Gaelic guide for learners

Tha, chan eil, a bheil?, nach eil?

The verb bi ‘to be’ can be used to create a wide range of structures in different tenses, writes Janni Diez. In each tense, there are the positive, the negative, the question and the negative question form. In the present tense, these are tha, chan eil and a bheil?, nach eil?

Tha mi toilichte ‘I’m happy’; chan eil mi brònach ‘I’m not sad’; a bheil thu teth? ‘are you hot?’ – tha ‘yes’; nach eil thu fuar? ‘aren’t you cold?’ – chan eil ‘no’.

You can use these to express what you are doing: tha mi a’ leughadh leabhar ‘I’m (at) reading a book’; chan eil mi a’ dèanamh càil ‘I’m not doing anything’; a bheil iad a’ tighinn a-màireach? ‘are they coming tomorrow?’ – chan eil; nach eil thu ag iarraidh cupa teatha? ‘aren’t you wanting a cup of tea?’ – tha, gu dearbh ‘yes, certainly’.

To say you are seeing him/it or her/it, a’ or ag is replaced by ga, which lenites if masculine: tha mi ga fhaicinn an-dràsta ‘I’m seeing him just now’; a bheil thu ga iarraidh?; but adds h- to a vowel if feminine: a bheil thu ga faicinn an-dràsta? ‘are you seeing her just now?’; nach eil thu ga h-iarraidh? lsabhal Mòr Ostaig offers Gaelic learning opportunities on site and by distance learning www.smo.uhi.ac.uk