Imperative
The imperative form of a verb is the form used to give a command
to someone to do something.
The imperative of "tha" is "bi":
Bi modhail! -- Be polite!
Bi sàmhach! -- Be quiet!
As usual, this form of "tha" is irregular. But usually the second person singular form of the imperative in Gaelic is very important because it can be used to form other tenses of the same verb. This is why it's also commonly known as the "root" and why it is used to represent the verb in dictionaries. For example, the root of the verb meaning "raise" or "lift" is "tog":
Tog e!
--
Lift it!
Tog a' chlach sin. -- Lift that stone.
By using the root "tog" and making changes to it, we can find out its other tenses, such as its past tense, its future tense, its conditional tense, etc. In this lesson we'll find out how this is done, but before that here are some common root forms:
bris-- break
caill -- lose
can -- say
cuir-- put; send
dùin-- close
fan -- stay
gabh-- take
iarr-- ask for
leugh -- read
pòg -- kiss
seall -- look; show
seinn -- sing
sgrìobh --write
sguir -- stop
tuig-- understand
Here are some examples using the above. Note that the negative imperative is formed by adding "na" (don't) before the root:
Can sin.
--
Say that.
Na can sin.
--
Don't say that.
Leugh an leabhar seo. -- Read this book.
Sgrìobh an litir.
--
Write the letter.
Sguir e!
--
Stop it!
Dùin do bheul!
--
Shut your mouth!
Na fan aig an taigh sin. -- Don't stay at that house.
Pòg mo thòn!
--
Kiss my arse![tòn [f.], "backside"]
Na seall a-nis.
--
Don't look now.
etc.
The plural form of the root, to be used when addressing a command to more than one person, is created by adding "aibh" to the root (or "ibh"if the last vowel of the root is "i"):
Cuiribh ur n-airgead air a' bhòrd.
-- Put your money on the table.
Sguiribh an fhuaim
sin!--
Stop that noise!
"O Teannaibh Dlùth 's Togaibh Fonn" -- "Draw Close and Raise a Tune"
(teann dlùth, "draw near"; fonn [m.] "tune")
(title of traditional song)
In Gaelic there are only ten irregular verbs, plus the verb
"bi". Apart from these exceptions (which will be examined later), the past tense
of a verb can be formed by aspirating its root. Roots beginning with unaspirable
consonants remain unchanged:
bris --break bhris -- broke
bruidhinn -- speak bhruidhinn -- spoke
caill--lose chaill-- lost
cuir --send chuir -- sent
seinn--sing sheinn -- sang
nochd--appear nochd-- appeared
pòg --kiss phòg -- kiss
pòs --marry phòs -- married
leugh--read leugh-- read
coisich--walk choisich -- walked
seas --stand sheas-- stood[etc.]
Roots beginning with "f" are aspirated and preceded by "dh'" in the past tense:
fan --stay dh'fhan--stayed
fosgail --open dh'fhosgail --opened
Roots beginning with a vowel also add "dh'":
ith --eat dh'ith -- ate
òl --drink dh'òl -- drank
èirich--rise dh'èirich-- rose
Examples:
Dh'ith sinn an t-aran.-- We ate the bread.
Nochd iad an-dè. -- They appeared yesterday.
Bhris mi mo chas.-- I broke my leg. (cas [f.], "leg", "foot")
Choisich mi do'n tràigh.-- I walked to the beach.
Dh'fhan i air an eilean.-- She stayed on the island.
Sheas sinn aig an doras.-- We stood at the door.
Leugh mi sgeul. -- I read a story.
For the negative of the past tense, put "cha do" before the root. "Cha do" also aspirates and puts "dh'" before "f" or a vowel:
Cha do dh'fhosgail mi an litir. -- I didn't open the letter.
Cha do choisich iad. -- They didn't walk.
Cha do leugh e an leabhar. -- He didn't read the book.
Cha do dh'òl sinn an leann. -- We didn't drink the beer.
Cha do chaill iad an Gàidhlig. -- They didn't lose their Gaelic.
For the question form, put "an do" before the root or, for a negative question, "nach do". Both of these aspirate and put "dh'" before "f" or a vowel:
An do dhùin thu an uinneag? -- Did you close the window?
An do bhris e a' chathair seo? -- Did he break this chair?
Nach do thuig sibh an leasan? -- Didn't you understand the lesson?
