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Cherokee, like many Native American languages, is polysynthetic, meaning that many morphemes may be linked together to form a single word, which may be of great length. Cherokee verbs, the most important word type, must contain as a minimum a pronominal prefix, a verb root, an aspect suffix, and a modal suffix. Consider the following verb:

Verb form ge:ga g- e: -g -a
PRONOMINAL PREFIX VERB ROOT “to go” ASPECT SUFFIX MODAL SUFFIX

For example, the verb form ge:ga, “I am going,” has each of these elements. The pronominal prefix is g-, which indicates first person singular. The verb root is -e, “to go.” The aspect suffix that this verb employs for the present-tense stem is -g-. The present-tense modal suffix for regular verbs in Cherokee is -a.

Cherokee, like many Native American languages, is polysynthetic, meaning that many morphemes may be linked together to form a single word, which may be of great length. Cherokee verbs, the most important word type, must contain as a minimum a pronominal prefix, a verb root, an aspect suffix, and a modal suffix. Consider the following verb:

Verb form ge:ga g- e: -g -a
PRONOMINAL PREFIX VERB ROOT “to go” ASPECT SUFFIX MODAL SUFFIX

For example, the verb form ge:ga, “I am going,” has each of these elements. The pronominal prefix is g-, which indicates first person singular. The verb root is -e, “to go.” The aspect suffix that this verb employs for the present-tense stem is -g-. The present-tense modal suffix for regular verbs in Cherokee is -a.

The following is a conjugation in the present tense of the verb to be. Please note that there is no separate plural form in the 3rd person. The dual form serves both the dual and plural functions.

Full conjugation of Root Verb-e- going Singular Dual incl. Dual excl. Plural excl. Plural incl.
1st gega – I’m going inega – We’re going (you + I) osdega – We two are going (not you) otsega – We’re all going (3+, not you) idega we’re all going (3+, including you)
2nd hega – you’re going ’sdega – you two are going - - itsega – you are all going
3rd ega – (s)he/it’s going - anega They (2+) are going - -

Notice that translation is the present progressive (at this time I am going). The Cherokee language differentiates more clearly the difference between the progressive and the habitual (I go), more so than the Western Indo-European languages.

The forms gegoi, hegoi, egoi represent “I often/usually go”, “you often/usually go”, and “he often/usually goes” (respectively).

Verbs can also have prepronominal prefixes, reflexive prefixes, and derivative suffixes. Given all possible combinations of affixes, each regular verb can have 21,262 inflected forms.
Notice that translation is the present progressive (at this time I am going). The Cherokee language differentiates more clearly the difference between the progressive and the habitual (I go), more so than the Western Indo-European languages.

The forms gegoi, hegoi, egoi represent “I often/usually go”, “you often/usually go”, and “he often/usually goes” (respectively).

Verbs can also have prepronominal prefixes, reflexive prefixes, and derivative suffixes. Given all possible combinations of affixes, each regular verb can have 21,262 inflected forms.

Source: Wikipedia