NOTES
1. The past tense, independant form of the verb “to be” is “bha” (vaa or va) was or were, e.g:
Bha Mairi trang
Mary is busy
Bha Calum agus Mairi ag obair
Calum and Mary were working
2. The past tense, dependent form, of the verb, “to be” is “an robh” (en ro or en ro) was or were, e.g:
An robh Mairi trang?
Was Mairi busy?
An robh Calum agus Mairi ag obair?
Were Calum and Mary working?
3 The affimitive answer to “an robh” is “bha”, e.g.:
An robh thu sgith? Bha
Were you tired? Yes
4 The negative to “an robh” is “cha robh” (cha ro.: e.g:
An robh sibh anns an achadh an diugh? Cha robh)
Were you in the field today? No
Cha robh mi anns an taigh
I was not at home.
5 As in the present tense, “nach” asks a negative question, e.g:
Nach robh Mairi trang? Bha/Cha robh
Was not Mary busy? Yes/No
6. Before masculine singular nouns, in their primary form, beginning with b, f, m, or p, the definite article changes from “an” to “am”. e.g,:
am balach (em bal-ach) the lad
am fear (en fer) the man
am maide (em ma-cho) the stick
am peann (em peaun) the pen
7. After the simple prepositions-e.g. “air” on, “aig” at, “anns” in, “leis” (lash) with, “ris,” (resh) to-masculine nouns beginning with b, m, p, c, and g when used in conjunction with the definite article are aspirated, and the definitwe article changes to “a”, thus forming what is known as the datiove case, e.g.:
THa an duine anns a, bhata.
(ha en doonn-e auns e vaat-e)
THe man is uin the boat
THa am bata air a” chladach
(ha em baat e ar e chlat-ech) chu
THe boat is on the shore
N.B The simple prepositions “thar”, “re”, “chun” and “trid” govern the genitive case; and after “search”, “eader”, “gus” and “mar” the noun remains the nomitive form.
8. The following examples of definite and indefinite forms should be carefully noted:
leis a’ chu (lash e choo) with the dog
le c’u (la koo) with a dog
anns a’ bata (auns e vaat-e) in the boat
*ann am barta (aun em baat-e) in a boat
ris a bhalach (resh e val-ech) to the lad
ri balach (re bal-ech) to a lad
air a’ mhonadh (ar e von agh) on the moor
air monadh (ar mon egh) on a moor
Assertive Forms of the Verb “To Be”; possession with “le”
Present Tense
is mi (is me) it is I
is tu (is too) it is you (sing)
its e (is e) it is he, it is it
is i (is e) it is she, it is it
is sinn (is shenn) it is we
is sibh (is shev) it is you (pl)
is iad (is eat) it is they
Past Tense
bu mhi (boo ve) it was I
bu tu (boo too) it was you (sing)
b’e (be) it was he, it was it
b’i (be) it was she, it was it
bu sinn (boo shenn) it was we
bu sibh (boo shev) it was you (pl)
b’iad (beat) it was they
Questions
QUESTION YES NO
am mi?
is it I? etc ‘s mi cha mhi
an tu ‘s tu cha tu
an e? ‘s e (she) chan e (cha nne)
an sinn? (is) sinn cha sinn
an sibh? (is) sibh cha sibh
an iad? ‘s iad (sheat) chan iad (cha nneat)
am bu mhi?
was it I? etc bhu mhi cha bu mhi
am bu tu? bu tu cha bu tu
am b’e? b’e cha b’e
am b’i? b’i cha b’i
am bu sinn? bu sinn cha bu sinn
am bu sibh? bu sibh cha bu sibh
am b’iad? b’iad cha b’iad
Scottish Gaelic 