Gender of Nouns
Every noun in Gaelic falls into one of two genders, masculine and feminine. For the vast majority of nouns this distinction is arbitrary and has no relation to biological gender, but nouns describing males do tend to be masculine and nouns describing females do tend to be feminine:
fear [m.] --
man
bean [f.] -- woman
righ [m.] --
king
banrigh [f.] -- queen
tarbh [m.] --
bull
bó [f.] --
cow
balach [m.] --
boy
caileag [f.] -- girl
Additionally, the following kinds of nouns tend to be masculine:
1) the young of all animals regardless of their sex (e.g. "uan", a lamb);
2) words ending in "-an", e.g. "lochan", a little lake;
3) the names of trees, the seasons, and the days of the week; and
4) any words ending in -as, -ear, -air, -adh, or -iche, e.g. "pìobaire", a piper, "càirdeas", friendship, etc.The following kinds of nouns tend to be feminine:
1) names of countries, such as "Alba", Scotland, "Éire", Ireland;
2) names of musical instruments, heavenly bodies, and diseases, e.g. "clàrsach", harp,"grian", sun, "reul", star, "teasach", fever, etc.; and
3) words ending in -ag and -achd, e.g. "duanag", a little song, "bàrdachd", poetry.The genders of the rest of the nouns are, as mentioned before, arbitrary. Nouns of different genders have different effects on the words around them, so learning the gender of a noun important when learning its meaning.
The definite article in English is the word "the". In Gaelic this word is often, but not always, translated by "an":
taigh
--
house an
taigh -- the house
doras --
door an
doras -- the door
However, the article can change depending on the gender of the noun and on what letter the noun begins with.
Masculine nouns beginning with c, d, g, l, n, r, s, and t (like "taight" and "doras" above) are unaffected and take the article "an":
cù -- dog an cù -- the dog
duine -- person an duine -- the person
Gaidheal -- Gaelic-speaker an Gaidheal -- the Gaelic-speaker
latha -- day an latha -- the day
naomh -- saint an naomh -- the saint
rud -- thing an rud -- the thing
seòmar -- room an seòmar -- the room
teine -- fire an teine -- the fireMasculine nouns beginning with b, f, m, or p are also unaffected but take the article "am":
baile -- town am baile -- the town
facal -- word am facal -- the word
mac -- son am mac -- the son
peann -- pen am peann -- the penMasculine nouns beginning with a vowel take "an" as the article but have "t-" added to their first letter:
aran -- bread an t-aran -- the bread
eilean -- island an t-eilean -- the island
iasg -- fish an t-iasg -- the fish
ollamh -- professor an t-ollamh -- the professor
uisge -- water an t-uisge -- the water
Feminine nouns beginning with a vowel or with d, l, n, r, sg, sm, sp, st or t take "an" as the article and are unaffected:
abhainn -- river an abhainn -- the river
deoch -- drink an deoch -- the drink
eaglais -- church an eaglais -- the church
innis -- island an innis -- the island
làmh -- hand an làmh -- the hand
naidheachd -- news an naidheachd -- the news
oidhche -- night an oidhche -- the night
raon -- field an raon -- the field
sgoil -- school an sgoil -- the school
smuain -- thought an smuain -- the thought
spéis -- love an spéis -- the love
stéidh -- foundation an stéidh -- the foundation
tìr -- land an tìr -- the land
uair -- hour an uair -- the hourFeminine nouns beginning with b, c, g, m, or p are aspirated and the article changes to "a'" ("a" followed by an apostrophe):
banais -- wedding a' bhanais -- the wedding
creag -- rock a' chreag -- the rock
Gàidhlig -- Gaelic a' Ghàidhlig -- the Gaelic
màthair -- mother a' mhàthair -- the mother
piuthar -- sister a' phiuthar -- the sisterFeminine nouns beginning with f are aspirated but take "an" as the article:
firinn -- truth an fhirinn -- the truth
And finally, feminine nouns beginning with sl, sn, sr or s followed by a vowel take "an" as the article but add "t-" to the beginning of the word:
sabaid -- fight an t-sabaid -- the fight
seachdain -- week an t-seachdain -- the week
sìde -- weather an t-sìde -- the weather
slàinte -- health an t-slàinte -- the health
snaoim -- knot an t-snaoim -- the knot
soraidh -- greeting an t-soraidh -- the greeting
sràid -- street an t-sràid -- the street
sùil -- eye an t-sùil -- the eye
There is no indefinite article in Gaelic corresponding to "a" or "an" in English. The word "taigh" can mean "house" or it can mean "a house". Before an indefinite noun in Gaelic the word meaning "from" is "à":
Tha mi à Canada. -- I am from Canada.
