-rataaq- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened in the immediate past (within the hour).
|isirataaqtuq||He / she just came in.|
|tikirataaqtugut||We just arrived.|
-qqau- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened earlier in the day.
|uqaalaqqaujuq||He / she called earlier.|
|angirraqqaujunga||I went home (earlier that day).|
-lauq- is used to describe actions that have happened yesterday or in the not too distant past.
|ippatsaq tuttulialauqtuq||Yesterday, he went caribou hunting.|
|taqqiulauqtumi qikalauqtuq||Last month she went on holidays.|
Note that when any of the above affixes are added to a root ending in a consonant, they delete the final consonant.
|aullaq + rataaq + tuq =|
|aullarataaqtuq||She just left (departed) a few minutes ago.|
|tikit + qqau + juq =|
|tikiqqaujuq||He arrived earlier.|
|malik + lauq + tut =|
|malilauqtut||They followed (yesterday or earlier).|
Verbs involving motion often refer to an event in the past when they are combined with basic subject endings (-junga/-tunga, -jutit/-tutit, -juq/-tuq, etc.) :
|tikippit?||Did you arrive/make it here OK?|
|tikippunga||I arrived/made it here OK.|