Lesson 4: Further Comments on the Weather: Past, Present and Future

ki'-kimiwan

it rained

ki'-mispon

it snowed

wi'-mispon

it's going to snow

wi'-kisite'w

it's going to be hot

wi'-tahka'ya'w

it's going to be cold

wi'-min~o-ki'sika'w

it's going to be nice weather

ta-mispon

it will snow

tahka'ya'w anohc

it's cold today

anohc tahka'ya'w

it's cold today

kimiwan anohc

it's raining today

ki'-kimiwan anohc

it rained today

anohc wi'-mispon

it's going to snow today

ki'-kimiwan ota'hkosi'hk

it rained yesterday

wi'-n~otin wa'pahke'

it's going to be windy tomorrow

ta-kimiwan wa'pahke'

it will rain tomorrow

me'kwa'c mispon

it's snowing right now

mispon me'kwa'c

it's snowing right now

ke'ya'pic mispon

it's still snowing

ki'htwa'm ki'-mispon

it snowed again

ki'-mispon ki'htwa'm

it snowed again

ma'sko'c ta-mispon

maybe it will snow

anohc kisina'w

it's bitterly cold today

ota'hkosi'hk mina ki-kisina'w

it was also bitterly cold yesterday

New Words

Adverbs

anohc

today

ke'ya'pic

still (referring to time)

ki'htwa'm

again

ma'sko'c

maybe, perhaps

me'kwa'c

right now, at present

mi'na

also

ota'hkosi'hk

yesterday

wa'pahke'

tomorrow

Notes

ki'- is placed before indicative verbs to make statements referring to past time, that is, statements that describe situations or events that occurred before the time of speaking. We say ki'- forms the past tense of indicative verbs.

wi'- (going to), and ta'- (will) are placed before indicative verbs to make statements referring to the future, that is, statements that describe situations or events that are going to occur, or will occur, after the time of speaking. We say wi'- and ta'- form future tenses of indicative verbs.

Some speakers feel that ta- is too definite to be applied to anything as unpredictable as the weather, as one person said, "Only God could say ta-mispon."

Adverbs are used with verbs to provide certain additional information about a situation. Most Cree adverbs usually precede the verb, but some of them can also follow it.

Exercises

1. How was the weather yesterday? Answer in Cree.
2. Using the pictures in lesson three, answer the previous question as you would have if yesterday's weather had been as shown in each picture (for example, you could say, "it rained yesterday," for picture 5).
3. Again using the pictures in lesson three, predict tomorrow's weather as you would if you expected it to be as shown in each picture (for example, you could say, "it's going to snow tomorrow," for picture 6).

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