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Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2026-04-25T13:07:59Z

Silmeth: /* Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

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Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|briste}} {{color|blue|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a clause (a regular verbal or a verbal noun one) – common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

With definite predicates, when the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When presenting someone or something to the listener (introducing ''a new'' concept into the discourse), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘here is my house’, a shorter construction is used which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax) – which would be normal to classify particular ''this''
or ''that'' as something:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
one says instead:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to say ''what'' the presented thing is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this/here was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the object presented is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|í seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2026-04-25T12:14:21Z

Silmeth:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|briste}} {{color|blue|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a clause (a regular verbal or a verbal noun one) – common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When presenting someone or something to the listener (introducing ''a new'' concept into the discourse), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘here is my house’, a shorter construction is used which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax) – which would be normal to classify particular ''this''
or ''that'' as something:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
one says instead:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to say ''what'' the presented thing is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this/here was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the object presented is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|í seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Irish/Relative clauses

2026-04-23T19:35:20Z

Silmeth: /* Direct relative */

There comes a time in the life of every learner of Irish when they have to face Irish relative clause constructions, and it can be a challenge. Relative clause is one that
refers back to something that was mentioned before (or, in some languages, will be mentioned later) – often providing more information about it,
for example in the English sentence:

* ''The man '''whom I had seen before''' walked in''

the ''whom I had seen before'' is a relative clause that refers back to ''the man'' of the outer clause (''the man … walked in'').

The thing the relative clause refers back to (so ''the man'' in the example above) is called the '''antecedent'''.

Irish is famous in having two types of relative clauses – [[#Direct relative|'''direct''']] and [[#Indirect relative|'''indirect''']] ones
(the latter being an Irish innovation, this form didn’t really exist in Classical Gaelic and isn’t found in other Gaelic languages).

== Direct relative ==

Direct relative clauses are formed with the relative particle ''a'' and the '''lenited independent''' form of the verb (or [[#Relative form of the verb|the relative form]]
if a given dialect uses those).

Clauses of this type have their verb refer '''directly''' to their antecedent – this means that there is no word, like a pronoun, referring
back to the antecedent and that the antecedent is closely related to the verb of the relative clause.

This means that you use the direct relative clause when the antecedent is one of the following:
# the subject of the relative clause,
# the direct object of the relative clause,
# an adverb describing the manner or time of the verb of the relative clause.

For example, when the antecedent is the subject:
* ''an fear '''a mholann''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’ (or ''a mholas'', ''a mholanns'' with the relative form),
* ''an bhean '''a bhí''' sa tseomra'' ‘the woman who was in the room’.
or the object:
* ''an buachaill '''a chonac''''' ‘the boy '''whom I saw'''’,
* ''na leabhair '''a léigh''' sé'' ‘the books '''that''' he '''read'''’.

Note that sometimes only the context can disambiguate whether the clause describes its subject or object:
* ''an fear a chonaic an bhean'' can mean either ‘the man who saw the woman’ and ‘the man whom the woman saw’.

This is also the construction used with adverbs of time and nouns denoting time (which work adverbially), like ''nuair'' ‘when’, ''an lá'' ‘the day’, ''an bhliain'' ‘the year’, etc. (but see below – in Connacht it’s common to use indirect relative clauses with time nouns too):
* ''an lá '''a bhí''' mé in Éirinn'' ‘the day '''when''' I '''was''' in Ireland’,
* '''''nuair a''' tháinig sé'' ‘'''when''' he came’.

And the same logic applies to adverbials (prepositional phrases and other averbs) fronted with the copula:
* ''is ar an mbord '''atá''' an cat'' ‘it is on the table '''that''' the cat '''is'''’,
* ''is liomsa '''a bhí''' tú ag caint'' ‘it is to me '''that''' you '''were''' talking’.

Note that for the verb ''tá'' the form used in relative clauses is ''atá'' and it’s not lenited – that’s because the verb comes from Old Irish ''at·tá'',
a compound verb. Those had the verbal rule lenited in relative clauses, and ''·tá'' could not be lenited after ''at·''. So it was invariably ''at·tá'',
in Classical Gaelic ''a-tá''. In Modern Irish the initiall ''a-'' was dropped except in relative clause contexts (where it is understood as the relative
particle), but lack of lenition remained.

=== Relative form of the verb ===

Dialects of Ulster and Connacht have special relative forms of verbs in the present and future tenses (but not in the past). Those forms are not used
in Munster dialects (except for some set phrases), the relative form is optional but allowed in the Caighdeán Oifigiúil.

In the present tense in Ulster and Standard Irish the ending is ''-(e)as'' or ''-(í)os'' replacing the present ending ''-(e)ann, -(í)onn'':

* ''an fear '''a mholas''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’.

In Connacht the ''-s'' is added to ''-(e)ann, -(í)onn'', resulting in ''-(e)anns, -(í)onns'':

* ''an fear '''a mholanns''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’.

In the future tense the ending is ''-f(e)as'':

* ''an fear '''a mholfas''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who will praise the book’.

There is one verb whose relative form is required by an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, that is ''lean'' ‘follow’ which in present tense direct relative clauses
is required to be ''leanas'' ‘which follows, that follows’.

=== The copula ===
The relative form of the copula is ''is'' {{IPA|/əs/}}, just like the independent form. It is sometimes written ''as'' in older texts.<ref>In Old Irish
there was actually a distinction between non-relative ''is'' {{IPA|/is/}} and relative ''as'' {{IPA|/as/}} but due to vowel reduction this distinction
was lost around the time the language transitioned to Middle Irish in the 10th century. In later times both forms of the copula are most commonly written
as ''as'' and the modern standard spelling ''is'' is basically bringing back the original Old Irish way to spell the non-relative form…</ref>

[TODO: examples]

== Indirect relative ==

Indirect relative clauses are formed with the '''other''' relative particle ''a'' (sometimes ''go'' or ''na'', see [[#Alternative forms of the particle|below]]) and the '''eclipsed dependent''' form of the verb (the relative
form of verbs is '''not''' used in this type!). In the past tense with regular nouns leniting ''ar'' is used instead.

Clauses of this type generally have some type of pronoun referring back to their antecedent, this might be:
# a prepositional pronoun (like ''air'' ‘on him / it’, ''léi'' ‘with her / it’, ''acu'' ‘at them’, etc.),
# a possessive pronoun (''a'' ‘his / her / their’, also merged with a preposition like ''dá'' ‘to his’, etc.),
# or a direct object pronoun (''é'' ‘him / it’, ''í'' ‘her / it’, ''iad'' ‘them’).

Some examples of the first one would be:
* '''{{color|green|an bord}} a bhfuil an cat {{color|green|air}}''' — ''the table that the cat is on'', ''air'' ‘on it’ refers back to ''an bord'' ‘the table’,
* '''{{color|green|an cailín}} a raibh mé ag caint {{color|green|léi}}''' — ''the girl I was talking to'', ''léi'' ‘with her / to her’ refers to ''an cailín'' ‘the girl’,
* '''tuigim {{color|green|an teanga}} ar scríobh tú an teachtaireacht {{color|green|inti}}''' — ''I understand the language in which you wrote the message'' (literally ''… that you wrote the message in it''), ''inti'' ‘in it’ (feminine) refers to ''an teanga'',
* '''{{color|green|na leabhair}} ar fhoghlaim mé {{color|green|uathu}}''' – ''the books I learned from'', ''uathu'' ‘from them’ refers to ''na leabhair'' ‘the books’.

Note that the prepositional pronoun agrees in number and gender to the thing referred to (in case of ''cailín'' ‘girl’ it actually agrees with the
“natural” perceived gender rather than the noun’s gender, as is common when talking about humans).

When the pronoun is a possessive one then the clause translates as a ‘whose’-relative clause to English:
* '''{{color|green|an buachaill}} a bhfuil {{color|green|a}} mháthair breoite''' — ''the boy whose mother is sick'', the leniting ''a'' ‘his’ refers back ''an buachaill'' ‘the boy’,
* '''sin í {{color|green|an bhean}} a raibh mé sa scoil {{color|green|lena}} mac''' – ''this is the woman with whose son I was in school'' (lit. ''… that I was in school with her son''), ''lena'' ‘with her’ refers back to ''an bhean'' ‘the woman’,

[TODO: the rest + examples]

[TODO: explain “exceptions” like ''an fáth a bhfuil…'', ''an áit a bhfuilim'', etc. – historically prepositional clauses]

=== Preposition + relative pronoun ===

=== Alternative forms of the particle ===

In Munster dialects generally '''go''' is used instead of ''a'' in indirect relative clauses. This generally affects only the “normal” indirect relative
clauses – not the prepositional ones with the preposition before the clause, those remain the same.

[TODO: examples]

Sometimes ''go'' gets used in Connacht too, but it’s rarer there.

Another particle is ''na'' which also happens in Munster, especially in older texts – it’s generally interchangeable with ''go'' as the marker
of indirect relative clause.

[TODO: examples]

== Other relativizers ==

[TODO: ''mar'' ‘where’]

[TODO: ''dá'' ‘when’]

=== Generalizing relative pronoun ===

== References ==

== Footnotes ==
<references/>

Relative clauses in Gaelic languages

2026-04-23T19:34:34Z

Silmeth:

This page compares relative clause constructions present in the Gaelic languages. Irish examples will be provided in {{color|green|green}}, Scottish Gaelic in {{color|#00BFFF|light blue}} and Manx in {{color|red|red}},
Classical Gaelic examples in black. Beside that all examples will be also written in a normalized spelling based on Dinneen’s dictionary of Irish and modern editions of Classical Gaelic texts.

The discussion will be divided into sections focusing on different types of ''relative clause antecedent'', ie. what the relation of the thing
the relative clause describes is to the relative clause. For example in English:
* ''I saw the pigeon that sat on a tree'' the phrase ''the pigeon'' is the ''subject'' of the relative clause (it’s the pigeon that was sitting on a tree),
* ''I saw the pigeon whose nest is in the tree'' the relation is ''possessive'' (sometimes called ''genitive'') because the pigeon appears as the ''owner'' of something mentioned in the clause (it’s ''the pigeon’s'' nest in the tree),
* ''you met the man to whom I was talking'' the relation is ''prepositional'' (the talking happened ''to the man'').

== Subject antecedent ==
When the antecedent of a clause is its grammatical subject, in Classical Gaelic the verb was lenited and for regular verbs in the 3rd person sg. present
and future tenses the special relative form was used:

* ''an fear mholas an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’,
often when the clause itself identified the referrent of the noun, the definite article was not used:
* ''ad-chiú mhnáoi mharbhas bhoin'' ‘I see the woman who kills a cow’.

If the verb was understood to be a compound verb with a preverb ''do-'' (or short ''t-'' before verbal roots beginning with a vowel), ''ad-'', ''fo-'', etc.
only the verbal root was lenited:
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three (people) who came’,
* ''fear do-bheir an réad damh'' ‘the man who gives the thing to me’.

=== Copula ===

=== Negation ===

== Object antecedent ==

== Prepositional antecedent ==

== Possessive antecedent ==

Relative clauses in Gaelic languages

2026-04-23T19:33:21Z

Silmeth:

This page compares relative clause constructions present in the Gaelic languages. Irish examples will be provided in {{color|green|green}}, Scottish Gaelic in {{color|#|light blue}} and Manx in {{color|red|red}},
Classical Gaelic examples in black. Beside that all examples will be also written in a normalized spelling based on Dinneen’s dictionary of Irish and modern editions of Classical Gaelic texts.

The discussion will be divided into sections focusing on different types of ''relative clause antecedent'', ie. what the relation of the thing
the relative clause describes is to the relative clause. For example in English:
* ''I saw the pigeon that sat on a tree'' the phrase ''the pigeon'' is the ''subject'' of the relative clause (it’s the pigeon that was sitting on a tree),
* ''I saw the pigeon whose nest is in the tree'' the relation is ''possessive'' (sometimes called ''genitive'') because the pigeon appears as the ''owner'' of something mentioned in the clause (it’s ''the pigeon’s'' nest in the tree),
* ''you met the man to whom I was talking'' the relation is ''prepositional'' (the talking happened ''to the man'').

== Subject antecedent ==
When the antecedent of a clause is its grammatical subject, in Classical Gaelic the verb was lenited and for regular verbs in the 3rd person sg. present
and future tenses the special relative form was used:

* ''an fear mholas an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’,
often when the clause itself identified the referrent of the noun, the definite article was not used:
* ''ad-chiú mhnáoi mharbhas bhoin'' ‘I see the woman who kills a cow’.

If the verb was understood to be a compound verb with a preverb ''do-'' (or short ''t-'' before verbal roots beginning with a vowel), ''ad-'', ''fo-'', etc.
only the verbal root was lenited:
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three (people) who came’,
* ''fear do-bheir an réad damh'' ‘the man who gives the thing to me’.

=== Copula ===

=== Negation ===

== Object antecedent ==

== Prepositional antecedent ==

== Possessive antecedent ==

Relative clauses in Gaelic languages

2026-04-23T19:32:27Z

Silmeth: Created page with "This page compares relative clause constructions present in the Gaelic languages. Irish examples will be provided in {{color|green|green}}, Scottish Gaelic in {{color|#|light..."

This page compares relative clause constructions present in the Gaelic languages. Irish examples will be provided in {{color|green|green}}, Scottish Gaelic in {{color|#|light blue}} and Manx in {{color|red|red}},
Classical Gaelic examples in black. Beside that all examples will be also written in a normalized spelling based on Dinneen’s dictionary of Irish and modern editions of Classical Gaelic texts.

The discussion will be divided into sections focusing on different types of ''relative clause antecedent'', ie. what the relation of the thing
the relative clause describes is to the relative clause. For example in English:
* ''I saw the pigeon that sat on a tree'' the phrase ''the pigeon'' is the ''subject'' of the relative clause (it’s the pigeon that was sitting on a tree),
* ''I saw the pigeon whose nest is in the tree'' the relation is ''possessive'' (sometimes called ''genitive'') because the pigeon appears as the ''owner''
of something mentioned in the clause (it’s ''the pigeon’s'' nest in the tree),
* ''you met the man to whom I was talking'' the relation is ''prepositional'' (the talking happened ''to the man'').

== Subject antecedent ==
When the antecedent of a clause is its grammatical subject, in Classical Gaelic the verb was lenited and for regular verbs in the 3rd person sg. present
and future tenses the special relative form was used:

* ''an fear mholas an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’,
often when the clause itself identified the referrent of the noun, the definite article was not used:
* ''ad-chiú mhnáoi mharbhas bhoin'' ‘I see the woman who kills a cow’.

If the verb was understood to be a compound verb with a preverb ''do-'' (or short ''t-'' before verbal roots beginning with a vowel), ''ad-'', ''fo-'', etc.
only the verbal root was lenited:
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three (people) who came’,
* ''fear do-bheir an réad damh'' ‘the man who gives the thing to me’.

=== Copula ===

=== Negation ===

== Object antecedent ==

== Prepositional antecedent ==

== Possessive antecedent ==

Irish/Relative clauses

2026-04-23T19:17:29Z

Silmeth: /* Direct relative */

There comes a time in the life of every learner of Irish when they have to face Irish relative clause constructions, and it can be a challenge. Relative clause is one that
refers back to something that was mentioned before (or, in some languages, will be mentioned later) – often providing more information about it,
for example in the English sentence:

* ''The man '''whom I had seen before''' walked in''

the ''whom I had seen before'' is a relative clause that refers back to ''the man'' of the outer clause (''the man … walked in'').

The thing the relative clause refers back to (so ''the man'' in the example above) is called the '''antecedent'''.

Irish is famous in having two types of relative clauses – [[#Direct relative|'''direct''']] and [[#Indirect relative|'''indirect''']] ones
(the latter being an Irish innovation, this form didn’t really exist in Classical Gaelic and isn’t found in other Gaelic languages).

== Direct relative ==

Direct relative clauses are formed with the relative particle ''a'' and the '''lenited independent''' form of the verb (or [[#Relative form of the verb|the relative form]]
if a given dialect uses those).

Clauses of this type have their verb refer '''directly''' to their antecedent – this means that there is no word, like a pronoun, referring
back to the antecedent and that the antecedent is closely related to the verb of the relative clause.

This means that you use the direct relative clause when the antecedent is one of the following:
# the subject of the relative clause,
# the direct object of the relative clause,
# an adverb describing the manner or time of the verb of the relative clause.

For example, when the antecedent is the subject:
* ''an fear '''a mholann''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’ (or ''a mholas'', ''a mholanns'' with the relative form),
* ''an bhean '''a bhí''' sa tseomra'' ‘the woman who was in the room’.
or the object:
* ''an buachaill '''a chonac''''' ‘the boy '''whom I saw'''’,
* ''na leabhair '''a léigh''' sé'' ‘the books '''that''' he '''read'''’.

Note that sometimes only the context can disambiguate whether the clause describes its subject or object:
* ''an fear a chonaic an bhean'' can mean either ‘the man who saw the woman’ and ‘the man whom the woman saw’.

This is also the construction used with adverbs of time and nouns denoting time (which work adverbially), like ''nuair'' ‘when’, ''an lá'' ‘the day’, ''an bhliain'' ‘the year’, etc. (but see below – in Connacht it’s common to use indirect relative clauses with time nouns too):
* ''an lá '''a bhí''' mé in Éirinn'' ‘the day '''when''' I '''was''' in Ireland’,
* ''''nuair a''' tháinig sé'' ‘'''when''' he came’.

And the same logic applies to adverbials (prepositional phrases and other averbs) fronted with the copula:
* ''is ar an mbord '''atá''' an cat'' ‘it is on the table '''that''' the cat '''is'''’,
* ''is liomsa '''a bhí''' tú ag caint'' ‘it is to me '''that''' you '''were''' talking’.

Note that for the verb ''tá'' the form used in relative clauses is ''atá'' and it’s not lenited – that’s because the verb comes from Old Irish ''at·tá'',
a compound verb. Those had the verbal rule lenited in relative clauses, and ''·tá'' could not be lenited after ''at·''. So it was invariably ''at·tá'',
in Classical Gaelic ''a-tá''. In Modern Irish the initiall ''a-'' was dropped except in relative clause contexts (where it is understood as the relative
particle), but lack of lenition remained.

=== Relative form of the verb ===

Dialects of Ulster and Connacht have special relative forms of verbs in the present and future tenses (but not in the past). Those forms are not used
in Munster dialects (except for some set phrases), the relative form is optional but allowed in the Caighdeán Oifigiúil.

In the present tense in Ulster and Standard Irish the ending is ''-(e)as'' or ''-(í)os'' replacing the present ending ''-(e)ann, -(í)onn'':

* ''an fear '''a mholas''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’.

In Connacht the ''-s'' is added to ''-(e)ann, -(í)onn'', resulting in ''-(e)anns, -(í)onns'':

* ''an fear '''a mholanns''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who praises the book’.

In the future tense the ending is ''-f(e)as'':

* ''an fear '''a mholfas''' an leabhar'' ‘the man who will praise the book’.

There is one verb whose relative form is required by an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, that is ''lean'' ‘follow’ which in present tense direct relative clauses
is required to be ''leanas'' ‘which follows, that follows’.

=== The copula ===
The relative form of the copula is ''is'' {{IPA|/əs/}}, just like the independent form. It is sometimes written ''as'' in older texts.<ref>In Old Irish
there was actually a distinction between non-relative ''is'' {{IPA|/is/}} and relative ''as'' {{IPA|/as/}} but due to vowel reduction this distinction
was lost around the time the language transitioned to Middle Irish in the 10th century. In later times both forms of the copula are most commonly written
as ''as'' and the modern standard spelling ''is'' is basically bringing back the original Old Irish way to spell the non-relative form…</ref>

[TODO: examples]

== Indirect relative ==

Indirect relative clauses are formed with the '''other''' relative particle ''a'' (sometimes ''go'' or ''na'', see [[#Alternative forms of the particle|below]]) and the '''eclipsed dependent''' form of the verb (the relative
form of verbs is '''not''' used in this type!). In the past tense with regular nouns leniting ''ar'' is used instead.

Clauses of this type generally have some type of pronoun referring back to their antecedent, this might be:
# a prepositional pronoun (like ''air'' ‘on him / it’, ''léi'' ‘with her / it’, ''acu'' ‘at them’, etc.),
# a possessive pronoun (''a'' ‘his / her / their’, also merged with a preposition like ''dá'' ‘to his’, etc.),
# or a direct object pronoun (''é'' ‘him / it’, ''í'' ‘her / it’, ''iad'' ‘them’).

Some examples of the first one would be:
* '''{{color|green|an bord}} a bhfuil an cat {{color|green|air}}''' — ''the table that the cat is on'', ''air'' ‘on it’ refers back to ''an bord'' ‘the table’,
* '''{{color|green|an cailín}} a raibh mé ag caint {{color|green|léi}}''' — ''the girl I was talking to'', ''léi'' ‘with her / to her’ refers to ''an cailín'' ‘the girl’,
* '''tuigim {{color|green|an teanga}} ar scríobh tú an teachtaireacht {{color|green|inti}}''' — ''I understand the language in which you wrote the message'' (literally ''… that you wrote the message in it''), ''inti'' ‘in it’ (feminine) refers to ''an teanga'',
* '''{{color|green|na leabhair}} ar fhoghlaim mé {{color|green|uathu}}''' – ''the books I learned from'', ''uathu'' ‘from them’ refers to ''na leabhair'' ‘the books’.

Note that the prepositional pronoun agrees in number and gender to the thing referred to (in case of ''cailín'' ‘girl’ it actually agrees with the
“natural” perceived gender rather than the noun’s gender, as is common when talking about humans).

When the pronoun is a possessive one then the clause translates as a ‘whose’-relative clause to English:
* '''{{color|green|an buachaill}} a bhfuil {{color|green|a}} mháthair breoite''' — ''the boy whose mother is sick'', the leniting ''a'' ‘his’ refers back ''an buachaill'' ‘the boy’,
* '''sin í {{color|green|an bhean}} a raibh mé sa scoil {{color|green|lena}} mac''' – ''this is the woman with whose son I was in school'' (lit. ''… that I was in school with her son''), ''lena'' ‘with her’ refers back to ''an bhean'' ‘the woman’,

[TODO: the rest + examples]

[TODO: explain “exceptions” like ''an fáth a bhfuil…'', ''an áit a bhfuilim'', etc. – historically prepositional clauses]

=== Preposition + relative pronoun ===

=== Alternative forms of the particle ===

In Munster dialects generally '''go''' is used instead of ''a'' in indirect relative clauses. This generally affects only the “normal” indirect relative
clauses – not the prepositional ones with the preposition before the clause, those remain the same.

[TODO: examples]

Sometimes ''go'' gets used in Connacht too, but it’s rarer there.

Another particle is ''na'' which also happens in Munster, especially in older texts – it’s generally interchangeable with ''go'' as the marker
of indirect relative clause.

[TODO: examples]

== Other relativizers ==

[TODO: ''mar'' ‘where’]

[TODO: ''dá'' ‘when’]

=== Generalizing relative pronoun ===

== References ==

== Footnotes ==
<references/>

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2025-11-06T15:05:16Z

Silmeth: /* VpSP */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a clause (a regular verbal or a verbal noun one) – common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Munster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|í seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2025-11-06T11:21:24Z

Silmeth:

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was being adopted with every generation of poets). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

Scottish Gaelic lenition of indefinite genitives plural might also have developed out of slégar.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''don chloinn '''charfas''' sibh'' ‘to the children '''who’ll love''' you’<ref>From Bergin’s edition of ''A Gaelic Miscellany'', ie. ''A leabhráin ainmnighthear d’Aodh''; since ''sibh'' is the direct object here perhaps it should be emended to ''ibh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''mheallas''' gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man '''whom''' the brightness of his cheek '''beguiles'''’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath '''bheireas siad''''' ‘if the judgement '''they deliver''' is the same’(?)
* ''an t-aondía mór-chumhachtach sin '''a-tá''', agas '''do bhí''' agas '''bhías''' bithbheó do ghnáth'' ‘that single all-powerful God '''who is''', and '''who was''', and '''who will be''' forever and continually’<ref>Carswell’s ''Foirm na n-Uirrnuidheadh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''do-ní''' an réd'' ‘the man '''who does''' the thing’
* ''an triar '''táinig''''' ‘the three '''who came'''’
* ''an teagasg '''tug mé''''' ‘the teaching '''I gave'''’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

==== With copula ====
The relative forms of the copula are used if the antecedent is the subject, the present relative copula lenites its predicate:

* ''Síoth Aodha bhus ainm don tigh'' ‘the house shall be called Síoth Aodha (=Aodh’s Mound)’ (lit. ‘it’s Síoth Aodha that will be the house’s name’)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''ná céil (…) ar Sheanghallaibh (…) lér cheanglamair'' ‘don’t hide (…) from Old English (Sean-Ghaill) with whom we united’
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')
* ''an port asa ttéighise'' ‘the place from which you go’

This (like in Sc. Gaelic) is also possible in the negative:
* ''lámh ar nach luigh sochaidhe'' ‘(the) hand upon which a host of soldiers did not press/trouble’

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic {{color|#00A0DA|''na''}} + relative form):

* '''''a bhfuil leibh''', labhair iar soin'' ‘'''all that you have''', say it after that’
* ''gébhaidh '''ar ghabh''' a shinsear'' ‘he will take '''what''' his ancestor '''held'''’ (or: ‘all that his ancestor…’)
[TODO: examples]

The generalizing relative pronoun can also combine with a preposition, very common with ''do'' ‘from, of’:
* ''gach ní '''dá''' mbeanfadh rinn'' ‘every thing '''of all those''' that would concern us’<ref>From the letter of Rósa Ní Dhochartaigh, see [https://archive.org/details/contemporaryhistv1p2gilb/page/n151/mode/1up the scan of the manuscript] and [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggzP0v1V_0sCUFwn4DsSwwdlrQgCwQNd/view?usp=sharing transcription with translation and analysis]</ref>

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
==== Without overt possessive ====
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

==== With overt possessive in ''isa, asa'' ====
There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

==== Rephrasing without ‘whose’ ====
In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type rephrasing them with prepositional ones with a possessive instead (instead of saying ‘the tree on whose branch…’, saying ‘the tree which has its branch on which…’):

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'')

* ''m(h)'' + ''b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + ''p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-11-05T16:51:40Z

Silmeth: /* Clefting: using ’s e optionally */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

----

Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|green|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag chrodha}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|green|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|green|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

=== Choosing the right pronoun: ''’s e'', ''’s i'', and ''’s iad'' ===

As mentioned [[#is (e/i/iad) ⟨subject⟩ ⟨predicate⟩|earlier]] the pronoun after the copula typically agrees with the noun following it. That is true for simple identification sentences:

* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|do mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|your mother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

But there are structures in which '''’s e''' (ie. the masculine pronoun) is ''always'' used and others in which it’s become common today (even though traditionally the pronoun agreed with the following noun). Let’s explore those.

==== Constructions using '''’s e''' exclusively ====

Some constructions virtually never use and have never used the copula with pronouns other than the masculine (ie. '''’s e'''), regardless of the following noun. And if any examples can be found, they are either rare or quite recent (late 20th century, 21sth century) – showing hyper-correction rather than actual traditional usage.

One such construction was discussed [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|above]], it’s the classification construction:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''{{color|blue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a beautiful girl}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|students}}''.

Note that the predicate nouns in this construction are indefinite, and as was mentioned earlier the pronoun was not used at all at earlier stages of the language (Middle Irish, Classical Gaelic).

A similar case to that is ''giving someone’s name'' – here the noun looks definite because it is a proper noun, but it does not identify a specific person directly but rather the name itself:

* '''thuirt e gum {{color|red|b’ e}} {{color|green|Màiri}} {{color|blue|a b’ ainm dhi}}''' – ''he said that {{color|blue|her name}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Màiri}}'',
* '''bha auntie agamsa agus {{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}} {{color|blue|a bha oirre}}''' – ''I had an auntie and {{color|blue|what she was called}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}}'',
* '''tha mi smaoineachadh {{color|red|gur e}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|a chante rithe}} ann an sin''' — ''I am thinking {{color|red|that it’s}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|that she was called}} there''.

Here note that it’s the pronouns at the end (''dhi'', ''oirre'', ''rithe'') that refer to some specific person and the proper nouns (''Màiri'', ''Mrs MacAngus'', ''Màiri Chaluim'') are only used referring to those words, the names, themselves.

The pronoun does agree with the name when it refers to a specific person, though. That means that in Gaelic there is a distinction between:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother'' (''Catrìona'' directly identifies a specific known person), and
* '''’s e Catrìona a chante rithe''' – ''she was called Catrìona'' (''Catrìona'' identifies a word used as a name).

==== Clefting: using '''’s e''' optionally ====

In [[#Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus|''clefting'']], that is fronting an element to put more focus on it, if the element clefted was definite, the pronoun traditionally agreed with it:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

but it’s common today (and acknowledged in most grammar books) that '''’s e''' is used invariably in today’s usage by most people, thus:

* '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

is common in modern Gaelic even though in direct identification '''’s i''' would still be preferred, thus contrasting with:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother''.

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ innte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-11-05T16:50:36Z

Silmeth: /* Constructions using ’s e exclusively */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|green|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag chrodha}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|green|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|green|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

=== Choosing the right pronoun: ''’s e'', ''’s i'', and ''’s iad'' ===

As mentioned [[#is (e/i/iad) ⟨subject⟩ ⟨predicate⟩|earlier]] the pronoun after the copula typically agrees with the noun following it. That is true for simple identification sentences:

* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|do mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|your mother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

But there are structures in which '''’s e''' (ie. the masculine pronoun) is ''always'' used and others in which it’s become common today (even though traditionally the pronoun agreed with the following noun). Let’s explore those.

==== Constructions using '''’s e''' exclusively ====

Some constructions virtually never use and have never used the copula with pronouns other than the masculine (ie. '''’s e'''), regardless of the following noun. And if any examples can be found, they are either rare or quite recent (late 20th century, 21sth century) – showing hyper-correction rather than actual traditional usage.

One such construction was discussed [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|above]], it’s the classification construction:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''{{color|blue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a beautiful girl}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|students}}''.

Note that the predicate nouns in this construction are indefinite, and as was mentioned earlier the pronoun was not used at all at earlier stages of the language (Middle Irish, Classical Gaelic).

