WORDS are the basic units in grammar.

Written words are often set apart and distinguished from other words by spaces, which indicate the beginning and end of the word. This is the case in English, in French, and often in Innu. However, there are exceptions. Sometimes whole words can include spaces, as in French chemin de fer, bande dessinée, pomme de terre and in Innu nika atussen I will work.

In Innu, simple written words are written without a space or a hyphen:

akup	coat		akupa	coats
mitshuap	house		mitshuapit	in the house
niminushim	my cat		minushat	cats
utapan	car		utapaniss	small car
nitatussen	I work		tshinikamutan	we sang

In some cases, Innu words use a hyphen. These are compound words, such as:

mishta-min	orange		nimińu-tutuau	I treat her/him well
ishkuteu-ush	motor boat		atiku-uiash	caribou meat

In other cases, gaps (spaces) are used inside a single word. The following examples are words that contain gaps/spaces:

nika atussen	I will work
tshui mitshishun	you want to eat
tshika ui mitshishun	you will want to eat

These examples are all verbs, where the beginning is determined by the presence of a personal prefix and the end by a personal suffix.