Notice that the sound and spelling of some months can change (lenition) when you put anns before them. Remember what happened when you put anns before a place name like:

An Gearasdan Fort William  >>> Anns a’ Ghearasdan in Fort William

The same happens with months, where it can:

Mar eisimplier:

An Gerran February >>> anns a’ Ghearran in February

Am Màrt March >>> anns a’ Mhàrt in March

To say in which month your birthday is, you say: Tha mo cho-là-breith anns… (followed by the month)

Mar eisimpleir:
Tha mo cho-là-breith anns a’ Mhairt.

If you want to ask what day it is today, you say: Dè an latha a th’ ann an-duigh.

To say what day it is today you say: ‘S e… a th’ann an-diugh.

If you want to check what day it is you say: An e … a th’ann an-diugh?

You have seen questions like this before.

Remember when you checked what something was, you asked: An e … a th’ann?

Mar eisimpleir:

An e Diluain a th’ann an-diugh? Is it Monday today?

Chan e… It’s not…

‘S e… It is…

In Gaelic there are two words for Sunday:

Là na Sàbaid Sabbath

Didòmhnaich Sunday

You should use whichever one you prefer, but you need to be able to recognise both as you will hear both words for Sunday used. In Gaelic, just like in English, people from different places sometimes use different words for the same thing.

Gaelic may have no word for a, but it has more than one word for the. The word the in English
is called the definite article.
Mar eisimpleir:
am peann the pen,
an rùilear the ruler.

Choosing which the to use in Gaelic before a noun depends on:

• whether the noun is feminine or masculine
• whether the noun is singular or plural
• which letter the noun starts with.

The classroom objects you have been learning in this unit are all singular and masculine. Below are three words for the to use with masculine nouns.

am for nouns starting with b, f, m, p >>> am peansail the pencil
an t- for nouns starting with vowels >>> an t-aodach the clothes
an for nouns starting with any other letter >>> an leabhar the book

If the noun is feminine, the word for the will be:
a’ for nouns starting with b, c, g, m, p >>> a’ bhròg the shoe
an (+h) for nouns starting with f >>> an fhreagairt the answer
an t- for nouns starting with sl, sn, sr, s + vowel >>> an t-sràid the street
an for nouns starting with any other letter >>> an uinneag the window

If the noun is plural, the word for the will be: na
na brògan
na miotagan

To check what something is, you ask: An e… a th’ ann?
Mar eisimpleir: An e peansail a th’ ann? Is it a pencil?

You have seen questions beginning with An e…? before. To answer, you say:
’S e peansail a th’ ann. It is a pencil.
Chan e peansail a th’ ann. It’s not a pencil.
’S e. Yes, it is.
Chan e. No, it’s not.

Remember, whenever a question begins with An e…? always be ready with the answer ’S e or Chan e.

To say that something is mine you say mo or m’, followed by the thing that you are talking about: mo pheansail.

To say that something is yours, you say do or d’, followed by the thing that you are talking about: do pheann.

peann >>> a pen
mo pheann >>> my pen

àireamhair >>> a calculator
m’ àireamhair my calculator

rùilear >>> a ruler
mo rùilear >>> my ruler

You will see that mo is shortened to m’ before a vowel or vowel sound.

If the noun following begins with an f, mo is shortened to m’ and an h is added to the noun:
m’ fhòn-làimhe.

Mo and do can change the word that comes after them. This is called lenition.

Try these when you want to say in my, in your etc:
na + mo = nam bhaga in my bag
na + mo = nam bheachd in my opinion
na + a = na bhaga in his bag
na + a = na baga in her bag

You will have noticed that Gaelic doesn’t have a word for a.

Peansail means pencil or a pencil.

The word a in English is called the indefinite article.

Gaelic doesn’t have an indefinite article.

So, a pencil is just peansail.

A coat/coat is just còta.

A shirt/shirt is just lèine.

If the adjective doesn’t give you a glue, then you look up the dictionary.

Some dictionaries will use m/f as their codes for masculine (m) and feminine (f), but others will use f/b – fireannta agus boireannta (Gaelic for masculine and feminine). Make sure you know which ones your dictionary uses.

When you use an adjective to describe a noun, the adjective usually comes after the noun.
Remember:

Madainn mhath! Good morning!

Feasgar math! Good afternoon!

If the noun is feminine, the sound and spelling of the adjective can change.
Mar eisimpleir:
Masculine nouns:

Calum beag
little Calum

geansaidh mòr
a big jumper

Feminine nouns:

Anna bheag
little Anna

lèine mhòr
a big shirt

Colours are adjectives too and therefore, the same rules apply. Mar eisimpleir:

geansaidh dearg
a red jumper

lèine dhearg
a red shirt

Therefore, we can tell that the word lèine is feminine and that geansaidh is masculine.

To ask what colour something is, you say:

Dè an dath a th’air?

To say what colour something is, you say:

Tha e / i…

Mar eisimpleir:

Tha e dearg. It is red.

If someone has red hair you would say ruadh and not dearg to describe it.

Likewise, if someone has grey hair you would use liath, not glas.

Beagan a bharrachd

ceann a tuath
North end

ceann a deas
South end

taobh sear
east side

taobh siar
west side

…na h-Alba
of Scotland

Gaelic has more than one word for yes and no and is and is not.

