LESSON ELEVEN -- AN T-AONA LEASAN DEUG

 

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Genitive & Plural of Adjectives

Adjectives have to agree with the nouns they qualify in number and tense and so they have dative, genitive and plural forms of their own.

a) Dative

Adjectives are aspirated in the dative and, if they follow a feminine noun, they're often slenderized as well (as a feminine noun itself often is).

(Masculine)

air a' chat mhór -- on the big cat (Nom.: mór)
fon a' chàr dhearg -- under the red car (Nom.: dearg)
anns an leabhar gheal -- in the white book (Nom.: geal)

(N.B. Adjectives following masculine nouns that don't have the article aren't aspirated, e.g. ann an leabhar geal -- "in a white book").

(Feminine)

anns a' bhròig bhig -- in the small shoe (Nom.: beag)
air a' chois mhóir -- on the big foot (Nom.: mór)
leis an deise dhuibh -- with the black suit (Nom.: dubh)

b) Genitive

In the genitive case adjectives after masculine nouns are slenderized as well as aspirated:

a' chait mhóir -- of the big cat (Nom.: an cat mór)
a' chàir dheirg -- of the red car (Nom.: an car dearg)
an leabhair ghil -- of the white book (Nom.: an leabhar geal)

Adjectives after feminine nouns are likely to add "e" on the end as well as being slenderized, but are not aspirated:

na bròige bige -- of the small shoe (Nom.: a' bhròg bheag)
na coise móire -- of the big foot (Nom.: a' chas mhór)
na deise duibhe -- of the black suit (Nom.: an deise dhubh)

c) Plural

The plural of an adjective is much simpler. Those with more than one syllable don't change at all. Those of one syllable add "a" if they end with a broad vowel or "e" if they end with a slender vowel. The forms are the same for both genders.

Sing.: mór
Sing.: beag
Sing.: dubh
Plur.: móra
Plur.: beaga
Plur.: dubha

Sing.: glic (wise)
Sing.: tinn
Sing.: mìn (smooth)
Plur.: glice
Plur.: tinne
Plur.: mìne

 

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Relative Clauses with Prepositions

A preposition can be used with the dependent form of a verb to form a relative clause, e.g.:

a' chathair air an do shuidh Ailean
[the chair] [on] [which] [sat] [Alan]
= "The chair on which Alan sat"

an duine aig an robh an t-airgead
[the man] [at] [whom] [was] [the money]
= "The man who had the money"

Other examples:

na daoine ris an do bhruidhinn mi -- the people to whom I spoke / the people I spoke to
am baile anns a bheil sinn -- the town in which we are / the town we are in
an seòmar ás an do theich iad -- the room out of which they fled (teich, "flee, run")
an toll dhan an do thuit am balach -- the hole into which the boy fell / the hole the boy fell into
a' chraobh fon robh an taigh aca -- the tree under which was their house/ the tree their house was under
an tìr tron an deach iad -- the land through which they went / the land they went through

To make a negative sentence from any of the above, just substitute "nach" for "an/am":

na daoine ris nach do bhruidhinn mi -- the people to whom I didn't speak / the people I didn't speak to

 

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Perfect & Pluperfect

In English the "perfect" tense is the one used to describe things that "have" been done or "have" happened ("you've been very bad"; "I've gone to see about the car"; "he has missed you" etc.) while the "pluperfect" is used for things that "had" been done or "had" happened ("he hadn't found out"; "they had gone and had returned"; "she had been happy" etc.) Events in the pluperfect are more remote in time than those in the perfect.

The perfect in Gaelic is formed with "tha" + the subject + "air" + the infinitive. In Lesson Ten it was shown how the infinitive is derived from the verbal noun:

a' fàs -- growing air fàs -- grown -->
Tha an oidhche air fàs fuar. -- The night has grown cold.

a' falbh -- leaving air falbh -- left, gone -->
A bheil i air falbh fhathast? -- Has she left yet?

a' tilleadh -- returning air tilleadh -- returned -->
Chan eil iad air tilleadh. -- They haven't returned.

Remember from the last lesson that when a direct object is added, the infinitive is aspirated and "a" comes before it, and it gets pushed to the end of the sentence. This applies in the perfect tense too:

a' ceannachd -- buying -->
Tha Calum air leabhar a cheannachd. -- Calum has bought a book.

ag ionnsachadh -- learning -->
Tha sibh air Gàidhlig a ionnsachadh. -- You have learned Gaelic.

The pluperfect is formed in exactly the same way as the perfect, except that "bha" is used instead of "tha", "an robh" instead of "a bheil" etc.

Bha Màiri air tilleadh. -- Mairi had returned
Bha sinn air falbh cheana. -- We had gone already
Bha Calum air leabhar a cheannachd. -- Calum had bought a book.

Something that has (or had) *just* happened can be expressed using the perfect (or pluperfect) and the word "dìreach" (just):

Bha Cailean dìreach air tighinn. -- Colin had just arrived.
Tha mi dìreach air sin a dhèanamh. -- I have just done that.

