
inaande-magad = it is of such color

Vii verbs have much less forms, than verbs of other categories.

Examples of vii verb conjugations see in Verb Paradigms.

Among vii verbs there are also so called "weather" verbs:

gimiwan - rain, it is raining
zoogipon - snow, it is snowing
zaagaate - sunny, it is sunny
gizhaate - hot, it is hot
gisinaa - cold, it is cold
noodin - wind, it is windy
waaban - dawn

gii-gimiwan bijiinaago = it rained yesterday.
da-zaagaate waabang = it will be sunny tomorrow.

FREELANG OJIBWE DICTIONARY - free downloadable Ojibwe-English & English-Ojibwe dictionary form Freelang.net.