Gaelic guide for learners

Today we continue examining the verb is ‘to be’ and look at the structure ’se…ath’ann ‘he’s a …’, ’s e ... a th’ innte ‘she’s a ...’ etc.: ’s e tidsear a th’ ann ‘he’s a teacher’; ’s e dotair a th’ innte ‘she’s a doctor’; ’se rùnaire a th’ annam ‘I’m a secretary’; an e sgrìobhadair a th’ annad? ‘are you a writer?’ – chan e ‘no’; an e oileanaich dhìcheallach a th’ annainn? ‘are we diligent students?’ – ’s e, gu dearbh ‘yes, indeed’; nach e ceannardan a th’ annaibh ‘aren’t you managers?’; ’se leabharlannaichean a th’ annta ‘they’re librarians’. The simple preposition ann an/m (anns before the article) appears before nouns: ’s e neach-malairt a th’ ann an Calum ‘Malcolm’s a trader’; chan e bean-ghlùine a th’ ann am Muireall ‘Muriel isn’t a midwife’; an e iasgair a th’ anns an duine sin? ‘is that man a fisherman?’ – chan e; nach e ailtire a th’ anns a’ bhoireannach sin ‘isn’t that woman an architect?’ – ’se.

The construction implies emphasis: tha craobh Nollaig sa cheàrnaig means ‘there’s a Christmas tree in the square’, but ’s e craobh Nollaig a tha sa cheàrnaig emphasises it’s a Christmas tree; ’s e peann a th’ ann, chan e peansail ‘it’s a pen, not a pencil’. lsabhal Mòr Ostaig offers Gaelic learning opportunities www.smo.uhi.ac.uk