Lesson 1: The Gaelic Simple Sentence

Copyright (C) 1994

Contents 1.1: Tha Present Tense 1.2: Faclair 1.3: Obair 1.4: Chan eil 1.5: Nach eil 1.6: A Bheil 1.7: Obair eile

Tha, Present Tense

The verb to be in English maps to two different verbs in Gaelic. One of these two verbs is Bi, the present tense of which is tha. Conjugating tha with the personal pronouns yields: Tha mi I am Tha thu You are (informal) Tha e He is Tha i She is Tha sinn We are Tha sibh You are (formal) Tha iad They are

Note that gaelic has two personal pronouns for you, one corresponding to the informal situation of peers, children, friends, etc. The other form is a more formal one used for elders and other cases requiring a show of respect. Tha is used in constructions linking a noun to a condition, e.g.: James is tired. In Gaelic this would be Tha Seumas sgth. Note that the order of the elements is different from the english case and that the verb is first, followed by the subject, followed by the extensions and direct objects.

Faclair
Here is a short list of vocabulary words to enable us to construct some simple sentences.

sgth tired fluich wet teth hot fuar cold tinn sick tioram dry luath swift dubh black bn fair, white mr big, great beag small, little agus and ach but c m. dog cat m. cat teine m. fire dorus m. door taigh m. house falt m. hair Seumas m. James Miri f. Mary aig at air on anns in an the, (definite article)

Obair
Now let us make some sentences. Tha mi sgth. I am tired. Tha Seumas sgth. James is tired. Tha Miri sgth. Mary is tired. Tha Seumas agus Miri sgth. James and Mary are tired. Tha an teine teth. The fire is hot. Tha Seumas anns an taigh.

James is in the house. Tha an c aig an dorus ach tha an cat anns an taigh. The dog is at the door but the cat is in the house. Tha Seumas fluich. Tha e fluich. James is wet. He is wet. Tha Miri tioram. Tha i tioram. Mary is dry. She is dry. Tha mi sgth agus tha thu sgth. Tha sinn sgth. I am tired and you are tired. We are tired. Tha an c mr ach tha an cat beag. The dog is big but the cat is small. Tha an c dubh ach tha an cat bn. The dog is black but the cat is fair. Tha an c dubh anns an taigh. The black dog is in the house. Tha Seumas mr aig an dorus. Big Seumas is at the door. Tha falt bn air Miri agus tha falt dubh air Seumas. lit: Fair hair is on Mary and black hair is on James. Mary is fair-haired and James is black-haired.

Chan eil
Very good. Now we will look at the negation of tha. To express this we use chan eil and so conjugation yields: Chan eil mi I am not Chan eil thu You are not Chan eil e He is not Chan eil i She is not Chan eil sinn We are not Chan eil sibh You are not Chan eil iad They are not

Nach eil
And while we are at it let us introduce the negative interrogative nach eil. Nach eil mi Nach eil thu Nach eil e Nach eil I Nach eil sinn Nach eil sibh Nach eil iad Am I not? Are you not? Is he not? Is she not? Are we not? Are you not? Are they not?

A Bheil
The fully interrogative form is a bheil, sometime written as am bheil or a' bheil, but all forms reflect that the m is practically silent before b. A bheil mi Am I? A bheil thu Are you? A bheil e Is he? A bheil i Is she? A bheil sinn Are we? A bheil sibh Are you? A bheil iad Are they?

Obair eile
Here are some more sentences: A bheil thu sgth? Chan eil, chan eil mi sgth. lit: Are you tired? Am not, I am not tired. Are you tired? No, I am not tired. Nach eil i fluich? Tha, tha i fluich agus fuar. lit: Is she not wet? Is, she is wet and cold. Is she not wet? Yes, she is wet and cold. Note that the response to the interrogative, either negative or positive, is the appropriate form of the verb. There is no form of yes or no in Gaelic. A bheil sibh teth an-diugh? Tha mi teth ach chan eil Seumas teth. Are you hot today? I am hot but Seumas is not hot. Nach eil Seumas sgth? Chan eil ach tha e fluich agus fuar. Is not James tired? No but he is wet and cold.

A bheil Seumas fluich? Nach eil e tinn? Is James wet? Is not he sick? Tha an c mr agus an cat bn anns an taigh. Tha iad tioram. The big dog and the fair-haired cat are in the house. They are dry. Nach eil an cu dubh luath? Chan eil, chan eil e luath. Is not the black dog swift? No, he is not swift.

