Verbs

Present Tense

To make (dinner)

In Michif there are sometimes slight differences with these prefixes but in general this is the pattern. Once you get used to using these prefixes and suffixes the system becomes quite easy to follow.

English: I am making dinner
Michif: li dinner d-osht-aan
Category: Present Tense

English: He/she is making dinner
Michif: li dinner osht-ow
Category: Present Tense

English: We are making dinner
Michif: li dinner d-osht-anaan
Category: Present Tense

English: They are making dinner
Michif: li dinner osht-awuk
Category: Present Tense

English: You are making dinner
Michif: li dinner d-osht-aan
Category: Present Tense

Past and Future

Not only are prefixes used to talk about who is doing the action they are used to show Past Tense and Future Tense as well. In English we have many ways to talk about an event that took place in the past, for example:

I made dinner.
She has made dinner.

In Michif it is simple to express past time. We believe that all we need to do is add kee-/gee to the beginning of the verb and it indicates the past tense. Lets look at an example of this. Listen to the example below and notice the pattern.

 

Past Tense

English: I made dinner
Michif: li dinner kee-osht-aan
Category: Past Tense

English: He/she made dinner
Michif: li dinner kee osht-ow
Category: Past Tense

English: They made dinner
Michif: li dinner kee-osht-awuk
Category: Past Tense

English: We made dinner
Michif: li dinner kee-onsht-anaan
Category: Past Tense

English: You made dinner (plural)
Michif: li dinner kee-oshtanawow
Category: Past Tense

English: You made dinner (sing)
Michif: li dinner kee-oshtaan
Category: Past Tense

Future Tense

To express future tense we believe is very similar to the past tense. However when expressing the future tense the prefix added to the beginning of the word is kaa-/gaa. Look again at the example below and listen for the differences.

English: I will make dinner
Michif: li dinner ga-oshtaan
Category: Future Tense

English: He/she will make dinner
Michif: li dinner ka-oshitow
Category: Future Tense

English: They will make dinner
Michif: li dinner ka-oshtaowuk
Category: Future Tense

English: We will make dinner
Michif: li dinner ga-oshtanaan
Category: Future Tense

English: You will make dinner (plural)
Michif: li dinner ga-oshtanawow
Category: Future Tense

English: You will make dinner (sing)
Michif: li dinner ka-oshtaan
Category: Future Tense