Choosing the right one to use depends on the question asked.

Mar eisimpleir:

A bheil…?

Tha. Yes, it is.

Chan eil. No, it isn’t.

An e…?

‘S e. Yes, it is.

Chan e. No, it isn’t.

To ask if someone lives in a particular place you say:

A bheil thu a’ fuireach…?

Do you live…?

A bheil Calum a’ fuireach…?

Do you live…?

To say where someone does or does’t live, you say:

Tha Claum a’fuireach…

Calum lives…

Chan eil Calum a’fuireach…

Calum doesn’t live…

To ask what a place is like, you say:

Cò ris a tha e coltach?

In Gaelic, you will have noticed that there is more than one word for in.

Tha mi a’fuireach… / I live…

ann an Glaschu / in Glasgow

ann am Peairt / in Perth

anns an Hearadh / in Harris

anns an Òban / in Oban

anns a’ Ghearasdan / in Fort William

When you want to tell your teacher you’ve finished something, you say:

Tha mi deiseil.

If you want to know what to do next, ask:

Dé nì mì a-nise?

If you don’t know something, you say:

Chan eil fhios agam.

If you want to say excuse me, you say:

Gabh mo leisgeul! or Gabhaibh mo leisgeul!

to someone older or more than one person.

dà or dhà?

You are used to seeing the word dhà for two: dhà, dhà-dheug, fichead ‘s a dhà…

But, you use the word dà when you are talking about two things.

Notice what else happens when you use the word dà.

Mar eisimpleir:

fichead / twenty

dà fichead / two twenties

peansail / a pencil

dà peansail / two pencils

cù / a dog

dà chù / two dogs

The fh in fhichead is silent so fhichead is said ‘ichead‘.

When someone wants to know your age, he/she will ask: Dè an aois a tha thu/sibh?

When you reply, you say: Tha mi…

When you want to ask someone else a person’s age you ask: Dè an aois a tha Calum? or Dè an aois a tha e?

The reply would be: Tha Calum còig-deug or Tha e còig-deug. or if it’s a girl: Dè an aois a tha Màiri? or Dè an aois a tha i?

The reply would be: Tha Màiri sia-deug or Tha i sia-deug.

When someone asks what age you are, he/she will say: Dè an aois a tha thu?

When you ask his/her age in return, you put more emphasis on the question, just like you do in English: What age are you?

You do this by using fhèin.

Dè an aois a tha thu fhèin?

Also, remember to swap thu for sibh, if you are being polite or talking to more than one person.

Sometimes you will hear people use the words: bliadhna a dh’aois after their age.

Mar eisimpleir: Tha mi fichead bliadhna a dh’aois. I am twenty years old.

Notice that an h- is inserted before the numbers aon and ochd. This is because they both begin with vowels: a h-aon, a h-ochd.

aon / h-aon

ochd / h-ochd

As well as being told what to do in class, there will be occasions when the teacher will tell you not to do something!

To tell someone not the do something is easy!

You put na before the command.

  Na suidh sios!

Don’t sit down!

Na Duin an doras!

Don’t shut the door!

You will notice that when the teacher is speaking to the whole class there is an -ibh at the end of verbs.

They say:

Thig a-steach! to one person but Thigibh a-steach! when he asks the whole class to come in.

Bi modhail! to one person but Bithibh modhail! when the whole class is misbehaving!

Mas e do thoil e is how you say please to someone you know well.

Mas e ur toil e is how you would say it to more than one person or to someone when being polite.

It is easy to ask how someone else is.

Mar eisimpleir:

Ciamar a tha Iain?
How is Iain?

Chan eil Iain gu math.
Iain isn’t well.

Remember when someone asks your name and you ask him/her the same question, you say: Dè an t-ainm a th’ ort fhèin?

When someone asks you how you are and you want to ask him/her the same question, you add fhèin again:

In Gaelic, there are two ways of saying your name, just like in English.

Is mise…

I am…

’S e … an t-ainm a th’ orm.

My name is…

To check what someone’s name is, you say:

An e … an t-ainm a th’ ort?

Is your name…?

You will notice that when people are talking in Gaelic and using each other’s names, the sound (and spelling) of most names change. This is called the vocative case.

Seòras becomes a Sheòrais.

Catrìona becomes a Chatrìona.

Names beginning with a vowel or l, n and r don’t change.

When someone calls your name, you should answer: Seadh. This is a bit like uh-huh in English.

In Gaelic, you will often see surnames beginning with Mac or Nic.

Mac is for boys.

Nic is for girls.

In Gaelic, we use a different form of you when speaking to different people.

When speaking to someone around the same age as you, or someone younger, you say: Dè an t-ainm a th’ ort?

When speaking to someone older or being polite, you would say, Dè an t-ainm a th’ oirbh?

Practice Dè an t-ainm a th’ ort? on your friends and Dè an t-ainm a th’ oirbh? on your teacher and your parents.

When someone asks your name, he/she will say:

Dè an t-ainm a th’ ort?

When you then ask his/her name, you put more emphasis on the question, just like you do in English – What’s your name?

In Gaelic, you do this by adding the word fhèin.

Dè an t-ainm a th’ ort fhèin?