| Tshinipan. | You are sleeping, you are asleep. |
The Independent Indicative Present (#01) is used alone for things happening now, in the present tense, with a neutral modality.
The forms of conjugation #01 can combine with many preverbs, for example to indicate the future, the conditional, or to indicate modality (like want):
| Future | Conditional + want |
|---|---|
| Tshika nipan. | Shash tshipa ui nipan. |
| You will sleep. | You should already be asleep. |
The personal prefix is always attached before the preverb. More than one preverb can be combined, for example the volitional preverb ui with the future -ka:
| want | Future + want |
|---|---|
| Nui nipan. | Nika ui nipan. |
| I want to sleep. | I will try to sleep. |
Or the preverb tshi can with the future -ka:
| Future + can | |
|---|---|
| Tshika tshi uapamau a? | Will you be able to see her/him? |
More on preverbs…
The third person of this form is the one used for the Innu Dictionary entries, for example: nipau s/he sleeps.
Link to the conjugation guide.