The present, past and future tenses are expressed by adverbs which follow the verbs. Note that there are three past tenses.
 | Present: Hakloh (hahk-loe) - He hears it
| Past: Hakkloh (hah-ka-loe) - He just heard
| Haklo tuk (hahk-loe took) - He heard it
| Haklo tok (hah-loe tock) - He heard it (long ago)
| Future: Hakla chih (hahk-lah cheh)* - He will hear it (the underlined syllable indicates that is is nasalized)
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Iinterestingly, adjectives and verbs are synomous in Choctaw. In other words, the adjective itself is the verb. This is shown by internal changes in the word.
| Chito (cheh-toe) - To be big, large
| Chinto (chehn-toe) - To be bigger
| Chieto (cheh-eah-toe) - To be the largest, huge
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To indicate the subject, or "what" is large or big, you use the passive voice.
| Sa chitoh* (aah-cheh-toe) - I am big
| Chi chitoh* (cheh cheh-toe) - You are big
| Chitoh* (cheh-toe) - He is large
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*Note the (h) on the end of the verb indicating the main verb of the sentence. In the case of the last sentence, the verb is the sentence. Althought there are no singular or plural nouns in Choctaw, whenever there are more than one, the indication is found in either the adjective or the verb.
| Chito (cheh-toe) - For one to be big
| Hochito (hoe-cheh-toe) - For several to be big
| Hikia (heh-keh-ah) - For one to stand
| Heli (hay-leh) - For two to stand
| Hiyohli (heh-yoe-leh) - For several to stand
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The basic articles are: a "a or the", ma "that", and pa "this". Normally you will see them used like this: a, ma, pa, which means they are nasalized. However, when they are used for emphasis as part of the subject of the sentence, they are written: at, mat, and pat.
| Hattak mat (haht-tahk maht) - That Man
| Hattak matto (haht-tahk mah-toe) - THAT man
| Hattak mak osh (haht-tahk mah kosh) - It was that man who
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This next item may be the most confusing of all, so read it several times and thoroughly understand if before going on. Sentences in Choctaw are very different than english. For example, the phrase "Those three big green sassafras trees" in Choctaw would read:
iti kafi okchamali hochito tuchina mat Trees sassafras green big three those
Another grammatical difference between English and Choctaw, is that in Choctaw the verb is always at the end of the sentence. Here is another example.
Hattak at ofi pisa tuk* man the dog see*tuk - indicating past tense
One more. Adverbs follow the verbs they modify.
chito fehna (very big) big very tuklo makalla (only two) two only