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---title: "Càite Bheil Thu A’ Fuireach? – Lesson 3"date: 2014-10-15T07:09:19ZBlog: ["Kilted Scot"]category: - "Gàidhlig" - "Gaelic" - "term1" - "week3"images: ["/images/IMAG0612_1-edited.jpg"]Type: ["article"]draft: false---Week three and the pace slowed a little whilst the lesson focused on revision of the previous two weeks. That is not to say however that we don’t have new grammar concepts and vocabulary to go over, we do indeed.
The first new grammar concept we learned was in response to the question _Càite bheil thu a’ fuireach?_ which means where are you living? (as opposed to _Cò às a tha thu?_ – where are you from?)
The response to this question varies depending on the structure and/or spelling of the location of residence and there are three variations:
1. If the location is proceeded by a definite article such as The States (united and of America) which is _Na Stàitean_ then the location is preceded by _anns_ – _Tha mi a’ fuireach anns Na Stàitean_.2. If the place name begins with B, F, M or P and there is no definite article such as Barra which is _Barraigh_ then the location preceded by _ann am_ – _Tha mi a’ fuireach ann am Barraigh_.3. If the place name begins with any other letter other than B, F, M or P and there is no definite article such as Edinburgh which is _Dùn Eideann_ then the location is preceded by _ann an_ – _Tha mi a’ fuireach ann an Dùn Eideann_.
Simple (_simplidh_), right?
By way of a wee non-recorded pronunciation guide:
* _anns_ – like ounce but swap the ce for an s.. ouns* _ann_ – same as above but without the s* _am_ – you think you have this one don’t you? it’s pronounced im like Tim without the Tennents* _an_ – in like in without adding or subtracting any letters or sounds.
Next up, TENSES!
This isn’t as difficult as you might think, Gaelic is actually pretty logical in some regards (not its spelling to pronunciation mapping) and there are really just two tenses, PAST and FUTURE/HABITUAL.
I think I understood that right anyway, present tense is only really represented by the verb ‘to be/do’ and isn’t in itself really a tense.. yup, that sounds wrong but I am fairly certain that is what I was told. The tutor definitely said only two tenses even though there are apparently three. If you know different or can confirm this then please do comment below.
In any case, there are two NEW tenses.
<u>PAST TENSE</u>
Sentence structure is as before but with different questions words, positive and negative responses to what we’ve learned so far.
Questions:
| **Gàidhlig** | **English** || --- | --- || _An robh mi?_ | Was I? || _An robh thu?_ | Were you? || _An robh e?_ | Was he? || _An robh i?_ | Was she? || _An robh sinn?_ | Were we? || _An robh sibh?_ | Were you? || _An robh iad?_ | Were they? |
The positive response to _An robh?_ is _Bha_ – _Bha mi_, _bha thu_, _bha iad_ etc.
The negative response to _An robh?_ is _Chan robh_ – _Chan robh mi_, _chan robh thu_, _chan robh iad_ etc.
Examples:
| **Gàidhlig** | **English** || --- | --- || _An robh thu ag’ol uisge beatha a raoir?_ | Were you drinking whisky last night? || _An robh e trang an dè?_ | Was he busy yesterday? || _An robh cat aice?_ | Did she have a cat? |
<u>FUTURE TENSE/HABITUAL</u>
This tense not only represents what will happen in the future but also an activity that is carried out regularly.
Once again, sentence structure is as before but with different questions words, positive and negative responses to what we’ve learned so far.
Questions:
| **Gàidhlig** | **English ** || --- | --- || _Am bi mi?_ | Will I be? || _Am bi thu?_ | Will you be? || _Am bi e?_ | Will he be? || _Am bi i?_ | Will she be? || _Am bi sinn?_ | Will we be? || _Am bi sibh?_ | Will you be? || _Am bi iad?_ | Will they be? |
The positive response to _Am bi?_ is _Bidh_ – _Bidh mi_, _bidh thu_, _bidh iad_ etc.
The negative response to _Am bi?_ is _Chan bhi_ – _Chan bhi mi_, _chan bhi thu_, _chan bhi iad_ etc.
Examples:
| **Gàidhlig** | **English** || --- | --- || _Am bi thu ag’ol uisge beatha a nochd?_ | Will you be drinking whisky tonight? || _Am bi e trang a màireach?_ | Will he be busy tomorrow? || _Am bi cat aice?_ | Will she have a cat? |
Yes, I do like whisky, why do you ask?
Of course, no lesson would be complete without our weekly song and this time I actually really like it, much better pace than the previous two. _Cànan Nan Gàidheal_ – The language of the Gael written by Murdo MacFarlane from Lewis.
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