Coordinating inflections mark top-level sentence roles like the agent who takes action, the "experiencer" of a change, the place and time, and so on. These roles do not correspond in any simple way to familiar roles like subject and object, because they are determined by semantics rather than by the definition of a verb.

Because the roles are marked by inflections, words with coordinating inflections can be put into any order, as long as you respect the divider.

The inflections can tell you whether the sentence is agentive and whether it is eventive or descriptive. (And you can also specify other -ive properties that linguists care about.) The content vocabulary is not burdened with words for, for example, separate agentive and non-agentive actions.

There are three kinds of coordinating inflections, agentive, eventive, and descriptive.

An agent is anything that has a goal and takes actions to achieve it. If the sun is trying to make you take your coat off, it is an agent.

Using any agentive inflection implies that there is an agent who takes an action in pursuit of a goal. Neither the agent, the action, nor the goal need be mentioned; anything that is obvious or unimportant can be freely left out. In fact, a sentence can be agentive without using any agentive inflection, though it's probably rare.

Ofta pa epuua.
I+agent belief market+goal.
I went to the store.

Ofta pa usluepu epuua.
I+agent belief car+instrument market+goal.
I drove to the store.

Ofta pa ofepu epuua.
I+agent belief I+instrument market+goal.
I walked to the store.

Ofta pa hofheha epuua.
I+agent belief fly+action market+goal.
I flew to the store.

Ofta ouxuepu.
I+agent Ouxu+instrument.
I can speak Ouxu.

All inflections are vague, which makes them flexible. The store can be a goal because it is a destination. More generally, a situation can also be a goal; to express that, see Clauses.

An eventive inflection describes an event, which is to say, a change. An eventive sentence notionally describes only one event, though it may be a complex or multi-part event: "Ideas occurred to both of us" is one event. If you use more than one eventive inflection in a clause, they describe the same event.

Taehuae pa colupfa.
Chalk+experiencer belief fracture+event.
The chalk broke.

Xeussutun pa atae ofae.
Concept+example-of+change-to belief you+experiencer I+experiencer.
Ideas occurred to both of us.

Every agentive sentence is also eventive, because the agent's action -ha is also an event -fa. Using an agentive inflection suggests that the event of the sentence is the agent's action, but sometimes it might be some other event instead—perhaps a cause or result of the agent's action. Here are two sentences in which the agentive action is separate from the event.

Atta ofet epuua pa ofkap.
You+agent I+cause market+goal belief I+move.
You had me go to the store.
(I can be the cause because I moved myself; you are the agent because it was your goal.
You could also be the cause because you ultimately decided, but
the meaning would be less clear.)

Atta ofet epuua pa atkap.
You+agent I+cause market+goal belief you+move.
You had me take you to the store.
(I can be the cause because I moved you.)

Whether a sentence should be agentive or eventive can be a matter of point of view. If you suppose that rain just happens, you'll use an eventive sentence. If you suppose that Blinky the Rain God makes it rain, or that cloud seeding has occurred, then you might choose an agentive sentence.

Uifa.
Rain+event.
It's raining (that happens sometimes).

Uiha.
Rain+action.
It's raining (because somebody decided it should).

-Un is the result of the action or event. For a failed action, you can say liospu (nothing+change-by) or liosapa (nothing+change-in), with slightly different meanings.

-Kap (-move) is more specific than -apa (-change-in). Both mention the thing changing, but -kap is for physical movement specifically.

A descriptive inflection is the only kind that can appear in a descriptive sentence, a sentence which conveys information about a static situation. Descriptive inflections can be also used in agentive or eventive sentences (just as an eventive inflection can be used in a agentive sentence).

-Peha is for identifying, invoking, or calling out to your audience.

Blinky-peha uiha he!
Blinky+vocative rain+action command!
O Blinky, make it rain!

-Haa is a tricky one. It identifies a viewpoint from which or a criterion under which the sentence holds. It might be a person whose opinion the sentence expresses, or a device or a way of measuring under which the sentence is true, or an actual viewpoint so that the sentence holds if you are standing there.

Pa xatxu ofhaa.
Belief green+part I+viewpoint.
It looks green to me.

Pa nifa kuteholiogpahaa.
Belief north+same direction+measurement+device+viewpoint.
The compass says it's to the north.