Lesson 2: The Past tense of Bi, Bha, and a look at the Verbal Noun
Copyright (C) 1994
Contents 2.1: Bha, Past tense 2.2: Cha robh 2.3: An robh 2.4: Nach robh 2.5: Obair 2.6: The Verbal Noun 2.7: Faclair 2.8: Obair eile

2.1: Bha, Past tense

The most common form of the english to be is the verb bi, the present tense of which is tha and the past tense of which is bha. Conjugating bha with the personal pronouns yields: Bha miI was Bha thu You were (informal) Bha e He was Bha i She was Bha sinn We were Bha sibh You were (formal) Bha iad They were

2.2: Cha robh

In a similar fashion we may define the negative past tense of bi, cha robh. It should be noted that cha is a negative particle which will serve to introduce negative verbs. Conjugatin leads to: Cha robh miI was not Cha robh thu You were not (informal) Cha robh e He was not Cha robh i She was not Cha robh sinn We were not Cha robh sibh You were not (formal) Cha robh iad They were not

2.3: An robh
The fully interrogative form is an robh: An robh miWas I? An robh thu Were you? (informal) An robh e Was he? An robh i Was she? An robh sinn Were we? An robh sibh Were you? (formal) An robh iad Were they?

2.4: Nach robh

Completion of the verb tense for bha rests with the negative interrogative form, nach robh, as usual, preceded by the signalling particle, nach: Nach robh miWas I not? Nach robh thu Were you not? (informal) Nach robh e Was he not? Nach robh i Was she not? Nach robh sinn Were we not? Nach robh sibh Were you not? (formal) Nach robh iad Were they not

2.5: Obair
Now, using the faclair from leasan a h-aon, let us explore some of the differences between tha and bha. Bha Seumas aig an doras. James was at the door. Nach eil Miri aig an doras? Chan eil. Tha i anns an taigh ach bha i aig an doras. Is not Mary at the door. No. She is in the house but she was at the door. A bheil an c dubh? An robh falt dubh air Miri? Is the dog black? Was Mary dark? Nach robh sibh aig an sgoil? Cha robh. Bha sinn aig an taigh. Were you not at (the) school? No. We were at home. Bha Seumas beag agus Miri bhn anns an achadh. Little James and fair-haired Mary are in the field. Nach robh iad fluich? Were they not wet? Cha robh iad fluich ach bha iad sgth. They were not wet but they were tired.

2.6: The Verbal Noun

Now we introduce the verbal noun. To express an action, the verbal noun is used. It is related to the verb but is changed into a noun which then falls into a special pattern. This pattern is simple and predictable. If the present participle (pr. pt.), the noun part of the verbal noun, begins with a vowel, ag is placed in front of the pr. pt. to form the verbal noun (v.n.). Otherwise, a' is placed in front of the pr. pt. to form the v.n. Note that in both of these cases, the added prefix is a shortened form of aig at. Obair f. is both a noun and a pr. pt. In the case of the pr. pt., it may be translated as working, hence ag obair at working and thus Tha mi ag obair anns an achadh. I am working in the field. Nach robh thu ag obair air an taigh? Bha, bha mi ag obair air an taigh. Were you not working on the house? Yes, I was working on the house. Another example with a pr. pt. requiring the a' prefix is dol going.

Bha Miri bheag a' dol dhan bhaile. Little Mary was going to (the) town.

2.7: Faclair
baile f. town iasgach f. fishing (pr. pt.) ag iasgach fishing (v.n.) obair f. working, work (pr. pt.) ag obair working (v.n.) a' dol going dhan to the (lenites follwoing word) a' cuideachadh helping a' ruith running a' ceannach buying ag l drinking a' leughadh reading a' sgrobhadh writing ag ionnsachadh learning a' fuireach staying a' bruidhinn speaking Gidhlig f.Gaelic Beurla f. English a' fs growing a' campachadh camping a' danamh doing d what (interrogative) bainne m. milk leann m. beer a' cluich playing clrsach f. harp pob f. bagpipe, pipe fidheall f. fiddle monadh m. moor, upland anns a' mhonadh on the moor Sne f. Jean, Janet Calum m. Malcolm an-diugh m. today a-nochd tonight an-d yesterday trang busy (adjective) gu trang busily (adverb) a' dannsadh dancing a' seinn singing

