#i promise we're getting into actual verbs tomorrow

[guillemelgat]

VERBS (Order) - Western Abenaki Grammar

Another important concept to understand with Abenaki verbs is order. We'll talk about three types of orders here:

independent - this is the order used in the main clauses of sentences (so basically for the verbs in most sentences), it's used mostly in statements but also some questions

imperative - this is the order used for commands and suggestions

conjunct - this order is used in some dependent clauses (parts of the sentence that aren't a sentence on their own) and in some questions

The most commonly used order is independent, since it's needed for most sentences. You can easily tell if a sentence uses the independent order by the presence of the personal prefixes (nd-/kd-/wd-), which are used only for independent verbs (the reverse is not true - verbs in the independent order do not necessary have to have personal prefixes, so just because there are not prefixes does not mean that the verb is not independent).

Orders are divided into modes, of which the most common is the indicative. These will be discussed later when we get further into verbs, but it’s good to know that they exist.

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