A similar case to that is ''giving someone’s name'' – here the noun looks definite because it is a proper noun, but it does not identify a specific person directly but rather the name itself:

* '''thuirt e gum {{color|red|b’ e}} {{color|green|Màiri}} {{color|blue|a b’ ainm dhi}}''' – ''he said that {{color|blue|her name}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Màiri}}'',
* '''bha auntie agamsa agus {{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}} {{color|blue|a bha oirre}}''' – ''I had an auntie and {{color|blue|what she was called}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}}'',
* '''tha mi smaoineachadh {{color|red|gur e}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|a chante rithe}} ann an sin''' — ''I am thinking {{color|red|that it’s}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|that she was called}} there''.

Here note that it’s the pronouns at the end (''dhi'', ''oirre'', ''rithe'') that refer to some specific person and the proper nouns (''Màiri'', ''Mrs MacAngus'', ''Màiri Chaluim'') are only used referring to those words, the names, themselves.

The pronoun does agree with the name when it refers to a specific person, though. That means that in Gaelic there is a distinction between:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother'' (''Catrìona'' directly identifies a specific known person), and
* '''’s e Catrìona a chante rithe''' – ''she was called Catrìona'' (''Catrìona'' identifies a word used as a name).

==== Clefting: using '''’s e''' optionally ====

In [[#Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus|''clefting'']], that is fronting an element to put more focus on it, if the element clefted was definite, the pronoun traditionally agreed with it:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

but it’s common today (and acknowledged in most grammar books) that ''’s e''' is used invariably in today’s usage by most people, thus:

* '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

is common in modern Gaelic even though in direct identification '''’s i''' would still be preferred, thus contrasting with:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother''.

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ innte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T12:32:59Z

Silmeth: /* ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|green|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag chrodha}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|green|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|green|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|green|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|teal|that is}} {{color|blue|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

=== Choosing the right pronoun: ''’s e'', ''’s i'', and ''’s iad'' ===

As mentioned [[#is (e/i/iad) ⟨subject⟩ ⟨predicate⟩|earlier]] the pronoun after the copula typically agrees with the noun following it. That is true for simple identification sentences:

* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|do mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|your mother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

But there are structures in which '''’s e''' (ie. the masculine pronoun) is ''always'' used and others in which it’s become common today (even though traditionally the pronoun agreed with the following noun). Let’s explore those.

==== Constructions using '''’s e''' exclusively ====

Some constructions virtually never use and have never used the copula with pronouns other than the masculine (ie. '''’s e'''), regardless of the following noun. And if any examples can be found, they are either rare or quite recent (late 20th century, 21sth century) – showing hyper-correction rather than actual traditional usage.

One such construction was discussed [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|above]], it’s the classification construction:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''{{color|blue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a beautiful girl}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|students}}''.

Note that the predicate nouns in this construction are indefinite, and as was mentioned earlier the pronoun was not used at all at earlier stages of the language (Middle Irish, Classical Gaelic).

A similar case to that is ''giving someone’s name'' – here the noun looks definite because it is a proper noun, but it does not identify a specific person directly but rather the name itself:

* '''thuirt e gum {{color|red|b’ e}} {{color|green|Màiri}} {{color|blue|a b’ ainm dhi}}''' – ''he said that {{color|blue|her name}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Màiri}}'',
* '''bha auntie agamsa agus {{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}} {{color|blue|a bha oirre}}''' – ''I had an auntie and {{color|blue|what she was called}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}}'',
* '''tha mi smaoineachadh {{color|red|gur e}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|a chante rithe}} ann an sin''' — ''I am thinking {{color|red|that it’s}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|that she was called}} there''.

Here note that it’s the pronouns at the end (''dhi'', ''oirre'', ''rithe'') that refer to some specific person and the proper nouns (''Màiri'', ''Mrs MacAngus'', ''Màiri Chaluim'') are only used referring to those words, the name, themselves. If they referred to the person directly.

That means that in Gaelic there is a distinction between:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother'' (''Catrìona'' directly identifies a specific known person), and
* '''’s e Catrìona a chante rithe''' – ''she was called Catrìona'' (''Catrìona'' identifies a word used as a name).

==== Clefting: using '''’s e''' optionally ====

In [[#Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus|''clefting'']], that is fronting an element to put more focus on it, if the element clefted was definite, the pronoun traditionally agreed with it:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

but it’s common today (and acknowledged in most grammar books) that ''’s e''' is used invariably in today’s usage by most people, thus:

* '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

is common in modern Gaelic even though in direct identification '''’s i''' would still be preferred, thus contrasting with:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother''.

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ innte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

----
ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T12:08:28Z

Silmeth: /* The copula */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

=== Choosing the right pronoun: ''’s e'', ''’s i'', and ''’s iad'' ===

As mentioned [[#is (e/i/iad) ⟨subject⟩ ⟨predicate⟩|earlier]] the pronoun after the copula typically agrees with the noun following it. That is true for simple identification sentences:

* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|do mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|your mother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

But there are structures in which '''’s e''' (ie. the masculine pronoun) is ''always'' used and others in which it’s become common today (even though traditionally the pronoun agreed with the following noun). Let’s explore those.

==== Constructions using '''’s e''' exclusively ====

Some constructions virtually never use and have never used the copula with pronouns other than the masculine (ie. '''’s e'''), regardless of the following noun. And if any examples can be found, they are either rare or quite recent (late 20th century, 21sth century) – showing hyper-correction rather than actual traditional usage.

One such construction was discussed [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|above]], it’s the classification construction:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''{{color|blue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a beautiful girl}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|students}}''.

Note that the predicate nouns in this construction are indefinite, and as was mentioned earlier the pronoun was not used at all at earlier stages of the language (Middle Irish, Classical Gaelic).

A similar case to that is ''giving someone’s name'' – here the noun looks definite because it is a proper noun, but it does not identify a specific person directly but rather the name itself:

* '''thuirt e gum {{color|red|b’ e}} {{color|green|Màiri}} {{color|blue|a b’ ainm dhi}}''' – ''he said that {{color|blue|her name}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Màiri}}'',
* '''bha auntie agamsa agus {{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}} {{color|blue|a bha oirre}}''' – ''I had an auntie and {{color|blue|what she was called}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}}'',
* '''tha mi smaoineachadh {{color|red|gur e}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|a chante rithe}} ann an sin''' — ''I am thinking {{color|red|that it’s}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|that she was called}} there''.

Here note that it’s the pronouns at the end (''dhi'', ''oirre'', ''rithe'') that refer to some specific person and the proper nouns (''Màiri'', ''Mrs MacAngus'', ''Màiri Chaluim'') are only used referring to those words, the name, themselves. If they referred to the person directly.

That means that in Gaelic there is a distinction between:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother'' (''Catrìona'' directly identifies a specific known person), and
* '''’s e Catrìona a chante rithe''' – ''she was called Catrìona'' (''Catrìona'' identifies a word used as a name).

==== Clefting: using '''’s e''' optionally ====

In [[#Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus|''clefting'']], that is fronting an element to put more focus on it, if the element clefted was definite, the pronoun traditionally agreed with it:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

but it’s common today (and acknowledged in most grammar books) that ''’s e''' is used invariably in today’s usage by most people, thus:

* '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

is common in modern Gaelic even though in direct identification '''’s i''' would still be preferred, thus contrasting with:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother''.

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ innte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T11:52:35Z

Silmeth: /* The copula IS and how to say what or who something or someone is */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

=== Choosing the right pronoun: ''’s e'', ''’s i'', and ''’s iad'' ===

As mentioned [[#is (e/i/iad) ⟨subject⟩ ⟨predicate⟩|earlier]] the pronoun after the copula typically agrees with the noun following it. That is true for simple identification sentences:

* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|do mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|your mother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

But there are structures in which '''’s e''' (ie. the masculine pronoun) is ''always'' used and others in which it’s become common today (even though traditionally the pronoun agreed with the following noun). Let’s explore those.

==== Constructions using '''’s e''' exclusively ====

Some constructions virtually never use and have never used the copula with pronouns other than the masculine (ie. '''’s e'''), regardless of the following noun. And if any examples can be found, they are either rare or quite recent (late 20th century, 21sth century) – showing hyper-correction rather than actual traditional usage.

One such construction was discussed [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|above]], it’s the classification construction:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|innte}}''' — ''{{color|blue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a beautiful girl}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|oileanaich}} {{color|teal|a th’}} {{color|blue|annta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|students}}''.

Note that the predicate nouns in this construction are indefinite, and as was mentioned earlier the pronoun was not used at all at earlier stages of the language (Middle Irish, Classical Gaelic).

A similar case to that is ''giving someone’s name'' – here the noun looks definite because it is a proper noun, but it does not identify a specific person directly but rather the name itself:

* '''thuirt e gum {{color|red|b’ e}} {{color|green|Màiri}} {{color|blue|a b’ ainm dhi}}''' – ''he said that {{color|blue|her name}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Màiri}}'',
* '''bha auntie agamsa agus {{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}} {{color|blue|a bha oirre}}''' – ''I had an auntie and {{color|blue|what she was called}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Mrs MacAngus}}'',
* '''tha mi smaoineachadh {{color|red|gur e}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|a chante rithe}} ann an sin''' — ''I am thinking {{color|red|that it’s}} {{color|green|Màiri Chaluim}} {{color|blue|that she was called}} there''.

Here note that it’s the pronouns at the end (''dhi'', ''oirre'', ''rithe'') that refer to some specific person and the proper nouns (''Màiri'', ''Mrs MacAngus'', ''Màiri Chaluim'') are only used referring to those words, the name, themselves. If they referred to the person directly.

That means that in Gaelic there is a distinction between:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother'' (''Catrìona'' directly identifies a specific known person), and
* '''’s e Catrìona a chante rithe''' – ''she was called Catrìona'' (''Catrìona'' identifies a word used as a name).

==== Clefting: using '''’s e''' optionally ====

In [[#Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus|''clefting'']], that is fronting an element to put more focus on it, if the element clefted was definite, the pronoun traditionally agreed with it:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

but it’s common today (and acknowledged in most grammar books) that ''’s e''' is used invariably in today’s usage by most people, thus:

* '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it''

is common in modern Gaelic even though in direct identification '''’s i''' would still be preferred, thus contrasting with:

* '''’s i Catrìona mo mhàthair''' — ''Catrìona is my mother''.

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ inte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T11:48:50Z

Silmeth: /* Fronting – putting additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Clefting – fronting to put more emphasis on element in focus ====

A very common use of copula is ''clefting'' – fronting, moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

If a definite noun is the emphasized element, the pronoun traditionally agrees with the noun in gender and number but today using '''’s e''' instead is common:

* '''’s i Catrìona a rinn e''' or '''’s e Catrìona a rinn e''' — ''it is Catrìona who did it'',
* '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' or '''’s e a’ Ghàidhlig a bhruidhnear sa Ghàidhealtachd''' — ''it is Gaelic that is spoken in the Highlands'',
* '''’s iad na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' or '''’s e na h-oileanaich a thuirt leam e''' — ''it is the students who told me that''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ inte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T11:02:57Z

Silmeth: /* ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

Historically this type of sentences did not use any pronoun after the copula, indefinite nouns stood directly after it (just like in the [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (archaic, poetic)|literary classification structure]] above, the pronoun is still left out [[Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is#(is) ⟨predicate⟩ atá i ⟨subject⟩|in Irish]]). Scottish Gaelic extended the use of '''’s e''' (always with the masculine pronoun) to such cases.

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', '''siud''' ''yon, that one over there'', then the ''ann an'' part is commonly dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – putting additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ inte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-09-07T10:55:41Z

Silmeth: /* Answering yes-no questions */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

I ''believe'' that’s because historically this sentence is just like the archaic one above, ''’s e ceapaire…'' meant really ‘a sandwich is it…’ where ''ceapaire'' ‘a sandwich’ was the subject and ''e'' ‘it’ was just a placeholder predicate anticipating what will be said later: ''a th’ ann'' ‘that is in it’. Kinda like ''a sandwich is this – what is in it''. Thus '''e''' ''it'' stands for the relative clause '''a tha ann an…''' ''that is in'', and since the relative clause is just ''it'', doesn’t have a gender or number of its own, the generic '''e''' is used and ''’s e ceapaire…'' is just an abruptly unfinished sentence missing something. I’m not ''entirely sure'' if I interpret this correctly though.

If the subject is '''seo''', '''sin''', '''siud''', then the ''ann an'' part is dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – putting additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

=== The ''bi'' verb ===

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' — ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' — ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

=== The copula ===

The same is not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' — ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' — ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

Note that you generally repeat the first word that comes after the copula. If the word is a pronoun – then you repeat the pronoun (changing the 2nd person form to the 1st person when responding for yourself). This means that if the question is about classification:

* '''an e oileanach a th’ inte?''' — ''is she a student?''
the answer is:
* '''is e''' — ''yes'' / '''chan e''' — ''no''.

If the question is:
* '''an i Màiri do mhàthair?''' — ''is your mother Màiri?''
the answer is:
* '''is i''' — ''yes'' / '''chan i''' — ''no''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

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ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is

2025-04-08T10:05:59Z

Silmeth: /* is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) */ fix translation of ’n aona-mhac

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'', the linking verbs: substantive ''bi, tha'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the subjects that seems to be quite challenging to learners (and understandably so!) – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way.

'''DISCLAIMER''': This is a copy of a guide originally posted on Duolingo forums and written '''not''' by a native Gaelic speaker, but rather just a foreign learner of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The author ''believes'' that he has a reasonable understanding of those Gaelic verbs in question and most of the examples here are taken from other sources – but nevertheless there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any – don’t hesitate to point them out or correct them if you have an account on this wiki.

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First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.

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Scottish Gaelic has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bi'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''BI'' ==

The form '''bi''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tha''' and the dependent form is '''(bh)eil''' (more on that in a minute).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – for describing something and stating its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|gu math}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''gu math''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|air a’ bhòrd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it always stays in its base form, compare:

* '''na cait mhòra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhòra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mòr}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mòr'' staying in base unlenited form).

And:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ phàirc mhòr}} {{color|green|brèagha}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big park}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhòr'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''pàirc'' directly, but ''brèagha'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tha e fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Gaelic, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bi''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Gaelic:

* '''tha cù anns an taigh''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''cù''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''anns an taigh''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tha''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Gaelic. Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tha deagh dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tha deagh dhaoine ann an Alba''' ''there are good people in Scotland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''ann an Alba''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tha Seumas ann''' — ''James is here/there'' (James is present and you can find him somewhere around).

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the king of Scotland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''IS'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic language.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is often shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

If the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Calum'', ''the king of Scotland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is, then the pattern is:

==== is (e/i/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mise}} {{color|green|Calum}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Calum}}'', the predicate is a definite noun – '''Calum''', some particular defined person – the copula is used directly;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|an duine a chunnaic mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the person I saw}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tusa}} {{color|green|rìgh na h-Alba}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the king of Scotland}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|esan}} {{color|green|an tidsear}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', the predicate again is a definite noun phrase – '''an ceapaire agam''' ''the sandwich of mine, my sandwich'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|an Tighearna}} {{color|green|mo bhuachaille}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Lord}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my shepherd}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|blue|Seumas}} {{color|green|bràthair Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|James}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|Màiri}} {{color|green|piuthar Chaluim}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Mairi}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Calum’s sister}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s i}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|cànan na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the language of Scottish Highlands}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s iad}} {{color|blue|na Gàidheil}} {{color|green|luchd na Gàidhealtachd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the Gaels}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the people of Gaeldom/Scottish Highlands}}''.

Note that if the subject is not a pronoun itself, then a pronoun '''e''', '''i''', or '''iad''' is inserted after the copula – it generally agrees in gender with the subject ('''’s e Seumas…''', '''’s i Màiri…''', '''’s i a’ Ghàidhlig…''', '''’s iad na Gàidheil…''').

Also generally emphatic pronouns ('''mise''', '''tusa''', '''esan''', '''ise''', '''iadsan''', etc.) are used in such sentences. But note ''’s e…'' for ‘it is’ (''esan'' suggests a sentient being, so you would still use ''e'' for ‘it’ here) – this type sometimes has two pronouns, see [[#is e/i/iad ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|below]].

But there is a tendency to use '''e''' regardless of the gender and number, eg. '''’s e a’ chaileag sin mo phiùthar''' ''that girl is my sister'', '''’s e na daoine sin na dotairean''' ''those people are the doctors'' , or old proverb '''’s e do shùil do cheannaiche''' ''your eye is your merchant'' – even though '''do shùil''' is feminine, here ''I think'' that '''e''' agrees with the predicate '''do cheannaiche''' ''your merchant'' (in that case it’d be an archaic feature here).

If the subject is itself a pronoun (like '''mise''' or '''tusa'''), then no other pronoun is inserted. Often the copula in such sentences is dropped (so just '''mise Calum''', '''thusa an duine…''').

If the subject is '''seo''' ''this'', '''sin''' ''that'', or '''siud''' ''that over there, yonder'' then the copula is commonly dropped (the copula is “dropped” so often because this actually continues a different pattern that originally did not involve a copula, see the note on [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|''ag so, ag sin'' in Classical Gaelic]]):

* '''’s e {{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' or commonly just '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|an cat agam}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my cat}}'';
* '''’s i {{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' or commonly '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|mo mhàthair}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|my mother}}''.

===== is e/i/iad {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) =====
Historically, the copula was '''always''' followed by the predicate, and never by the subject. But before ''definite'' predicates, an additional pronoun was often inserted, already in Old Irish period. Because of this the '''older''' way to say ‘it is my sandwich’ (and one you’ll stil hear or see in books) is:

* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|an ceapaire agam}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}''.

Note that now the whole '''e an ceapaire agam''' part is the predicate and the last '''e''' ‘it’ is the subject.

In [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] the subject could be omitted if it was a pronoun, so the form ''is e an ceapaire agam'' was also correct – but still, originally ''(e) an ceapaire agam'' was the predicate and the subject was an implied ''e'' ‘it’ not expressed at the end. This form got reinterpreted in modern Scottish Gaelic as having the subject first.

There are two examples of this structure in Iain MacCormaic’s ''Dùn-Àluinn'':
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|’n aona mhac}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|the only son}}'',
* '''nach b’ i ’n t-searbhag i!''' — ''wouldn’t it/she be the acid/bitter one?!''(?).<ref>I’m not sure about the exact translation of this sentence</ref>

There are also some examples in [https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/wentworth/faclair/dualchainnt/ Wentworth’s dictionary of the Geàrrloch dialect]:
* '''{{color|red|b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|[a] chuid}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''it was up to him (to do it)'', lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|his share}}'',
* '''{{color|red|cha b’}} {{color|LimeGreen|e}} {{color|green|mo roghainn}} {{color|blue|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|wasn’t}} {{color|green|my choice}}''.

The Geàrrloch examples show that the historical analysis – the first pronoun is a ''sub-predicate'' and it stands as the predicate, while the second one is the subject – is no longer true for modern speakers, as both predicate nouns ('''cuid''' ‘share’ and '''roghainn''' ‘choice’) are feminine. So, historically we’d rather expect ''*b’ i a chuid e'' and ''*cha b’ i mo roghainn e'' instead.

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Gaelic is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. First let’s look at the most straightforward – but '''very''' poetic/archaic and high-brow way that you wouldn’t use in a normal conversation, but it’s helpful to understand. The general syntax of the copula is:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ''(archaic, poetic)'' ====

This was historically the original syntax of the copula. And thus in the older poetic language you’d say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|e}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tidsear}} {{color|blue|mi}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasg}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

But as I wrote above, that wouldn’t be used commonly today. And Duolingo generally '''won’t accept''' such sentences.

Instead different idiomatic periphrastic phrases are used. The most common one is probably

==== ’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''it’s {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} that is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|a sandwich}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in it}}'' or ''it’s a sandwich that is in it'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tha''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|tidsear}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a teacher}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in me}}'' or ''it’s a teacher that is in me'' – again a prepositional phrase '''annam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tha''';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag chrodha}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|ann am Mòrag}}''' — ''Morag is a brave girl'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a brave girl}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in Morag}}'' or ''it’s a brave girl that is in Morag'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|cànan Ceilteach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|anns a’ Ghàidhlig}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|a Celtic language}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in the Gaelic}}'' or ''it’s a Celtic language that is in the Gaelic'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|caileag bhòidheach}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|innte}}''' — ''she is a beautiful girl'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|a beautiful girl}} {{color|red|is (it, the thing)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in her}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|teal|oileanaich}} {{color|blue|a th’}} {{color|green|annta}}''' — ''they are students'', but lit. ''{{color|teal|students}} {{color|red|are (it, this)}} {{color|blue|that is}} {{color|green|in them}}''.

The pronoun is always '''e''' in this type of sentences. Also notice how to say ‘it is a sandwich’ you have to say ''’s e ceapaire '''a th’ ann''''' and the ''’s e ceapaire'' part on its own doesn’t work.

I ''believe'' that’s because historically this sentence is just like the archaic one above, ''’s e ceapaire…'' meant really ‘a sandwich is it…’ where ''ceapaire'' ‘a sandwich’ was the subject and ''e'' ‘it’ was just a placeholder predicate anticipating what will be said later: ''a th’ ann'' ‘that is in it’. Kinda like ''a sandwich is this – what is in it''. Thus '''e''' ''it'' stands for the relative clause '''a tha ann an…''' ''that is in'', and since the relative clause is just ''it'', doesn’t have a gender or number of its own, the generic '''e''' is used and ''’s e ceapaire…'' is just an abruptly unfinished sentence missing something. I’m not ''entirely sure'' if I interpret this correctly though.

If the subject is '''seo''', '''sin''', '''siud''', then the ''ann an'' part is dropped:

* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cù}} {{color|blue|a tha seo}}''' — ''this is a dog'', lit. ''{{color|green|a dog}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is this}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s e}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|a tha sin}}''' — ''that is a cat'', lit. ''{{color|green|a cat}} {{color|red|is (it)}} {{color|blue|that is that}}''.

This is one exception to the ''no noun phrase predicates to the '''tha''' verb'' (but then ''seo'' and ''sin'' aren’t really nouns, so…).

But you might also encounter the regular '''’s e cù a th’ ann an seo''', lit. ''a dog is what is '''in this''''' – but this is rarer. Also, if ''ann an seo'' is present, it might sound and be written also as ''ann a sheo'' or similar.

==== tha {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} na {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''na''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''tha mi nam…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tha thu nad…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Gaelic sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam thidsear}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tha''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''nam thidsear''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|a’ Ghàidhlig}} {{color|green|na cànan Ceilteach}}''' — ''Gaelic is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Gaelic}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na cànan Ceilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''na''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gàidhlig''' is feminine, ''Gaelic'' is a she in Gaelic ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|iad}} {{color|green|nan dotairean}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tha}} {{color|blue|e}} {{color|green|na charaid dhomh}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend to me}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bha}} {{color|blue|mi}} {{color|green|nam bhalach òg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#’s e ⟨predicate⟩ a th’ ann an ⟨subject⟩|''’s e Y a th’ ann an X'']] tends to.

And finally:

==== seo/sin/siud {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

Similarly to the identification sentences, you can also just say ''’s e seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' or ''seo {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' to classify ''this'', and the same goes for ''sin'' and ''siud'':

* '''(’s e) seo bogsa mòr''' — ''this is a big box'',
* '''(’s e) sin cat''' — ''that is a cat'',
* '''(’s e) siud cù''' — ''that over there/yonder is a dog''.

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – putting additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tha an cat air a’ bhòrd''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''’s e an cat a tha air a’ bhòrd''' — ''it is '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''',
* '''’s ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat''' — ''it is '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''air a’ bhòrd''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Notice that in Gaelic '''’s ann''' is generally used if the fronted element is not a noun (like '''air a’ bhòrd''' ''on the table'' is a full prepositional phrase), other examples would be:

* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|à Obair Dheathain}} {{color|blue|a tha e}}''' — ''he is '''from Aberdeen''''' (''{{color|red|it is}} {{color|green|from Aberdeen}} {{color|blue|that he is}}''),
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|air oidhche fhuar gheamhraidh}} {{color|blue|a thachair e rium}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|'''on a cold winter’s night'''}} {{color|blue|that he met me}}'',
* or even '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|a’ cluiche anns an iodhlann}} {{color|blue|a tha iad}}''' — ''they are playing in the yard'' (''it is playing in the yard that they are''), or very literally, ''{{color|red|it’s}} {{color|green|at playing in the yard}} {{color|blue|that they are}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|an-dè}} {{color|blue|a bha sinn ga dhèanamh}}''' — ''{{color|red|it was}} {{color|green|yesterday}} {{color|blue|that we were doing it}}'',
* '''{{color|red|’s ann}} {{color|green|gu làidir}} {{color|blue|a bhuaileas e an t-iarann}}''' — ''{{color|red|(it’s)}} {{color|green|strongly}} {{color|blue|(that) he strikes the iron}}''.

There is a way to front an adverb that's a bit more archaic which doesn’t need ''’s ann'', but the '''gu''' disappears, compare the last example above with these:

* '''{{color|blue|thog e}} {{color|green|gu h-aotrom}} {{color|red|i}}''' — ''{{color|blue|he lifted}} {{color|red|her}} {{color|green|lightly}}'',
* but '''is {{color|green|aotrom}} {{color|blue|a thog e}} {{color|red|i}}''' — '''''lightly''' he lifted her'' (lit. ''it is {{color|green|lightly}} {{color|blue|that he lifted}} {{color|red|her}}''),
* or in an old poem '''’s {{color|green|daingeann}} {{color|blue|a bhuail iad às gach taobh sibh}}''' — ''{{color|green|fiercely}} {{color|blue|they struck you from every side}}'' (from ''Cumha Ni Mhic Raonuill'', ''Ni Mhic Raonuill’s Lament'').

==== Emphasis when describing ====

In older language the copula was used to state more permanent features (while the substantive verb was used for temporary states – in this way those two verbs ''were'' historically similar to Spanish verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'') – this usage isn’t very common today, but you’ll find it in poetry, and perhaps in some longer sentences in more regular speech:

* '''is fuar an oidhche i''' — ''the night is cold'' or ''it is a cold night'',
* '''is math am fear e''' — ''the man is good'' or ''he is a good man'',
* '''is brònach mi''' — ''I am sad'',
* '''is bochd nach robh iadsan cho dìcheallach''' — ''it’s a pity that they were not so dilligent'' (lit. ''that they were not so dilligent is unfortunate'').

Notice that if a simple noun phrase (like '''an oidhche''' ''the night'' in the first example or '''am fear''' ''the man'' in the second) is the subject, then it is followed by a pronoun agreeing with it.

This archaic structure is very common in one particular phrase:

* '''is math sin''' — ''that is good''

(but ''tha sin math'' is also grammatically correct way to say ''that is good'')

==== Set phrases with le and do ====

There are many set phrases with the copula, and adjective (or sometimes a noun), and preposition – very often ''le'' ‘with’ or ''do'' ‘to’.
One such phrase is Gaelic for ''I like'' and ''I prefer'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|toigh leam}} {{color|blue|an t-àite seo}}''' (or: '''is toil leam…''') ''I like this place'', very literally ''{{color|blue|this place}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pleasant/delight with me}}'';
* '''{{color|red|’s}} {{color|green|fheàrr le Seumas}} {{color|blue|Èirinn}}''' — ''James prefers Ireland'', very literally ''{{color|blue|Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|better with James}}''.

The phrases with ''le'' ‘with’ often express subjective feelings, opinions, or desires – some more examples:

* '''is coma leam e''' — ''I don’t care about it'', lit. ''it is same to me'' (''it is same to me'' = ''it makes no difference to me'', hence ''I don’t care''),
* '''’s fhada leam gum bi e ceithir uairean''' – ''I long for it to be 4 o’clock'', ''I can’t wait until 4 o’clock'', literally ''I find it (the time) until it will be 4 o’clock, long'' (and thus tedious, boring),
* '''chan iongantach leam iad a bhith mar a tha iad''' — ''I’m not surprised that they are the way they are'', literally ''they being as they are is not surprising to me'',
* '''is math leam e''' – ''I like it'', lit. ''I find it good, I subjectively perceive it as good'' (another way of expressing ''’s toigh leam e''),
* '''is dogh leis gun robh mi an sin''' — ''he thinks that I was there'', literally something along the lines of ''that I was there seems likely to him'', ''he finds it likely that I was there''.

Those with ''do'' ‘to’ tend to express more objective truths and conditions:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|còir dhomh}} {{color|blue|a dhèanamh}}''' — ''I should do it'', lit. ''{{color|blue|its doing}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|proper/just for me}}'',
* '''is deacair dhomh e''' — ''it is difficult for me'',
* '''’s aithne dhomh Dòmhnall''' — ''I know Dòmhnall'', lit. ''Dòmhnall is an acquantaince to me'',
* '''’s urrainn dhut a’ Ghàidhlig ionnsachadh''' — ''you can learn Gaelic'', lit. ''to learn Gaelic is an ability for you'',
* '''is lèir dhomh gum bi thu ag ionnsachadh na Gàidhlig''' — ''it is clear to me that you learn Gaelic''.

Once in a while you’ll see another preposition in those too (eg. ''air'' in ''is beag '''orm''' e'' ‘I dislike it’, ''aig'' in ''’s suarach '''aig''' Calum dè their thu ris'' ‘Calum doesn’t care about what you say to him’) – but ''le'' and ''do'' are more common.

Many of those phrases are rare in speech these days, but they’re still fairly common in Gaelic literature.

It’s also sometimes possible to leave the preposition + the person out in them to express a more impersonal meaning, eg:

* '''is dogh gun do thachair e''' — ''probably it happened'',
* '''’s urrainn a dhèanamh''' — ''it can be done, it’s possible to do it''.

==== Phrases with relative copula ====

There are many phrases with the relative copula ''as'' ‘that is, which is’ (often '''’s''' after a vowel) in Gaelic, where the predicate often has a form of indefinite noun but is definite in meaning. Those are most common in certain questions:

* '''dè ’s ciall dha sin?''' — ''what does it mean?'', lit. ''what is it that is the meaning of it?'',
* '''dè as ainm dhut?''' — ''what’s your name?'', lit. ''what is the name of yours?'' – this is not the most common way of asking the question in Modern Gaelic, but it’s a very traditional structure and common eg. in older poetry,
* '''dè ’s adhbhar dhan argamaid?''' – ''what’s the reason for the argument?'',

etc. Note that '''ainm dhut''' looks indefinite (as if meaning ‘a name of yours’) but it is definite in meaning (we’re asking about ‘your name’, ‘'''the''' name of yours’), and the same is true for '''ciall dha sin''' and '''adhbhar dhan argamaid''' in the examples above. It’s not a strict rule, and an indefinite phrase in this structure would
be expressed the same way. It’s just that, as a general rule, definite phrases (ones with the article, or possessive pronouns) are avoided in this construction.

