Comparison of Similar Things
To compare two objects the way that English does using "as... as" (e.g. as big as, as tall as) Gaelic uses "cho... ri":
Tha sin cho mór ri taigh. That's as big as a house.
Cho sgìth ri cù. As tired as a dog.
Chan eil thu cho àrd ri do bhràthair. You're not as tall as your brother.
"Cho" means "so". "Ri" means "to"; it becomes "ris" before the definite article and takes the dative case:Chan eil am balach cho mmór ris an fhear. The boy isn't as big as the man.
Tha an sgoil cho seann ris a' bhaile. The school is as old as the town. (seann, "old")
Books of Gaelic proverbs have dozens of sayings which use this construction, e.g.:Cho làidir ri Cuchulainn. As strong as Cuchulainn.
Cho marbh ri sgadan. As dead as a herring.
(marbh, "dead") (sgadan [m.], "herring")Cho dall ri damh ann an ceò. As blind as an ox in mist.
(dall, "blind") (damh [m.], "ox")
(ceò [m.], "fog, mist, smoke")Cho gòrach ris na h-eòin. As thoughtless as the birds.
(na h-eòin, "the birds")
(said of children)
"Ri" is one of several words in Gaelic which give the sense of the English word "to" (the word "do", which you've already seen, is another). It's not always easy to predict which word for "to" is the right one for the context. Some verbs need "ri" to complete their meanings, for example "éisd" (listen):
Éisd ris an naidheachd. Listen to the news.
-- and "labhair" (speak), (verbal noun "a' labhairt"):
Bha mi a' labhairt ris an duine. I was speaking to the man.
The prepositional pronoun forms of "ri" are:ri + mi = rium
ri + thu = riut
ri + e = ris
ri + i = rithe
ri + sinn = ruinn
ri + sibh = ruibh
ri + iad = ruithaExamples:
Chan eil iad cho càirdeil ruinn. They aren't as friendly as us.
Labhair aingeal ris. An angel spoke to him.
(aingeal [m.])
Cha do dh'éisd e rium. He didn't listen to me.
The prepositional pronouns of "do" (to) are:
do + mi = dhomh
do + thu = dhut
do + e = dha
do + i = dhi
do + sinn = dhuinn
do + sibh = dhuibh
do + iad = dhaibhSometimes "do" after a verb will translate the English word "to", for instance with the irregular verb "thoir" (give):
Thoir dhomh do làmh. Give me your hand.
(or: Give your hand to me)But more frequently "do" is employed in a wide variety of contexts and is not always translatable into English as such. It completes the sense of verbs like "bean" (touch), "foighnich" (ask), and "innis" (tell):
Na bean dha! Don't touch it!
Dh'fhoighnich mi dhaibh. I asked them.
Dh'innis e an sgeul dhi. He told her the story.
When the object of a sentence is a personal pronoun, it tends to get pushed to the end of a sentence where possible. For example, the sentence "she lifted it" in Gaelic would be "thog i e". Here there is no word coming between "i" and "e". But any more words added to the sentence will bump "e" to the right:
Thog i suas e. She lifted it up. (suas, "up")
Or, to take a somewhat longer sentence:
Chuir an dotair do'n leabaidh e. The doctor sent him to (the) bed.
(dotair [m.]) (leabaidh [f.], "bed")
i) "bi"
The conditional tense is that which talks about what "would" happen (if such and such a condition were fulfilled). The conditional of "bi" is:
bhithinn -- I would be
bhiodh tu -- you would be
bhiodh e -- he would be
bhiodh i -- she would be
bhiomaid -- we would be
bhiodh sibh -- you would be
bhiodh iad -- they would beNotes:
1) "bhithinn" and "bhiomaid" don't need to be followed by a pronoun, since they are a combined form of
verb and pronoun.
2) After a conditional verb "thu" changes to "tu".
