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)
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:
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? 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
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.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:
Feminine nouns:
Colours are adjectives too and therefore, the same rules apply. Mar eisimpleir:
Therefore, we can tell that the word lèine is feminine and that geansaidh is masculine.
To ask what colour something is, you say:
To say what colour something is, you say:
Mar eisimpleir:
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.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:
To say where someone does or does’t live, you say:
To ask what a place is like, you say:
In Gaelic, you will have noticed that there is more than one word for in.
When you want to tell your teacher you’ve finished something, you say:
If you want to know what to do next, ask:
If you don’t know something, you say:
If you want to say excuse me, you say:
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 dogsWhen 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-ochdAs 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.
To check what someone’s name is, you say:
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.
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:
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.
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