As you can imagine this will also often happen in responses to this type of questions. Often a pronoun '''e''' will appear as a subpredicate referring to the true stated later:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|e}} {{color|blue|as brìgh do ynys Prydein}} {{color|green|innis, no eilean, nan Cruithneach}}''' — ''“ynys Prydein” means the Island of the Britons/Picts'', lit. ''{{color|blue|what’s [the] meaning of “ynys Prydein”}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|limegreen|it}}: {{color|green|the isle, or island, of the Britons/Picts}}''

[TODO: more examples]

== Dependent forms ==

So what about the dependent form I mentioned? You use it after some particles that generally require the dependent forms of verbs. Some of them are: the negating '''cha(n)''' ''not'', the interrogative (questioning) '''a(n/m)?''' ''is? does?'', the negative interrogative '''nach?''' ''is not? does not?'', the question word '''càit(e) a(n/m)?''' ''where?'', '''gu(n/m)''' ''that'' introducing indirect speech, etc.

As I wrote, the dependent form of the substantive verb '''bi''' in present tense is '''(bh)eil''':

* '''chan eil mi gu math''' — ''I am not well'' – here the verb '''tha''' changed to the dependent form '''eil''',
* '''a bheil an ceapaire air a’ bhòrd?''' — ''is the sandwich on the table?'' – here the dependent '''bheil''' is used,
* '''thuirt i gu bheil thu an sin''' — ''she said that you are there''.

As for the difference between '''eil''' and '''bheil''':

* use '''eil''' if the particle lenites – that is, '''chan''', and also '''nach''' which lenites only initial ''f-'' (historically ''(bh)eil'' actually started with ''f-'', see below),
* use '''bheil''' if the particle ends in ''-n'' or ''-m'' and does not lenite, but remove the final ''-m, -n'' (like '''an/am''' → '''a bheil''', '''gun/gum''' → '''gu bheil''').

(In Classical Gaelic the historical dependent form was actually ''fuil'' which lenited to ''fhuil'', eg. ''chan fhuil'' ‘is not’, and was eclipsed to ''bhfuil'' in eg. ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that is…’ – you’ll still find these forms in modern Irish – that’s the reason for the disappearing '''bh''').

The dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero'', that is, in the present tense the copula generally ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. Thus:

* '''chan e Seumas rìgh Shasainn''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach i Màiri bànrigh na h-Alba?''' — ''isn’t Mairi the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''chan e tidsear a th’ annad''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an e iasgairean a th’ annaibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ann air a’ bhòrd a tha an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''.

But it replaces the ''-n'' with ''-r'' in '''gun''' ('''gun''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''thuirt i gur e oileanach a th’ annad''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e Iain am fear a ghoid drathais''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants''.

Sometimes you’ll see '''gur''' also prefixing '''h-''' to vowels: '''thuirt i gur h-e oileanach a th’ annad''' ''she said that you are a student'', '''smaoinich sinn gur h-ann a’ goid a bha e''' ''we thought that stealing he was'' (lit. ''that it’s at stealing that he was'').

== Past and future tenses ==

Past forms of the verb '''bi''' are independent '''bha''' and dependent '''robh''', eg.:

* '''bha mi anns a’ bhàta''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an robh thu toilichte?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''thuirt e gun robh thu brònach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

And the future and present habitual forms are indep. '''bidh''' (you’ll sometimes see longer '''bithidh''') and dep. '''bi''' and also relative '''bios''' (or '''bitheas''') which we’ll not spend much time on now:

* '''bidh an cù an sin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''nach bi Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',
* '''thuirt Màiri rium gum bi (Iain a’ goid briogais a h-uile latha)''' — ''Mairi told me that (Iain) does (steal trousers every day)'',
* '''an duine a bhios anns an taigh''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The copula '''is''' has only a past form '''bu''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels, this is both independent and dependent form, it’s itself never lenited, and it generally lenites the following word but not ''t'' or pronouns ''tu, sibh, sinn''.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''bu mhise an tidsear''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''am bu toigh leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''am bu tusa an t-iasgair?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''b’ i Màiri mo phiuthar''' — ''Mairi was my sister'',
* or archaic '''cha bu tidsear e''' ''he was not a teacher'', '''bu shaighdear i''' ''she was a soldier''.

To turn the ''’s e {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} a th’ ann an {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''’s e tidsear a bh’ annad''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''b’ e tidsear a bh’ annad''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' or '''am b’ e iasgair a bh’ annad?''' ''were you a fisher?''.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tha''' into the future relative '''bhios''':

* '''’s e iasgair a bhios annad''' — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''’s e athair air leth a bhios annad''' — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

In the sections on dependent forms and past/future tenses you saw how to form yes-no questions involving copula and the substantive verb. Now briefly on answering them.

Gaelic does not have a single ''yes'' and ''no'' words. To give positive or negative answer to a question you just repeat the verb.

Thus if one asks you '''a bheil thu gu math?''' ''are you well?'' you can reply with:

* '''tha''' for ''yes'',
* '''chan eil''' for ''no'',

or if one asks you '''an robh thu ann an Alba?''' ''were you in Scotland?'', you reply with:

* '''bha''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha robh''' for ''no''.

Notice that the form of the verb agrees with the question – if the present tense '''a bheil…?''' was asked, then the answer is present tense '''tha''' or '''chan eil''', if the question is past tense '''an robh?''' then the answer also is in past '''bha''' or '''cha robh'''.

Notice also that you don’t need to repeat the whole sentence, just the verb is enough – the subject and the predicate are already known from context – the question asked.

That’s not true for copula – it '''cannot''' stand on its own, it is always unstressed and so it '''always''' needs a predicate.

Thus if one asks you '''an toigh leat Alba?''' or '''an toil leat Alba''' ''do you like Scotland?'' you answer with:

* '''is toigh''' or '''is toil''' for ''yes'',
* or '''cha toigh''' or '''cha toil''' if you are a bad human being.

Or if someone asks you '''an tusa Màiri?''' ''are you Mairi?'', you answer:

* '''is mi''',
* or '''cha mhi'''.

== Other resourses ==

Other explanations on the web:

* [https://forum.duome.eu/viewtopic.php?t=305-archive-guide-to-scottish-gaelic-to-be-the-linking-verbs-substantive-bi-tha-the-copula-is The original ''Guide'' on Duolingo forums] (link to the post archived on duome.eu forums)
* [https://puxill.livejournal.com/350730.html ''Supplemental Notes on Using the Defective Verb "IS"'']

Literature:

* ''Gaelic Verbs Systemised and Simplified'' by Colin B.D. Mark (he calls the copula ''the assertive verb'')
* ''Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks'' by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (Lesson 2 introduces copula of identification, Lesson 5 introduces classification sentences and deals with fronting, Lesson 10 deals with indirect speech and '''gur''')
* [https://archive.org/details/gaelicgrammarcon00cald/page/256/mode/2up ''A Gaelic Grammar'' by George Calder], 1923, linked is the part on copula – it is old but gives a lot of examples of fronting.
* ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'' by William Lamb, Routledge (to be published) – a comprehensive grammar indeed, with an entire chapter on the copula.

----
ceud mìle taing do Joy Dunlop agus do joannejoanne12 airson a’ cheartachaidh agus a’ chuideachaidh!

[[Category:Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T22:24:14Z

Silmeth: /* Present forms */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

This alternative ending was an Irish innovation from Middle Irish times, first appearing in the 10th century. In Old Irish there was a set of verbs with ''-en-'' in their present stem but not in other forms<ref>Eg. the future stem of ''benaid'' was ''bí-'' seen eg. in the form ''bíthus'' ‘(s)he will strike them’ with suffixed object pronoun.</ref> (eg. OIr. ''benaid'' ‘(s)he strikes’, ''ní·ben'' ‘(s)he does not strike’; ''crenaid'' ‘(s)he buys’, ''ní·cren'' ‘(s)he does not buy’). Some forms of compound verbs based on those had this ''-en'' strengthened to ''-enn, -ann'' via McNeill’s Law. This then spread to other similar verbs, and eventually was reanalyzed as the dependent present ending rather than part of their root.<ref>Specifically this happened in ''prototonic'' (ie. dependent) forms of the compound verbs where the stress fell on the preverb, eg. the verb ''fo·ben'' ‘destroys’ had dependent form ''·fuiben, ·fuban'' which became ''·fubann'' in Middle Irish. This strengthening of ''n'' to ''nn'' happened first in verbs like ''as·ren'' ‘pays’, dep. ''·érenn'' which had a liquid ''l'' or ''r'' causing the strengthening due to McNeill’s Law. For more see ''Stair na Gaeilge'', chapter ''An Mheán-Ghaeilge'' by Liam Breatnach, §12.13, pp. 294–295.</ref>

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

In the present tense of the ''-igh'' verbs syncope was lost, thus ''(ní) éir'''gh'''eann'' became ''éir'''igh'''eann'', today spelt ''éiríonn''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

Like in Irish, there is no syncope in the ''-ich'' (Irish ''-igh'') verbs: the independent form is ''èir'''ich'''idh'' (cf. classical ''éir'''gh'''idh'').

The relative ending is preserved:
* ''am fear a mholas mi'' ‘the man who praises/will praise me’.

== Manx ==

Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx preserves the dependent / independent distinction in what historically had been present tense endings – but typically expressing the future:
* ''trogg'''ee''' ad'' ‘they shall build’ (cf. classical ''tóg'''aidh''' sé'' ‘he takes / builds’),
* ''cha drog oo'' ‘thou shalt not lift up’ (cf. classical ''no-chan tóg tú'' ‘thou dost not take’).

Manx generalized eclipsis of voiceless stops as a marker of dependent forms (hence ''cha drog'' even though classically ''t-'' there would be unmutated).

The relative form is also preserved:
* ''y thie hroggys shiu'' ‘the house ye will build’.

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T21:46:33Z

Silmeth: /* Manx */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

In the present tense of the ''-igh'' verbs syncope was lost, thus ''(ní) éir'''gh'''eann'' became ''éir'''igh'''eann'', today spelt ''éiríonn''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

Like in Irish, there is no syncope in the ''-ich'' (Irish ''-igh'') verbs: the independent form is ''èir'''ich'''idh'' (cf. classical ''éir'''gh'''idh'').

The relative ending is preserved:
* ''am fear a mholas mi'' ‘the man who praises/will praise me’.

== Manx ==

Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx preserves the dependent / independent distinction in what historically had been present tense endings – but typically expressing the future:
* ''trogg'''ee''' ad'' ‘they shall build’ (cf. classical ''tóg'''aidh''' sé'' ‘he takes / builds’),
* ''cha drog oo'' ‘thou shalt not lift up’ (cf. classical ''no-chan tóg tú'' ‘thou dost not take’).

Manx generalized eclipsis of voiceless stops as a marker of dependent forms (hence ''cha drog'' even though classically ''t-'' there would be unmutated).

The relative form is also preserved:
* ''y thie hroggys shiu'' ‘the house ye will build’.

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T21:46:14Z

Silmeth: /* Manx */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

In the present tense of the ''-igh'' verbs syncope was lost, thus ''(ní) éir'''gh'''eann'' became ''éir'''igh'''eann'', today spelt ''éiríonn''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

Like in Irish, there is no syncope in the ''-ich'' (Irish ''-igh'') verbs: the independent form is ''èir'''ich'''idh'' (cf. classical ''éir'''gh'''idh'').

The relative ending is preserved:
* ''am fear a mholas mi'' ‘the man who praises/will praise me’.

== Manx ==

Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx preserves the dependent / independent distinction in what historically had been present tense endings – but typically expressing the future:
* ''trogg'''ee''' ad'' ‘they shall build’ (cf. classical ''tóg'''aidh''' sé'' ‘he takes / builds’),
* ''cha drog oo'' ‘thou shalt not lift up’ (cf. classical ''no-chan tóg tú'' ‘thou dost not take’).

Manx generalized eclipsis of voiceless stops as a marker of dependent forms (hence ''cha drog'' even though classically ''t-'' there would be unmutated).

The relative form is also preserved:
* ''y thie hroggys shiu'' ‘the house ye will build’

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T21:45:04Z

Silmeth: /* Irish */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

In the present tense of the ''-igh'' verbs syncope was lost, thus ''(ní) éir'''gh'''eann'' became ''éir'''igh'''eann'', today spelt ''éiríonn''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

Like in Irish, there is no syncope in the ''-ich'' (Irish ''-igh'') verbs: the independent form is ''èir'''ich'''idh'' (cf. classical ''éir'''gh'''idh'').

The relative ending is preserved:
* ''am fear a mholas mi'' ‘the man who praises/will praise me’.

== Manx ==

Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx preserves the dependent / independent distinction in what historically had been present tense endings – but typically expressing the future:
* ''trogg'''ee''' ad'' ‘they shall build’ (cf. classical ''tóg'''aidh''' sé'' ‘he takes / builds’),
* ''cha drog oo'' ‘thou shalt not lift up’ (cf. classical ''no-chan tóg tú'' ‘thou dost not take’).

Manx generalized eclipsis of voiceless stops as a marker of dependent forms (hence ''cha drog'' even though classically ''t-'' there would be unmutated).

The relative form is also preserved:
* ''yn thie hroggys shiu'' ‘the house ye will build’

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T21:44:29Z

Silmeth:

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

In the present tense of the ''-igh'' verbs syncope was lost, thus ''(ní) éir'''gh'''ean'' became ''éir'''igh'''eann'', today spelt ''éiríonn''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

Like in Irish, there is no syncope in the ''-ich'' (Irish ''-igh'') verbs: the independent form is ''èir'''ich'''idh'' (cf. classical ''éir'''gh'''idh'').

The relative ending is preserved:
* ''am fear a mholas mi'' ‘the man who praises/will praise me’.

== Manx ==

Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx preserves the dependent / independent distinction in what historically had been present tense endings – but typically expressing the future:
* ''trogg'''ee''' ad'' ‘they shall build’ (cf. classical ''tóg'''aidh''' sé'' ‘he takes / builds’),
* ''cha drog oo'' ‘thou shalt not lift up’ (cf. classical ''no-chan tóg tú'' ‘thou dost not take’).

Manx generalized eclipsis of voiceless stops as a marker of dependent forms (hence ''cha drog'' even though classically ''t-'' there would be unmutated).

The relative form is also preserved:
* ''yn thie hroggys shiu'' ‘the house ye will build’

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Main Page

2025-03-20T21:17:17Z

Silmeth:

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Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T15:20:34Z

Silmeth: /* Scottish Gaelic */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they?

The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). It’s commonly used to express habitual present: ''sgrìobhaidh mi litir a h-uile latha'' ‘I write a letter every day’.

In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T11:38:36Z

Silmeth: /* Present forms */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirghid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirghead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T11:28:43Z

Silmeth: /* Classical Gaelic */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom in on these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T10:32:14Z

Silmeth: /* Future forms */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom on to these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not <s>''*ad-chídh''</s> or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T09:55:45Z

Silmeth: /* Classical Gaelic */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom on to these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imeór-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not ~~''*ad-chídh''~~ or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T01:12:24Z

Silmeth: /* Irish */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom on to these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imreó-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not ~~''*ad-chídh''~~ or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/, the distinction would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T01:10:46Z

Silmeth: /* Classical Gaelic */

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
## present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
## past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom on to these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imreó-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not ~~''*ad-chídh''~~ or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/ would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Present tense in Gaelic languages

2025-03-20T01:07:34Z

Silmeth: Created page with "You ever wonder why doesn’t Scottish Gaelic have the same present tense endings as Irish? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present te..."

You ever wonder why doesn’t [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]] have the same present tense endings as [[:Category:Irish|Irish]]? “Why did Scottish Gaelic lose present tense?” you might think (but, spoiler alert, that’s not what happened!). If so, let’s dive into it and uncover what actually happened with this verbs stuff.

== Classical Gaelic ==
First we need to take a look at [[:Category:Classical Gaelic|Classical Gaelic]] and how the verbs worked there. Verbs had separate synthetic endings for most grammatical persons (but already since Middle Irish the “analytic” forms, ie. 3rd person sg. forms with subject pronouns, were used alongside the synthetic forms), and could be put in several tenses and moods:
# present tense: ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’, ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’; ''molmáoid'' ‘we praise’, ''ní mholam'' ‘we do not praise’, ''sáora(i)'' ‘thou freest’, ''ní sháora(i)'' ‘thou dost not free’, etc.,
# past tense (perfect): ''do mhol sé'' ‘he praised’, ''níor mhol sé'' ‘he did not praise’, ''do sháoras'' ‘I freed’, ''níor sháoras'' ‘I did not free’, etc.,
# past habitual tense (imperfect): ''do mholadh sé'' ‘he used to praise’, ''ní mholadh sé'' ‘he did not use to praise’, ''do sháorainn'' ‘I used to free’, ''ní sháorainn'' ‘I did not use to free’, ''do sháorthá'' ‘thou usedst to free’, etc.,
# future tense: ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’, ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’, ''sáorfad'' ‘I will free’, ''ní sháorabh'' ‘I will not free’, etc.,
# conditional mood: ''do mholfadh sé'' ‘he would praise (if something happened)’, ''ní mholfadh sé'' ‘he would not praise’, ''do sháorfainn'' ‘I would free’, ''ní sháorfainn'' ‘I would not praise’, etc.,
# subjunctive mood in two tenses:
:# present (used mostly to express wishes and potential future events): ''go mola sé'' ‘may he praise, until he praises’, ''go saorar'' ‘may I free’, etc.,
:# past (used to express unfulfilled conditions): ''dá moladh sé'' ‘if he praised (but he didn’t and doesn’t)’, ''dá saorainn'' ‘if I freed’, etc.,
# imperative mood: ''mol'' ‘praise’, ''sáoram'' ‘let us free’, etc.

There also was another past tense sometimes in use, the preterite, which mostly used the ending ''-s'' (eg. ''molas sé'' ‘he praised’) but it was already archaic during Classical Gaelic times. The first-person ''-s'' in ''do mholas'' ‘I praised’ comes actually from this preterite thing originally. By Classical Gaelic there was no semantic difference between perfect and preterite, they were both just forms expressing past tense. For more forms, see [https://leamh.org/grammar/ Léamh.org grammar section].

If you know Modern Irish well, you’ll notice the verbal system overall hasn’t changed ''much'' in Irish, the tenses and moods are all still there although subjunctive forms are used pretty much only in set phrases (conditional replaced them in conditions) – but some of the endings certainly differ here. And some definitely look more Scottishy than Irishy.

We’re interested in the present tense here, so let’s zoom on to these forms. And also let’s take a look at the future (since Scottish Gaelic supposedly has a future tense but no present, right? Right?).

=== Present forms ===

First let’s notice that for many persons there are actually two different endings: an independent one (used when the verb stands on its own) and a dependent one (after some so-called “conjunct” particles):
* ''molaidh sé'' ‘he praises’ vs ''ní mhol sé'' ‘he does not praise’,
* ''sáormáoid'' ‘we free’ vs ''go sáoram'' ‘that we free’, ''cuirmíd'' ‘we put’ vs ''ní chuiream'' ‘we do not put’,
* ''éirighid'' ‘they rise’ vs ''ní éirighead'' ‘they do not rise’,
* ''imridh sí'' ‘she plays’ vs ''go n-imir sí'' ‘that she plays’.

Actually, for the 3rd person singular (the “he” or “she” form) there is a longer '''alternative dependent''' ending:
* ''ní mhol sé'' or ''ní mholann sé'',
* ''go n-imir sí'' or ''go n-imreann sí''.

[TODO: explain etymology of ''-ann'', present stem of OIr. verbs like ''benaid, ·ben; crenaid, ·cren'']

From this a fairly clear picture arises – Classical Gaelic had independent endings, like: 3rd sg. ''-idh'', 1st pl. ''-máoid, -míd'', 3rd pl. ''-id'', and depedent endings: 3rd sg. ''-0, -ann'', 1st pl. ''-am'', 3rd pl. ''-ad''. Some persons did not have the distinction (eg. in 1st sg. it was ''cuirim, ní chuirim; molaim, ní mholaim'').

One more thing worth noting, Classical Gaelic had a special 3rd sg. relative ending used in relative clauses:
* ''an fear mholas mhé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

=== Future forms ===

If we take a closer look at the future tense, what we see is that the endings are actually pretty much the same between the two (except for 1st sg.). What changes is the stem of the verb:

* ''molfaidh sé'' ‘he will praise’ vs ''ní mholfa sé'' ‘he won’t praise’,
* ''sáorfamáoid'' ‘we will free’ vs ''go sáorfam'' ‘that we will free’, ''cuirfimíd'' ‘we will put’ vs ''ní chuirfeam'' ‘we won’t put’,
* ''éireóchaid'' ‘they will rise’ vs ''ní éireóchead'' ‘they will not rise’,
* ''imeóraidh sí'' ‘she will play’ vs ''go n-imeóra sí'' ‘that she will play’,
* ''inneósad'' ‘I will tell’, ''ní inneós'' ‘I will not tell’

Notice that some verbs will add an ''-fa-'' to the stem (''mol-'' becomes ''molfa-'', ''cuir-'' becomes ''cuirfe-''), some verbs will change its vowel to ''-eó-'' (''éirigh-'' becomes ''éireóch-'', ''imir-'' becomes ''imreó-''; ''innis-'' becomes ''inneós-'').

Here too we have the relative ending:
* ''an fear mholfas mhé'' ‘the man who will praise me’.

This overview is very simplified: many forms will have variants (with short or long vowels, with ''-eó-'' or ''-é-'' in the stem, etc.), irregular verbs will often use the dependent endings even in independent context<ref>Because they continue Old Irish compound verbs – they have a preverb in their stem which works as a conjunct particle itself, forcing them to use the conjunct, ie. dependent, endings.</ref> (that’s why it’s ''ad-chí'', ''do-ní'' and not ~~''*ad-chídh''~~ or anything like that), etc. If you want more details you should look at Léamh.org grammar and read the ''Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' chapter in ''Stair na Gaeilge''.

== Irish ==
Now, let’s see how this compares to Modern Irish. The first thing to notice is that Irish doesn’t have any distinction between dependent and independent endings anymore:

* ''molann sé, ní mholann sé'' ‘he praises, he does not praise’,
* ''saoraimíd, ní shaoraimíd'' ‘we free, we do not free’,
* ''éireoidh sí, ní éireoidh sí'' ‘she will rise, she will not rise’.

Of course Irish still has some distinction between dependent and independent verbs (''tá'' vs ''an bhfuil?'', in some dialects ''chí'' vs ''an bhfeiceann?'', etc.), but it’s no longer a distinction ''in the verbal endings''. Irish in fact lost most of the dependent endings (like 1st pl. ''-am'', future ''-fa'') settling on independent ones (''-(a)imíd'', ''-faidh''). But note that in the 3rd sg. present tense ending is ''-ann'' – the original '''dependent''' ending!

This ending is actually innovatory and it seems that it took over the endingless dependent form by around the 15th century (so ''ní chuireann'' became more popular than ''ní chuir'' in Irish), and then since the 15th century it started taking over the old ''-idh'' form (thus ''cuireann'' in independent positions started replacing older ''cuiridh''). Note also how this strengthened distinction between the present tense (''cuireann sé'' ‘he puts’) and the future tense (''cuirfidh sé'' ‘he will put’). With the old ending, after the future ''-f-'' got weakened in pronunciation to /h/ would be barely perceivable (''cuiridh'' and ''cuirfidh'' would differ only in /h/).

Some dependent endings still exist in dialects as variant forms but they no longer keep the dependent/independent distinction, eg. a Munster speaker might say ''bainfeam'' instead of ''bainfimíd'' for ‘we will reap’.

In the future, the ''-eó-'' forms changed a bit – the stem changes only for verbs ending in ''-igh'', and (outside of Ulster) the ''-ch-'' of the stem is dropped, while other verbs get just the ending extracted from the ''-igh'' verbs:

* ''éireoidh sé'' ‘he will rise’,
* ''imreoidh sí'' ‘she will play’ (clasically: ''imeóraidh'').

Munster keeps the old form for the verb ''inis'': ''neosfad'' ‘I will tell’ from classical ''inneósad'', compare it to standard ''inseoidh''.

One more thing worth noting is that Munster dialects lost the relative ending (and most Standard Irish texts don’t use it either, although it’s allowed in ''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil''):
* ''an fear a mholann mé'' ‘the man who praises me’ (the standard also allows: ''an fear a mholas mé''),
* ''an fear a mholfaidh mé'' ‘the man who will praise me’ (Munster), ''an fear a mholfas mé'' (other dialects, also allowed in the standard).

In Connacht the present ending ''-ann'' gets the relative ''-s'' added on top:

* ''an fear a mholanns mé'' ‘the man who praises me’.

== Scottish Gaelic ==

And now take a look at Scottish Gaelic “future tense”:

* ''molaidh e'' ‘he will praise’, ''cha mhol e'' ‘he will not praise’,
* ''saoraidh sinn'' ‘we will free’, ''cha saor sinn'' ‘we will not free’,
* ''èirichidh i'' ‘she will rise’, ''chan èirich i'' ‘she will not rise’.

They… don’t really look like classical future tense, do they? The fact is, historically those are the '''present''' forms! And if you look at texts written by native Gaelic speakers in the 19th and 20th century, you’ll see plenty of those used to express the present, some fixed expression being very common still today (''saoilidh mi'' ‘I think’ is definitely present tense!). In fact some grammars (like William Lamb’s ''Scottish Gaelic: A Comprehensive Grammar'') choose to call this tense “non-past” rather than “future” as it clearly covers the present too. What disappeared from Scottish Gaelic is the original future tense (as the present took over its semantics).

Another thing to notice is that there’s no trace of this ''-ann'' ending. As was mentioned earlier in this article, this ending was an innovation – specifically an Irish innovation that seems to not have ever reached Scotland. The ending must have been known to Gaelic poets in Scotland as it was a part of bardic linguistic training, but it just never was a part of the common speech in Scotland. The only exception to this is the phrase ''nach maireann'' ‘deceased’ (lit. ‘who does not live’) which might have been borrowed from the classical register.<ref>And worth noting that ''maireann'' from this phrase got reanalyzed in Scotland as an adjective meaning ‘alive’ and you get sentences like ''tha e maireann'' ‘he is alive’ too in Scottish Gaelic.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]
[[Category:Gaelic]]
[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2025-03-09T13:54:52Z

Silmeth: /* seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Munster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|í seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-28T20:10:19Z

Silmeth: /* Slégar */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

Scottish Gaelic lenition of indefinite genitives plural might also have developed out of slégar.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''don chloinn '''charfas''' sibh'' ‘to the children '''who’ll love''' you’<ref>From Bergin’s edition of ''A Gaelic Miscellany'', ie. ''A leabhráin ainmnighthear d’Aodh''; since ''sibh'' is the direct object here perhaps it should be emended to ''ibh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''mheallas''' gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man '''whom''' the brightness of his cheek '''beguiles'''’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath '''bheireas siad''''' ‘if the judgement '''they deliver''' is the same’(?)
* ''an t-aondía mór-chumhachtach sin '''a-tá''', agas '''do bhí''' agas '''bhías''' bithbheó do ghnáth'' ‘that single all-powerful God '''who is''', and '''who was''', and '''who will be''' forever and continually’<ref>Carswell’s ''Foirm na n-Uirrnuidheadh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''do-ní''' an réd'' ‘the man '''who does''' the thing’
* ''an triar '''táinig''''' ‘the three '''who came'''’
* ''an teagasg '''tug mé''''' ‘the teaching '''I gave'''’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

==== With copula ====
The relative forms of the copula are used if the antecedent is the subject, the present relative copula lenites its predicate:

* ''Síoth Aodha bhus ainm don tigh'' ‘the house shall be called Síoth Aodha (=Aodh’s Mound)’ (lit. ‘it’s Síoth Aodha that will be the house’s name’)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''ná céil (…) ar Sheanghallaibh (…) lér cheanglamair'' ‘don’t hide (…) from Old English (Sean-Ghaill) with whom we united’
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')
* ''an port asa ttéighise'' ‘the place from which you go’

This (like in Sc. Gaelic) is also possible in the negative:
* ''lámh ar nach luigh sochaidhe'' ‘(the) hand upon which a host of soldiers did not press/trouble’

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic {{color|#00A0DA|''na''}} + relative form):

* '''''a bhfuil leibh''', labhair iar soin'' ‘'''all that you have''', say it after that’
* ''gébhaidh '''ar ghabh''' a shinsear'' ‘he will take '''what''' his ancestor '''held'''’ (or: ‘all that his ancestor…’)
[TODO: examples]

The generalizing relative pronoun can also combine with a preposition, very common with ''do'' ‘from, of’:
* ''gach ní '''dá''' mbeanfadh rinn'' ‘every thing '''of all those''' that would concern us’<ref>From the letter of Rósa Ní Dhochartaigh, see [https://archive.org/details/contemporaryhistv1p2gilb/page/n151/mode/1up the scan of the manuscript] and [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggzP0v1V_0sCUFwn4DsSwwdlrQgCwQNd/view?usp=sharing transcription with translation and analysis]</ref>

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
==== Without overt possessive ====
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

==== With overt possessive in ''isa, asa'' ====
There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

==== Rephrasing without ‘whose’ ====
In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type rephrasing them with prepositional ones with a possessive instead (instead of saying ‘the tree on whose branch…’, saying ‘the tree which has its branch on which…’):

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'')

* ''m(h)'' + ''b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + ''p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T21:56:23Z

Silmeth: /* Generalizing relative clauses */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''don chloinn '''charfas''' sibh'' ‘to the children '''who’ll love''' you’<ref>From Bergin’s edition of ''A Gaelic Miscellany'', ie. ''A leabhráin ainmnighthear d’Aodh''; since ''sibh'' is the direct object here perhaps it should be emended to ''ibh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''mheallas''' gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man '''whom''' the brightness of his cheek '''beguiles'''’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath '''bheireas siad''''' ‘if the judgement '''they deliver''' is the same’(?)
* ''an t-aondía mór-chumhachtach sin '''a-tá''', agas '''do bhí''' agas '''bhías''' bithbheó do ghnáth'' ‘that single all-powerful God '''who is''', and '''who was''', and '''who will be''' forever and continually’<ref>Carswell’s ''Foirm na n-Uirrnuidheadh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''do-ní''' an réd'' ‘the man '''who does''' the thing’
* ''an triar '''táinig''''' ‘the three '''who came'''’
* ''an teagasg '''tug mé''''' ‘the teaching '''I gave'''’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

==== With copula ====
The relative forms of the copula are used if the antecedent is the subject, the present relative copula lenites its predicate:

* ''Síoth Aodha bhus ainm don tigh'' ‘the house shall be called Síoth Aodha (=Aodh’s Mound)’ (lit. ‘it’s Síoth Aodha that will be the house’s name’)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''ná céil (…) ar Sheanghallaibh (…) lér cheanglamair'' ‘don’t hide (…) from Old English (Sean-Ghaill) with whom we united’
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')
* ''an port asa ttéighise'' ‘the place from which you go’

This (like in Sc. Gaelic) is also possible in the negative:
* ''lámh ar nach luigh sochaidhe'' ‘(the) hand upon which a host of soldiers did not press/trouble’

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic {{color|#00A0DA|''na''}} + relative form):

* '''''a bhfuil leibh''', labhair iar soin'' ‘'''all that you have''', say it after that’
* ''gébhaidh '''ar ghabh''' a shinsear'' ‘he will take '''what''' his ancestor '''held'''’ (or: ‘all that his ancestor…’)
[TODO: examples]

The generalizing relative pronoun can also combine with a preposition, very common with ''do'' ‘from, of’:
* ''gach ní '''dá''' mbeanfadh rinn'' ‘every thing '''of all those''' that would concern us’<ref>From the letter of Rósa Ní Dhochartaigh, see [https://archive.org/details/contemporaryhistv1p2gilb/page/n151/mode/1up the scan of the manuscript] and [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggzP0v1V_0sCUFwn4DsSwwdlrQgCwQNd/view?usp=sharing transcription with translation and analysis]</ref>

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
==== Without overt possessive ====
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

==== With overt possessive in ''isa, asa'' ====
There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

==== Rephrasing without ‘whose’ ====
In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type rephrasing them with prepositional ones with a possessive instead (instead of saying ‘the tree on whose branch…’, saying ‘the tree which has its branch on which…’):

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'')

* ''m(h)'' + ''b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + ''p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T21:54:55Z

Silmeth: /* Labials */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''don chloinn '''charfas''' sibh'' ‘to the children '''who’ll love''' you’<ref>From Bergin’s edition of ''A Gaelic Miscellany'', ie. ''A leabhráin ainmnighthear d’Aodh''; since ''sibh'' is the direct object here perhaps it should be emended to ''ibh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''mheallas''' gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man '''whom''' the brightness of his cheek '''beguiles'''’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath '''bheireas siad''''' ‘if the judgement '''they deliver''' is the same’(?)
* ''an t-aondía mór-chumhachtach sin '''a-tá''', agas '''do bhí''' agas '''bhías''' bithbheó do ghnáth'' ‘that single all-powerful God '''who is''', and '''who was''', and '''who will be''' forever and continually’<ref>Carswell’s ''Foirm na n-Uirrnuidheadh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''do-ní''' an réd'' ‘the man '''who does''' the thing’
* ''an triar '''táinig''''' ‘the three '''who came'''’
* ''an teagasg '''tug mé''''' ‘the teaching '''I gave'''’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

==== With copula ====
The relative forms of the copula are used if the antecedent is the subject, the present relative copula lenites its predicate:

* ''Síoth Aodha bhus ainm don tigh'' ‘the house shall be called Síoth Aodha (=Aodh’s Mound)’ (lit. ‘it’s Síoth Aodha that will be the house’s name’)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''ná céil (…) ar Sheanghallaibh (…) lér cheanglamair'' ‘don’t hide (…) from Old English (Sean-Ghaill) with whom we united’
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')
* ''an port asa ttéighise'' ‘the place from which you go’

This (like in Sc. Gaelic) is also possible in the negative:
* ''lámh ar nach luigh sochaidhe'' ‘(the) hand upon which a host of soldiers did not press/trouble’

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic {{color|#00A0DA|''na''}} + relative form):

* '''''a bhfuil leibh''', labhair iar soin'' ‘'''all that you have''', say it after that’
* ''gébhaidh '''ar ghabh''' a shinsear'' ‘he will take '''what''' his ancestor '''held'''’ (or: ‘all that his ancestor…’)
[TODO: examples]

The generalizing relative pronoun can also combine with a preposition, very common with ''do'' ‘from, of’:
* ''gach ní '''dá''' mbeanfadh rinn'' ‘every thing '''of all those''' that would concern us’<ref>From the letter of Rósa Ní Dhochartaigh, see [the scan of the manuscript https://archive.org/details/contemporaryhistv1p2gilb/page/n151/mode/1up] and [transcription with translation and analysis https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggzP0v1V_0sCUFwn4DsSwwdlrQgCwQNd/view?usp=sharing]</ref>

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
==== Without overt possessive ====
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

==== With overt possessive in ''isa, asa'' ====
There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

==== Rephrasing without ‘whose’ ====
In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type rephrasing them with prepositional ones with a possessive instead (instead of saying ‘the tree on whose branch…’, saying ‘the tree which has its branch on which…’):

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'')

* ''m(h)'' + ''b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + ''p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T21:12:28Z

Silmeth: /* Relative clauses */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''don chloinn '''charfas''' sibh'' ‘to the children '''who’ll love''' you’<ref>From Bergin’s edition of ''A Gaelic Miscellany'', ie. ''A leabhráin ainmnighthear d’Aodh''; since ''sibh'' is the direct object here perhaps it should be emended to ''ibh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''mheallas''' gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man '''whom''' the brightness of his cheek '''beguiles'''’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath '''bheireas siad''''' ‘if the judgement '''they deliver''' is the same’(?)
* ''an t-aondía mór-chumhachtach sin '''a-tá''', agas '''do bhí''' agas '''bhías''' bithbheó do ghnáth'' ‘that single all-powerful God '''who is''', and '''who was''', and '''who will be''' forever and continually’<ref>Carswell’s ''Foirm na n-Uirrnuidheadh''</ref>
* ''an fear '''do-ní''' an réd'' ‘the man '''who does''' the thing’
* ''an triar '''táinig''''' ‘the three '''who came'''’
* ''an teagasg '''tug mé''''' ‘the teaching '''I gave'''’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

==== With copula ====
The relative forms of the copula are used if the antecedent is the subject, the present relative copula lenites its predicate:

* ''Síoth Aodha bhus ainm don tigh'' ‘the house shall be called Síoth Aodha (=Aodh’s Mound)’ (lit. ‘it’s Síoth Aodha that will be the house’s name’)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''ná céil (…) ar Sheanghallaibh (…) lér cheanglamair'' ‘don’t hide (…) from Old English (Sean-Ghaill) with whom we united’
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')
* ''an port asa ttéighise'' ‘the place from which you go’

This (like in Sc. Gaelic) is also possible in the negative:
* ''lámh ar nach luigh sochaidhe'' ‘(the) hand upon which a host of soldiers did not press/trouble’

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic {{color|#00A0DA|''na''}} + relative form):

* '''''a bhfuil leibh''', labhair iar soin'' ‘'''all that you have''', say it after that’
* ''gébhaidh '''ar ghabh''' a shinsear'' ‘he will take '''what''' his ancestor '''held'''’ (or: ‘all that his ancestor…’)
[TODO: examples]

The generalizing relative pronoun can also combine with a preposition, very common with ''do'' ‘from, of’:
* ''gach ní '''dá''' mbeanfadh rinn'' ‘every thing '''of all those''' that would concern us’<ref>From the letter of Rósa Ní Dhochartaigh, see [the scan of the manuscript https://archive.org/details/contemporaryhistv1p2gilb/page/n151/mode/1up] and [transcription with translation and analysis https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggzP0v1V_0sCUFwn4DsSwwdlrQgCwQNd/view?usp=sharing]</ref>

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
==== Without overt possessive ====
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

==== With overt possessive in ''isa, asa'' ====
There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

==== Rephrasing without ‘whose’ ====
In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type rephrasing them with prepositional ones with a possessive instead (instead of saying ‘the tree on whose branch…’, saying ‘the tree which has its branch on which…’):

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'', )

* ''m(h)'' + b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T20:37:21Z

Silmeth: /* Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' whose speech is not meagre'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''an fear mheallas gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man whom the brightness of his cheek beguiles’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath bheireas siad'' ‘if the judgement they deliver is the same’(?)
* ''an fear do-ní an réd'' ‘the man who does the thing’
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three who came’
* ''an teagasg tug mé'' ‘the teaching I gave’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic ''na'' + relative form):

[TODO: examples]

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type using prepositional ones with a possessive instead:

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'', )

* ''m(h)'' + b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T00:11:25Z

Silmeth: /* Prepositional relative clauses */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' that is not meagre of speech'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''an fear mheallas gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man whom the brightness of his cheek beguiles’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath bheireas siad'' ‘if the judgement they deliver is the same’(?)
* ''an fear do-ní an réd'' ‘the man who does the thing’
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three who came’
* ''an teagasg tug mé'' ‘the teaching I gave’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which I wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic ''na'' + relative form):

[TODO: examples]

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type using prepositional ones with a possessive instead:

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'', )

* ''m(h)'' + b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-12T00:09:57Z

Silmeth: /* Prepositional relative clauses */

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' that is not meagre of speech'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''an fear mheallas gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man whom the brightness of his cheek beguiles’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath bheireas siad'' ‘if the judgement they deliver is the same’(?)
* ''an fear do-ní an réd'' ‘the man who does the thing’
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three who came’
* ''an teagasg tug mé'' ‘the teaching I gave’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonas tú'' ‘the weapon with which you wounded / (s)he wounded you’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic ''na'' + relative form):

[TODO: examples]

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type using prepositional ones with a possessive instead:

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'', )

* ''m(h)'' + b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar

2024-11-11T23:44:01Z

Silmeth: /* Relative clauses */ some basic rel. clause info

'''Classical Gaelic''' or '''Classical Irish''' ('''Gáoidhealg''' or '''Gaoidhealg''' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in the language itself) was the standard language of bardic poetry in Ireland and Scotland between 13th and 18th century. It was created in late 12th century by poets trying to bring the poetic language closer to the vernacular of that time, the standard allowed a lot of spoken forms used in the dialects of late 12th century, even though it was itself highly prescriptive.<ref name="ling-training" group="gr" />

While the spoken language evolved, the grammar of the language used in poetry was kept fixed throughout centuries (although new vocabulary was used in poetry). The spoken language of 13th–18th century Ireland (and one used in prose texts) is called ''Early Modern Irish'' while the term ''Classical Gaelic'' is typically reserved for the standardized conservative language of the bardic poetry.

This article deals with elements of grammar of this bardic standard (although it might mention some developments rejected in the bardic standard occasionally). But bear in mind it’s more of a random collection of notes (mostly from ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and ''IGT i''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /><ref name="IGT" group="gr" />) than a comprehensive grammar. It’s also a work in progress.

== Orthography ==

Early Modern Irish and Scottish manuscripts vary a lot in the spelling they used. The earliest manuscripts use basically the Middle Irish spelling that’s closer to [[Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling|Old Irish system]] than to modern orthography, later ones start to write consonants in a more modern way and mark lenition (semi-)consistently using ''ponc séimhithe'' (dot placed above the letter, sometimes a little ''h'' instead of a dot) but there are several ways to mark eclipsis (namely, the letters ''t'' and ''c'' are often doubled to ''tt, cc'' in eclipsing context). [TODO: expand]

Modern normalized editions of Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish texts often use the modern pre-reform Irish spelling as one can find eg. in Dinneen’s dictionary. But that’s often not the spelling used in manuscripts – and one won’t find it often in dyplomatic editions of classical texts.

Among the common differences between the spellings used commonly in manuscripts and the modern normalized spelling are:
# the clusters {{IPA|/st, sk, sp/}} are written ''sd, sg, sb'' (this varies in normalized texts), eg. ''inn'''sg'''ne, sub'''sd'''ainnteach'' vs ''in'''sc'''ne, sub'''st'''ainteach'',
# the ‘long diphthongs’ and the ''ao'' vowel mark their length with a ‘fada’: ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, t'''áo'''bh, s'''ía'''d, '''ía'''sg, b'''úa'''dh'' vs modern ''G'''aoi'''dhealg, t'''ao'''bh, s'''ia'''d, '''ia'''sc/'''ia'''sg, b'''ua'''dh'',
# the long ''é'' before a broad consonant stands on its own, breaking the ''leathan le leathan'' rule (while it is the expected ''éi'' before a slender one): ''d'''é'''namh, b'''é'''l, sl'''é'''gar'' but '''''Éi'''re'' vs ''d'''éa'''namh, b'''éa'''l, sl'''éa'''gar, '''Éi'''re'',
# eclipsis of ''t'' and ''c'' written as ''tt'', ''cc'' (and ''pp'' for ''p''?): ''a '''tt'''igh'' ‘in a house’ vs ''i '''dt'''igh / a '''dt'''igh''.

This page follows the spelling conventions of Mac Cárthaigh edition of ''Irish Grammatical Tracts I'' (''“The Art of Bardic Poetry”, ABP'') <ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, that is, unlike most modern editions, it normalizes the spelling to form closer to the older usage described above.

[TODO: something about spelling of reduced unstressed vowels: ''a'' vs ''u'' vs ''o''; ''i'' vs ''ei'']

== Declension ==

=== Cases ===

Classical Gaelic nouns and adjectives were declined in 5 distinct grammatical cases:
* nominative (''ainm'', lit. ‘name’) – the grammatical subject of the verb and also predicative of copular clauses,
* accusative (often ''réim'', lit. ‘succession’, the term is used generally for ‘an oblique case’, accusative plural is often called ''tochlaghadh, tochlughadh'') – the direct object of a verb, also complement of some prepositions, especially when movement is involved,
* genitive (''táoibhréim'', lit. ‘side-case, by-case’) – expresses possessor, or otherwise connects two nouns (like in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic),
* dative (''tuilréim, tuillréim'') – used for complements of most prepositions (so perhaps ''prepositional'' would be a better name),
* vocative (sometimes ''agallaimh, gairm agallmha'', ‘address, addressing call’, typically not recognized as separate case in classical grammars) – used when directly addressing someone or something.

The case system of Old Irish (which itself lost most of case endings due to apocope) got somewhat eroded during Middle Irish times because of the loss of distinction between unstressed /ə/ and /u/, and also merging of all unstressed absolute final vowels. Nevertheless all the Old Irish cases and their uses survived til Classical Gaelic times even if their forms merged in some noun classes.

Classical grammars recognize two grammatical genders: masculine (''feirinnsgne'') and feminine (''baininnsgne''), with the nouns whose accusative singular is the same as nominative singular (ie. mostly nouns declining according to old o-stem pattern) commonly referred to as ‘masculine’, and those whose acc. sg. = dat. sg. (mostly those declining acc. to old ā-stem pattern and consonant stems) referred to as ‘feminine’ (even if actually belonging to the other gender).

=== Réim connsaine ===

When a noun was a direct object of the verb it generally had to be in the accusative case and underwent lenition. This lenition is called ''réim connsaine'' (lit. ‘consonant accusative’ or ‘consonant case’). If the noun declined according to masculine pattern, ie. it had its acc. sg. form equal to nom. sg., then ''réim connsaine'' was optional and nominative could be used instead. When one used a noun with a ‘feminine’ declension (ie. the acc. sg. differed from nom. sg.), then both lenition and accusative form were obligatory:

* ''do-chiú '''ch'''náoi '''ng'''il'' ‘I see a bright nut’ – here the lenited accusative form ''chnáoi'' must be used since it differs from nominative ''cnú'', it also must eclipse its attributes, since accusative case requires eclipsis,
* ''ní fhaca '''ch'''oin'' ‘I did not see a dog’, ''ní fhaca bhoin'' ‘I did not see a cow’ – the acc. sg. forms differ from nom. ''cú'' ‘a dog’ and ''bó'' ‘a cow’,
* ''do bhúaileas '''ch'''oin '''ng'''il '''ng'''irr '''cc'''áoich'' ‘I hit/stroke a blind short bright dog’,
but:
* ''do-chiú '''sh'''úil '''ng'''il'' or ''do-chiú '''s'''úil '''gh'''eal'' ‘I see a bright eye’, because acc. sg. ''súil'' is the same as nominative,
* ''do mharbhas '''fh'''ear '''mb'''eag'' or ''do mharbhas '''f'''ear '''b'''eag'' ‘I killed a small man’ – because ''fear'' is both nominative and accusative form, either can be used; the only requirement being that if the direct object is lenited (has ''réim connsaine''), then it must eclipse its attribute, because it is visibly accusative.

Since many nouns have accusative plural (''tochlaghadh'') distinct from their nominative plural, they also are lenited:
* ''do-chiú '''fh'''iora beaga'' ‘I see small men’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''fir bheaga'',
* also note eg. ''dún do liobhra'' ‘close your books’ – acc. pl. distinct from nom. pl. ''leabhair'' (even though lenition is not visible in writing, and it’s required here by possessive ''do'' ‘your’).

The accusative singular definite article eclipses:
* ''gearr an '''cc'''ráoibh'' ‘cut the branch’ (nom. sg. ''an chráobh''),
* ''muirfead an '''bhf'''ilidh'' ‘I will kill the poet’ (nom. sg. ''an file'')
but the eclipsis is optional in direct objects if the form is the same as nominative (a similar rule to ''réim connsaine''):
* ''gonfad an '''bhf'''ear'' or ''gonfad an '''f'''ear'' ‘I will wound the man’.

[TODO: other situations where acc. form is suppressed – infix pronouns, use of verbal noun phrases, dir. obj. after ''acht, nó'', etc.]

=== Slégar ===
Classical Gaelic had a peculiar rule regarding attributed nouns in the genitive case. The rule is called ''slégar'' (''sléagar'' in modern spelling, sometimes also ''slégur, sléagur''). As explained in Mac Cárthaigh’s ABP<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 295–298, see also his article<ref name="sleagar" group="gr" />, ''slégar'' can be applied in phrases that have structure like this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! beginning
! middle
! end
|-
| noun
| noun (or two) in the genitive
| noun in the genitive or adjective or ''sloinneadh'' (surname in the genitive form, like ''mheic Dhíarmada'' or ''Í Bhríain'')
|}

In phrases like that one can:

* change eclipsis or lack of lenition in the ''middle'' part into lenition,
* or remove lenition in the ''middle'' part.

Thus the regular grammatical way to state ‘with the wife of Brian mac Taidhg’ would be:
* ''le mnáoi '''mBríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (''le'' takes accusative, thus the genitive ''Bríain'' is regularly eclipsed)
but with ''slégar'' applied it can also be:
* ''le mnáoi '''Bhríain''' mheic Thaidhg'' (with the eclipsis changed into lenition).

And ‘bright Brian’s spear’ would regularly be:
* ''sleagh '''Bhríain''' ghil'' (''sleagh'' ‘spear’ is a feminine noun, thus it lenites its attribute),
but with ''slégar'' applied it also can be:
* ''sleagh '''Bríain''' ghil''.

''Slégar'' is applicable both to definite and indefinite phrases, for example:
* ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' ‘the adultery of the men of the world’ is an example of ''slégar'' because ''adhaltras'' ‘adultery’ is a masculine noun and thus should not lenite its attribute,
* the phrase would regularly be: ''adhaltras '''fear''' na cruinne''.

There are situation where ''slégar'' is prevented. One of them is that an eclipsed noun in genitive blocks ''slégar'' in subsequent nouns:
* ''ré néimh '''bhfáinne fir''' óir'' is the regular way to say ‘to brightness of a golden man’s ring’ ('''bhfáinne''' ‘of a ring’ is an io-stem masculine noun in genitive, it allows its attribute – ''fir'' ‘a man’s’, in genitive – to stay unlenited<ref>Although ''bhfáinne fhir'' seems to also be allowed, see BST 200.11–30</ref>),
* ''ré néimh '''fháinne fhir''' óir'' and ''ré néimh '''fháinne fir''' óir'' are correct with ''slégar'' applied (eclipsis turned lenition on ''bhfáinne'', and also possible ''slégar'' on ''fir''),
* but ''re néimh <s>'''bhfáinne fhir'''</s> óir'' is '''incorrect''' (because ''bhfáinne'' is eclipsed, the subsequent ''fir'' must stay unlenited and ''slégar'' cannot be applied to it).

Another such case is genitives connected with ''agus'' ‘and’, ''nó'' ‘or’, or ''ná'' ‘nor’: they block ''slégar'' in the sense that they connect two unattributed genitives, they break genitive chain, ie. ''mac fir agus mná'' means ‘a son of a man and of a woman’, none of the genitives is attributing the other one, so ''slégar'' cannot be applied to either (but slégur ''may'' be applied ''before'' the conjunction if the first genitive is attributed, eg. ''mac '''fir óig''' agus mná'' without ''slégar'' and ''mac '''fhir''' óig agus mná'' with ''slégar'' are both correct).

It’s worth noting that the operation of ''slégar'', in cases where it causes regularly unexpected lenition, is very reminiscent of Modern Irish ‘functional genitive’ – lenition of definite nominative nouns replacing the genitive form (for example ‘Cáit’s house’ being ''teach '''Cháit''''', or ‘the fisher’s boat’s mast’ being ''crann '''bhád''' an iascaire'') – but note the differences:
* unlike in Modern Irish, ''slégar'' does not prevent the genitive form – all the nouns in a chain in Classical Gaelic are in genitive, note the ''adhaltras '''fhear''' na cruinne'' example above with gen. pl. ''fear'' ‘of men’, in Modern Irish it’d be ''adhaltras '''fhir''' na cruinne'',
* ''slégar'' affects both definite and indefinite phrases,
* ''slégar'' can also undo lenition, changing regularly lenited noun into an unmutated one, and it can change eclipsis into lenition.

== Prepositions ==

=== Stationary dative vs accusative of motion ===

Classical Gaelic keeps the distinction between ''accusative'' and ''dative'' grammatical case used after certain prepositions. Accusative is used to convey the motion (eg. ''i'' + accusative means ‘into’) while dative expresses stationary position (eg. ''i'' + dative means ‘inside’). It’s the same distinction as can be found in German, Latin (with stationary ablative), Slavic languages (with stationary locative).

[TODO: list all prepositions taking acc/dat depending on meaning]

For example:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ar fear'' or ''ar fhear'' ‘I will put my hand upon a man’ with accusative (motion),
* ''Bíaidh mo lámh ar fior'' ‘my hand will be on a man’ with dative (stationarily placed).

But some prepositions take just one of the cases, eg. ''ós'' always takes the dative:

* ''Cuirfead mo láimh ós fhior'' ‘I will put my hand above a man’ with dative (even though motion is involved here).

There are also compound “prepositions” that take genitive – they are generally phrases with the second element being a noun which itself is either in dative or accusative, and thus they themselves cause either lenition (if the noun-part is in dative) or eclipsis (if the noun-part is in accusative). Some of them change the mutation they cause based on their meaning:

* ''tar éis fhir'' or ''ar éis fhir'' ‘after a man’ (lit. ‘on, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘after’ ''éis'' is in dative and causes lenition,
* ''tar éis bhfir'' or ''ar éis bhfir'' ‘instead of a man’ (lit. ‘onto, over a track of a man’) – in the meaning ‘instead of’ ''éis'' is in accusative and causes eclipsis.

But some of them cause always the same mutation regardless of meaning:

* ''d’éis fhir'' can mean both ‘after a man’ and ‘instead of a man’ (''do'' can be used instead of ''ar'' or ''tar'' in both meanings, but it always takes ''éis'' in dative),

=== With dative ===

Most prepositions expressing static position take dative, some of them can also take accusative in dynamic meaning (denoting target place of movement) – see [[#Stationary dative vs accusative of motion]] above.

* ''aH'' ‘out of, from’
* ''ag'' ‘at’
* ''ar(L?)'' ‘on’
* ''doL'' ‘to, for’
* ''doL'' ‘from’
* ''faL'' ‘under, beneath’ (not clear whether it takes accusative or dative in dynamic meaning)<ref name="fa-um"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />, pp. 238–239: 695 note and 713 note. ''IGT i'' lists ''fáoi'' (that is, 3rd sg. masc. form of ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’) among prepositions taking acc. with the dynamic meaning (the others being ''ann'' and ''air'', ie. ''i'' ‘in(to)’ and ''ar'' ‘on(to)’; also note that 3rd sg. of dynamic ''i'' ‘into’ with acc. is ''inn'', not ''ann''), and does not list ''fa'' among variants of ''um'', but it’s not clear whether the use of ''fa'' in the meaning ‘about’ is proscribed – it seems it is allowed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> and the only example with verb of motion and accusative there (''cuirfead m’fhalluing fa fhear'') can be understood as ‘around’, variant of ''um, bha, ma'' (‘I will put my cloak around/about a man’ and not ‘beneath a man’). Mac Cárthaigh has no examples of ''fa'' + acc. meaning ‘(going) under’ in poetry.|follow="fa-um"}}
* ''goN'' ‘with’
* ''iN'' ‘in’
* ''íarN'', ''arN'' ‘after’
* ''óL'' ‘from’
* ''ósL'' ‘above’ (takes dative even in dynamic meaning)

=== With accusative ===

These typically take accusative in the singular, but dative in plural (except for ''mar, dar, gan'' which take acc. pl. too):

* ''ar(L?)'' ‘onto’
* ''iN'' ‘into’
* ''idir, eidir'' ‘between’
* (''faL'' ‘under’?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''ganL'' ‘without’ – takes accusative also in plural
* ''goH'' ‘to’
* ''leH, léH'' ‘with’
* ''reH, réH'' ‘towards, against’
* ''reN'' ‘before’<ref>note that ''reN'' took dative in Old Irish, it switched to accusative during Middle Irish times; also note that ''reN'' causes eclipsis, eg. ''re bhfear'' ‘before a man’, while Modern Irish ''roimh'' and Scottish Gaelic ''ro'' both cause lenition</ref>
* ''tar'' ‘across’
* ''treL'' ‘through’
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL''?<ref name="fa-um" />) ‘about’

=== With genitive ===

Those prepositions are actually compounds of a preposition and a noun. The complement of those compound prepositions is put in genitive (because technically it is attributing another noun – the one being the second part of the preposition), and it will be either lenited or eclipsed – depending whether the second part of the preposition itself is in dative or accusative. For example ''i n-aghaidh'' meaning ‘against’ eclipse the following noun, because it means literally ‘in(to) the face of…’ and ''aghaidh'' ‘face’ is in accusative, eg. ''i n-aghaidh bhfear'' ‘against men’ and ''i n-aghaidh bhfir'' ‘against a man’, but in the meaning ‘in front of’ (as a stationary location) it lenites: ''i n-aghaidh fhir'' ‘in front of a man’ (eg. sitting at a table).

=== Personal forms ===

=== Forms with possessive pronouns ===

=== Forms with the article ===

* ''aH'' ‘out of’: ''as an, as na'' + dative
* ''ag'' ‘at’: ''ag an, gan, gun, agan, agon'' + dative (note the difference between ''gan fhior'' ‘at the man’, ''gan fhear'' ‘without a man’, ''gan tshúil'' ‘at the eye’ and ''gan shúil'' ‘without an eye’)<ref name="gan-s"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 213.31, p. 22.|follow=gan-s}}
* ''ar'' ‘on’: ''ar an, ar na'' + dative or accusative
* ''do'' ‘to’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''do'' ‘from’: ''don, dona'' + dative
* ''fa'' ‘under, beneath’: ''fan'' + dative (or accusative?<ref name="fa-um" />)
* ''goH'' ‘until, to’: ''gus an'' + accusative (''gus an bhfear''), anomalously just ''gus'' (''gus bhfear''), ''gus na'' + dative plural
* ''goN'' ‘with’: ''gus an'' + dative
* ''iN'' ‘in’: sg. ''san'' (''sa''), ''is in'' + dative or accusative, pl. ''sna, is na'' + dative
* ''do-chum'' ‘to’ – generally not accepted in dán díreach, poets used ''go, gus an'' instead – even though it is an old compound preposition common in speech
* ''leH'' ‘with’: ''leis an, leis na'' (note that it’s always ''leis'' before the article, even though it can be ''lais'' in conjugated 3rd. sg. form and in the meaning ‘also’)
* ''reH'' ‘towards, against’: ''ris an'' + accusative, ''ris na'' + dative plural
* ''reN'' ‘before’: ''rés an, rías an'' + accusative, ''rés na, rías na'' + dative plural
* ''umL, bhaL, maL'' (''faL'') ‘about’: ''uman, bhan, man'' (''fan'')

== Substantive verb: ''a-tú'' ==

The table below lists forms of the substantive verb ''bí'' ‘be’ (imperative), ''a-tú'' ‘I am’ (1st sg.) as they seem to have been accepted in the bardic standard.<ref name="substantive-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The list is based mostly on ''IGT III''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> – the tract on irregular verbs, but also on Léamh.org (the [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/grammar/substantive-verb-a-ta/ tables in the grammar sections] as well as forms listed by McKenna in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/a-tu/ ''Aithdioghluim Dána''<ref name="AiD" group="ed" /> in the vocab section]), later forms listed in [https://dil.ie/4927 eDIL], conjugation of the substantive verb from NLI MS G 3, f. 73R2-73v15⁹⁹ (listed in the article ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century''<ref name="13th-c" group="gr" />), and also consulted with the table in [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/470/mode/2up ''Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis'']<ref name="Trí-Bior" group="ed" />|follow=substantive-forms}}

I assume that all non-impersonal forms used with the preverb ''do-'' are lenited, as seems to be the case (but is it always true in the earliest poems?).