2.8: Obair eile

A bheil sibh ag obair an-diugh? Tha, tha sinn ag obair gu trang anns an achadh an-diugh. Are you working today? Yes, we are working busily in the field today. A bheil iad a' bruidhinn Gidhlig? Chan eil, tha iad a' bruidhinn Beurla. Are they speaking Gaelic? No, they are speaking English. An robh e a' bruidhinn Gidhlig? Bha. An robh e a' leughadh Gidhlig? Cha robh. Was he speaking Gaelic? Yes. Was he reading Gaelic? No. Nach robh i ag ionnsachadh Gidhlig an-diugh? Bha. Was not she learning Gaelic today? Yes. Nach robh Seumas agus an c dubh anns an achadh an-d? Were not Seumas and the black dog in the field yesterday? Cha robh. Bha Seumas aig an sgoil an-d ach bha Calum anns an achadh. No. Seumas was at (the) school yesterday but Calum was in the field. D tha Miri a' danamh? Tha i a' cuideachadh Sne. What is Mary doing? She is helping Jean. Tha an c a' ruith anns a' mhonadh. The dog is running on the moor. Bha Calum a' cluich pob-mhr agus bha Sne a' cluich clrsach. Calum was playing a bagpipe abnd Jean was playing a harp. Chan eil mi a' ceannach an taigh. I am not buying the house. D bha Sne a' danamh anns an taigh? Bha i ag l bainne. What was Janet doing in the house? She was drinking milk. Nach robh Calum agus an c a' ruith anns a' mhonadh an-d? Cha robh, bha Calum anns an sgoil agus bha an c anns an taigh. Were not Calum and the dog running on the moor yesterday? No, Calum was in school and the dog was in the house. Bha sinn ag obair air an taigh an-diugh ach tha sinn a' dannsadh an-nochd. We were working on the house today but we are dancing tonight. Nach robh sibh ag obair air an taigh? Bha, bha sinn ag obair gu trang air an taigh. Were you not working on the house? Yes, we were working busily on the house. D tha sibh a' danamh? Tha Sne agus mi a' dannsadh agus tha Calum a' seinn. What are you doing? Janet and I are dancing and Calum is singing.

Lesson 3: The Definite Article, the Nominative and Dative Cases

Copyright (C) 1994
Contents 3.1: The Definite Article and the Nominative Case 3.2: The Definite Article and the Dative Case 3.3: Faclair 3.4: Obair 3.5: Obair eile

3.1: The Definite Article and the Nominative Case

There are four seperate cases that a noun may exist in. The most basic of these is the nominative case, the case found when the noun is the subject or direct object of a sentence. A couple of examples will show this explicitly: Tha an c aig an doras. Bha Calum anns an sgoil. In the nominative case, the definite article can take on different forms depending on what i the gender of the noun is and ii what letter the noun begins with. These cases follow:

Masculine Noun beginning with b, m, p, f

If the masculine noun begins with the letters b, m, p or f, then the definite article changes from an to am. This sequence of letters will occur very often in the grammatical rules and you will soon be very well acquainted with them. bta boat am bta the boat monadh moor am monadh the moor fear male persone, man am fear the man peann pen am peann the pen

Feminine noun beginning with b, m, p, f

If the feminine noun begins with the letters b, m, p, c or g, then the definite article changes from an to a'. In addition, the nominative feminine noun is lenited, i.e. a h is placed after the initial letter which changes the sound of the noun. If the feminine noun begins with an f, lenition still occurs but the article remains an. briosgaid biscuit, cookie a' bhriogcaid the biscuit min meal, oatmeal a' mhin the meal pob pipe, bagpipe a phob the pipe glas a lock a' ghlas the lock caileag a girl, lassie a' chaileag the girl frinn truth an fhrinn the truth

Masculine noun beginning with a vowel

If the masculine noun begins with a vowel then the definite article changes from an to an t-. The sound of the definite article is dependent on whether the initial vowel is slender or broad. Rmemeber that the slender vowels are i and e while the broad vowels are a, o and u. aran bread an t-aran the bread ord hammer an t-ord the hammer m butter an t-m the butter eagal fear an t-eagal the fear

Feminine noun beginning with s

If the feminine noun begins with an s followed by an l, n, r or a vowel then the definite article changes from an to an t-. The sound of the definite article is dependent on whether the initial vowel is slender or broad in exactly the same fashion as that case for masculine nominative nouns beginning with a vowel and taking an t-. sil eye an t-sil the eye srid street an t-srid the street snthad needle an t-snthad the needle seachdain a week an t-seachdain the week

3.2: The Definite Article and the Dative Case

Masculine Noun beginning with b, m, p, c, g
In the case of a masculine noun beginning with b, m, p, c or g and being in the dative case, i.e. a noun following one of the simple prepositions: air, aig, leis, ris, anns,, the article changes from an to a' and the noun is lenited, e.g.: anns a' bhta in the boat anns a' mhonadh on the moor leis a' pheann with the pen air a' ch on the dog ris a' ghille to the boy N.B.: These are special cases showing the form when no definite article is present: le c with a dog ann am bta in a boat ri gille to a boy