 

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Passive Tenses

A passive tense describes action happening to a subject. Examples in English would include "the house was destroyed", "dinner will be served", "a shot is fired", etc.

a) Past

In Gaelic the Past Passive ending is normally "-adh" ("-eadh" if the last vowel is "i") added to the root. The root is also aspirated or, if it begins with "f" or a vowel, "dh'" comes before it.

dùin -- close -->
Dhùineadh an uinneag. -- The window was closed.

tog -- lift, build, raise -->
Togadh mi ann an Dùn Eideann. -- I was raised in Edinburgh.

fuadaich -- banish, drive out -->
Dh'fhuadaicheadh na daoine. -- The people were driven out.

The negative is formed with "cha do" plus the passive form:

Cha do dh'fhosgladh an doras. -- The door wasn't opened.

b) Future

The future passive, like the future active tense (the normal future tense), is used to describe habitual present action as well as things that haven't yet happened. Its ending is "-ar" (or "-ear" if the last vowel is "i") added to the *unaspirated* root.

Dùinear an doras. -- The door will be closed.
An leughar an leabhar sin? -- Will this book be read?
Cuirear na làithean-saora seachad air an Eilean Sgitheanach.
-- Holidays are spent on the Isle of Skye.
(làithean-saora, "holidays, vacation") (cuir seachad, "spend (time)")

Negative future passive sentences are formed with "cha" ("chan" before a vowel or "f"), which aspirates:

faod -- may, can -->
Chan fhaodar sin a dhèanamh. -- That cannot be done.

feum -- must -->
Chan fheumar dad a ràdh. -- Nothing needs to be said. (dad, "nothing, anything")

 

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Passive with "rach"

Another, more roundabout way to form the passive is with the past or future tense of "rach" (go) -- "chaidh" (went) and "théid" (will go), respectively -- along with the infinitive:

Dhùineadh an doras. -- The door was closed. -->
Chaidh an doras a dhùnadh. -- The door was closed. (lit.: "the door went to close")

Pòsar i. -- She will be married. -->
Théid i a phòsadh. -- She will be married. (lit.: "she will go to marry")

 

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Passive of Irregular Verbs

Another huge table, but only for reference. Some forms are much more common than others, particularly "rugadh" (was born), used in sentences like "Rugadh mi ann an Glaschu", I was born in Glasgow. Among the future passives, "gheibhear" (will be gotten) is frequently heard, e.g. "Gheibhear ann aoidh" (a welcome will be gotten there).

a) Past:

1. beir, "bear"
Independent: rugadh -- was born
Dependent: cha do rugadh -- wasn't born an do rugadh..? -- was... born?

2. dean, "do"
Ind.: rinneadh -- was done
Dep.: cha d' rinneadh -- wasn't done an d' rinneadh..? -- was... done?

3. cluinn, "hear"
Ind.: chualadh -- was heard
Dep.: cha do chualadh -- wasn't heard an do chualadh..? -- was... heard?

4. faic, "see"
Ind.: chunnacas -- was seen
Dep.: chan fhacas -- wasn't seen an fhacas...? -- was... seen?

5. thoir, "give"
Ind.: thugadh -- was given
Dep.: cha d'thugadh -- wasn't given an d'thugadh..? -- was... given?

6. faigh, "get"
Ind.: fhuaras, fhuaradh -- was gotten
Dep.: cha d'fhuaras, cha d'fhuaradh -- wasn't gotten an d'fhuaras..?, an d'fhuaradh..? -- was... gotten?

7. abair, "say"
Ind.: thuirteadh -- was said
Dep.: cha d'thuirteadh -- wasn't said an d'thuirteadh..? -- was... said?

8. ruig, "reach"
Ind.: ràinigeadh -- was reached
Dep.: cha d'rànaigeadh -- wasn't reached an d'rànaigeadh -- was... reached?

For obvious reasons there's no passive form for "rach" (go) and "thig" (come).

b) Future

1. beir
Ind.: beirear -- will be born
Dep.: cha bheirear -- won't be born am beirear..? -- will... be born?

2. dean
Ind.: nithear -- will be done
Dep.: cha dhèanar -- won't be done an dèanar..? -- will... be done?

3. cluinn
Ind.: cluinnear -- will be heard
Dep.: cha chluinnear -- won't be heard an cluinnear..? -- will... be heard?

4. faic
Ind.: chithear -- will be seen
Dep.: chan fhaicear -- won't be seen am faicear..? -- will... be seen?

5. thoir
Ind.: bheirear -- will be given
Dep.: cha thoirear -- won't be given an toirear..? -- will... be given?

6. faigh
Ind.: gheibhear -- will be gotten
Dep.: chan fhaighear -- won't be gotten am faighear..? -- will... be gotten?

7. abair
Ind.: theirear -- will be said
Dep.: chan abairear -- won't be said an abairear..? -- will... be said?

8. ruig
Ind.: ruigear -- will be reached
Dep.: cha ruigear -- won't be reached an ruigear..? -- will... be reached?