{| class="wikitable"
!|
!| 1. sg.
!| 2. sg.
!| 3. sg.
!| 1. pl.
!| 2. pl.
!| 3. pl.
!| impersonal
!| relative
|-
!| present indep.
| ''a-tú''
| ''a-táoi''
| ''a-tá''
| ''a-tám'', ''a-támáoid''
| ''a-tátháoi''
| ''a-táid''
| ''a-táthar''
|
|-
!| present dependent
| ''-fuilim'', ''-foilim''
| ''-fuile'', ''-foile''
| ''-fuil'', ''-foil''
| ''-fuilmíd'', ''-fuileam'', ''-foilmíd'', ''-foileam''
| ''-fuiltí'', ''-foiltí''
| ''-fuilead'', ''-fuilid'', ''-foilead'', ''-foilid''
| ''-fuiltear'', ''-foiltear''
|
|-
!| present habitual
| ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bídh'', ''-bí'', ''-bíonn''
| ''bímíd'', ''-bíom''
| ''bíth(e?)''
| ''bíd'', ''-bíad''
| ''bíthear'', (''-bíothar''?)
| ''bhíos''
|-
!| past indep.
| ''do bhá'', ''do bhádhas''
| ''do bhádhais''
| ''do bhí'', ''do bháoi''
| ''do bhámar'', ''do bhámair''
| ''do bhábhair''
| ''do bhádar''
| ''do bás''
|
|-
!| past dependent
| ''-rabha'', ''-rabhadhas''
| ''-rabhadhais''
| ''-raibhe'', ''-rabha''
| ''-rabhamar''
| ''-rabhabhair''
| ''-rabhadar''
| ''-rabhas''
|
|-
!| past habitual
| ''do bhínn''
| ''do bhíthe'', (''do bhítheá''?)
| ''do bhíodh'', ''do bhíoth''
| ''do bhímís''
| ''do bhíodh sibh'', (''do bhíthí''?)
| ''do bhídís''
| (''do bítheá''?)
|
|-
!| future
| ''bíad'', ''-biu'', ''-biú''
| ''bía''
| ''bíaidh'', ''-bía''
| ''beimíd'', ''-bíam''
| (''beithi''? ''beidh''?)
| ''beid'', ''-bíad''
| (''beithear''?)
| ''bhías'' (''bhés''?)
|-
!| conditional
| ''do bheinn'', ''-beinn''
| ''do bheitheá''
| ''do bhíadh'', ''do bhíath''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois''
| ''do bhíadh sibh''
| ''do bheidís''
| (''do beithe''?)
|
|-
!| present subj.
| ''bear'', ''rabhar''
| ''beis'' (''béis''?), ''rabhais''
| ''bé'', (''beith''?), ''rabh'', ''raibh''
| ''beam'', ''rabham''
| ''beithi'', ''rabhtháoi''
| ''bead'', (''beid''?), ''rabhad''
| ''beithear'', (''rabhthar''?)
| ''bheas''
|-
!| past subj.
| ''do bheinn'', ''do rabhainn''
| ''do bheitheá'', (''do bheithe''?)
| ''do bheith'', ''do bheath'', ''do bheadh'', ''do rabhadh''
| ''do bheimís'', ''do bheamáois'', ''do rabhmáois''
| ''do bheith sibh''
| ''do bheidís'', ''do rabhdáois''
| (''do beithe''?, ''do rabhtha''?)
|
|-
!| imperative
| ''bíor'', ''bím''
| ''bí''
| ''bíodh'', ''bíoth''
| ''bíom''
| ''bídh'', ''bíthe''
| ''bíod''
| (''bítear''?)
|
|}

The present tense dependent forms in ''-fuil, -foil'' are generally used after dependent particles: ''an bhfuil…?'' ‘is…?’, ''nach fuil…?'' ‘is … not …?’, ''go bhfuil…'' ‘that … is …’, etc. But in some contexts forms ''-tú, -táoi, -tá, -tám ⁊ -támáoid'', ''-tátháoi'', ''-táid'' ⁊ ''-tád'', are often used:

* often after ''mar, mur'': ''mar tá…'' ‘as there is…’,
* after ''má'': ''má tá san tshíodh an tshleagh ghorm…''<ref>read: ''an tshleagh '''g'''orm'' because of delenition</ref> ‘If the blue spear … be in the mound’,
* after preposition + relative ''aN'': ''an t-ionadh a ttú'' ‘the place in which I am’, ''an t-athair ó ttú'' ‘the father from whom I am’, ''an t-adhbhar fa (a) ttú, an tí fa ttám'' ‘the matter about which I am (talking), the one about whom we’re (talking)’,
* after ''gáN'' ‘where’: ''gá ttú, gá dú, gá ttám, gá dám (ris)'' ‘where am I, are we (with it)?’, often ‘in short, finally, no need to elaborate’ (summarizing speech) – in this phrase the ''-ttú, -dú, -ttám, -dám'', etc. forms can alliterate either with ''t'' or with ''d'' (and are often spelt with ''d'').<ref name="-dú"></ref>{{#tag:ref|While after preposition + ''aN'' only alliteration with ''t'' is allowed, see ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211 25 (p. 20, and note on pp. 148–149), ''IGT iii (Verbs)''<ref name="IGT" group="gr" /> suggests ''-ttú'' in regular prepositional relative can also alliterate with ''d'', but version from ms. C forbids it (''An tionadh a dtu tinne amain duaim ris'', ie. “''An t-ionadh a ttú'': ''tinne'' amháin (cóir) d’úaim ris” ‘''An t-ionadh a ttú'': only ''T'' is correct to alliterate with it’)|follow="-dú"}}

== Copula ==

=== Forms ===

The analytical forms (ie. 3rd sg. forms used with nouns and pronouns) of the copula are as follows<ref name="cop-forms"></ref>{{#tag:ref|See ''SnaG''<ref name="SnaG" group="gr" /> p. 417, also ''ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> p. 336, various places in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />|follow=cop-forms}}:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tense / Mood
! Affirmative
! Interrogative
! Negative
! Negative interrogative
! Relative
! Negative relative
! other forms 
|-
! present
| ''is'' (''as'')
| ''an''
| ''ní''H, ''nocha'' (''nochan'' + vowel)
| ''nach''
| ''as''L (''is''L)
| ''nach''
| ''go'' ‘that, so that’ + cop.: ''gur(b)'', ''gurab'', ''gonadh''(?) ''gé'' ‘although’ + cop.: ''giodh'', ''gér(b)'' ''má'' ‘if’ + cop.: ''más''L ''muna'' ‘if not’ + cop.: ''muna(b)''
|-
! past
| ''do ba''L, ''roba''L (''dob’''L, ''rob’''L + vowel), ''do badh'', ''do budh'', ''fa''H
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar"></ref>{{#tag:ref|The only (prose, not ''dán díreach'') example I found is ''dá marbhtha sagart ⁊ tú a n-ainbhfios '''’nar''' shagurt é'' ‘if you were to kill a priest unaware whether he was a priest’ in ''Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe'' lines 2873–2874, p. 88 (also cited in [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/glossary/is/ léamh.org glossary] as “''’nar<an ar'', 2874”) but the tracts are pretty clear that the particle ''an'' changes to ''nar, nár'' with verbs requiring ''gur'' instead of ''go'', cf. ''IGT i, ABP''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" /> 275–278, §16 and ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" /> 211.13–14 (both with the example ''nar mharbhus tú?'' ‘did I kill you?’; Mac Cárthaigh, p. 205, also notes ''Máire munbadh í Eamhear / '''nár geinedh''' no an ngeinfeadhear / ochta mar úan na mara / dá snúadh corcra as cosmhala'' ‘Máire – if she was not Eimhear – '''has there been born''' or will there be – (breasts like the foam of the sea) – two purple complexions more alike?’ in dán díreach) so this likely also is true for the copula.|follow=cop-nar}}
| ''níor''L (''níorbh''L, ''níor bh’''L + vowel), ''ní ba'', ''ní badh'', ''nochar''L (''nocharbh''L, ''nochar bh’''L + vowel)
|
| ''dob’''L, ''fa''H, ''badh''L, ''budh''L
| ''nár'' (''nárbh'', ''nár bh’'' + vowel)
| ''gé'' + cop.: ''gér(bh)''L (''muna'' + cop.: ''munar(bh)''L?)
|-
! future
| ''budh'' (''badh'')
|
| ''ní budh'', ''níba''H
|
| ''bhus''
|
|
|-
! conditional
| ''budh'', ''do budh'', ''robudh''
| ''nar''L, ''nár''L (''narbh''L, ''nárbh''L + vowel?)<ref name="cop-nar" />
| ''ní budh''
|
|
|
|
|-
! present subjunctive
| ''rob''
|
| ''nára'' (''nárab'' + vowel)
|
| ''bhus''
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gura(b)'', ''go mba''H ''gé'' + cop.: ''giodh'' ''má'' + cop: ''madh''
|-
! past subjunctive
| ''budh''
|
| ''nába(dh)''
|
|
|
| ''go'' + cop.: ''gomadh'' ''gé'' + cop.: ''gémadh'' ''muna'' + cop.: ''munbadh''
|}

Note that in the past tense the shorter forms ''do ba'', ''níor bh’'', etc. cause lenition but the ''badh, ní badh'' forms don’t (but they still lenite in relative clauses). The present tense relative ''as'' also lenites.

The present form with ''go'' – ''gonadh'' – continues Old Irish ''conid'', but ''gur(a)(b)'' is more common. The latter form continues Old/Middle Irish ''corop'' which first was a variant of pres. subj. form, later reinterpreted as future, and later yet as present.<ref name="gurab">Cecile O’Rahilly (1966), ''Gurab, present indicative of the copula'' in ''Celtica'' vol. 7, pp. 33–37.</ref>

Since the copula was always unstressed, the vowels were variously spelt. The present indicative historically was ''is'' but was often written as ''as'', on the other hand the relative form (historically ''as'') could be written as ''is'', both were pronounced /əs/ by the classical times. Similarly the past and future forms were variously written as ''budh'' or ''badh''.

==== Sealbhadh (synthetic conjugated forms) ====

The word ''sealbhadh'' is typically used for ''infix pronouns'' in classical bardic tracts, but it is also applied to the synthetic forms of the copula – it seems they were regarded as containing the infix pronouns (even if actually continued the old synthetic forms). The 3rd sg. masc. form ''aN'' is the infix pronoun (the copula didn’t distinguish gender originally, ''is'' was the OIr. 3rd sg. form).

The forms used in dán díreach are as follows:<ref name="copula-sealbhadh"></ref>{{#tag:ref|As listed in ''BST''<ref name="BST" group="gr" />, ''Appendix I: Sealbhadh'', pp. 252–253.|follow=copula-sealbhadh}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st
| ''am''
| ''arN''
|-
! 2nd
| ''ad'' (''at'' + vowel)
| ''abharN''
|-
! 3rd
| ''aN'' (''as'') (masc.) ''as'' (fem.) 
| ''ad'' (+ consonant or vowel)
|}

Those can be also prefixed with the 3rd sg. form ''is, as'', eg. ''asam, isam'' for ‘I am’, ''asat'' for ‘you are’, etc. Sometimes ''as'' was considered the ''sealbhadh'' of 3rd sg. masc. copula too.<ref name="as-sealbadh">Interpreted as ''as'' + ''aN'' with missing eclipsis?</ref>

If an adjective is the predicate, all the forms take singular adjective, except for 3rd pl. ''ad'' ‘they are’ which takes the plural form.

Some examples, note that the emphatic suffix ''-sa, -se,'' ⁊c. is attached to the predicate, and the full unlenited pronoun forms (''sé, sí'') are used after conjugated copula:

* ''fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn mé'' = '''''am''' fear meallta Taidhg Í Uiginn'' ‘I am a man deceiving/beguiling Tadhg Ó hU.’
* ''’s eisean meise'' = '''''am''' seiseansa'' ‘I am him’
* ''nar bean meise'' = '''''narbam''' beansa'' (? ‘am I a woman?’ or ‘that I am not a woman?’)
* ''gérb fear mé'' = '''''géram''' fear'' ‘though I am a man’
* ''Áodh tú'' = '''''at''' Áodh'' ‘you are Aodh’
* ''gérb é thú'' = '''''gérad''' sé'' ‘though you are him’
* ''Dé Domhnaigh eisean'' = '''''a nD'''éisean Domhnaigh'' ‘it is Sunday’
* ''gérb é é'' = '''''géra''' sé'' ‘though he is him’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''as''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘it is easier to deceive the men than…’ (''as'' understood as the 3rd sg. form, standing for the whole ''na fir do mhealladh'' phrase)
* ''Mairt isi'' = '''''as''' Mairtsi'' ‘it is Tuesday’
* ''d’fhearaibh sinn'' = '''''ar nd’'''fhearaibh'' ‘we are from folks’
* ''Áodh íad'' = '''''ad''' Áodh'' ‘they are Aodh’
* ''is usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' = '''''asad''' usa na fir do mhealladh ioná…'' ‘the men are easier to deceive than…’

=== Syntax ===

==== Predicative adjectives ====

==== Definite subject, indefinite predicative ====
⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''is rí an fear'' ‘the man is a king’
* ''is rí maith an fear'' ‘the man is a good king’

with adjectives more common:
* ''is maith an rí an fear'' ‘the man is a good king, the king that the man is, is good’
* ''is maith na fir an slúagh'' or ''is maithe na fir íad an slúagh'' ‘the host is good men’ vs ''is maith an slúagh é na fir'' ‘the men are a good host’

==== Both subject and predicative definite ====

When the predicate is definite, it is separated from the copular verb with a pronoun agreeing with the predicate.<ref name="oir-copula">This usage existed already in Old Irish (where the subject of the copula was never expressed with a pronoun), for example in Old Irish ‘he is a man’ would be expressed as ''is fer'' (with the subject ‘he’ being included in the 3rd. sg. copula ''is'' ‘he/she/it is’), and ‘he is ''the'' man’ would be ''is hé in fer'' – note that ''hé'' ‘he’ here '''isn’t''' the subject, but rather a sub-predicate, part of the whole phrase ''hé in fer'' ‘the man’ (in Middle Irish the sentence could be ''is hé in fer hé'', just like in Modern Irish ''is é an fear é'' – with the first pronoun being a part of the predicative, the second – the subject). This is more clearly visible in an example from Würzburg glosses: ''Críst didiu, is sí in chathir'' ‘Christ, then, he is the city’ with the feminine pronoun ''sí'' ‘she’ agreeing with feminine ''in chathir'' ‘the city’, thus literally the sentence is to be understood ‘Christ, then, he-is '''her''' – the city’ with ‘he is’ being represented by ''is'' itself. In Middle Irish, when separate subject pronouns started appearing, this could have been also expressed as ''*Críst didiu, is sí in chathir '''hé''''' with ''hé'' being the subject ‘he’ referring back to ‘Christ’. In earliest Old Irish this sub-predicate wasn’t required, so ''*Críst didiu, is in chathir'' hypothetically would also be possible with the same meaning.</ref><ref name="identification" group="gr"/>

⟨{{smallcaps|copula}}⟩ ''é/í/íad'' ⟨{{smallcaps|predicative}}⟩ ⟨{{smallcaps|subject}}⟩:

* ''mo theanga, is é m’arm-sa í'' ‘my tongue, it is my weapon’ (ie. it is the poet’s means to defend himself and by which he can do harm) – note that the first pronoun agrees with the predicate: masculine ''é'' and masculine ''arm'', while the subject is feminine ''í'' ‘she’ standing for the feminine ''mo theanga'' ‘my tongue’,
* ''is é an rí Conn'' ‘Conn is the king’,
* ''is íad fir an bhaile an slúagh táinig…'' ‘the host that came was the men of the town…’,
* ''giodh '''é''' críoch gach oighre '''ég''''' ‘although the end of every heir is death’ – the masculine subpredicate ''é'' agrees with masc. ''ég'' ‘death’, and not with the feminine subject ''críoch gach oighre'' ‘the end of every heir’.
* ''is '''í''' an tiobra gainmheach geal / '''Inis''' Fó[dh?]la na bhfinntreabh'' ‘the clear sandy well is the island of Ireland of the fair families’ (''tiobra'' ‘well’ masculine according to McManus).

If the predicate is a singular collective noun, representing multiple people, the pronoun may be plural ''íad'':

* ''is í'' (or ''íad'') ''an chlíar an chlíar táinig…'' ‘the group of poets (or clergy) that came was the group of poets/clergy…’ (''í'' or ''íad'' can be used, because plural pronoun can be used for collective nouns).

When the subject is understood as a pronoun agreeing in gender with the predicate, it is often omitted (just like subject pronoun is often not expressed with other verbs, and like it wasn’t in Old Irish):
* ''más é tal mo Thighearna'' ‘if it be my Lord’s will’ – no subject is explicitly expressed, ''é'' is part of the predicate.

But it appears occasionally:
* ''is é an seanadh é más fhíor'' ‘it is the old tradition if it be true’ – the first ''é'' is part of the predicative (''é an seanadh'' ‘the old tradition’), the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’, and the subject is not repeated for the second copula ''más fhíor'' ‘if it be true’.

=== Demonstratives: ''ag so, ag sin, ag súd'' ===
While ''(é) seo'', ''(é) sin'', etc. could be used just like definite nouns in the copular sentences, there is an alternative popular construction with copular meaning (ie. ‘this is…, that is…’) in the classical language, but the ‘demonstratives’ may also carry an adverbial meaning (‘here is…, there is…’, pointing to a place or a general circumstance). It is formed by ''ag'' + the demonstrative + the noun in either nominative or accusative (sic!) – and when accusative is used, then the [[#Réim connsaine|''réim connsaine'']] applies (ie. it is lenited).

For example:
* ''ag sin mhnáoi ngil'' or ''ag sin bean gheal'' ‘that is a bright woman’ or ‘there is a bright woman’,
* '''''ag so an teangaidh''' nach tearc labhra / beannaigh, a shearc m’anma, í'' ‘behold this tongue [of mine] so excessive of speech ''(lit.'' that is not meagre of speech'')'', bless it, o love of my soul’,<ref>Verses and translation from McKenna’s ''Aithdioghluim Dána'', poem 70, ''Déana mo theagosg, a Thríonóid''.</ref>
* ''ag so dearbhadh air ó Mhac an Bhaird'' ‘here is confirmation of it from Mac an Bhaird’,
* ''Is í an bhreaghdhacht, gi bé i mbeath, / gaisgeadh is úaill is eineach; / '''ag sin tríar''' nár thrí lochta / do bhí i mBrían na breaghdhochta.'' ‘This Breagha-quality means in its possessor gallantry, pride, and hospitality; '''these were the three things''' – no defects surely! ''(lit.'' ‘these are [the] three things that were not three faults’'')'' – to be seen in Brian of the Breagha-nature’.<ref>Quatrain and translation taken from McKenna’s edition of [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30099598 ''Tánag d’Fhanaid an einigh''].</ref>

This is the construction which later gave rise to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic copula-less forms like {{color|green|seo madra}} and {{color|#00A0DA|seo cù}} ‘this is a dog’ or Munster and Connacht {{color|green|seo é an fear}} and Scottish {{color|#00A0DA|seo am fear}} ‘this is the man’.

Nominative is much more common than accusative (only a few metrically fixed examples of accusative in bardic poetry) in this construction – but the accusative is older. It is derived from hypothetical Old Irish ''*aicc síu, *aicc sin'' ‘see here, see there’ with the (unattested) imperative ''*aicc'' ‘see’ of the verb ''ad·cí'', the direct ancestor of classical ''faic'' ‘see’ – the predicate expressed after it being originally the direct object of the verb, hence the accusative and ''réim connsaine''.<ref>See R. A. Breatnach (1976), ''An Gléas Teaspáinteach'' in ''Éigse'', vol. XVI, 3.</ref>

In a similar manner – with either nominative or accusative – were used the phrases ''mo-chean'' ‘hail, fortunate, happy (is)’, ''mairg'' ‘woe to’, and ''mo-ghénar'' ‘happy, fortunate (is)’:
* with accusative: ''Gá fhaisgin an fheadh do bháoi, / '''mo-chean mhnáoi''''' ‘'''Lucky the woman''' who was seeing him as long as she was’,
* with nominative: ''Mairg file'' ‘woe to the poet’.

== Relative clauses ==

=== Simple relative clauses ===
The antecedent is the subject or the object or the relative clause, or it is an adverb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are generally formed by putting the verb in relative form, if possible – for regular verbs this means the ''-s'' ending in present and future tenses, and leniting it. Compound verbs use their independent form (the preverb is not lenited):

* ''an fear mheallas gile a ghrúaidhe'' ‘the man whom the brightness of his cheek beguiles’(?) (cited by McKenna in ''BST'', from ''Poetry of Pilib Bocht'', 22 17)
* ''madh ionann breath bheireas siad'' ‘if the judgement they deliver is the same’(?)
* ''an fear do-ní an réd'' ‘the man who does the thing’
* ''an triar táinig'' ‘the three who came’
* ''an teagasg tug mé'' ‘the teaching I gave’

If the subject is 3rd person plural and not the antecedent, the plural form is often used:
* ''mo mhac sáor do ghonsad Goill'' ‘my noble son whom the Foreigners slew’ (here with the s-preterite form 'gonsad' rather than perfect ''do ghonadar'')

Passive verb forms often are lenited just like active verbs, but sometimes they’re left unlenited:
* ''leis an ngealladh gealltar lais'' ‘by the pledge that is given by him’ (should be emended to ''ghealltar''?)

=== Object of verbal noun ===

If the antecedent is an object of a verbal noun clause, like in ''fédaim an réad do dhénamh'' ‘I can do the thing’, or in the progressive construction, eg. ''a-tú ag tógbháil tighe'' ‘I am building a house’, then the verbal noun appears after ''do'':<ref> A bit of speculation: This probably developed in phases, first with sentences like ''is maith liom (an réd do dhénamh)'' ‘I like to do the thing’ reanalyzed as ''*is (maith liom do dhénamh) an réd'' (not an actual attested word order), leading to ''réd as mhaith liom do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I like to do’. This then to ''réd fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing I can do’, which then later gave the model for ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’.</ref>

* ''an réad fhédaim do dhénamh'' ‘the thing which I can do’
* ''fagha nar fhéd d’iongabháil'' ‘the dart/javelin that [he] could not avoid / guard against’
* ''teagh a-tú do thógbháil'' ‘the house that I am building’
* ''is tú an ógh a-tú do thogha'' ‘thou art the virgin I am choosing’
* ''a dhuine a-táim do theagasg'' ‘o man whom I am teaching’ (from Pilib Bocht, should be emended to ''a-tú''?)

=== Prepositional relative clauses ===
In both positive and negative clauses the relative pronoun ''aᴺ'' is used (''arᴸ'' before regular verbs in past tense), the verb in its dependent form:

* ''an tslat fhíorógh le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘the truly virginal branch whom we shall love’ (''le mbía ar mbádh'' ‘with whom will be our love’ = ‘who will have our love’)
* ''a chú ar a ttád teora búadh'' ‘o hound of three excellences’ (lit. ‘on whom there are three…’)
* ''an t-arm leis ar ghonus tú'' ‘the weapon with which you wounded / you were wounded’ (''leis ar'' is an alternative form of ''lér'')

=== Generalizing relative clauses ===

Generalizing relative clauses with ''aᴺ'' ‘all that’ exist, it can be preceeded by a preposition (this works like in Modern Irish, it’s equivalent to Scottish Gaelic ''na'' + relative form):

[TODO: examples]

=== Whose-relative clauses ===
Unlike in Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic, ''whose''-relatives – where the antecedent is in the genitive case relation with something in the relative clause, there’s no possessive pronoun present. The noun attributed by the genitive is often, but not always, lenited.

* ''crann as mhaith toradh'' ‘the tree whose fruit is good’ – ''maith'' lenited due to relative copula, note there is no possessive (no ''a thoradh'' ‘its fruit’ or anything like that; nothing refers back to ‘tree’)
* ''fear as fhearr clú'' ‘the man whose fame is highest’

The same happens if the antecedent attributes the direct object of a verb:
* ''crann do bhúaileas chráoibh'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’ – ''chráoibh'' in the accusative of ''cráobh'' which belongs to the ‘tree’ (but no ''a chráoibh'' ‘its branch’)
* ''fear mheallaim mhnáoi'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’
* ''bean fhéghaim fhionnghúalainn'' ‘the lady whose white shoulder I see’ (''fhéghaim'' is a variant form of ''fhéchaim'')

And the same is true even if the noun possessed is governed by a preposition – a regular prepositional relative clause is used and the thing attributed by genitive just tucked later:
* ''crann '''ar a''' raibhe an t-én '''chráoibh''''' ‘the tree '''on whose branch''' the bird was’ (''chráoibh'' lenited and in dative belongs to the ''crann'' ‘tree’ which is in the genitive relation to it)
* ''fear ó ttánag mhnáoi'' ‘the man from whose wife I came’
* ''bean ór imthigheas dá fhear'' ‘the woman from whose two husbands I escaped’

This works with compound prepositions requiring genitive:
* ''an fáidh ar a ttámaid tí'' ‘the seer of whom we speak’ (''a-tú ar a thí'' means ‘I am alluding to him’, lit. ‘I am on his track’)

There is another type which uses ''isa'', ''asa'' as the relative particle, and it does contain the possessive:

* ''crann isa chráobh do bhúaileas'' ‘the tree whose branch I struck’
* ''bean isa bas do bhúail an leanbh'' ‘the woman whose hand struck the child’
* ''fear isa bhean mheallaim'' ‘the man whose wife I deceive’

This type doesn’t seem to work with a combination of prepositional clause and genitive relation (like in ‘the tree '''on whose''' branch…’).

In poetry, instead of actual ‘whose’-relative clauses one often finds a type using prepositional ones with a possessive instead:

* ''croidhe te gá marann a mhian'' ‘a hot heart with which its passion remains’ instead of ‘whose passion lives on’

this type probably ultimately led to Irish indirect relative clause with possessive pronoun.

== Rules of delenition ==

Classical Gaelic kept the Old Irish rules of delenition – when two homorganic (ie. produced in the same part of mouth) consonants came together, at least some of them resisted lenition even if that was required by the grammar.

The rules were different word-internally (typically in compound words where the second element would normally be lenited) and across word boundaries (eg. for adjectives following nouns in dative or a feminine nominative).

This section is based almost entirely on ''The Art of Bardic Poetry''<ref name="ABP" group="gr" />.

=== Word internal ===

==== Labials ====

* ''bh'' + ''b(h)'' → ''b''
* ''b(h)'' + ''m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cráobh'' + ''mín'' = ''cráoimín''; ''ibhmid'' ‘we drink’ read as if ''\*imid'')
* ''b'' + ''m(h)'' → ''bm'' (''cab'' + ''mín'' = ''caibmín'')
* ''b(h)'' + ''p'' → ''p'' (''garbh'' + ''peann'' → ''gairpeann'', )

* ''m(h)'' + b(h)'' → ''m'' (''cam'' + ''bél'' → ''caimél'' – note difference with modern surname ''Caimbéal'')
* ''m(h)'' + m(h)'' → ''m'' (''cáomh'' + ''mín'' → ''cáoimín'')
* ''m'' + p(h)'' → ''mp'' (''gorm'' + ''port'' → ''gormport'', ''lom'' + ''peann'' → ''loimpeann'')

That is: sequences ''bhmh'' and ''mhbh'' change to ''m'', but ''bmh'' to ''bm''.

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''froimfhearthuin'' rhymes with ''poinnfhearfaidh''; ''dob fhearr'', ''gho'''bfh'''uar'' consonants with ''fea'''d'''án'' and ''ea'''g'''án'')
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

* ''p'' + ''b(h)'' → ''p'' (''ceap'' + ''beag'' → ''ceipeag'')
* when lenited, sometimes written ''f'' (''glas'' + ''peann'' → ''glaispheann'' and ''lus'' + ''port'' → ''lusfort'')

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''d(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''d'' (''bileadh'' + ''dream'' → ''bileidream'', ''fichead'' + ''dubh'' → ''ficheadubh''; ''Díarmaddha'' rhymes with ''Díarmada''),
* ''d(h)'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''an fhleadh-sa'' rhymes with ''an leath-sa'' and ''an cead-sa'' as if all ending in ''-eatsa'')
* ''d(h)'' + ''t(h)'' → ''t'' (''bhfleadhtunna'' rhymes with ''eaturra'')

* ''l(l)'' + ''d'' → ''ll'' (after short/middle vowel, ''gal'' or ''Gall'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gallúith''); → ''l'' (after long, ''gáol'' + ''dlúith'' → ''gáolúith'')
* ''l(l)'' + ''-dha'' → either ''lda'' or ''la'' (after long vowel); either middle vowel + ''l(l)da'' or short vowel + ''lla'' (after non-long vowel; , ''sáoghalda'' being pronounced either ''sáoghalda'' or ''sáoghalla'', but it affects how the vowel rhymes)
* ''l'' + ''th'' → ''lt'' – note this is in direct opposition to Munster -lth-

* ''n(n)'' + ''d'' → ''nn'' (after short/middle, ''ceann'' + ''dearg'' → ''ceinnearg''); → ''n'' (after long, ''cían'' + ''dearg'' → ''cíainearg'')
* ''n(n)'' + ''-dha'' – either ''nda'' or ''na'' (with the same vowel length shenanigans as ''lda'', ''connda'' being either middle-length ''connda'' or short-length ''conna'')
* ''n'' + ''th'' → ''nt''

* ''t(h)'' + ''d(h)'' → ''t'' (''slat'' + ''dearg'' → ''slaitearg'', ''ráth'' + ''dlúith'' + ''tiogh'' → ''rátlúitiogh'')
* ''th'' + ''s'' → ''ts'' (''leath-sa'' rhyming with ''cead-sa'', as if ''leat-sa''; also ''cloch'' and ''sgoth'' rhyme but ''an chloch-sa'' and ''an sgoth-sa'' do not because the latter is pronounced as if ''sgot-sa'')

* ''s'' + ''d(h)'' → ''sd''
* ''s'' + ''t(h)'' → ''sd'' (''cnúas'' + ''tiogh'' → ''cnúaisdiogh'', ''cneas'' + ''táobh'' → ''cneasdáobh'')

==== Velars ====

* ''gh'' + ''g(h)'' → ''g''
* ''g(h)'' + ''c(h)'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')

* ''c'' + ''c'' → ''c'' (''leac'' + ''crúaidh'' → ''leacrúaidh'')
* ''c'' + ''g'' → ''c'' (''beag'' + ''ceann'' → ''beiceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''c'' → ''chc'' (''droch'' + ''cíall'' → ''droichcíall'', ''cloch'' + ''ceann'' → ''cloichceann'')
* broad ''ch'' + ''g'' → ''chg'' (''cloch'' + ''gér'' → ''cloichgér'')
* slender ''ch'' + ''c'' or ''g'' → ''c'' (''braich'' + ''glan'' → ''braclan'')

=== Between words ===

==== Labials ====

''b(h)'' delenites, and is delenited by, ''b(h), m(h), p''

* ''-m'' + ''bh-'' → ''-m b-'' (''um beól'' ‘in my mouth’, ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)
* ''-mh'' + ''mh-'' → ''-mh m-'' (''lámh mhín'' pronounced as if ''lámh mín'')
* ''-m'' + ''p(h)-'' → ''-m p-'' (''um péin'', ''um páis'', ''um'' stands for ''i'' + ''mo'' here)

* ''fh'' is '''not''' delenited by ''m'' or ''b'' (''do fháisg fear láimh '''um fhear''' n-óir'' ‘tightened his grip on a golden (chess-)man’)
* ''f'' + ''m(h)/b(h)/p(h)'' → probably ''fm/fb/fp'' (but Mac Cárthaigh has no good examples; Ó hEódhasa in his ''RHG'' seems to claim in word boundary this can happen and delenition takes place)

==== Dentals (coronals) ====

* ''-d'' + ''th-'' → ''-d t-'' (''… dod thógbháil féin'' ‘… to raise yourself’ with ''thógbháil'' pronounced ''tógbháil'' – this is a continuation of example in ''s'')
* ''-dh'' + ''th-'' → ''-dh t-'' (no examples)
* ''-dh'' + ''dh-'' → ''-dh d-'' (no examples)
That is: ''d(h)'' delenites following ''d(h), t(h)'' and is delenited by ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s''.