3) In many places you'll still see older spellings of "bhiodh" and "bhiomaid" -- "bhitheadh" and
"bhitheamaid", respectively.The question form is "am bithinn...?" for "would I be...?", "am biomaid...?" for "would we be...?", and "am biodh...?" for the other pronouns. Negative statements just put "cha" before the verb and keep the aspiration, e.g. "cha bhithinn" (I would not be), "cha bhiodh sibh" (you would not be), etc.
ii) Regular Verbs
The way to form the conditional of regular verbs depends on whether or not the root ends with an "-i":Root: cuir -- "put" Root: mol -- "praise"
chuirinn -- I would put mholainn -- I would praise
chuireadh tu -- you would put mholadh tu -- you would praise
chuireadh e -- he would put mholadh e -- he would praise
chuireadh i -- she would put mholadh i -- she would praise
chuireamaid -- we would put mholamaid -- we would praise
chuireadh sibh -- you would put mholadh sibh -- you would praise
chuireadh iad -- they would put mholadh iad -- they would praiseThe negative is formed with "cha", which aspirates. A question would be asked by putting "an" (or "am" before b, f, m, or p) and removing the aspiration.
Examples:
Bhithinn toilichte. I would be delighted.
Bhiodh biadh agus deoch ann. There would be food and drink there.
Am biodh iad deiseil a-màireach? Would they be ready tomorrow
Cha bhiodh Aonghas deònach. Angus wouldn't be willing. (deònach, "willing")
Cosgadh sin dà not. That would cost two pounds. (cosg, "cost") (not [m.])
Chuireadh e an litir air a' bhòrd. He'd put the letter on the table.
Mholainn an leabhar seo. I would recommend (praise) this book.
An creideadh tu e? Would you believe it? (creid, "believe")
An duineadh tu an uinneag sin? Would you close that window?
Am pòsadh tu mi? Would you marry me?
Cha ghluaiseadh iad. They would not move. (gluais, "move")
Cha sguireadh e a fhaoineas. He wouldn't stop his nonsense. (faoineas [f.])Verbs beginning with "f" aspirate and add "dh'" ("dh" followed by an apostrophe) in the conditional. Their negative is formed with "chan", and a question asked with "am...?"
Dh'fhuiricheadh e ann an taigh-òsda. He would stay in a hotel. (fuirich, "live", "stay")
Dh'fhàgamaid anns a' mhadainn. We would leave in the morning. (madainn [f.])
Chan fhanainn anns an àite sin. I wouldn't stay in that place. (àite [m.], "place")Verbs beginning with a vowel add "dh'" in this tense to form the positive, "chan" to form the negative, and "an...?" to ask a question:
Dh'èisdeadh e aig an doras. He would listen at the door.
"Dh'òlainn Deoch A Làimh Mo Rùn" "I Would Drink a Drink from the Hand of My Love"
(deoch [f.]. "a drink") (rùn [m.], "beloved")
(title of waulking song)
An itheadh tu greim? Would you eat a bite? (greim [f.])
Chan èisdeadh iad rium. They wouldn't listen to me.
One thing about the dative case which I forgot to mention entirely in Lesson Three is that some feminine nouns in that case undergo a change in their spelling. The most common change is to add an "i" as the final vowel of the word; this is especially common where the last vowel in the word is "a" or "o":
an t-sròn the nose
air an t-sròin on the nosean rionnag the star
as an rionnaig from the stara' bhròg the shoe
leis a' bhròig with the shoeAn "i" is never added to a feminine noun in the dative case if that noun already has an "i". But other than that, it is difficult to know when to add it and when not to. To complicate things further, there are some feminine nouns in the dative which change their spellings in even more irregular ways. However, these new patterns will be explored in detail in a later lesson. Please note that many of these changes are frequently ignored in the spoken language and are comparatively rare in print as well, and they don't have to be mastered until you have a more advanced knowledge of Gaelic.
The Gaelic word for "very" is "glé". "Glé" comes before the adjective it qualifies and it aspirates it:
Tha seo blasda! This is tasty!
Tha seo glé bhlasda! This is very tasty!Bha an taigh mór. The house was big.
Bha an taigh glé mhór. The house was very big.The name of the Scottish liqueur "Glayva" is an anglicization of "glé mhath" (very good).
Another word for "very" (used less often) is "fìor", which also aspirates:
Bidh Calum toilichte. Calum will be pleased.
Bidh Calum fìor thoilichte. Calum will be very pleased.The word for "too" (when used to mean "excessively") is "ro", which again aspirates:
Cha robh am baile trang. The town wasn't busy.
Cha robh am baile ro thrang. The town wasn't too busy. (trang, "busy")