The Grammar of Plains Cree Words is primarily divided between the four main word classes: Nouns, Verbs, Particles, and Pronouns.
However, within each of these main Parts of Speech, we can find further subclasses and these more detailed parts of speech codes will be found within these pages and listed within the entries of the nēhiyawēwin / Plains Cree Dictionary. Each of these codes will be explained within the appropriate section of these Grammar pages but, for quick reference, all of the parts of speech codes are listed here with a brief description (and links to the appropriate page(s)):
| INM | Indeclinable Nominal – a non-nominal (usually verbal) structure used to form names in place of a noun |
| IPC | Indeclinable Particle – a free particle |
| IPH | Indeclinable Particle Phrase – two or more particles combined into a Phrase |
| IPJ | Indeclinable Interjection – a particle used as a holophrastic utterance (i.e. an exclamation unto itself) outside of clausal syntax |
| IPN | Indeclinable Prenoun – a particle which must be attached to a Noun |
| IPP | Indeclinable Pre-particle – a particle which must be attached to another element in the formation of a particle |
| IPV | Indeclinable Preverb – a particle which must be attached to a Verb |
| NA | Animate Noun – a noun classed as animate within the Cree system of Gender |
| – NA1 – class 1 is the basic or regular paradigm | |
| – NA2 – class 2 end in Vowel-Glide sequences | |
| – NA3 – class 3 end in Consonant-/w/ sequences | |
| – NA4 – class 4 consist of single-syllable stems, some of which also end in Consonant-/w/ sequences (i.e. NA4w) | |
| NDA | Dependent Animate Noun – an inalienable animate noun which must take person-marking prefixes (e.g. kinship terms, body parts, etc.) |
| NDI | Dependent Inanimate Noun – an inalienable inanimate noun which must take person-marking prefixes (e.g. body parts and some special items) |
| NI | Inanimate Noun – a noun classed as inanimate within the Cree system of Gender |
| – NI1 – class 1 is the basic or regular paradigm | |
| – NI2 – class 2 end in Vowel-Glide sequences | |
| – NI3 – class 3 end in Consonant-/w/ sequences | |
| – NI4 – class 4 consist of single-syllable stems, some of which also end in Consonant-/w/ sequences (i.e. NI4w) | |
| – NI5 – class 5 end in /t/ (alternating with /s/) stems (a very small, irregular class) | |
| PR | Pronoun – a grammatical particle used as a shortcut to refer to a larger noun or noun phrase |
| PrA | Animate Pronoun – a pronoun used to refer to an animate referent |
| PrI | Inanimate Pronoun – a pronoun used to refer to an inanimate referent |
| PrH | Prononimal Phrase – a pronoun combined with at least one other element (pronoun or particle) to form a phrase with pronominal reference |
| VAI | Animate Intransitive Verb (classes 1, 2 and 3) – intransitive verbs with an animate actor/subject |
| – VAI1 – class 1 is the basic or regular paradigm | |
| – VAI2 – class 2 are n-final stems | |
| – VAI3 – class 3 are intransitive verbs that inflect like VTI1 | |
| VII | Inanimate Intransitive Verb (classes 1 and 2) – intransitive verbs with no animate actor/subject |
| – VII1 – class 1 are impersonal verbs (i.e. no plurals) | |
| – VII2 – class 2 are all others (both Vowel-final and n-final stems) | |
| VTA | Transitive Animate Verb (classes 1, 2, 3, and 4) – transitive verbs with an animate actor/subject and an inanimate goal/object |
| – VTA1 – class 1 is the basic or regular paradigm | |
| – VTA2 – class 2 end in Vowel-Glide sequences | |
| – VTA3 – class 3 end in Consonant-/w/ sequences | |
| – VTA4 – class 4 end in /t/ (alternating with /s/) stems | |
| VTI | Transitive Inanimate Verb (classes 1, 2, and 3) |
| – VTI1 – class 1 is the basic or regular paradigm | |
| – VTI2 – class 2 end in /ā/ and inflect like VAI1 | |
| – VTI3 – class 3 end in /i/ and inflect like VAI1 |