* ''-l'' + ''th-'' → ''-l t-'' (''feóil the'' pronounced as if ''feóil te'')
* ''-l'' + ''dh-'' → ''-l d-'' (''súil dhearg'' pronounced as if ''súil dearg'')

* ''-n'' + ''dh-'' → ''-n d-'' (''bean dhubh'' pronounced as if ''bean dubh'')
* ''-n'' + ''th-'' → ''-n t-'' (''bean throm'' pronounced as if ''bean trom'')
''N'' does '''not''' delenite ''s'', so ''-n'' + ''sh-'' → ''-n sh-'' (''bean sháor'' and not <s>''\*bean tsháor''</s>, and also generally not <s>''\*bean sáor''</s>)

For ''t'' probably (but no examples in the tract):
* ''-t'' + ''th-'' → ''-t th-''
* ''-th'' + ''th-'' → ''-th t-''
* ''-t'' + ''dh-'' → ''-t d-''
* ''-th'' + ''dh-'' → ''-th d-''
(generally ''th'' delenites following ''dh, th'' and is delenited after ''d(h), t(h), n, l, s'')

* ''-s'' ''th-'' → ''-s t-'' (''as tú as dóthcha…'' ‘it is you who are most likely…’ – ''tú'' after copula and ''dóthcha'' after relative copula would be expected to be lenited)
* ''-s'' ''dh-'' → ''-s d-'' (see ''as dóthcha'')

The examples for ''-d t-, -s t-, -s d-'' are from a single sentence: ''as tū a[s] dōthcha dod thógbháil féin'' ‘it is you who are most likely to raise yourself’.

==== Velars ====

* ''-gh'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-gh g-'' (''Ó Dalaigh gil'' pronounced even if written ''Ó Dalaigh ghil'')
* ''-g'' + ''g(h)-'' → ''-g g-''
* ''-gh'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-gh c-''
* ''-g'' + ''c(h)-'' → ''-g c-''

* ''-c(h)'' + ''ch-'' → ''-ch c-'' (''glac crúaidh'' pronounced with unlenited ''crúaidh'' even if written ''glac chrúaidh'')
* ''-c(h)'' + ''gh-'' → ''-ch g-'' (''cloch gér'' pronounced with unlenited ''gér'' even if written ''cloch ghér'')

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

== References ==

=== Editions of bardic tracts and articles about Classical Gaelic grammar ===
<references group="gr">
<ref name="BST" group="gr">Lambert McKenna (1944), ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ling-training" group="gr">Brian Ó Cuív (1973), ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="ABP" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2014), ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="sleagar" group="gr">Eoin Mac Cárthaigh (2015), ''Sléagar agus ‘genitives lenited in special circumstances’ i bhfilíocht na scol'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 239–245, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="13th-c" group="gr">Pádraig Ó Macháin (2015), ''Aspects of bardic poetry in the thirteenth century'' in ''Aon don Éigse'' (Coimhín Breatnach, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail ed.), pp. 91–125, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies</ref>
<ref name="IGT" group="gr">Osborn Bergin (1916–1955), ''Irish Grammatical Tracts'' in ''Ériu'', Supplement, vols. 8–17, Royal Irish Academy</ref>
<ref name="SnaG" group="gr">Damian McManus (1994), ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' in ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'' (Kim McCone ed.), pp. 335–445, Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad</ref>
<ref name="identification" group="gr">Damian McManus (2021), ''Identification copula clauses linking substantives of different gender in Early and Classical Irish'' in ''North American journal of Celtic studies'', vol. 5, issue 2, pp. 214–241, The Ohio State University Press, [https://doi.org/10.1353/cel.2021.0012 doi:10.1353/cel.2021.0012]</ref>
</references>

=== Editions of bardic poetry and other texts ===
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry
<references group="ed">
<ref name="AiD">Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin</ref>
<ref name="Trí-Bior">Geoffrey Keating (17th c.) ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe An Bháis'', [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/ edited by Robert Atkinson, published in 1890], Royal Irish Academy, Dublin</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2024-04-18T13:33:02Z

Silmeth: /* seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

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Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Ulster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|í seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2024-04-18T13:04:13Z

Silmeth: /* Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

And thus:
* '''is í seo m’iníon''' — ''this is my daughter'' (responding to either ''who is this?'' or ''which one is your daughter?''),
* '''b’í sin an chathair ba threise acu''' — ''that was the strongest city of their''.

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Ulster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my daughter}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|í m’iníon}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my daughter}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2024-04-18T12:50:16Z

Silmeth: /* seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

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Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Ulster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|é toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2024-04-18T12:46:41Z

Silmeth: /* Demonstratives (seo, sin, úd) */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (é seo, é sin, é siúd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Ulster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|í toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is

2024-04-18T12:46:13Z

Silmeth: /* seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guide to Irish ''to be'', the substantive verb ''bí, tá'' & the copula ''is''}}
… or how to say ''I am…''?

This is one of the most challenging subjects to learners – this guide aims to explain it in a systematic and relatively comprehensive way. This guide is partially adapted from [[Guide to Scottish Gaelic to be, the linking verbs: substantive bi, tha & the copula is|Guide to Scottish Gaelic ''to be'']].

----

First let’s define two terms:

* '''subject''' – the thing or person about whom the given sentence is, it is the main noun phrase in the sentence, eg. in the sentence “'''Tom''' has a cat” '''Tom''' is the subject, in the sentence “'''The people around here''' are very nice” '''the people around here''' are the subject.
* '''predicate''' of a linking or copular verb – the phrase that goes after ''is'' in English, eg. in “a cat is '''an animal'''” '''an animal''' is the predicate, in “the boat is '''on the sea'''” the predicate is '''on the sea''', thus the predicate is the thing that the subject is linked to with ''is''.<ref>The more proper term would be ''predicative'', while the ''predicate'' is generally the whole main verbal phrase of a clause. But ''predicate'' in the sense “information given about the subject in a copular clause” is pretty common in Irish and Gaelic linguistics.</ref>

Some sentence (and their more-or-less literal translations) below will be colour-coded. The {{color|blue|subject will be blue}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|pronouns standing for the subject light blue}}, {{color|green|predicates will be green}}, {{color|LimeGreen|pronouns standing for the predicates light green}}, and {{color|red|the copula or the ''bí'' verb themselves red}}. Other colours will be occasionally used to show connections of other parts of sentences with their translations.

----

Irish has two separate words to translate the English ''to be'' verb depending on context.

The first one is the ''substantive verb '''bí'''''. The second one is the ''copula '''is'''''.

== The substantive verb ''bí'' ==

The form '''bí''' is what you’ll find as a headword in dictionaries, it is the singular imperative command form ''be!''.

In the present tense its independent form is '''tá''' and the dependent form is '''fuil''' – but you will typically see it mutated as ''bhfuil'' or ''fhuil'' more often (more on dependent forms later).

You use this verb for stating '''how''', '''where''' or '''when''' something is or what something is '''like''' – to describe something or state its whereabouts. That means that this verb takes '''only''' ''adverbs'', ''adjectives'', and ''prepositional phrases'' as its predicates:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|go maith}}''' — ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|well}}'', here an adverb – '''go maith''' ''well'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|blasta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tasty}}'', here an adjective – '''blasta''' ''tasty'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an ceapaire}} {{color|green|ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the sandwich}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on the table}}'', here a prepositional phrase – '''ar an mbord''' ''on the table'' – is the predicate;
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé seo}} {{color|green|salach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|dirty}}'', again an adjective as the predicate.

When the predicate is an adjective, it stays in the base form – it doesn’t change to agree in number or gender with the subject. Compare:

* '''na cait mhóra''' — ''the big cats'' (with ''mhóra'' ‘big’ having plural form, and lenited after a plural noun formed by slenderization)
* with '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|na cait}} {{color|green|mór}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the cats}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|big}}'' (''mór'' staying in base unlenited form).

A few adjectives expressing subjective assessment typically get '''go''' before them when they’re predicates of the ''tá'' verb (this might be a remnant of the verb taking only adverbs as its predicates
in the remote past):

* '''Tá an fear go maith''' — ''the man is good'',
* '''Tá an cailín go hálainn''' — ''the girl is beautiful'',
* '''Tá an lá go deas''' — ''the day is nice'',
* '''Tá an aimsir go dona''' — ''the weather is bad'',
* '''Tá an samhradh go haoibhinn''' — ''the summer is splendid'',
* '''Tá an rós go breá''' — ''the rose is pretty'',
* '''Tá sé go holc''' — ''it is evil'',
* '''Tá sí go hiontach''' — ''she is wonderful''.

And so:
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an pháirc mhór}} {{color|green|go breá}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the big field}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|pretty}}'' – here ''mhór'' is lenited because it ''attributes'' a feminine noun ''páirc'' directly, but ''breá'' stays in the basic unlenited form because it is a ''predicate'' to the verb and not directly linked to the noun.

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' You '''cannot''' use a noun phrase as a predicate of this verb, so you cannot say something like <s>''*tá sé fear''</s> – this sentence simply doesn’t make any sense in Irish, '''fear''' ''a man'' is a noun and as such cannot be a predicate here.</div>

When describing something with an adjective, it’s more traditional to use the copula. See [[#The copula is and how to say what or who something or someone is|below]] for that.

=== Existentials or ''there is…'' ===

'''Bí''' is also used for existential sentences like ''there is a dog in the house'' – this sentence means that ''a dog'' exists and that dog is located ''in the house''. English (like other Germanic languages) doesn’t like indefinite subjects of such sentences and starts them with a ''dummy subject'' '''there''' a bit as if defining this dummy ''there'' as ''a dog in the house''. Also that’s the reason why the story starts with ''In a hole in the ground '''there lived''' a hobbit'' and not simply <s>''… a hobbit lived''</s>. Many languages don’t do this and just straightforwardly say something like ''a dog is in the house'', that’s what happens in Irish:

* '''tá madra sa teach''' — ''there is a dog in the house'' – it’s a simple sentence with an indefinite subject '''madra''' ''a dog'' and a prepositional predicate '''sa teach''' ''in the house'' stating where the existing dog is.

But '''tá''' always needs ''some'' predicate. In some languages you could say something like ''good people are'' in the meaning ''there are good people, good people generally exist'' – but not in Irish. <ref>Although Old Irish permitted that.</ref> Here enters our friend the ''dummy predicate'' '''ann''' ''there, in general existence''. If you lack a predicate for an existential sentence, you just stick '''ann''' there:

* '''tá dea-dhaoine ann''' — ''there are good people'',
* but '''tá dea-dhaoine in Éirinn''' ''there are good people in Ireland'' without this ''ann'' (because '''in Éirinn''' already works as a predicate).

This '''ann''' might also mean ''here, there, somewhere around'' when the subject is definite as in

* '''tá Séamas ann''' — ''Séamas is here/there'' (Séamas is present and you can find him somewhere around).

=== The dependent form ''fuil'' ===

With some irregular verbs – ''bí'' among them – Irish requires the use of a separate ''dependent'' form after some ''dependent particles'', like the negating ''ní'' ‘not’, interrogative ''an?'' ‘does? is?…’, ''go'' ‘that’ (introducing subordinate clause in reported speech), etc.

The dependent form of '''tá''' ''is'' in present tense is '''fuil''' ''is''. But you’ll rarely, if ever, see this form on its own. In most dialects – outside of Munster – it '''always''' appears mutated, either lenited or eclipsed, and thus what you’ll see is rather:

* '''níl…''' for ''… is not…'' – it’s an irregular spelling of '''ní fhuil''' ('''ní''' causes lenition), since the ''fh'' is silent and thus the thing is pronounced /n´iːl´/; you’ll sometimes see it written as '''ní’l''' in older texts, and in Ulster dialects it sometimes keeps two syllables: /n´iː.ɪl´/;
* '''an bhfuil…?''' for ''is…?'' in yes-no questions;
* '''nach bhfuil…?''' for ''isn’t…?'', in the negative yes-no questions;
* '''go bhfuil…''' for ''that is…'' in reported speech;
etc.

So for example:

* '''{{color|red|níl}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|green|sa teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is not}} {{color|green|in the house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|nach bhfuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?'',
* '''is dóigh liom {{color|red|go bhfuil}} {{color|blue|brón}} {{color|green|air}}''' — ''I think that he is sad'' (lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|sadness/sorrow}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|on him}}''),
etc.

In Munster dialects '''ná''' is used instead of '''nach''' before verbs for negative questions and in relative clauses, and it doesn’t cause any mutation, thus Munster texts do use unmutated '''fuil''':
* '''{{color|red|ná fuil}} {{color|blue|sé sin}} {{color|green|go deas}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|nice}}?''.

The ''fuil'' form in general can also be inflected for persons, like ''tá'' can, so you’ll find '''nílim''' for ''I am not'', '''go bhfuilimid''' (or often in Munster texts '''go bhfuilimíd''') for ''that we are'', etc. (and in older, especially Munster, texts '''fuilir''' for ''you (sg.) are, thou art'', '''fuilid (siad)''' for ''they are'', and sometimes '''fuileann tú, fuileann sibh''' for ''thou art, ye are'' are used too; but they’re rare or nonexistent in other dialects and are not part of the standard Irish).

<div class="warningbox">'''Remember!''' The '''níl''' (< '''ní fhuil''') and '''bhfuil''' forms are used in dependent position where you’d use '''tá''' in independent positions. You can’t use them for copular meanings. See [[#Dependent form (present tense)|below]] for more about dependent forms of the copula.</div>

So, having that out of the way – how do you say ''he is a man''? Or ''you are the high king of Ireland''? Well… let’s look at the copula, shall we?

== The copula ''is'' and how to say ''what'' or ''who'' something or someone is ==

I intentionally avoid the word ''verb'' when writing about the copula, although you’ll often see it called ''the copula verb'' or ''the assertive verb'' or something like that. That’s because it has its own syntax and doesn’t really behave like a verb (and has fewer forms) so it is a bit of its own grammatical category in the Gaelic languages.

The present form is '''is''' and there is no imperative (so you’ll find it under '''is''' in dictionaries). This is sometimes shortened to '''’s''' after or before vowels.

You '''have to''' use the copula if you want to create a simple ''X is Y'' sentence and the predicate is a noun phrase (there are some idiomatic phrases without the copula but they don’t translate literally, we’ll look at them later).

There are quite a few different patterns involving the copula – sorry, I don’t think I can make it any shorter.

=== General remarks and syntax ===

Irish copula is an unstressed element that '''is not''' a separate word in its own right – it '''cannot''' exist separate from its predicate. Thus it will always be followed by ''something''.

And the general syntax of the copua is:

<blockquote>is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}</blockquote>

but in identification sentences additional pronouns are inserted, see [[#Identification – definite predicates|below]].

=== Classification – indefinite predicates ===

When the predicate is indefinite – you want to state ''what kind of thing'' something or someone is, like in ''he is '''a doctor''''', ''I am '''a student''''', ''Irish is '''a Celtic language''''', ''cats are '''animals''''', then there are a few different ways. The most straightforward is to use the copula directly:

==== is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VPS) ====

This is basically the basic syntax of the copula, {{smallcaps|V[erb] P[redicate] S[ubject]}}, as mentioned above.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|iasc}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}''.

When the subject is definite, a “subsubject” pronoun is often added before it:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}'' (''{{color|DeepSkyBlue|she}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}, {{color|blue|Síle}}'').
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' or '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|peileadóir}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}} {{color|blue|Tadhg}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Tadhg}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a footballer}}''.

This pronoun is common in some Connacht and Munster dialects but isn’t required in the standard language and you’ll often see this kind of clauses without it in older literature.

==== Copula and adjectives ====

The copula is sometimes used with adjective predicates when describing more permanent features (while the substantive verb is used for more temporary states – though it’s not a strict rule by any means).

Thus to say ''{{color|blue|the house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|big}}'' you might say:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mór}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}) {{color|blue|an teach}}''' (the pronoun before the subject is ''very'' common in this kind of sentences),

while ''I’m sad'' could be expressed with '''táim brónach''' since being sad is just a temporary state of a person – being '''mór''' ''big'' is a permanent inherent feature of the house so it’s more natural to link it with the copula.

or you can hear in a song:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|briste}} {{color|green|mo chroí}}''' — ''{{color|green|my heart}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|broken}}''

which sounds a bit more serious than ''tá mo chroí briste''.

The book ''Fiche blian ag fás'' by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin starts with the words (the form ''gur'' is explained [[#Dependent form (present tense)|later]]):

* '''Níl aon bhaol ná {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|breá}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}} {{color|blue|an óige}}''' — ''There’s no fear but {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the) youth}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|wonderful}}'' (or ‘the one certain thing is that youth is wonderful’).

You’ll sometimes also hear '''is maith sin''' for ''that is good''.

Another very common use of the copula with adjectives is as follows:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fuar}} {{color|teal|an oíche}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''it is a cold night'', very literally ''{{color|teal|the night}} – {{color|blue|it}} – {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'' or ''{{color|teal|the night}} that {{color|blue|it}} is, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cold}}'',
* '''is maith an fear é''' — ''he is a good man'' (''the man that he is, is good''),
* '''is mór an teach é''' — ''it is a big house'' (''the house that it is, is big'').

In this construction the predicate is the adjective (''fuar, maith, mór''), and the subject is complex, composed of a definite noun phrase and a pronoun.

==== {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is ea {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

Beside the basic classification, another type exists.

This is the default structure used in Munster dialects, where the simple ''is X Y'' is rarer, the above examples expressed using this construction are:

* '''{{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' (''{{color|green|a sandwich}}, {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}),
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|mé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|a teacher}}'',
* '''{{color|green|iasc}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|breac}}''' — ''{{color|blue|a trout}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a fish}}'',
* '''{{color|green|cailín cróga}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} ({{color|DeepSkyBlue|í}}) {{color|blue|Síle}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Síle}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a brave girl}}''.

The ''ea'' element here is the old neuter pronoun ‘it’ which stands for indefinite predicate, a sentence like '''{{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' ''he is a man'' says literally: ''{{color|green|a man}} – {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}'' with '''ea''' ''it''
referring back to '''fear''' ''a man''.

<div class="warningbox">'''Nota bene''': Since the copula comes ''after'' the predicate and it is '''not''' relative, when using this construction in subordinate clauses the '''go''' ‘that’ particle
appears twice:

* '''tá a fhios agam gur {{color|green|fear}} {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|ea}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''I know {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a man}}''

The second '''gur(b)''' means ‘that … is’ and the first ''gur'' is pleonastic, inserted there only to syntactically fit the predicate ''fear'' in the sentence. One could imagine saying something like
''*'''fear''', tá a fhios agam gurb '''ea''' é'' instead – but it’s not the common form of such sentences.</div>

There are other constructions for classification though, most common of them is probably:

==== (is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} is what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' or ''what is in {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩''. Saying that ''thing1 is in thing2'' is just a Gaelic way of stating that ''thing2'' is ''thing1''. Note that this uses the '''bí''' verb – but its predicate is not a noun. Thus:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|ceapaire}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ann}}''' — ''it is a sandwich'', but literally something like: ''{{color|teal|(it, the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a sandwich}}'' or ''what’s in it is a sandwich'' – notice that a prepositional phrase '''ann''' ''in it'' is the predicate of '''tá''', not a noun;
* '''{{color|green|múinteoir}} {{color|teal|atá}} {{color|blue|ionam}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|teal|(the thing) that is}} {{color|blue|in me}} (is) {{color|green|a teacher}}'' or ''what’s in me is a teacher'' – again a prepositional phrase '''ionam''' ''in me'' is the predicate of '''tá''',

[TODO: more examples]

The copula is very often omitted in this construction.

==== tá {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} ina {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

literally ''{{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} is '''in its''' {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}'' ('''ina''' here means ''in his/her/its'' and will be replaced by appropriate form agreeing with the subject, eg. '''táim i mo…''' for ''I am in my…'', '''tá tú i do…''' for ''you (sg.) are in your…'', etc.). This one is interesting as it uses the '''substantive verb''' and not the copula – but note that the actual predicate in the Irish sentence is the phrase '''in its {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}}''' – so actually a prepositional phrase.

This structure is often used to state one’s profession but is not restricted to such use:

* '''{{color|red|táim}} {{color|green|i mo mhúinteoir}}''' — ''I am a teacher'', but literally: ''{{color|red|I am}} {{color|green|in my teacher}}'' – ''only'' the '''tá''' verb, but the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''i mo mhúinteoir''' ''in my teacher'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|green|ina teanga Cheilteach}}''' — ''Irish is a Celtic language'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|the Irish}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in her Celtic language}}'' the predicate is a prepositional phrase '''na teanga Cheilteach''' ''in her Celtic language'' (feminine non-leniting '''ina''' ''in her'' because the word '''Gaeilge''' is feminine, ''Irish language'' is a she in Irish ;-));
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|siad}} {{color|green|ina ndochtúirí}}''' — ''they are doctors'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|they}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|in their doctors}}'';
* '''{{color|red|tá}} {{color|blue|sé}} {{color|green|ina chara liom}}''' — ''he is a friend of mine'', but literally: ''{{color|blue|he}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|in his friend of mine}}''.

This construction is more often used with temporary states rather than permanent ones. That’s why it tends to be used when stating one’s profession, you say ''I (currently) am a teacher'' (but maybe in 3 years I’ll be doing something else) – because of this hint of non-permanent description it’s often used in past tense to give description that is no longer true:

* '''nuair a {{color|red|bhí}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|i mo bhuachaill óg}}…''' — ''when I was a young boy (but I no longer am)…'', literally ''the-time that {{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|in my young boy}}…''

but it ''doesn’t have to'' mean the state is temporary – it just doesn’t suggest that it is permanent as strongly as [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|simple VPS clause]] tends to.

==== seo/sin/siúd {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

When the subject is a demonstrative (a word like ‘this’, ‘that’), ie. to express sentences like ‘this is a cat’, ‘that over there is a house’, an alternative structure is available which doesn’t have an explicit copula and the demonstrative itself takes its role.

That is, instead of saying (using the regular [[#is ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VPS)|VPS]] syntax):
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cat}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a cat}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|teach}} {{color|blue|é siúd}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|a house}}'', ''yonder is a house'',
you can say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|cat}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|a cat}}'', ''here is a cat'',
* '''{{color|blue|siúd}} {{color|green|teach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that over there/yonder}} is {{color|green|a house}}''.

You’ll also hear things like '''sin fíor''' ‘that is true’ (lit. ‘that is truth’) beside the more regular '''is fíor sin'''. Note that this type of sentences is used with noun predicates (to way ''what'' this or that is).

The original meaning of this type of sentences is actually ‘here / there / over there is X’ rather than ‘this / that is X’, and although they are today understood as copular sentences – historically they ''did not'' actually involve the copula, see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Demonstratives: ag so, ag sin, ag súd|the article on Classical Gaelic]] for more about the history behind them.

Because the demonstratives start with ''s-'' and this type of sentences have copular meaning, over time they had been reanalyzed by speakers as having the copula ''is'' at the beginning and were generalized to other tenses and constructions. Basically ''seo teach'' got reanalyzed as ''is eo teach'' and today, especially in some Connacht and Munster dialects, you can get sentences like eg.:

* '''b’eo teach''' — ''this was a house'',
* '''dúirt sé gurb’in fear''' — ''he said that that was a man'',
* '''{{color|red|nach}} {{color|blue|in}} {{color|green|atá uait}}?''' — ''{{color|red|isn’t}} {{color|blue|that}} {{color|green|what you want}}?'',
and similar.

Those forms are also sometimes written as ''shin, sheo, shiúd'' but the ''sh'' is not pronounced (eg. the last example above could be written as '''nach shin atá uait?''' instead).

When the predicate is definite (a specific item or person rather than a general idea) in Connacht and Munster the syntax differs slightly – an additional pronoun is inserted before the predicate, see [[#seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩|below]], but in Ulster sentences like '''seo mo theach''' for ''this is my house'' without the pronoun are common too.

=== Identification – definite predicates ===

As a general rule in Irish (but not a ''strict'' one – see [[#Definite nouns directly after the copula|below]] for exceptions), since at least late Old Irish, the copula isn’t directly followed by a definite noun. It is separated from definite predicates with a pronoun. Because of that, if the predicate is ''definite'' – that is if you identify the subject as some specific person or thing ('''''the''' teacher'', ''my brother'', ''Colm'', ''the high-king of Ireland'') rather than simply stating what ''kind of thing'' the subject is – then an additional “subpredicate” pronoun appears before it.

==== is (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}} (VpPS) ====

The subpredicate ''generally'' agrees in gender and number with the predicate.

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|mo cheapaire}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my sandwich}}'', note that additional ''é'', agreeing with the predicate ''mo cheapaire'' ‘my sandwich’, appeared before it;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cineál céanna feamainne}} {{color|blue|í}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the same type of seaweed}}'' – note that the subject ''í'' ‘it’ is feminine (as it presumably refers to the feminine word ''feamainn'' ‘seaweed’) but the subpredicate ''é'' agrees with the predicate (an example from ''Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|Máire}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the teacher}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Máire}}'', or in better English ''Máire is the teacher'' (when answering the question “Who is the teacher?” – ie. giving the identity of the teacher, ‘Mary’ being the information given);
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}} {{color|blue|Máire}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Máire}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'' (when answering the question “Who is Máire?”, “the teacher” being the new information) – note that here ''í'' agrees with ''Máire'' (the subject) and not with ''an múinteoir'' – when the predicate denotes a person, the subpredicate generally agrees with the gender associated with the person;
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|deartháir Choilm}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Séamas}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Colm’s brother}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an Ghaeilge}} {{color|blue|teanga na Gaeltachta}}''' — ''{{color|blue|the language of the Gaeltacht}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Irish}}'' (or ''Irish is the language of the Gaeltacht'', but ''Irish'' is the information given);
* '''cuir i gcás {{color|red|gurb}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|an fhírinne féin}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''suppose {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the truth itself}}'' – the subject is generic ''é'' ‘it’, the subpredicate ''í'' agrees with predicate ''an fhírinne'' ‘the truth’, a feminine noun.

When a definite noun standing directly after the copula is defined by a relative clause, the article is traditionally often omitted:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|rud}} {{color|blue|é}} {{color|green|is éagsamhlaighe}} (…) {{color|orange|dár airigheas riamh}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the most extraordinary thing}} {{color|orange|of all that I’ve ever heard}}'' – note that the first ''é'' is the subpredicate separating the definite ''rud (…) is éagsamhlaighe dár airigheas riamh'' from the copula, the second ''é'' is the subject ‘it’,
sometimes the article is omitted even without the relative clause:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|í}} {{color|green|cúis}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the reason}}''.

The rule about subpredicate agreeing with the predicate isn’t very strict though. As noted above, it gets overriden by the perceived gender when talking about persons (''is í an múinteoir Máire''), but it is sometimes ignored in other cases too:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an chloch is mó ar a phaidrín}} {{color|blue|é}}''' — ''it is his greatest concern'' (lit. ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the greatest stone on his prayer}}'')
with the subpredicate ''é'' despite ''an chloch'' being a feminine noun. In this case the masculine ''é'' might be transferred from the [[#VpSP|VpSP]] structure where ''an chloch is mó…'' ‘the greatest concern’ would be the subject.

[TODO: elaborate]

==== VpSP ====

There is sometimes a need to state the subject before the predicate (since generally subject is the ''theme'', topic of a sentence, and the predicate is the ''rheme'', new information, it’s a natural tendency – all languages with some freedom of word order prefer stating the rheme later). In this case the ''sub-predicate pronoun'' actually fulfills the role of the predicate of the copula and it refers to the noun phrase that comes later, this gives us the {{smallcaps|V[erb] p[redicate] S[ubject] P[redicate]}} structure. This is the type from which the [[#is (é/í/iad) ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨subject⟩ (VpPS)|previous one (VpPS)]] developed.

Sometimes, especially in Munster the word '''ná''' (which can be understood as ‘namely, that is’ in this context) is inserted before the rheme-predicate. Thus one can find this in Peadar Ua Laoghaire’s prose:

* '''agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ainm a bhí air}} ná {{color|green|Séadna}}''' — ''and his name was Séadna'', literally: ''and {{color|blue|(the) name he had}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}, (namely) {{color|green|Séadna}}''.

Also note that in Muskerry Irish (the dialect of Peadar Ua Laoghaire) the word '''ainm''' ''name'' is feminine – so the pronoun '''é''' clearly disagrees with the subject here.

When no ''ná'' is present there might be more vocal stress put on the pronoun and a pause might be heard after the subject. This also means that a sentence like:
* '''is é Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn uachtarán na hÉireann''' can be understood as either:
:* VpPS: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}} {{color|blue|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''(the person being) the president of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is the president of Ireland?’), literally: ''{{color|blue|the president of Ireland}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Michael D. Higgins}},
:* or VpSP: '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn}}, {{color|green|uachtarán na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|Michael D. Higgins}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|this / him}}: {{color|green|the president of Ireland}}'' (ie. answering the question ‘who is Michael D. Higgins?’),
depending on how the words are stressed in pronunciation.

This structure is required when the predicate is a subordinate clause, when stating facts, opinions, reporting what someone said, etc. – the subordinate clause is always pushed till the end and substituted with '''é''' ''it'':

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|mo thuairim}} {{color|green|go bhfuil sé as a mheabhair}}''' – ''I’m of the opinion that he’s out of his mind'', literally ''{{color|blue|my opinion}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|that he is out of his mind}}'',

it’s also required when the predicate is a verbal noun clause, and common when stating meanings of words, reasons of events, etc.:
* '''{{color|red|ba}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|aidhm an Chonartha}} {{color|green|‘Teanga na Gaeilge a choinneáil á labhairt in Éirinn’}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the purpose of the League}} {{color|red|was}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}:) {{color|green|‘to keep the Irish Language spoken in Ireland’}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an bhrí}} atá leis na litreacha BBC ná {{color|green|British rud éigin Corporation}}''' – ''{{color|blue|the meaning}} of the letters BBC {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|British something Corporation}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|an fáth}} gur tugadh Spioróg air ná {{color|green|go raibh duine uasal darbh ainm Spioróg ina chónaí i mBun Abhna}} agus (…)''' – ''{{color|blue|the reason}} why it was called Spioróg {{color|red|is}} ({{color|LimeGreen|it}}, namely:) {{color|green|that there was a noble man called Spioróg living in Bun Abhna}} and (…)''.

