Expressing 'to be' (-u-)

01

Four Shapes

Usually a final q or k of the noun drops, and the shape of "be" depends on what is left:

• -uvoq after i or u; an o becomes u: qernertoq "black one", qernertuuvoq "is black"
• -avoq after a single a: arnaq "woman", arnaavoq "is a woman"
• -juvoq after aa: sanaaq "something made", sanaajuvoq "is made"
• -uvoq after words in -neq, whose q becomes r instead of dropping: tanneq "the longest", tanneruvoq "is the longest"

• Ilinniartitsisuuvoq.

  He is a teacher.

• Meerara tallimaat nukappiaraavoq.

  My fifth child is a boy. (nukappiaraq + -avoq)

• Una igalaajuvoq.

  That is a window. (igalaaq + -juvoq)

• Arfininngorneruvoq.

  It's Saturday. (arfininngorneq + -uvoq)

02

The Endings

-uvunga "I am", -uvutit "you are", -uvoq "he, she, it is", -uvugut "we are", -uvusi "you are" (several people), -upput "they are".

• Neriniartarfimmi igasuuvunga.

  I am a cook at a restaurant.

• Spaniamiuupput.

  They are Spanish. (-upput "they are"; Spaniamiu stays singular)

• Ilinniartitsisuunngilaq, suliffeqanngilaq.

  She's not a teacher. She is unemployed. (with "not": -unngilaq)

03

Being Somewhere

For being in a place there is a different suffix, -ip- "be", after the locative ending: -miip- "be in, be at".

• Nerriviup ataaniippoq.

  It is under the table. (ataani "at its underside" + -ip-)