Irish Lesson 119

CLEACHTADH LE BRIATHRA;
Practice with Verbs

Cuir Gaeilge ar na sraitheanna seo:

I believe. I believed. I used to believe. I will believe. I would believe.

I fly. I flew. I used to fly. I will fly. I would fly.

I see. I saw. I used to see. I will see. I would see.

You don’t read. You didn’t read. You didn’t used to read. You won’t read. You wouldn’t read.

Does he collect? Did he collect? Did he used to collect? Will he collect? Would he collect?

Key: Creidim. Chreid mé (hyred may*). Chreidinn. Creidfidh mé (KRET-hee may*). Chreidfinn (HYRET-hin).

Eitlím (ET-i-leem). D’eitil mé. D’eitlínn (DET-leen). Eitleoidh mé (et-LOH-ee may*). D’eitleoinn (det-LOH-in).

Feicim. Chonaic mé. D’fheicinn. Feicfidh mé. D’fheicfinn (DEK-hin).

Ní léann (LAY*-uhn) tú. Níor léigh tú. Ní léiteá. Ní léifidh (LAY*-hee) tú. Ní léifeá (LAY*-faw*).

An mbailíonn sé? Ar bhailigh sé? An mbailíodh (MAHL-ee-ohk*) sé? An mbaileoidh (mahl-YOH-ee) sé? An mbaileodh (mahl-YOHK*) sé?

Cuir Béarla ar an focail seo leanas (LAN-uhs):

Nár cheannaigh tú é? Nach n-éistfidh tú leo? An ithimis iad? D’imíomar linn. Léimfeadh sé. Nach ndúnadh sibh é?

Key: Didn’t you buy it? Won’t you listen to them? Did we used to eat them? We departed (took ourselves off). He would jump. Didn’t you-all used to close it?

RÉAMHFHOCAIL (RAY*V-ohk-il); prepositions

More uses for the word “ar”, generally meaning “on”:

When an indefinite location is meant, “ar” does not cause aspiration of the word after it. Learn these examples:

ar bord, on board (a ship, train, or generally present).

ar muir (er MWIR), at sea; ar farraige, at sea.

ar talamh (er TAH-luhv), on land.

ar bóthar, on the road, traveling.

ar cruinniú, meeting, in session.

Examples: Níl Seán ar bord fós, Seán’s not on board yet. Is deas tú bheith ar bord againn, good to have you on board.

Bhí an long ar muir le tamall fada, the ship was at sea for a long time.

Is fearr leis an gcat bheith ar talamh, the cat prefers to be on land.

Bhínn (veen) ar bóthar le linn na míosa go léir, I used to be on the road the whole month.

An bhfuil an t-uachtarán agus na múinteoirí ar cruinniú fós?, Are the president and the teachers still meeting?

To describe certain actions or conditions, “ar” may be followed by a verbal noun or other kind of noun. Learn these phrases:

ar fiuchadh (FYOOK*-huh), boiling

ar mire (MIR-e), very angry, also ar buile (BWIL-e)

ar fáil, available

ar meisce, intoxicated

ar siúl (shool), going on, happening

ar seilbh (SHEL-iv), in the possession of

ar seachrán (SHAHK*-raw*n), astray, in error

ar iasacht (EE-sahk*t), on loan, borrowed

Examples:

Tá an t-uisce ar fiuchadh, the water is boiling.

Bhí an cat ar mire, the cat was very angry, wild with rage.

Níl an t-airgead ar fáil anois, the money is not to be had now.

An bhfuil sé ar meisce?, Is he drunk?

Cad tá ar siúl ann?, What is happening there?

Beidh mé ar seilbh an tí go luath, I will be in possession of the house soon.

Tá Seán ar seachrán ar an gcnoc, Seán is wandering astray on the hill.

Fuair mé an leabhar ar iasacht, I borrowed the book.

GRAIMÉAR
The Subjunctive, An Modh Fóshuiteach (foh-HI-tahk*) San Aimsir Láithreach

Irish has a separate form for expressing the equivalent of “I hope that ___”, or “May it ___”, or “It should ___”. This is called the present tense of the subjunctive mood. It is simple to form and use. Here are several examples to memorize before looking at the rules for forming the mood and tense:

go dtaga do ríocht (REE-ohk*t), may Thy kingdom come.

go maire tú (MAH-re too), may you live, long life to you.

go mbeannaí Dia dhuit (goh MAN-ee DEE-uh git), may God bless you.

go raibh maith agat, thank you (may you have good).

The negative form is introduced by “nár” (naw*r) and is usually imprecation or wish for unfavorable outcome or for punishment, although a few exceptions are found:

Nár agrá Dia air é, may God not punish him for it.

Nár laga Dia a lámh, may God not weaken his hand.

For first-conjugation verbs (such as dún or mol) ending in a broad consonant, the basic forms end in “a”: go dúna, go mola, go n-óla.

For first-conjugation verbs ending in a slender consonant, such as caith or bris, the basic forms end in “e”; go gcaithe, go mbrise, go n-éiste.

For second-conjugation verbs, such as bailigh or ceannaigh, “í” is the ending: go mbailí, go gceannaí.

A complete listing, to be read aloud several times:

go ndúna mé (goh NOON-uh may*), may I close.

go ndúna tú; go ndúna sé; go ndúna sí.

go ndúnaimid, may we close; go ndúna sibh; go ndúna siad.

go ndúntar é, may it be closed.

nár dhúna mé (naw*r GOON-uh may*), may I not close.

nár dhúna tú; nár dhúna sé; nár dhúna sí.

nár dhúnaimid, may we not close; nár dhúna sibh; nár dhúna siad.

nár dhúntar é, may it not be closed.

For “cuir”, the first form is: go gcuire mé (goh GIR-e may*).

For “imigh”, the first form is: go n-imí mé (goh NIM-ee may*).

For the irregular verbs, this tense is based on the present tense and is entirely regular, as you can see from these: go dtaga mé, go dté mé, go bhfeice mé, go ndeire mé, go gcloise mé, go ndéana mé, go bhfaighe mé, go dtuga mé, go mbeire mé air, go n-ithe mé.

©2000 The Irish People

Irish Lesson 118 | Irish Lesson 120

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