tha mi trang an dugh / present
bha mi sgith an dè / past
bha an duine glè ard / past
bidh iad uil aig an taigh a-nochd / future tense / they will all be…..
Imperfect form
bhithinn I would be
bhiodh / bhitheadh tu you would be
bhiodh / bhitheadh e, i he she it would be
bhiomaid / bhitheamaid we would be
So much fun learning Gaelic Vocabulary on @memrise. Check out my free vocabulary course: I add new words daily. http://bit.ly/2xrrm9e
One absolutely frightening thing about Gaelic is that when you think you know a word, suddenly that word appears looking very very different leaving the reader very very confused. Some of these differences we have already spoken about, like an H coming in after the first letter, or an I being added at the end (lenition and slenderisation).
In Slenderisation particularly, when the I is added, another vowel letter sometimes changes. This happens a lot, but today we want to focus on short nouns because these usually change when they are in the possessive.
Try to examine the following and complete the ones which are missing:
Ceann becomes cinn / mo chinn / my head
fear becomes fir / còta an fhir mhòir / coat of the big man
mac becomes mic / ainm a mic / name of her son
falt becomes fuilt
eun becomes eòin
bard becomes bhùird
Please see page 32 of Gràmar na Gàidhlig by MIchael Byrne
As in English, we have two types of adjectives:
The same rules apply in Gaelic but can be a little bit vague when trying to translate because the adjective comes immediately after the noun (not before) in both cases. As always there are exceptions to this rule and there are some appearing before.
The rules surrounding the lenition of singular adjectives is fairly complicated and I think it is best to learn these “on the go”. More will be said about these as we move forward.
points to note:
some masculine adjectives lenite if they are with prepositions or possessives. Slenderising only happens with the possessive and an article where the adjective is masculine .
Feminine adjectives always lenite, however they also add an E if the noun is in its long form.
In plural adjectives, an “a” is added at the end, otherwise they do not change
brògan ùra
the adjective can be lenited with some plurals,
balaich bheairteach
Bha mi a ’sgrìobhadh leabhar.
| Imperative | English Translation | Past Tense | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| fàg! | leave! | dh’fhàg | left |
| ionnsaich! | learn! | dh’ionnsaich | learnt |
| pòg! | kiss! | phòg | kissed |
| obair! | work! | dh’obair | worked |
| sabaid! | fight! | shabaid | fought |
| sgrìobh! | write! | sgrìobh | wrote |
| ruith! | run! | ruith | run |
| seas! | sit! | sheas | sat |
| teasgaisg! | teach! | theagaisg | taught |
| tog! | lift! | thog | lifted |
dh´ionnsaich e
Dè dh‘ionnsaich thu anns an obair sin?
It is formed by exactly the same rules as the continuous present tense.
Is mise Seosaidh, Tha mi a Cill Bhreannain agus tha mi nam mhaighstir-sgoile. Tha mi a ‘fuireach ann am Pàislig. Thàinig mo theaghlach à Ìle.
Is mise fear-gèidh, bàrd, bruadaire, agus cluicheadair piàna.
Cur-seachadan agus ùidhean
Agus a’ bruidhinn ri mo charaidean air-loidhne, ’S e tidsear a th’ annam, Air-loidhne.
Meadhanan Ceilteach
In the previous 10 lessons, I have given you the basics of Gaelic Grammar, mainly in English, to set the scene for using the present tense.
We have more than enough information to make Gaelic sentences therefore, this blog will now contine in Gaelic, to force you to practice new vocabulary and grammar.
When we move to more complex grammar topics, I will likely switch to English to explain them.
So, I recommend that you get yourself a good dictionary and start using programs like memrise where you will find free vocabulary flashcards and games.
Kilbirnie & Beyond 