The first person singular subject pronoun is tsun, which is also pronounced tsu. Put tsun after the first auxiliary or verb of the sentence.
nem’ tsun ’imush.
“I’m going to walk.”
m’i tsun yaays.
“I’m coming to work.”
’umut tsun tse’.
“I will sit down.”
2.3 Two auxiliaries: ’i and ni’.
’i tsun lhtsiws.
“I am tired.” (now)
ni’ tsun ’imush.
“I walked.” (action completed)
ni’ tsun nem’ ’umut.
“I went to sit down.” (over there)
2.4 Pattern practice.
I walked.
ni’ tsun ’imush.
sang
stopped
listened
sat
smiled
went picking
spoke in a First Nations Language
hwulmuhwqun
2.5 Translation.
I worked.
I was quiet.
I called out.
I danced.
I talked.
I ran.
I went to sit down.
I went to play.
2.6 ch “you”.
The second person singular subject pronoun is ch. This appears after the first auxiliary or verb.
ni’ ch ’imush.
“You walked.”
ni’ ch ’unuhw.
“You stopped.”
ni’ ch nem’ q’ulum’.
“You went camping.”
’i ch lhtsiws.
“You are tired.”
2.7 ’u question particle.
’i ’u ch lhtsiws?
“Are you tired?”
ni’ ’u ch ’imush?
“Did you walk?”
ni’ ’u ch ’ulhtun?
“Did you eat?”
nem’ ’u ch ’umut?
“Are you going to sit down?”
ni’ ’u ch nem’ ’umut?
“Did you go sit down?”
qwal ’u ch tse’?
“Will you talk?”
2.8 Pronunciation tip.
Contract the auxiliary ’i and the question particle ’u to ’ii and ni’ and ’u to nii.
2.9 Translation.
Did you stand up?
Did you call out?
Did you smile?
Did you talk?
Did you go camping?
Did you run?
Did you dance?
Did you go work?
Did you listen?
Did you sing?
2.10 Answer.
Q: ni’ ’u ch ’imush?
A: ni’ tsun ’imush.
“Did you walk?”
“I walked.”
ni’ ’u ch qwal?
“Did you speak?”
ni’ ’u ch hwiyuneem’?
“Did you listen?”
ni’ ’u ch yaays?
“Did you work?”
ni’ ’u ch nem’ ’imush?
“Did you walk?”
ni’ ’u ch t’ilum?
“Did you sing?”
ni’ ’u ch ’umut?
“Did you sit down?”
2.11 Ask a question.
ni’ tsun ’imush.
Ask: ni’ ’u ch ’imush?
ni’ tsun qw’uyulush.
ni’ tsun ’unuhw.
ni’ tsun hwulmuhwqun.
ni’ tsun nem’.
ni’ tsun hwyunumus.
ni’ tsun nem’ lhumts’el’s.
2.12 tst “we”.
Place the first person plural subject pronoun tst after the first auxiliary or verb.
’i tst lhtsiws.
“We are tired.”
ni’ tst ’imush.
“We walked.”
ni’ tst lhxilush.
“We stood up.”
ni’ tst huye’.
“We left.”
ni’ tst nem’ ’umut.
“We went to sit down.”
nem’ tst tse’.
“We will go.”
2.13 Pattern practice.
We walked.
ni’ tst ’imush.
sing
stop
listen
smile
go picking
speak in a First Nations language
2.14 Translation.
We worked.
We were quiet.
We called out.
We danced.
We talked.
We ran.
We went to sit down.
We went to play.
2.15 tseep “you (pl)”.
Use the second person plural subject pronoun tseep when addressing more than one person.
2.15a Place tseep after the first auxiliary or verb of the sentence.
ni’ tseep ’imush.
“You (pl) walked.”
ni’ tseep nem’.
“You (pl) went.”
ni’ tseep qwal.
“You (pl) talked.”
2.15b The interrogative particle ’u precedes tseep.
ni’ ’u tseep t’ilum?
“Did you (pl) sing?”
ni’ ’u tseep qw’uyulush?
“Did you (pl) dance?”
ni’ ’u tseep hwulmuhwqun?
“Do you (pl) speak a First Nations language?”
2.16 Answer.
Q: ni’ ’u tseep ’imush?
A: ni’ tst ’imush.
“Did you (pl) walk?”
“We walked.”
ni’ ’u tseep qwal?
ni’ ’u tseep hwiyuneem’?
ni’ ’u tseep yaays?
ni’ ’u tseep nem’ ’imush?
ni’ ’u tseep t’ilum?
ni’ ’u tseep ’umut?
2.17 Ask a question.
ni’ tst ’imush.
Ask: ni’ ’u tseep ’imush?
ni’ tst qw’uyulush.
ni’ tst ’unuhw.
ni’ tst hwulmuhwqun.
ni’ tst nem’.
ni’ tst hwyunumus.
ni’ tst nem’ lhumts’el’s.
2.18 ’uw’…’ul’ qualifier
By adding the particles ’uw’ before the verb and ’ul’ after the verb, you can express the meaning of “just” or “quite”.
ni’ ’u ch ’uw’ ’imush ’ul’?
“Did you just walk?” (as opposed to getting a ride)
ni’ tsun ’uw’ ’unuhw ’ul’.
“I just stopped.”
’uw’ ’ayum ch’ ul’!
“Just go slow!” (“Just take it easy!”)
’i ’u ch ’uw’ ’uy’ ’ul’?
“How are you?”/“Are you (quite) all right?”
’i ’u tseep ’uw’ ’eli’ ’ul’?
“How are you (pl)?”
2.19 Translation.
ni’ tsun ’uw’ hwyunumus ’ul’.
ni’ ’u ch ’u teem ’ul’?
ni’ tst ’uw’ xwchenum ’ul’.
I just listened.
Did you just sit down?
We just worked.
2.20 “he/she/it”.
No special marking is needed to express third person subjects of intransitive verbs. Just use the plain verb. Unlike English, Hul’q’umi’num’ makes no distinction in gender when it comes to person marking. So the sentences below have subjects that can be translated as “he”, “she”, “it”, or “them”, depending on the context.
ni’ ’umut.
“He/she/it sat down.”
ni’ nem’ yaays.
“He/she went to work.”
ni’ qw’uyulush ’i’ t’ilum.
“He/she danced and sang.”
ni’ ’u ’umut?
“Did he/she/it sit down?”
ni’ ’u nem’?
“Did he/she/it go?”
ni’ ’u hwulmuhwqun?
“Does he/she speak a First Nations language?”
2.21 ’eelhtun “they”.
No special marking on the verb is needed to express a third person plural subject. But the pronoun ’eelhtun can be used after the verb to make it clear that more than one person is doing the action.
I went for a walk. I saw a person and I asked, “Do you speak a First Nations language?” He stopped and smiled and then he said, “Do you speak Hul’q’umi’num’? Let’s sit.” We sat down and the man spoke. I listened carefully.