Nach do chuir ort do chòta? -- Didn't you put on your coat?
Just as with "tha", these questions are answered "yes" or "no" by repeating the positive or negative form of the verb, respectively:
Q. An do thuig thu? -- Did you understand?
A. Thuig. -- Yes. (literally: "understood")
or: A. Cha do thuig. -- No. (literally: "didn't understand")
The positive future tense of a regular verb is formed by adding "aidh" to the root (or "idh" if the last vowel in the root is "i"):
suidh -- sit suidhidh -- will sit
mol -- praise molaidh -- will praise
ionnsaich-- learn ionnsaichidh -- will learn
smaoinich-- think smaoinichidh -- will think
meal-- enjoy mealaidh -- will enjoy
fàs -- grow fàsaidh -- will grow
glas-- lock glasaidh -- will lock
fuirich-- live, stay fuirichidh -- will live, will stay
The negative future tense puts "cha" before the root, which aspirates where possible.
Cha phòs mi i. -- I will not marry her.
Cha ghlas mi an doras. -- I won't lock the door.
Before a vowel or "f" this becomes "chan" and "f" is aspirated:
Chan ith e feòil. -- He won't eat meat. (feòil [f.])
Chan fhuirich mi ann an taigh-òsda. -- I won't stay in a hotel. (taigh-òsda [m.])
The positive question is formed by putting "an" before the root (or "am" before a root beginning with b, f, m, or p). The negative question begins with "nach", as usual. Here there is no aspiration:
Am pòs thu mi?-- Will you marry me?
An òl thu uisge-beatha? -- Will you drink whisky?
Am fàs e an-seo?-- Will it grow here?
Nach suidh thu sìos? -- Won't you sit down?(sìos, "down")
One of the odd features about Scots Gaelic is that, unlike Irish, English and many other languages, it has no separate present tense forms. Instead, the job of describing present tense actions in Gaelic is split between two forms, the verbal noun and the future tense. The verbal noun is used for actions that are ongoing at the moment, corresponding to English verbs ending in "-ing". The future tense is used to describe present tense actions that are habitual or at least not isolated to one specific moment in time. Compare:
a) Tha a' ghrian ag èirigh. -- The sun is rising.
with
b) Èiridh a' ghrian. -- The sun rises. [literally: the sun will rise]Sentence a) is specific about the time it describes -- the sun is rising *now*. But sentence b) is non-specific. The sun rises habitually, and the future tense is used. But even non-habitual actions go into the future tense, as long as they are non-specific with respect to time: the English present-tense sentence "I write a letter" would go into Gaelic as a future-tense sentence, for instance.
This is another example, from the book of Job in the Bible:
"Air a' charraig cuiridh e (carraig [f.], "rock")
a-mach a làmh; (a-mach, "out"; làmh [f.] "hand")
tilgidh e (tilg, "throw")
bun-os-cionn (bun-os-cionn, "upside-down")
na beanntan." (Iob 28:9) (na beanntan, "the mountains")
The translation of this is: "On the rock he puts out his hand; he throws the mountains upside-down." The use of the future tense implies that such a great display of power is not just a one-off for God, but something that is or can be repeated.
The verbal noun, along with the infinitive, cannot be determined from the root of the verb. The root of a regular noun and its verbal noun resemble each other, but the formation of the verbal noun itself (e.g.what suffixes it uses) is generally random, so each one has to be memorized separately. In the meantime however you should have no problem making the connection between the root and verbal noun in reading, where you can go by appearances. Here are some pairs:
seinn--sing a' seinn -- singing
cuir --put a' cur -- putting
coisich--walk a' coiseachd-- walking
mol --praise a' moladh -- praising
ionnsaich --learn ag ionnsachadh -- learning
fan --stay a' fantainn -- staying
gabh --take a' gabhail-- taking
tilg --throw a' tilgeil-- throwing
pòs --marry a' pòsadh -- marrying
suidh--sit a' suidhe -- sitting
leugh--read a' leughadh -- readingAs you can see, the verbal noun often consists of a root plus a verbal noun suffix, but there is no rule determining just which suffix that is going to be. However the "-adh" suffix is the most common and is used when Gaelic speakers form new verbal nouns from English words, e.g. "a' smocadh" -- smoking (tobacco), so when all else fails you can try "-adh".