Note that the words '''tuairim''' ''opinion'', '''aidhm''' ''aim, purpose'', '''brí''' ''force, meaning'' are feminine, so in the first examples the pronoun '''é''' stands for the whole '''go…''' ''that…'' phrase and disagrees with the subject '''mo thuairim''' ''my opinion''; in the second example it stands for the infinitival phrase '''teanga … a choinneáil …''' ''to keep the language…'' and also disagrees with the subject '''aim an Chonartha''' ''the purpose of the (Gaelic) League'', etc.

==== 1st and 2nd person: ''mise'', ''tusa'' ====

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns in identification clauses always come first – as if they always were the predicate. The pronouns also generally are with the emphatic suffixes (''mise'' instead of ''mé'' ‘I’, ''tusa'' for ''tú'' ‘you, thou’, ''sinne'' or ''muidne'' for ''sinn, muid'' ‘we’,
''sibhse'' for ''sibh'' ‘you, y’all’):

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|the teacher}}'' (or more literally: ''the teacher is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|mise}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|green|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|blue|Séamas}}'' (or more literally: ''Séamas is me'');
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|tusa}} {{color|blue|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|green|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|blue|the high-king of Ireland}}'' (or more literally: ''the high-king of Ireland is you'');
[TODO: more examples]

The above sentence work well as responses to questions like ''cé hé an múinteoir?'' ‘who is the teacher?’, ''cé hé Séamas?'' ‘who is Séamas?’, etc. – ie. the pronoun is the response. They may ''also'' be used when responding to ''cé (hé) thusa?'' ‘who are you?’ (ie. giving ''an múinteoir'' ‘the teacher’,
''Séamas'', etc. as the information) – but to note explicitly that the focus is ''not'' on the pronoun, the non-emphatic form might be used:

* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|an múinteoir}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|the teacher}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|mé}} {{color|green|Séamas}}''' — ''{{color|blue|I}} {{color|red|am}} {{color|green|Séamas}}'';
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|tú}} {{color|green|ardrí na hÉireann}}''' — ''{{color|blue|you}} {{color|red|are}} {{color|green|the high-king of Ireland}}'';
[TODO: more examples]

Here the pronouns '''mé''' ''I'', '''tú''' ''you'', '''sinn''' or '''muid''' ''we'', '''sibh''' ''ye'' are merely the topic, the context of the sentence, and what follows is the rheme, the focus, the new information given.

<div class="warningbox">'''Note''' that the word order differs from classification. To say ‘I am '''a''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is múinteoir mé''',

but to state ‘I am '''the''' teacher’ you say:

* '''is mé an múinteoir''' or '''is mise an múinteoir'''.</div>

=== Demonstratives (seo, sin, úd) ===

When the subject is a 3rd person demonstrative pronoun, like '''é seo''' ‘this’ (masc.), '''í sin''' ‘that (one)’ (fem.), it tends to be placed in the predicate slot regardless of context.

So a sentence like '''is é seo mo theach''' can be understood two ways and answer two types of questions:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é seo}} {{color|blue|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|my house}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|this one}}'' (saying ''which house is the one of yours''),
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'' (saying ''what this is'').

But sometimes – although ''very rarely'' – the normal identification can be used in the latter context (answering ‘what/who is this?’), eg. Peadar Ua Laoghaire in his ''Lúcián'' has:
* '''Mise hErmés agus {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|é Ploutos}} {{color|blue|é seo}}''' — ''I am Hermes and {{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Plutus}}''

this form used showing that ''Plutus'', being a god and a personification of wealth, is someone significant (''is é seo Ploutos'' would be used otherwise).

==== seo/sin/siúd (é/í/iad) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} ====

But, similar to [[#seo/sin/siúd ⟨predicate⟩|classification]] when the demonstrative is the subject being equated to another noun, there is a shorter form. In Ulster dialects it generally looks the same as in the case of classification, but in Connacht and Ulster an additional pronoun appears before the predicate.

So to say things like ‘this is my house’, instead of using the common identification syntax:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é seo}} {{color|green|mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|blue|é sin}} {{color|green|toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the will of God}}'',
you can also say:
* '''{{color|blue|seo}} {{color|green|é mo theach}}''' — ''{{color|blue|this}} is {{color|green|my house}}'',
* '''{{color|blue|sin}} {{color|green|í toil Dé}}''' — ''{{color|blue|that}} is {{color|green|the will of God}}''.

But in texts from earlier 19th century, and also today in Ulster, you’ll see the same type without the pronoun:
* '''seo mo theach''' — ''this is my house''.

=== Personal names – identification versus classification ===

When a ''proper noun'' (like a personal name, or a place name) is the predicate of the copula, there is a clear distinction in Irish between talking about ''the person'' (or ''the place'', etc.) referred to by that name, ie. the identification, and talking about ''the name itself'', in which case it becomes
classification.

And thus a sentence like ''Mary is the teacher'' (giving information about ''the teacher'', informing that it’s ''Mary'' who’s teaching) you use the identification structure:
* '''is í Máire an múinteoir''' — lit. ''the teacher is Mary'' – this tells us ''which person'' is the teacher – the one specific human being we know by the name ''Máire'',
but when giving '''a name''' of a person, you use the classification structure:
* '''is Máire an múinteoir''' — ''the teacher is Mary'', ''the teacher’s name is Máire'', literally ''the teacher is “a Mary”''.

The latter sentence means that ''the teacher'' belongs to a set of all the ''Máire''-s – it doesn’t identify ''the teacher'' with any specific person! It merely states their name.

Similarly one says for example:
* '''tá mé ag ceapadh {{color|red|gur}} {{color|green|Cáit}} {{color|blue|a bhí uirthi}}''' – ''I am thinking that her name was Cáit'', lit. ''… {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|(the name) that was on her}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Cáit}}'',
* '''dúirt sé gur Pádraig ainm a mhic''' — ''he said that his son’s name is Pádraig'',
* '''{{color|red|ní}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} is mó {{color|blue|a thugaidís uirthi}}, ach Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''' — ''{{color|red|it’s not}} {{color|green|Aill an Tuim}} {{color|blue|that they called it}} most, but Aill an Mhairnéalaigh''.

Or in the 17th century Keating wrote:
* ''is follus fós a hannálaibh Éireann gurab Alba fá hainm don chrích sin'' which in Modern Irish would be '''is follas fós as annála Éireann gurb Alba ab ainm don chríoch sin''' — ''it is furthermore clear from Irish annals that that country’s name was Alba'' (ie. Scotland).

The same distinction exists in other grammatical persons between the identification:
* '''ní mise Máire''' — ''I am not Máire'' (ie. that ''Máire'' person is not me),
and classification:
* '''ní Máire mé ach Áine''' — ''I am not Máire but Áine'' (ie. my name is not ''Máire'' but ''Áine'').

=== Definite nouns directly after the copula ===
The pattern of inserting a pronoun between the copula and definite predicate (see [[#Identification – definite predicates|above]]) is not a strict rule. There are certain contexts where definite predicates are commonly allowed to stand directly after the copula.

The main exception is after the copula in a relative clause which itself serves as a subject of another copular clause. This sounds complicated but basically it boils down to '''is X is Y''' sentence meaning ‘(the one) '''who/which is''' Y, is X’. An example of this would be:
* '''gá chur ’n‑a luighe ar na Iúdaígh {{color|red|gur b’}}{{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|Íosa}} {{color|blue|is Críost ann}}''' — ''testifying to the Jews that Jesus was Christ'', lit. ''testifying it to the Jews {{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|who is Christ}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|green|Jesus}}'' (translation of ''Acts'' 18:5 by Ua Laoghaire). Note that ''Críost'' is the predicate of the relative copula and there’s no pronoun between them:
:: … '''{{color|blue|(an té)}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|Críost}} ann''' — … ''{{color|blue|(the one)}} {{color|red|who is}} {{color|green|Christ}}'', the subject is not expressed directly here.

This structure is common in a certain type of questions in Irish, eg.:
* '''cad is ainm duit?''' — ''what’s your name?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) name to you?'',
* '''cad is brí leis?''' — ''what does it mean?'', more literally: ''what is it, (the thing) that is (the) meaning with it?''
and also in answers to such questions:
* '''Tadhg is ainm dom''' — ''my name is Tadh'' (''what is my name is Tadhg''),
* '''is é sin is brí leis''' — ''the meaning of it is that''.

Note that '''ainm duit''' and '''brí leis''' here have definite meanings (‘your name, the name that you have’ and ‘the meaning of it’) even though there is no article before them.

Outside of this context, the copula followed by a definite noun phrase may occur in some older archaising texts.<ref>O’Nolan notes for example a poem by Keating having ''gidh Eabhra teanga is seanda / gidh Laidin is léigheannda…'' ‘although the oldest language is Hebrew, although the most learned language is Latin…’) – but even in Classical Gaelic poetry this isn’t common. The pronoun is commonly inserted already in Old Irish.</ref>

=== Other uses of copula ===

Contrary to the ''substantive verb'', copula isn’t that restricted in what kind of predicates it takes. And in some common expressions it actually takes prepositional phrases, adjectives, and other grammatical creatures as its predicates.

==== Fronting – additional emphasis on the focus of the sentence ====

A very common use of copula is ''fronting'' – moving some part of a sentence to put emphasis on it – to explicitly mark it as the ''focus'', the ''main point'' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the main verb, is put in a relative clause then. Compare:

* '''tá an cat ar an mbord''' — ''the cat is on the table'' – no fronting, no copula, neutral sentence,
* '''is é an cat atá ar an mbord''' — ''it’s '''the cat''' that is on the table'' – '''an cat''' fronted – it’s the predicate of the copula, the sentence underlines the fact that the thing on the table is '''the cat''' (as opposed to a cup, for example),
* '''is ar an mbord atá an cat''' — ''it’s '''on the table''' that the cat is'' – '''ar an mbord''' fronted, the sentence underlines the fact that the location of the cat is '''on the table'''.

Note that a subpredicate pronoun (''é, í, iad'') will appear if a definite noun phrase is being fronted (''is '''é''' an cat…''). There will be no pronoun otherwise (''is ar an mbord…'').

Also note that the subject of the copula in the fronted sentence is a relative clause. Sometimes you can think of it as elliptical, eliding some noun – like you could add a noun to the second sentence:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|green|an cat}} {{color|blue|(an t-ainmhí) atá ar an mbord}}''' — ''{{color|blue|(the animal) that is on the table}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|the cat}}'',
but it doesn’t work for the third sentence (or when an adverbial or a prepositional phrase is fronted in general). That’s just the general syntax of fronting in Irish – a relative clause can be the subject of the copula.<ref>Sometimes in such cases in Old Irish the “subject” was a regular
non-relative clause, it became relative in later Old Irish due to analogy with other types of fronting. See Pádraig MacCoisdealbha (1998) ''The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish'', edited by Graham R. Isaac, De Gruyter</ref>

In fronting the copula is very commonly elided.

* [TODO: examples]

When fronting an adverb, the '''go''' part disappears:

* [TODO: examples]

==== Other set phrases and constructions ====

===== is {{smallcaps|⟨adjective⟩}} le/do… =====

The copula is used in many idiomatic expressions involving adjectives, like for example:

* '''is maith liom Alba''' — ''I like Scotland'',
* '''is fearr liom Éire''' — ''I prefer Ireland''.

This expression ''is maith le X Y'', literally ‘Y is good with X’, is part of a broader construction expressing subjective feeling or opinion. Thus the underlying meaning of a sentence like
* '''is maith liom arán a ithe''' – ''I like eating bread''
is ''eating bread is good in my opinion'' or ''I find eating bread good'', that is ''eating bread'' feels good to me.

This construction can be used with many adjectives and sometimes nouns to express one’s feeling or opinion, some more idiomatic than other:
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|cuma liom}} {{color|blue|é}}''' – ''I don’t care about it'', literally ''{{color|blue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|same to me}}'',
* '''{{color|red|is}} {{color|green|fada liom}} {{color|blue|go mbead i gCorca Dhuibhne}}''' — ''I long to be in Dingle Peninsula'', more literally: ''I find it (= the time) long until I will be in Dingle Peninsula'', literally: ''{{color|blue|(the time) until I will be in D. P.}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|long with me}}'',
* '''is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart agat''' — ''I think that you are right'', more literally: ''I find it likely that you are right'',
* '''is fuath leis an Béarla''' — ''he hates the English language'' (''the English language is a hate with him''),
* '''an cuimhin leat an rud sin?''' — ''do you remember that thing?'' (''do you find that thing to be a memory?''; or perhaps ''is that thing a memory of yours?''),
* '''is cás leis é''' — ''he cares for it, it is of concern to him'' (''it is a concern to him''),
* '''is beag liom é''' — ''it’s of little concern to me'' (''I find it little/insignificant''),
sometimes their meaning by extension is more “objective”:
* '''is féidir leat é a dhéanamh''' — ''you can do it'' (''it’s possible to you to do it''),
* '''is gnách liom é sin a dhéanamh''' – ''it is customary for me to do that, I’m in the habit of doing that'' (''doing that is customary to me'').

A more involved example from Ua Laoghaire’s ''Séadna'' would be:
* '''geallaim dhuit {{color|red|gurbh}} {{color|LimeGreen|é}} {{color|blue|ab fhada leis}} {{color|green|go raibh sé amuigh}}''' — ''I promise you that what he longed for was to be outside'', more literally: ''{{color|red|that}} {{color|blue|what he found long}} {{color|red|was}} {{color|LimeGreen|it}}: {{color|green|(the time) until he was outside}}''.

On the other hand, when ''objective'' truths are expressed, the preposition '''do''' is used. Compare:
* '''is maith liom milseáin''' — ''I like sweets''
with:
* '''is maith dom glasraí''' — ''vegetables are good for me''.

So also:
* '''is fearr duit a bheith ansin''' — ''you should (rather) be there'', ''it is better for you to be there'',
* '''is éigean dom Gaeilge a fhoghlaim''' — ''I must learn Irish'' (''learning Irish is a necessity for me'').

O’Nolan gives also such example showing the difference between the two prepositions:
* '''{{color|blue|an rud is féidir leat}}, {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|féidir duit}} {{color|DeepSkyBlue|é}}''' — ''the thing you think you can do, you can do it'', or ''{{color|blue|the thing you find possible}}, {{color|DeepSkyBlue|it}} {{color|red|is}} {{color|green|possible for you}}'' (but note that ''is féidir le…'' is used in general for ‘can, be able to’, not just about the opinion).

Some phrases like that developed meanings a little bit further removed from their literal reading – they’ll often be listed in dictionaries. And example is:
* '''ní mór dom é sin a dhéanamh''' — ''I need to/must do that''
which comes from saying that ‘doing that is not big=excessive for me’, thus it is something ''I should to'' or ''I must do'' (it’s not excessive, it’s the normal expected concern).

=== Dependent form (present tense) ===

As mentioned [[#The dependent form fuil|earlier]], some particles in the Irish language – like leniting '''ní''' ''not'', or eclipsing '''an?''' ''is? does?'', '''nach?''' ''isn’t? doesn’t?'', etc. – require the '''dependent''' form of a verb. For the substantive verb that form is ''fuil''. But what happens with the copula?

Generally, the dependent form of the copula '''is''' in the present tense is ''zero''. That is, in the present tense the copula ''disappears'' in the dependent positions. But the particles with the copular meaning also stop leniting and eclipsing. Thus:

* '''ní hé Séamas rí Shasana''' — ''James is not the king of England'',
* '''nach í Máire banríon na hAlban?''' — ''isn’t Máire the queen of Scotland?'',
* '''nach múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?''
* '''ní múinteoir atá ionat''' — ''you are not a teacher'',
* '''an iascairí sibh?''' — ''are y’all fishers?'',
* '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' — ''is it on the table that the cat is?''

In Munster – where the negative interrogative and relative particle is '''ná''' – it changes to '''nách''' in the copular meaning:

* '''nách múinteoir thú?''' – ''aren’t you a teacher?'',
* '''dúirt sé nách mac léinn í''' – ''he said that she isn’t a student''.

The dependent present tense copula also adds an '''-r''' to '''go''' and changes the spelling of the vowel ('''go''' + '''is''' → '''gur'''):

* '''dúirt sí gur mac léinn atá ionat''' — ''she said that you are a student'',
* '''deirtear gur áit aerach Mullach an Chlasaigh''' — ''it’s said that Mullach an Chlasaigh is an eerie place''.

In certain cases before vowels – especially before adjectives, adverbs, the pronouns '''é, í, iad, ea''', this '''gur''' changes to '''gurb''':
* '''táim ag smaoineamh gurb é Iain an té a ghoid fobhríste''' — ''I am thinking that Iain is the one who stole underpants'',
* '''admhaím gurb áille cónaí cois farraige ná in áit eile''' — ''I admit that it’s lovlier to live by the sea than in another place'' (lit. ''… that living by the sea is lovlier than in another place''),
* '''m’anam ag Dia gurb í an fhírinne a deirim''' — ''(on) my soul to God that it’s the truth that I say''.

This '''-r(b)''' is also used in ''indirect relative clauses'' and in relative clauses after prepositions:
* '''an duine ar maith leis an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''an duine lenar maith an rud sin''' — ''the person who likes that thing'',
* '''cén tír arb as duit?''' — ''which country are you from?''
* [TODO: more examples]

== Past and future tenses ==

=== The substantive verb ''bí'' ===
Past forms of the verb '''bí''' are independent '''bhí''' and dependent '''raibh''', eg.:

* '''bhí mé sa bhád''' — ''I was in the boat'',
* '''an raibh tú sásta?''' — ''were you happy?'',
* '''dúirt sé go raibh tú brónach''' — ''he said that you were sad''.

The future form is '''beidh''', and it works both as an independent and dependent form. In dialects of Connacht and Ulster you’ll also get the relative form '''bheas''' in direct relative clauses (but we’ll not spend much time on it now):

* '''beidh an madra ansin''' — ''the dog will be there'',
* '''an duine a bheidh sa teach''' / '''a bheas sa teach''' — ''the man that will be in the house''.

The substantive verb also has a separate '''present habitual''' form expressing ''being'' that occurs repeatedly, once in a while – '''bíonn''' (also relative '''bhíos''', '''bhíonns'''):
* '''nach mbíonn Iain ag goid bríste gach lá?''' — ''doesn’t Iain steal trousers every day?'', lit. ''isn’t (habitually) Iain at stealing (of) trousers every day?'',

This verb has some more forms not mentioned here at all (like the autonomous forms, conditional, past habitual, subjunctive…). See [https://www.reimnigh.com/word/b%C3%AD '''the Réimnigh website'''] for the full paradigm (in the standard, and the 3 main dialectal areas).

=== The copula ===

The copula '''is''' has a past form '''ba''' which becomes '''b’''' before vowels (but not before pronouns in the standard), it generally lenites the following word – except for the pronouns. In dependent positions generally the past forms of the particles are used – so '''an?''' changes to '''ar?''', '''nach?''' becomes '''nár?''', '''ní''' becomes '''níor''', '''go''' becomes '''gur''', etc.

This form is also the ''conditional'', so it has two meanings: past ''was, were'' and conditional ''would be'':

* '''ba mise an múinteoir''' — ''I was the teacher'' or ''I would be the teacher'',
* '''ar mhaith leat bainne?''' — ''would you like milk'' (or less likely ''did you like milk?'')
* '''ar tusa an t-iascaire?''' — ''were you the fisher?'',
* '''ba í mo dheirfiúr Máire''' — ''Máire was my sister'',
* '''níor mhúinteoir é''' — ''he was not a teacher'',
* '''ba shaighdiúr í''' — ''she was a soldier''.

In the dependent forms before vowels '''-bh''' is added (thus the particles become: '''arbh?''', '''nárbh?''', '''níorbh''', '''gurbh'''…):
* '''arbh fhearr leat tae nó caife?''' — ''would you prefer tea or coffee?'',

In the conditional, after '''dá''' ‘if’, '''ba''' is used:
* '''dá mba mhúinteoir thú, ní fhéadfá é a dhéanamh''' — ''if you were a teacher, you wouldn’t be able to do it''.

And '''ba''' is also often used after '''go''' ‘that’ instead of the '''gur(bh)''' form:
* '''cheapas go mba mhaith an chomhairle í''' – ''I thought it was a good advice'' (lit. ''I thought the advice that it was, was good'').

The copula has '''no future form'''.<ref>Future forms of the copula existed in Old Irish and were still used in Classical Gaelic poetry (see [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar#Forms]]),
Gearóid Ó Nualláin reported hearing relative '''bhus''' with a future meaning ‘that will be’ in early 20th century, there’s one example of that in [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/angum/croidhe-cainnte-ciarraighe/ ''Croidhe Cainnte C[h]iarraighe''] too.</ref>

To turn the ''(is) {{smallcaps|⟨predicate⟩}} atá i {{smallcaps|⟨subject⟩}}'' construction into the past tense, you just use the past of the substantive verb (and optionally of the copula):

* '''(is) múinteoir a bhí ionat''' — ''you were a teacher'' (''a teacher is what was in you'') or '''ba mhúinteoir a bhí ionat''' (''a teachar was what was in you''),
* '''an iascaire a bhí ionat?''' or '''arbh iascaire a bhí ionat?''' — ''were you a fisher?''.

Generally in this type the copula stays in the present tense – if you were a teacher, the fact that you ''were'' a teacher is still true
''in the present'' (so ''it '''is''' a teacher that you were''). The past tense of the copula might be used to convey more remote past that has no bearing on the present –
for example when talking about someone long dead (''ba dhuine deas a bhí ann'' ‘he was a nice person’) or when telling a story about times long gone.

Similarly to turn it into the future, you just change '''tá''' into the future '''beidh''' (or relative future '''bheas'''):

* '''(is) iascaire a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be a fisher'',
* '''(is) athair ar fheabhas a bheidh ionat''' ('''… a bheas ionat''') — ''you will be an outstanding father''.

== Answering yes-no questions ==

Since Irish has no specific words meaning ''yes'' or ''no'' on their own, when answering ''yes-no'' questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

=== The ''bí'' verb ===

When a question begins with a form of the verb ''bí'', that is it starts with '''an bhfuil…?''' ''is..?'' or '''nach bhfuil…?''' ''isn’t…?'' (in Munster '''ná fuil…?'''), you have to answer with either '''tá''' for ''yes'' or '''níl''' for ''no''. The answer might use a form inflected for person.
For example when asked '''an bhfuil tú i do chónaí in Éirinn?''' ''do you live in Ireland?'' you might respond with:
* '''táim''' or '''tá''' for ''yes'',
* or '''nílim''', '''níl''' for ''no''.

It works in a similar way in other tenses. When asked '''an raibh tú in Éirinn anuraidh?''' ''were you in Ireland last year?'' you might respond with:
* '''bhí''' (''was'') or '''bhíos''' (''I was'') for ''yes'',
* '''ní raibh''' or '''ní rabhas''' for ''no''.

=== The copula ===

Since the copula '''can never''' stand on its own without a predicate, you have to repeat the predicate or use some pronoun to substitute it. In normal classification and identification sentences you typically substitute a pronoun for the predicate.

==== Classification ====
Since in classification clauses Irish uses the old neuter pronoun '''ea''' ''it'' to substitute the indefinite noun (cf. [[#⟨predicate⟩ is ea ⟨subject⟩|the ''X is ea Y'' structure above]]), that’s what you do after classification questions.

If asked '''an peann é seo?''' ''is this a pen?'' you respond with either:
* '''is ea''' for ''yes'' (literally ''(it) is it''),
* or '''ní hea''' for ''no''.

When asked '''an múinteoir tú?''' ''are you a teacher?'' you similarly would respond with either '''is ea''' or '''ní hea'''.

In the past or conditional you’d say either '''b’ea''' or '''níorbh ea'''.

This is also true for predicates that are names, so '''is ea''' and '''ní hea''' are also appropriate responses to questions like '''an Pádraig ainm a athar?''' ''is his father’s name Pádraig?''.

===== With adjectives =====

If the question has an adjective as its predicate, though, it’s customary to repeat the adjective. Thus:

* '''“An mór an teach é?”''' — ''Is it a big house?'' (lit. ''is the house, it, big?'')
: '''“Ní mór.”''' — ''No.'' (lit. ''is not big'')

or:

* '''“An fíor an scéal seo?”''' — ''Is this story true?''
: '''“Is fíor.”''' — ''Yes.'' (lit. ''is true'')

==== Identification ====
In identification you need to use the appropriate pronoun matching with the predicate.

If asked '''an é d’athair é?''' ''is he your father?'' you respond with:
* '''is é''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní hé''' for ''no''.

If asked '''an tusa uachtarán na hÉireann?''' you respond with
* '''is mise''' if you happened to win the presidential elections in Ireland,
* or '''ní mise''' if not.

==== Other phrases ====
Very often, especially with idiomatic phrases, it’s common to repeat the head word of the predicate. And thus when asked '''an maith leat Éire?''' ''do you like Ireland?'' you would respond either:
* '''is maith''' for ''yes'',
* or '''ní maith''' if you’re a bad human being.

If the question is about a prepositional phrase, you can use the classification '''is ea / ní hea''' response to agree or disagree with the whole proposition of the question, or you can repeat the preposition to emphasize a specific place or relation. Eg. when asked '''an ar an mbord atá an cat?''' ''is it on the table that the cat is?'' you can say ''yes'' in two ways:
* '''is air''' which might emphasize that it is indeed '''''on''' it'' (and not ''under'' the table, nor on another table),
* or '''is ea''' which generally agrees with the idea of the cat being ''on the table''.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) under it'' you’d express it with:
* '''ní hea, ach faoi''', lit. ''it’s not it, but under it'' where the '''ea''' ''it'' refers to the whole idea of being on the table, and then '''faoi''' ''under it'' gives corrected location.
If you were to say ''no, but (the cat is) on the other table'' you’d say:
* '''ní air, ach ar an mbord eile''', lit. ''it’s not on it, but on the other table'' – where '''air''' ''on it'' refers to a location on this specific table.

When asked '''an as Éirinn duit?''' ''are you from Ireland?'' you typically respond with '''is ea''' or '''ní hea''' – agreeing or disagreeing with the whole proposition (rather than saying something like ''is aisti'', lit ‘(I am) from her’ referring specifically back to the country in question).

The distinction between the choice of repeating the inflected preposition (''is air, is uirthi, is aisti'', etc.) versus the use of ''ea'' is basically the distinction between referring back to a specific definite object or place (which makes sense especially if contrasting with other specific object) and referring
to the whole general proposition (which makes more sense if the answer is contrasted eg. with other preposition, like the location ''on'' something as opposed to ''under'' it, or it’s a reference to a general location or origin).

For more about it see [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/23/ ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish'', pp. 23–25] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/8/ ''Studies in Modern Irish'' vol. 1, pp. 8–10].

== Other resourses ==

* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026508022/page/n7/mode/2up ''Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish''], 1921, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – a guide-book for teachers (but useful for learners too) with notes on correct idiomatic usage of Irish syntax, starting with the copula;
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026785174/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish'', vol. 1], 1920, Gearóid Ó Nualláin – extensive explanations of elements of Irish syntax, with lots of examples from (mostly Munster) literature, starting with chapters on the copula; also has multiple translation exercises;
* [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm ''Gramadach na Gaeilge''] on the Nualéargais website, especially the page on [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/bi.htm ''bí''] and [http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/kopul1.htm the copula] (if you know German, the German pages are better: [http://braesicke.de/gramadac.htm main page], [http://braesicke.de/bi.htm ''bí''], [http://braesicke.de/kopul1.htm the copula]);
* [https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GGBC_19990-2.pdf ''Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí''], 1999 – the most comprehensive Irish grammar dealing with Standard Irish, written in Irish, discusses the use and syntax of the copula in several places.

See also [[Irish/Introduction to Studies in Modern Irish]] on this wiki. The first few lessons focus on the copula.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

[[Category:Irish]]

Category:Text corpora

2024-04-06T14:59:05Z

Silmeth: /* Manx */ fix corpus link

A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_corpus '''text corpus'''] is a large collection of (often as diverse as possible) texts in a given language. Text corpora are very useful for checking how often a given expression is used in a language (and which are rare or never occur), thus they might be a huge help to learners who want to check whether a certain construction is natural-sounding or not. They are also extremely useful when doing research about language grammar and how it changes over time. Many corpora contain also additional information about individual words (like their part-of-speech and other inflectional information when applicable, like grammatical case, gender, tense, mood…).

Below is a list of useful publicly-available corpora for Celtic languages.

