Some dialects clearly mark verb tenses by adding an affix between the verb root and the verb ending. Inuinnaqtun is not one of them. Keep in mind that one often has to rely on the context of the conversations in Inuinnaqtun to determine whether one is speaking in the present, past or future.
Nonetheless, the affix -niaq- is frequently used in Inuinnaqtun to mark events in the future:
| hulivit? | What are you doing? |
| huniaqpit? | What will you be doing? |
| nirijunga | I am eating |
| niriniaqtunga | I will be eating |
When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in q, the q changes to r.
| kaapituq + niaq + tunga = | |
| kaapiturniaqtunga | I will be drinking coffee. |
When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in k, it changes the final k to ng.
| malik + niaq + tuq = | |
| malingniaqtuq | He/she is going to follow. |
When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in t, it changes the final t to n.
| talvaniit + niaq + tuq = | |
| talvaniinniaqtuq | He/she is going to be here. |
Unlike other Inuktut dialects, Inuinnaqtun speakers use -niaq- both for events that will happen later today and those that will happen farther in the future:
| Ublumi aullarniaqtugut. | We will be departing today. |
| Aqugu utirniaqtugut. | We will be returning tomorrow. |
Finally, be aware that when starting a sentence with the idea 'when', you use different words, depending on whether you are talking about an event in the future or in the past:
| Qakugu tikinniaqpa? | When will she be arrive? |
| Qanga tikippa? | When did she arrive? |