Tha iad à Glaschu. -- They are from Glasgow.
Tha i à Dùn Eideann. -- She is from Edinburgh.
Tha sinn à Inbhir Nis. -- We are from Inverness.
Nach eil Seumas à Uibhist? -- Isn't Seumas from Uist?
To translate "in" before an indefinite noun, we use "ann an" or, before a noun beginning with b, f, m, or p, "ann am":
Tha iad ann an Ile. -- They are in Islay.
Tha mi ann an Amaireaga. -- I'm in America.
Nach eil i ann am Port Rìgh an-diugh? -- Isn't she in Portree?
A bheil e a' dol ann am bàta? -- Is he going in a boat?
In colloquial speech and even writing this is, unfortunately, sometimes shortened to "an", causing it to look like the definite article:
Tha Iain an Sruighlea a-nis. -- Iain is in Stirling now.
But the meaning of "an" can usually be determined easily by the context.
The forms of "tha" we learned last lesson were:
Tha e sgìth. He is tired.
Chan eil e sgìth. He is not tired.
Am bheil e sgìth? Is he tired?
Nach eil e sgìth? Isn't he tired?Each of these has a counterpart in the past tense. The past tense of "tha" is "bha":
Bha mi ag obair an-dè. I was working yesterday.
Bha iad sona ann am Barraigh. They were happy in Barra.The negative form is "cha robh":
Cha robh iad ag éisdeachd. They weren't listening.
Cha robh sin modhail. That wasn't polite.A question is asked with "an robh...?"
An robh an duine laghach? Was the man nice?
An robh an t-ollamh ag òl cuideachd? Was the professor drinking too?. . .and a negative question with "nach robh...?"
Nach robh sin smaoineachail? Wasn't that
amazing?
Nach robh sibh a' dol? Weren't
you going?
The "yes" answer to a question beginning with "an robh...?" or "nach robh...?" would be "bha." A "no" answer would be "cha robh".
The future tense form of "tha" is "bidh":
Bidh mi a' tighinn a-màireach. I'll be coming tomorrow.
Bidh mi ag obair ann an Leòdhas. I'll be working in Lewis.Before the spelling reform of 1983, "bidh" was spelt "bithidh", so you may encounter either form. The negative form of "bidh" is "cha bhi":
Cha bhi am fear an-seo. The man will not be here.
Cha bhi Calum ag obair. Calum will not be working.A positive question is asked with "Am bi...?"
Am bi iad a' dol? Will they be going?
. . .and a negative question is asked with "Nach bi...?"
Nach bi sin deacair? Won't that be difficult?
As usual with questions in Gaelic, the "yes" answer is the verb repeated, in this case "Bidh"; the "no" answer would be "Cha bhi".
ag amharc -- looking, watching
a' cadal -- sleeping
a' dlùthadh -- approaching, drawing near
a' fàgail -- leaving
a' feitheamh -- waiting
a' labhairt -- speaking
a' seinn -- singing
a' siubhal -- travelling
a' teagasg -- teachingii) Adverbs
a-mhàin -- only
a-muigh -- outside
a-staigh -- inside
cheana -- already
gu buileach -- completely, totally
gu cinnteach -- certainly
gu leòr -- enough [from which English "galore"]
gu minig -- ofteniii) Adjectives
àrd -- high, tall
briste -- broken
dòigheil -- neat, tidy
fada -- long
farsaing -- wide
fosgailte -- open
furasda -- easy
gasda -- handsome, worthy
gòrach -- stupid, foolish
neònach -- strange
nuadh -- new, original
slàn -- healthy
tinn -- sick, ill
uasal -- noble, gentleiv) Nouns
àite [m.] -- place
beinn [f.] -- mountain
cànan [m.] -- language
ceòl [m.] -- music
cridhe [m.] -- heart
dùthaich [f.] -- country
fàilte [m.] -- welcome
Geamhradh [m.]-- winter
gleann [m.] -- valley, glen
muir [f.] -- sea
Nollaig [f.] -- Christmas
oilthigh [m.] -- university
sgeul [m.] -- story
sgian [f.] -- knife
turas [m.] -- journey, trip