Grammar
Cree Verbs
Verbs are words used to talk about actions, states, and events in relation to things and beings. Many concepts that are nouns in English are verbs in Cree, like the time of day the days of the week, the seasons of the year, the weather…
The structure of the Cree verbs is complex: it must include a verb stem with person suffixes; it may also include a person prefix, other suffixes and preverbs.
| Person prefix |
Preverbs | Verb stem | Suffixes (theme, person, obviative, plural) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ᓂ | ᒌ ᐐ | ᐙᐸᐦᑦ | ᐁᓐ |
| ni | chii wii | waapaht | en |
| I | past want | see | it |
| ᓂ | ᒌ ᐐ | ᐙᐸᒻ | ᐁᐅᒡ |
| ni | chii wii | waapam | e u ch |
| I | past want | see | them |
Cree verbs fall into several classes depending on two important differences: transitivity and gender.