Feminine noun beginning with b, m, p, c, g, f

For the feminine noun, the dative case introduces the first of several situations where a word must be slenderized, a process that changes the final syllable of a word and makes the vowel sound softer or closer to a slender vowel sound. Slenderization entails either: inserting an i after the last broad vowel or substituting i for the last broad vowel. If the final vowel is already slender or the noun ends in a, no slenderization takes place. a' bhriosgaid the biscuit air a' bhriosgaid on the biscuit air briosgaid on a biscuit a' mhin the meal anns a' mhin in the meal ann an min in meal a' phob the pipe leis a' phb with the pipe le pb with a pipe a' ghlas the lock anns a' ghlais in the lock ann an glais in a lock a' chaileag the girl air a' chaileig on the girl air an caileig on a girl an fhrinn the truth leis an fhrinn with the truth le frinn with truth a' bhrg the shoe air a' bhrig on the shoe air brig on a shoe a' ghealach the moon anns a' ghealaich in the moon ann an gealaich in a moon a' mhala the eyebrow

air a' mhala on the eyebrow air mala on an eyebrow

Masculine and Feminine nouns beginning with a vowel

In the dative case, both feminine and masculine nouns beginning with a vowel take an as the definite article. In addition, femine nouns slenderize where possible. anns an aran in the bread leis an ord with the hammer ann an m in butter leis an eagal with the fear air an eala on the swan ris an uinneig to the window air aid on a hat anns an eaglais in the church

Masculine and Feminine nouns beginning with s followed by l, n, r, vowel

If the masculine or feminine noun begins with an s followed by an l, n, r or a vowel then the definite article changes from an to an t-. Once again, femine nouns slenderizewhere possible. air an t-seanair on the grandfather anns an t-saoghal in the world aig an t-saighdear at the soilder leis an t-snth with the thread anns an t-sil in the eye air an t-srid on the street leis an t-snthaid with the needle

aig an t-seachdain at the week

3.3: Faclair
bta m. boat fear m. man, male version of one t f. woman, female version of one duine m. person peann m. pen briosagaid f. biscuit min f. meal, oatmeal mil f. honey pob f. pipe, bagpipe pob-mhr f. great highland bagpipe poban f. smallpipe glas f. lock caileag f. girl, lassie balach m. lad gille m. boy frinn f. truth aran m. bread m m. butter ord m. hammer saor m. carpenter, joiner eagal m. fear acras m. hunger sil f. eye srid f. street rathad m. road snth m. thread snthad f. needle seachdain f. week am m. time brg f. shoe gealach f. moon gran f. sun mala f. eyebrow eala f. swan eun m. bird Iain m. Ian, John uinneag f. window ad f. hat eaglais f. church seanair m. grandfather

bodach m. old man seanmhair f. grandmother cailleach f. old woman saoghal m. world saighdear m. soilder sgreagag f. shrivelled old woman; penurious, stingy woman sgreagair m. shrivelled old man; close-fisted, stingy man ceann m. head sgreab-chinn f. dandruff sgian f. knife

3.4: Obair
am bta, am fear, an t, an duine, am peann, a' bhriosgaid, a' mhin, a' mhil, a' phob, a' ghlas, a' chaileag, am balach, an gille, an fhrinn. an t-aran, an t-m, an t-ord, an saor, an t-eagal, an t-acras, an t-sil, an t-srid, an rathad, an snth, an t-snthad, an t-seachdain. an t-am, a' bhrg, a' ghealach, a' ghran, a' mhala, an eala, an t-eun, an uinneag, an ad, an eaglais, an seanair, an t-seanmhair. am bodach, a' chailleach, an saoghal, an saighdear, an sgreagag, an sgreagair, an ceann, an sgian. aig a' bhta, air an , leis an t, ri duine, le peann, air a' bhriosgaid, anns a' mhin, ann an min. leis a' phb-mhr, leis a' ghlais, aig a' chaileig, aig a' bhalach, air a' ghille, leis an fhrinn. anns an aran, air an m, aig an ord, ri an t-saor, anns an eagal, leis an acras, ri sil, air an tsrid, air rathad. air an t-snth, anns an t-snthaid, air an t-seachdain, aig an am, anns a' bhrig, air a' ghealaich, anns a' ghrn. le mala, aig an eala, air an eun, aig an uinneig, air an aid, ri an eaglais, air an t-seanair, air an tseamhair. aig a' bhodach, aig a' chailleaich, anns an t-saoghal, aig an t-saighdear, le sgreagag, leis an sgreagair, air a' cheann, leis an sgian.