[A] There are 2 main categories of verbs

 

1.  verbs of motion or intention - rach, thig, falbh + sguir - in any tense at all.  There may be more I haven't discovered yet.

2.  the rest

 

 

ie:  tha mi ag ithe ubhail                   [simple sentence, ie only one verb- a standard word order]

chaidh mi a dh'ithe ubhail                [in this one there is a 'verb of motion' preceding the infinitive therefore inversion does not take place

tha mi ag iarraidh ubhal ithe             [in this one there is no 'verb of motion' - ie: none of rach, thig, falbh, nor sguir are  

                                                           are involved so no inversion takes place]

 

some more examples using 'verbs of motion':

 

tha mi a' dol a cheannach leabhair - I am going to buy a book

the\id mi a cheannach leabhair - I will go to buy a book

chaidh mi a cheannach leabhair  - I went to buy a book

 

 

tha mi a' tighinn a dhe\anamh bi\dhe - I am coming to make a meal

thig mi a dhe\anamh bi\dhe - I will come to make a meal

tha\inig mi a dhe\anamh bi\dhe - I came to make a meal

 

tha mi a' falbh a dh'fhaighinn bus - I'm going to catch a bus

dh'fhalbh mi a dh'fhaighinn bus - I left to catch a bus

falbhidh mi a dh'fhaighinn bus - I will leave to catch a bus

 

tha mi a' sguir a smocadh thoitean  - I am stopping smoking cigarettes

sguir mi a smocadh thoitean - I stopped smoking cigarettes

sguiridh mi a a smocadh thoitean  - I will stop smoking cigarettes

 

ACH!  verbs of motion or intention are not used in the following, therefore, inversion takes place:

 

tha mi ag iarraidh leabhar a cheannach - I want a book to buy

bu toigh leam leabhar a cheannach - I would like a book to buy

tha cho math dhomh leabhar a cheannach - I'm as well to buy a book

'b urrainn dha leabhar a cheannach - He could buy a book

bu cho\ir dha biadh a dhe\anamh - He ought to make a meal

dh'fhaodainn biadh a dhèanamh - I could make a meal

feumaidh mi bus fhaighinn - I must catch a bus

tha agam ri bus fhaighinn - I have to catch a bus

bha dùil aice ri bus fhaighinn - She intended to catch a bus

tha iad a' diu\lteadh toiteanan a smocadh - They are refusing to smoke cigarettes

's fhea\rr dhi biadh ithe - She had better eat some food

 

[B]  constructions including the word 'airson' [air son] also cause inversion whether it is preceded by a verb of motion or not

 

tha mi air son leabhar a cheannach - I'm for buying a book / i'm going to buy a book

chaidh mi air son leabhar a cheannach - I went to buy a book [ i went for the reason of buying a book]

thig mi air son biadh a dhe\anamh - I came to make food

dh'fhalbh mi air son bus fhaighinn - I left to catch a bus

 

[C] air

 

tha mi air leabhar a cheannaich - I have bought a book

 

[D] adjectives

 

tha mi toilichte sin a chluinntinn - I am pleased to hear that

 

you'll see from this lot that in Gaelic, inversion is the norm, and you deviate from that when 'verbs of motion or intention' precede or in a simple sentence like 'tha mi ag ithe ubhail'.

 

the trick is to memorise a few key phrases like

 

tha mi toilichte sin a chluinntinn - inversion

tha mi air son biadh ithe - inversion

tha mi a' dol a cheannach leabhair. - NO inversion