-Pe if used of an object means that the object exists. If used of a fact (see Clauses to express facts so that they can be inflected), it means that the fact holds.

-Xu and -xe are meant to be used together. -Xu is either a physical part or an aspect of the whole -xe. With this you can express "apples are red" and "apples have stems".

There is no requirement that -xu and -xe both appear if either does. Each one's appearance implies the other's existence, but the other may be left unexpressed. No content word that is obvious or insignificant ever has to be included.

-A is meant to be used more than once in a sentence. Any words inflected with -a are different ways of referring to the same thing (whether an object or an idea). With this, you can express "apples are red" by equating red and apple. If only one -a appears in the sentence, it has no formal meaning, which can also be useful.

-Tit and -tut are also meant to be used more than once each in a sentence. -Tit identifies two or more things as equivalent or interchangeable for some purpose (perhaps they are as good as each other). -Tut is the opposite; it identifies things which can't be interchanged.

1sifegtut liatut!
1+alkane+not-equal air+not-equal!
Natural gas is not air!

-Ihe identifies somebody (some agent) who benefits from the situation or event of the sentence. If the sentence is agentive, it may be somebody who is intended to benefit, rather than somebody who actually does. It's similar to the English preposition "for".

Ofta pa Rosebud-ihe.
I+agent belief Rosebud+beneficiary.
I did it for Rosebud.

Some coordinating inflections are designed to appear more than once in a sentence. Any of the others can also be repeated in a sentence. The meaning of doing so is usually pretty obvious. If more than one word is inflected -ta (-agent), then the event of the sentence was caused by more than one agent, and so on.

You can get a similar effect with the subordinating inflection -ko (-and), explained below. But repeating the inflection allows more freedom, because you can control shades of meaning by changing the word order.

Pa ofxu Smith-xu ifsanxe.
Belief I+part Smith+part team+whole.
I worked together with Smith. (I was part of a team with Smith.)

Ofxu ifsanxe pa Smith-xu.
I+part team+whole belief Smith+part.
Not only I but also Smith was on the team.

A subordinating inflection makes the word into a modifier which modifies the following word—the subordinate becomes an adjective or adverb. The modified word is called the "head". All subordinating inflections have "o" as the final vowel, and no coordinating inflection does.

A word with a subordinating inflection goes right before its head. It cannot be moved around freely.

-So and -lo are similar to -xu (-part), except that they are subordinating inflections. -So is more specific, only for attributes. -Lo is more general, for any association between the subordinate and its head.

Pa atlo pataupe.
Belief you+of friend+exist.
You have a friend.

Ofxe pa xatso axoflo hioxu.
I+whole belief green+attribute egg+of liking+part.
I like green eggs.

Pa xatso axoflo hioso ofa.
Belief green+attribute egg+of liking+attribute I+same.
I like green eggs.

-Seo says that the subordinate has some form of control over the head, such as owning it or holding it in the hand. This covers many uses of the English possessive "'s" and some uses of the word "have".

Ofseo honfaa pa luhia.
I+have chair+same belief cart+same.
My chair rolls.

-Xot lets you attach an arbitrary label to the head. The label may be meaningful, but it doesn't have to be.

Higixot haxocafcixe pa cifxu.
Female+label excrete+room+whole belief left+part.
Thw women's room is on the left.

Pa 107xot afcia.
Belief 107+label room+same.
It is room 107.

-Luo, -paso and -oho are for units of measurement, or for things which are being used as units such as steps of distance or cars full of people.

-Luo says that the subordinate is some measure of the head—a count, the degree to which it is the case, or any other measure. It is similar to -so but more specific. -Paso multiplies units, for example to get square meters. -Oho divides units, for example to get meters per second.

Hohe pa 3luo xufxope.
It+place belief 3+measure planet+exist.
There are three planets there.

Pa 3nekanittelluo xufxohiga.
Belief 3+mega+meter+measure planet+this+same.
This planet is 3,000 kilometers across.

Pa 3nittelpaso nittelluo pefiaa.
Belief 3+meter+times meter+measure island+same.
The island has an area of three square meters.

Pa sekkontaoho 3luo hoa.
Belief second+per 3+measure it+same.
It repeats three times per second.

Pa sekkontaoho 3nittelluo hokap.
Belief second+per 3+meter+measure it+move.
It moves at three meters per second.

The remaining subordinating inflections act something like conjunctions, creating lists. The most useful is -ko, meaning that the subordinate and the head both hold.

Pa kesucogko ikesocugpoa ep.
Belief happy+measure+and sad+measure+opposite+same not.
Sadness is not the opposite of happiness.

-Pon means that either the subordinate or the head holds. If used in a longer list, at least one of the listed items holds. -Hon is for sequences or lists. The items are in some sequential order.

Pa litpon lutpon feefa aukahuifpu aiupupofa.
Belief increasing+or decreasing+or constant+event currency+cost+change-by special-case+opposite+event.
It is normal for prices to either rise, fall, or remain the same.

Laipiepu pa lutafohon litlankafa.
Bank+market+cost belief decreasing+still+then increasing+again+event.
Financial markets will continue to fall before they rise again.

-Hito is for something which does not hold. It can mean "and not" or "except".

Upui hohighito taepaxu tatoixe.
Generic it+this+except metal+part rail+whole.
All the bars are metal, except this one.

Ofae sofa i Jane-hito atet.
I+experiencer romantic-love+event attraction Jane+except you+cause.
I love you and not Jane.

The last example is an eventive sentence. Strictly speaking, it means "I fell in love with you, not Jane." It's a normal eventive sentence in Ouxu, and it's correct because the love was not always there. It doesn't matter that the corresponding English sentence is descriptive, it matters whether it fits the situation.

The special suffix -o can be added only after a coordinating inflection, converting it to a subordinating inflection. The meaning of the subordinated inflection changes slightly so that it makes sense as a subordinating inflection.

Athaao oftao ouha pa Jane-ta.
You+viewpoint+subordinate I+agent+subordinate move+action belief Jane+agent.
You think I'm moving it, but really Jane is.

More than one subordinate can be attached to the same head, just as a noun in English can be modified by more than one adjective.

If the different subordinates are using the same inflection, this is best done using the descriptive coordinating inflection -ko, meaning "and". The subordinates joined with -ko merge together with the head to form a single grammatical unit.

Huxonlagetsatetxe pa xitko xatko xutxu.
Image+quantum+plural+whole belief red+and green+and blue+part.
The pixels are red, green, and blue.

If the different subordinates are using different inflections, then -ko doesn't do the trick. Instead, use the special suffix -i, which can be added only after a subordinating inflection (including one made by the subordinator -o).

Pa 4ilaii elouhighe sokofa.
Belief 4+time+also boundary+this+place crime+event.
The crime occurred at 4, at that edge.

You may be used to thinking that nouns and verbs are different kinds of words with different kinds of meanings. In Ouxu, with only one part of speech for content words, the same root given different endings may take on roles corresponding to a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, the object of various prepositions, and so on. The root's range of meaning is that wide; the inflection narrows it down.

In the dictionary definitions, most Ouxu words are defined in terms of English nouns or adjectives. Some are defined in terms of English verbs. The parts of speech used in the English definitions only reflect English usage; any Ouxu word can be used with any inflection.

Xutta.
Blue+agent.
The blue one did it (brought it about).
(Perhaps Dr. Manhattan, or an Indian god, or somebody wearing a blue uniform.)

Xutet.
Blue+cause.
The blue one did it (caused it).
(Probably a blue object.)

Xutae.
Blue+experiencer.
It was done to the blue one.

Xutihe.
Blue+beneficiary.
It was done for the blue one.

Xutha.
Blue+action.
It was made blue ("blued"). (Or: Something blue was made.)

Xutun.
Blue+change-to.
It turned blue.

Xutau.
Blue+change-from.
It used to be blue.

Xutpe.
Blue+exist.
It's blue. (Or: There is blue. Or: There is a blue one.)

Xuthu.
Blue+time.
It was during the blue time.
(Perhaps the blue hours of evening, or Picasso's Blue Period.)

Xuthe.
Blue+place.
It was in the blue place.

You wouldn't ordinarily say xutfa (blue+event) to mean "it turned blue", because xutun is more specific. But if you wanted to, you could.