== Brittonic ==

=== Breton ===

=== Cornish ===

=== Welsh ===

== Goidelic ==

=== Irish ===
* [http://corpas.focloir.ie ''Nua-Chorpas na hÉireann''] (''New Corpus for Ireland''), also known as the ''Foclóir.ie corpus''
:* '''requires registration''' (free-of-charge)
:* all kinds of modern texts (fiction, poetry, official documents, newspaper articles, etc. from 20th and 21st century) written by both native and non-native speakers
:* allows filtering by text type (native/non-native, specific dialect)
:* part-of-speech tagged
:* uses [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketch_Engine Sketch Engine]
:* alternative new interface at [https://focloir.sketchengine.eu focloir.sketchengine.eu]
:* See [[Irish/Using Nua-Chorpas na hÉireann]] for some additional tips
* [http://corpas.ria.ie ''Historical Irish Corpus''], also known as the ''RIA corpus''
:* publicly available
:* literary texts composed in Irish between 1600 and 1926
:* part-of-speech tagged but with limited search functionality
:* allows searching for words in original spelling and by their modern standardized forms

=== Manx ===
* [https://corpus.gaelg.im/ Manx Corpus Search]
:* publicly available
:* over 600 texts between 1610 and present, accompanied by English translations
:* focus on pre-1908 native Manx literature with the aim to store '''everything''' written in Manx before 1908
:* open source, the search interface software hosted at [https://github.com/david-allison/manx-corpus-search https://github.com/david-allison/manx-corpus-search], corpus data at [https://github.com/david-allison/manx-search-data https://github.com/david-allison/manx-search-data]
:* if you need assistance, have a feature request, etc. you may contact the corpus’ maintainer on Github or on Celtic Languages Discord (Discord handle ''DavidA#0813'')

=== Scottish Gaelic ===
* [https://dasg.ac.uk/corpus/ ''Corpas na Gàidhlig'' DASG]
:* publicly available
:* contains literary texts in Scottish Gaelic, from 12th century to 21st century (but mostly modern, 18th–21st c. texts; might be extended in the future with transcriptions of spoken language)
:* '''not''' part-of-speech tagged
:* based on [https://cwb.sourceforge.io/ Corpus Workbench (CWB)] with modified [https://cwb.sourceforge.io/cqpweb.php CQPWeb] interface
:* allows filtering by time period, geographical origin, particular text
:* allows complex queries using the CQP-syntax (but limited due to the lack of POS-tagging)
:* See [[Gaelic/Using Corpas na Gàidhlig]] for some additional tips

=== Classical Gaelic ===
* [https://app.sketchengine.eu/#dashboard?corpname=preloaded%2Ffiliochttcdv1 ''Irish Syllabic Poetry'' corpus]
:* corpus of Classical Gaelic bardic poetry
:* part-of-speech tagged (although very imperfect since based on tagging method for modern Irish)
:* uses non-normalized spelling (so finding a form might be difficult sometimes)
:* based on [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database]
:* uses [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketch_Engine Sketch Engine]
* [http://corpas.ria.ie ''Historical Irish Corpus''] (corpus RIA) – mainly a Modern Irish corpus, but also useful for Early Modern texts and sometimes bardic poetry since it contains texts from 1600 and later, see under [[#Irish|Irish]]

=== Old Irish ===
* [https://chronhib.maynoothuniversity.ie/chronhibWebsite/tables ''Corpus Palaeo-Hibernicum''] – created by the ChronHib project
:* 78 Old Irish texts: OIr. glosses, Annals of Ulster, poems of Blathmac, and some tales
:* fully translated and with full annotations of morphological forms
:* it’s structured around a spreadsheet-like table interface – searching for specific forms requires displaying the '''whole''' table though (so choose the biggest “Results per Page” value at the bottom, beware that it may make it pretty laggy)
:* the corpus text is in the ''Sentences'' table, the ''Lemmata'' table is basically a glossary of all the words in the corpus, with translation and often etymological info, the ''Morphology'' table contains the whole corpus text broken down into morphological units with POS-tags and comments
:* it offers expected normalized spellings of corpus forms
:* the data can be exported to CSV files

Classical Gaelic/Resources

2024-03-05T21:27:02Z

Silmeth: /* Editions of bardic poetry */

Unfortunately there is no textbook or comprehensive grammar of Classical Gaelic (the standard language used in bardic poetry between the 13th and 17th centuries by poets of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland), but there are several resources that can help you dive into that period of the language, especially if you are already familiar with either [[:Category:Irish|Modern Irish]] or [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]].

= Online resources =

* [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/ Léamh.org]: A website dedicated to Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish, it contains:
:* a very imperfect grammar section (there are some mistakes there, and a lot of important things are missing) but the inflection tables can be useful,
:* texts section with passages from Classical / EMI texts with good explanations of the grammar used,
:* vocabulary section with a list of words and explanations cited from various other sources,
:* and an interactive palaeography section teaching you how to read late medieval and early modern manuscripts.
* [http://www.dil.ie/ eDIL]: A dictionary for historical forms of Irish, mostly Old and Middle Irish but it also contains entries for words attested up to 1600.
* our own [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar]].

= Books =

== Editions of grammatical tracts ==

* ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Lambert McKenna, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1944 – edition of a few tracts on syntax and grammar with very extensive notes about the examples used in the tracts and the rules outlined there, it also has appendices explaining some points of grammar (relative clauses, use of noun cases, etc.).
* ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Eoin Mac Cárthaigh, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2014 – edition of one of the best-preserved bardic grammatical tracts outlining the basic rules of the bardic language, accompanied with English translation of the whole text and extensive notes about the rules outlined there, cross-referenced with other tracts and information about how they were actually applied in the poems.

== Pieces of grammar in editions of early modern texts ==

Grammar sections in editions of Early Modern Irish texts:
* Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating) – late 16th, early 17th century Munster author who used an archizing language in prose, keeping some features of the classical standard:
:* [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/462/mode/2up Appendix on verbs in ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe an Bháis''] (“Three shafts of Death”).
:* [https://archive.org/details/storiesfromkeati00keat/page/n17/mode/2up Notes on grammar in ''Stories from Keating’s History of Ireland''].
:* Gerald O’Nolan’s [https://archive.org/details/pt4studiesinmode00onoluoft/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish, Part IV: Being a critical analysis of Keating’s Prose''] – mostly analysis of Keating’s literary style but with many remarks on his grammar.
* Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire (Florence Conry) – late 16th, early 17th century writer from Connacht, taught in bardic tradition, his prose shows many archaic features of the bardic standard:
:* T. F. O’Rahilly’s [https://archive.org/details/desideriusotherw00conr/page/n31/mode/2up grammar introduction] and [https://archive.org/details/desideriusotherw00conr/page/244/mode/2up notes on grammar] in ''Desiderius, otherwise called Sgáthán an chrábhaidh'' – translation of a religious text from Spain, the introduction gives a quick overview of grammatical forms used while the notes explain some details of early modern syntax – mentioning earlier bardic usage and later, 15th and 16th century, Irish (sometimes also Scottish) developments.

== Early modern grammars of Irish ==

Two grammars of Irish were written in 18th century, they neither describe exactly the vernacular speech of the 18th century nor the Classical Gaelic standard, but kind of a high literary register of Irish of the time which keeps some features of the 13th century bardic standard and thus can be useful to understand older texts:

* ''The Elements of the Irish Language: Grammatically Explained in English'', Hugh Mac Curtin (Aodh ‘Buidhe’ Mac Cruitín), 1728 – the earliest Irish grammar printed in English, can be quite difficult to read because the Irish is printed using a Gaelic script type with some selected scribal abbreviations.
* [https://archive.org/details/agrammaribernoc00vallgoog/page/n168/mode/2up ''A Grammar of the Iberno-Celtic or Irish Language''], Charles Vallancey, 1782 (2nd ed.) ([https://books.google.pl/books/about/A_Grammar_of_the_Iberno_Celtic_Or_Irish.html?id=GBRKAAAAcAAJ&redir_esc=y 1st ed. 1773]) – generally similar to Mac Curtin’s book, but fully printed using Roman type without scribal abbreviations.

== Historical linguistics ==

* ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'', Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad, 1994, an Irish language book about the history of Goidelic languages – chapter 4, ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' (pp. 335–445) by Damian McManus is dedicated to Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish.
* ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Brian Ó Cuív, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies, 1973 – a lecture outlining the general type of linguistic training which a student of a bardic school received, showing some features of the bardic standard and how it differed from the spoken language over the centuries when it was used.

== Editions of bardic poetry ==

* Eleanor Knott (1928, reprinted in 2011), ''Irish Syllabic Poetry 1200–1600'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – a short booklet discussing the metres and language of bardic poetry, with short (typically around 7–8 quatrains, the shortest just 3, longest 18) poems illustrating each metre; there are no translations but there are quite extensive notes helping the reader;
* Eleanor Knott (1922), [https://archive.org/details/bardicpoemsoftad0001unse/page/n7/mode/2up ''The Bardic Poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn''] (''A bhFuil Aguinn Dár Chum Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn''), Irish Texts Society – Tadhg Dall’s poems edited and translated by Eleanor Knott’s with a long introduction about bardic poetry (poetic devices, metres, language, social context);
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – a collection of 9 poems on the noble Meic Dhiarmada family from Connacht, with translations and extensive notes on the historical background of the poems, their authors and patrons;
* Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin – a collection of 100 poems edited and translated by McKenna
* Osborn Bergin (1970, reprinted in 2003), ''Irish Bardic Poetry: Texts and Translations'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – 66 poems edited and translated by Bergin (originally published in various journals) collected by David Greene and Fergus Kelly and published as a book together with Bergin’s lecture on ''Bardic Poetry'';
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry (contains most of bardic poetry published in 20th and 21st century, only original text, typically following the first edition available).

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Classical Gaelic/Resources

2024-03-05T21:24:15Z

Silmeth: /* Editions of bardic poetry */

Unfortunately there is no textbook or comprehensive grammar of Classical Gaelic (the standard language used in bardic poetry between the 13th and 17th centuries by poets of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland), but there are several resources that can help you dive into that period of the language, especially if you are already familiar with either [[:Category:Irish|Modern Irish]] or [[:Category:Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic]].

= Online resources =

* [https://xn--lamh-bpa.org/ Léamh.org]: A website dedicated to Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish, it contains:
:* a very imperfect grammar section (there are some mistakes there, and a lot of important things are missing) but the inflection tables can be useful,
:* texts section with passages from Classical / EMI texts with good explanations of the grammar used,
:* vocabulary section with a list of words and explanations cited from various other sources,
:* and an interactive palaeography section teaching you how to read late medieval and early modern manuscripts.
* [http://www.dil.ie/ eDIL]: A dictionary for historical forms of Irish, mostly Old and Middle Irish but it also contains entries for words attested up to 1600.
* our own [[Notes on Classical Gaelic Grammar]].

= Books =

== Editions of grammatical tracts ==

* ''Bardic Syntactical Tracts'', Lambert McKenna, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1944 – edition of a few tracts on syntax and grammar with very extensive notes about the examples used in the tracts and the rules outlined there, it also has appendices explaining some points of grammar (relative clauses, use of noun cases, etc.).
* ''The Art of Bardic Poetry: A New Edition of Irish Grammatical Tracts I'', Eoin Mac Cárthaigh, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2014 – edition of one of the best-preserved bardic grammatical tracts outlining the basic rules of the bardic language, accompanied with English translation of the whole text and extensive notes about the rules outlined there, cross-referenced with other tracts and information about how they were actually applied in the poems.

== Pieces of grammar in editions of early modern texts ==

Grammar sections in editions of Early Modern Irish texts:
* Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating) – late 16th, early 17th century Munster author who used an archizing language in prose, keeping some features of the classical standard:
:* [https://archive.org/details/tribiorghaoitheb00keat/page/462/mode/2up Appendix on verbs in ''Trí Bior-Ghaoithe an Bháis''] (“Three shafts of Death”).
:* [https://archive.org/details/storiesfromkeati00keat/page/n17/mode/2up Notes on grammar in ''Stories from Keating’s History of Ireland''].
:* Gerald O’Nolan’s [https://archive.org/details/pt4studiesinmode00onoluoft/page/n5/mode/2up ''Studies in Modern Irish, Part IV: Being a critical analysis of Keating’s Prose''] – mostly analysis of Keating’s literary style but with many remarks on his grammar.
* Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire (Florence Conry) – late 16th, early 17th century writer from Connacht, taught in bardic tradition, his prose shows many archaic features of the bardic standard:
:* T. F. O’Rahilly’s [https://archive.org/details/desideriusotherw00conr/page/n31/mode/2up grammar introduction] and [https://archive.org/details/desideriusotherw00conr/page/244/mode/2up notes on grammar] in ''Desiderius, otherwise called Sgáthán an chrábhaidh'' – translation of a religious text from Spain, the introduction gives a quick overview of grammatical forms used while the notes explain some details of early modern syntax – mentioning earlier bardic usage and later, 15th and 16th century, Irish (sometimes also Scottish) developments.

== Early modern grammars of Irish ==

Two grammars of Irish were written in 18th century, they neither describe exactly the vernacular speech of the 18th century nor the Classical Gaelic standard, but kind of a high literary register of Irish of the time which keeps some features of the 13th century bardic standard and thus can be useful to understand older texts:

* ''The Elements of the Irish Language: Grammatically Explained in English'', Hugh Mac Curtin (Aodh ‘Buidhe’ Mac Cruitín), 1728 – the earliest Irish grammar printed in English, can be quite difficult to read because the Irish is printed using a Gaelic script type with some selected scribal abbreviations.
* [https://archive.org/details/agrammaribernoc00vallgoog/page/n168/mode/2up ''A Grammar of the Iberno-Celtic or Irish Language''], Charles Vallancey, 1782 (2nd ed.) ([https://books.google.pl/books/about/A_Grammar_of_the_Iberno_Celtic_Or_Irish.html?id=GBRKAAAAcAAJ&redir_esc=y 1st ed. 1773]) – generally similar to Mac Curtin’s book, but fully printed using Roman type without scribal abbreviations.

== Historical linguistics ==

* ''Stair na Gaeilge: in ómós do P[h]ádraig Ó Fiannachta'', Coláiste Phádraig, Maigh Nuad, 1994, an Irish language book about the history of Goidelic languages – chapter 4, ''An Nua-Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach'' (pp. 335–445) by Damian McManus is dedicated to Classical Gaelic and Early Modern Irish.
* ''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'', Brian Ó Cuív, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies, 1973 – a lecture outlining the general type of linguistic training which a student of a bardic school received, showing some features of the bardic standard and how it differed from the spoken language over the centuries when it was used.

== Editions of bardic poetry ==

* Eleanor Knott (1928, reprinted in 2011), ''Irish Syllabic Poetry 1200–1600'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – a short booklet discussing the metres and language of bardic poetry, with short (typically around 7–8 quatrains, the shortest just 3, longest 18) poems illustrating each metre; there are no translations but there are quite extensive notes helping the reader;
* Eleanor Knott (1922), [https://archive.org/details/bardicpoemsoftad0001unse/page/n7/mode/2up ''The Bardic Poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn''] (''A Bhfuil Aguinn Dár Chum Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn''), Irish Texts Society – Tadhg Dall’s poems edited and translated by Eleanor Knott’s with a long introduction about bardic poetry (poetic devices, metres, language, social context);
* Mícheál Hoyne (2018), ''Fuidheall Áir: Bardic poems on the Meic Dhiarmada of Magh Luirg, c. 1377 – c. 1637'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – a collection of 9 poems on the noble Meic Dhiarmada family from Connacht, with translations and extensive notes on the historical background of the poems, their authors and patrons;
* Lambert McKenna (1939), ''Aithdioghluim Dána: a miscellany of Irish bardic poetry, historical and religious, including the historical poems of the duanaire in the Yellow Book of Lecan'', vol. 1 (introduction and text) and 2 (translation, notes, vocabulary), Dublin – a collection of 100 poems edited and translated by McKenna
* Osborn Bergin (1970, reprinted in 2003), ''Irish Bardic Poetry: Texts and Translations'', Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies – 66 poems edited and translated by Bergin (originally published in various journals) collected by David Greene and Fergus Kelly and published as a book together with Bergin’s lecture on ''Bardic Poetry'';
* [https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/ Bardic Poetry Database] – a searchable online collection of bardic poetry (contains most of bardic poetry published in 20th and 21st century, only original text, typically following the first edition available).

[[Category:Classical Gaelic]]
[[Category:Early Modern Irish]]
[[Category:Early Modern Gaelic]]

Old Irish/Guide to Old Irish spelling

2024-01-30T11:00:22Z

Silmeth:

Old (and Middle) Irish spelling is fairly non-intuitive to [[:Category:Irish|Modern Irish]] speakers, below are some guidelines to help one understand it a bit better.

Note on the phonemic transcription below – if the stress is not explicitly marked, it falls on the first syllable. Also, two vowels standing next to each other mean a diphthong, if they make a hiatus (multiple syllables), then they’re explicitly separated with {{IPA|⟨.⟩}}. The characters {{IPA|/ɸ/}} and {{IPA|/f/}} are used interchangeably and mean bilabial fricative, the same is true for {{IPA|/β/}} and {{IPA|/v/}}. The prime symbol {{IPA|⟨´⟩}} is used to mark slenderization/palatalization (thus {{IPA|/p´/}} means {{IPA|/pʲ/}} and {{IPA|/s´/}} denotes a consonant realized as something like {{IPA|[sʲ ~ ʃ]}}).

=== Consonants and marking lenition or lack of lenition ===

Old Irish orthography was based on Latin – as it was learnt by the Gaels from the Brythonic people – and British Latin pronunciation of that time had undergone basically the same processes as [[:Category:Welsh|Welsh]]. The spelling is unintuitive to Modern Irish speakers, as it is based on Brythonic lenition patterns.

* The spelling of ''initial'' consonants is easy – since initial consonants weren’t generally lenited (except for grammatical initial mutations), they are read as generally expected in Latin-based writing systems, initial ''b, d, g, p, t, c'' and ''m'' denote {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, p, t, k, m/}} respectively.
* Irish lenition of voiceless {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} is marked, as today, by ''h'' after them – ''ph, th, ch'' mean {{IPA|/ɸ ~ f, θ, x/}} respectively<ref name="bilabials">{{IPA|/ɸ/}} was a bilabial fricative but it’s sometimes written as {{IPA|/f/}} too, the same is true with regards to {{IPA|/β, β̃/}} and {{IPA|/v, ṽ/}}</ref>: ‘her cat’ is ''a catt'' {{IPA|/a ˈkat/}} but ‘his cat’ is ''a chatt'' {{IPA|/a ˈxat/}}.
* The consonants ''between vowels'' (and liquids like ''n, r, l'', and in coda after a vowel) are to be read ''as if'' they were lenited in Welsh, that means:
:* ''b, d, g, m'' in the middle of a word are fricatives {{IPA|/β ~ v, ð, ɣ, β̃ ~ ṽ/}}<ref name="bilabials"/>: the word ''rígain'' ‘queen’ is read {{IPA|/r´iːɣən´/}}, ''g'' between vowels denotes lenited {{IPA|/ɣ/}} – hence modern Irish {{color|green|''banríon''}}, classical and pre-reform ''(ban/bain)ríoghan'',
:* ''p, t, c'' are voiced {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ/}}: the word ''póc'' is read {{IPA|/poːɡ/}} and gives modern ''póg'',
:* medial {{IPA|/m/}} and voiceless {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} are often written doubled, so ''lomm'' {{IPA|/lom/}} ‘bare, naked, exact’, ''peccad'' {{IPA|/p´ekəð/}} ‘sin’, ''macc'' {{IPA|/mak/}} for ‘son’, ''catt'' {{IPA|/kat/}} for ‘cat’, etc. – but this is hardly consistent, often it’s ambiguous if some final or medial ''c'' means {{IPA|/ɡ/}} or {{IPA|/k/}} (and it’s more consistent in the middle of the word than word-finally), for example the word for ‘small’ is often written as ''becc'' with double ''cc'' even though it’s to be read {{IPA|/b´eɡ/}} (modern ''beag'').

'''Note:''' there is no way to mark lenition of ''initial'' voiced {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, m/}} – ‘his mother’ ⁊ ‘her mother’ are generally both ''a máth(a)ir'' – it’s either {{IPA|/a ˈmaːθər´/}} or {{IPA|/a ˈβ̃aːθər´/}} depending on meaning. But lenition of voiceless stops is marked consistently. And we know the voiced ones were lenited in the same positions from metrical clues (alliteration, rhyming, etc.).

The doubled non-lenited ''mm, ll, rr, nn'' are sometimes also written initially after unstressed words (like ''a'' ‘his, her’), so ''a mmáthair'' is unambiguously {{IPA|/a ˈmaːθər´/}} ‘her/their mother’ (but can be written ''a máthair'' too) – spelt as if it were a single word.

Lenited ''s'' and ''f'' are often marked with the [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punctum_delens#English ''punctum delens'']:<ref>''Punctum delens'' was originally used to indicate that a letter should be deleted (eg. because it was a typo), thus in Old Irish it was used to “delete” the ''f'' that became silent in a word, and similarly, since there was no letter for /h/, lenited ''s'' was treated as ''deleted''</ref> ''ṡ'' {{IPA|/h/}}, ''ḟ'' (no sound). The ''s'' from old *sw can also be lenited to {{IPA|/ɸ/}} written variously as ''f, ph, ṡ'' (so ''a fiur, a phiur, a ṡiur'' for {{IPA|/a ˈɸ´i.ur/}} ‘his sister’, from ''siur, siür'' {{IPA|/s´i.ur/}}).

These conventions are nicely presented by two forms of the name ''Patrick'' to be found in Old Irish – it was borrowed twice from Latin '''''Patricius''''':
* first is the older '''Cothriche, Cothrige''' {{IPA|/koθ´r´əɣ´e/}}, which continues something like {{IPA|[kʷaθrixijah]}} (phonemically {{IPA|/kʷatrikijas/}}, which would be written something like {{smallcaps|*qat(t)ric(c)ias}} in ogham) – the Gaels borrowed Latin {{IPA|/p/}} as {{IPA|/kʷ/}} as there was no native {{IPA|/p/}} phoneme in Primitive Irish, and the medial voiceless {{IPA|/t, k/}} were lenited to {{IPA|/θ, x/}}, the nominative ending {{IPA|/-ah/}} fell out due to apocope before Old Irish,
* later '''Pátraic''' {{IPA|/paːdrəɡ´/}} – notice ''t'' and ''c'' written like in Latin original but read voiced – that’s because it was borrowed in later times from British Latin with the Brythonic lenition, and this form is continued today in Irish ''Pádraig'' and Scottish Gaelic ''Pàdraig''.

=== Old Irish spelling and pronunciation of vowels (and marking of slender consonants) ===

Old and Middle Irish manuscripts aren’t ''very'' consistent in the way they write vowels, so below is a bit idealized overview picture – modern normalized editions generally follow these conventions.

OIr. had slender/broad consonant distinction similar to modern Irish or Sc. Gaelic, but it didn’t use the modern slender-with-slender, broad-with-broad orthographic rule to mark them.

There were 5 non-reduced phonemic vowel qualities in OIr.: {{IPA|/a, o, u, e, i/}} and they could be long or short – they were generally written down using their respective Latin alphabet characters. Long vowels either weren’t marked at all or had the acute accent (‘fada’) over them (á, ó, ú, é, í). OIr. also had quite a few diphthongs, more about them in a minute.

In stressed syllables<ref>most often the first syllable of the word, or in case of compound verbs commonly the second syllable – first after the first prefix (in modern normalized spelling often marked with a mid-high dot, eg. ''as·beir'' {{IPA|/asˈb´er´/}})
</ref> any vowel quality or a diphthong could occur. In unstressed syllable in the absolute end of a word any short vowel (but not long or diphthong) could occur. But in unstressed syllables between two consonants you may find either a long vowel, an {{IPA|/u/}}, or a short vowel that is ''completely determined'' by the quality of the surrounding consonants. Because of that Kim McCone and David Stifter postulate only two medial unstressed short vowel phonemes for Old Irish: {{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}}<ref>because the medial unstressed vowel is so consistently written, phonemic transcription for OIr. on Wiktionary doesn’t use the {{IPA|/ə/}} character and instead transcribes their full quality, eg. ''sacart'' is [ˈsaɡ'''a'''r͈t], ''beirid'' is [ˈbʲerʲ'''i'''ðʲ], ''légaid'' is {{IPA|/ˈl͈ʲeɣ'''i'''ðʲ/}} – Wiktionary here often (but not consistently) uses square brackets [] to mark it’s a “surface-phonemic” transcription, ie. it shows the surface value of the vowels even if phonologically you can treat all those vowels as a single {{IPA|/ə/}}; note that to get Stifter’s transcription it’s sufficient to change all non-''u'' short unstressed vowels followed by a consonant to {{IPA|/ə/}}; and vice versa, to restore the ‘surface’ vowel, enough to change {{IPA|/ə/}} to the corresponding written one</ref>.

Slender consonants in stressed syllables are followed by front vowels ''e'' or ''i'' (or diphthongs beginning in them), eg. ''ben'' {{IPA|/b´en/}} ‘woman, wife’.

If in an unstressed syllable {{IPA|/u/}} followed a slender consonant, it was written ''iu'', eg. ''lé(i)'''ciu'''d'' {{IPA|/L´eːɡ´uð/}} ‘letting’. If the word ends in a broad vowel {{IPA|/a/}} or {{IPA|/o/}} following a slender consonant, ''e'' is inserted between them: ''ní·lé(i)'''cea''''' {{IPA|/niːˈL´eːɡ´a/}} ‘may (s)he not leave’ (pres. subj.).

Before a slender consonant often (especially in the end of a word) an additional ''i'' was written, hence ''benn'' {{IPA|/b´eN/}} ‘peak, mountain’ (nom.sg.) vs ''beinn'' {{IPA|/b´eN´/}} (acc.sg.) – but this was not consistent, especially medially (if the vowel following the consonant showed its quality), hence ''léiciud'' or ''léciud''.

If {{IPA|/e/}} or {{IPA|/i/}} is the last vowel of a word, orthographical ''a'' might be added to mark the last consonant as broad, eg. ''daltae'' or ''dalte'' {{IPA|/daLte/}} ‘fosterling’, ''daltai'' or ''dalti'' {{IPA|/daLti/}} ‘fosterlings’.

If the final syllable is stressed (ie. generally in monosyllable words) and it ends in ''i'' or ''í'' followed by a consonant, it’s generally impossible to determine whether the consonant is broad or slender from orthography, eg. ''ríg'' can be either {{IPA|/R´iɣ´/}} (eg. acc.sg. of ''rí'' ‘king’) or {{IPA|/R´iɣ/}} (gen.sg. of ''rí'') depending on its grammatical function. (In classical and modern Irish ''o'' is inserted in such case before broad consonants, eg. ''mionn'' from OIr. ''mind'' {{IPA|/m´iNd/}} ‘diadem, insignia’.)

The ‘reduced vowel {{IPA|/ə/}}’ was written as:
* ''a'' between two broad consonants, eg. ''sac'''a'''rt'' {{IPA|/saɡəRd/}} ‘priest’,
* ''i'' between two slender consonants, eg. ''beir'''i'''d'' or ''ber'''i'''d'' {{IPA|/b´er´əð´/}} ‘(s)he carries’,
* ''e'' between a slender and a broad consonant, ''Goíd'''e'''lc'' {{IPA|/ɡoːi̯ð´əlɡ/}} ‘Gaelic, Old Irish’,
* ''ai'' or ''i'' between a broad and a slender consonant, eg. ''lég'''ai'''d'' or ''lég'''i'''d'' {{IPA|/L´eːɣəð´/}} ‘(s)he reads’, ''máth'''ai'''r, máth'''i'''r'' {{IPA|/maːθər´/}} ‘mother’,
* ''o'' or ''u'' when standing next to bilabial consonant (perhaps pronounced {{IPA|/u/}} then?): ''leb'''o'''r, leb'''u'''r, lebar'' {{IPA|/L´evər ~ L´evur/}} ‘book’, ''Conch'''o'''bar, Conchobor, Conchob'''u'''r'' {{IPA|/konxəvər ~ konxuvur/}} ‘Conchúr’.

Note that the spellings ''berid'' and ''légid'' are ambiguous (it’s not obvious if the ''r'' and ''g'' in them are slender or broad), thus in modern normalized spelling it’s common to use the unambiguous ''beirid'' and ''légaid''.

==== Diphthongs and hiatus ====

Old Irish had ''‘long’ diphthongs'' combining most vowels with either {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/u/}} – some of them merged early already in OIr. times, most merged eventually, and only ''ía'' and ''úa'' survived to modern day. The diphthongs are:

The three ''i''-diphthongs:
* {{IPA|/o(ː)i̯/}} written ''óe'' (before broad consonant) or ''oí'' (before either broad or slender), eg. ''óen, oín'' {{IPA|/oːi̯n/}} ‘one’, ''Goídelc'' {{IPA|/ɡoːi̯ð´əlɡ/}} ‘Gaelic, Old Irish’,
* {{IPA|/a(ː)i̯/}} written ''áe'' (before broad consonant) or ''aí'' (before broad or slender), eg. ''láech, laích'' {{IPA|/Laːi̯x/}} ‘hero’, genitive ''laích'' {{IPA|/Laːi̯x´/}} ‘hero’s, of hero’, ''máel, maíl'' {{IPA|/maːi̯l/}} ‘shorn, bald’, ''cáera, caíra'' {{IPA|/kaːi̯ra/}} ‘sheep’,
* {{IPA|/u(ː)i̯/}} written ''uí'', eg. ''druí'' {{IPA|/dRuːi̯/}} ‘druid, draoi’,
/oːi̯/ and {{IPA|/aːi̯/}} fell together fairly early, {{IPA|/uːi̯/}} merged with them too, so you get spellings like ''lóech, móel, draí'' too. In Classical Gaelic they all evolved into {{IPA|/əː/}} written as ''ao'' ~ ''áo'' and evolved differently in later languages<ref>something weird happened with this diphthong/vowel in the word ''Goídelc'', it was regularly ''G'''áoi'''dhealg, G'''aoi'''dhealg'' {{IPA|/ɡəːð´əlɡ ~ ɡəːɣ´əlɡ/}} in Classical Gaelic, but later evolved (irregularly?) into ''{{color|green|Gaeilg(e)}}, {{color|#00A0DA|Gàidhlig}}, {{color|red|Gaelg/Gailck}}''</ref>, hence in modern languages ''aon, laoch, laoich, maol, caora, draoi(dh)''.

''u''-diphthongs:
* {{IPA|/eːu̯/}} written ''éu'' or ''éo'', eg. ''béu, béo'' {{IPA|/b´eːu̯/}} ‘alive’, ''á éunu'' {{IPA|/aː ˈeːu̯nu/}} ‘o birds’ (vocative pl.), ''céol, céul'' {{IPA|/k´eːu̯l/}} ‘music’,
* {{IPA|/iːu̯/}} written ''íu'', eg. ''indíu'' {{IPA|/iN´ˈd´iːu̯/}} ‘today’, ''cíuil'' {{IPA|/k´i:u̯l´/}} ‘of music’ (gen.sg.),
* {{IPA|/oːu̯, aːu̯/}} written respectively ''óu'' and ''áo, áu'', eg. ''bóu'' {{IPA|/boːu̯/}} ‘of a cow’ (gen.sg. of ''bó'') and ''báo, báu'' {{IPA|baːu̯}} ‘of cows’ (gen.pl.) – these merged early with ''ó'', so the gen.sg. and gen.pl. both occur as just ''bó'' {{IPA|/boː/}} too,
The first two of them later moved towards long {{IPA|/(ʲ)oː/}} and {{IPA|/(ʲ)u/}} respectively, hence modern ''{{color|green|beo}}, {{color|#00A0DA|beò}}'' {{IPA|/b´oː, bjɔː/}}, ''{{color|green|ceol}}, {{color|#00A0DA|ceòl}}'' {{IPA|/k´oːl, k´ɔːl/}}, ''{{color|green|inniu}}, {{color|#00A0DA|an-diugh}}'' {{IPA|/əˈN´u(v), əN´ˈd´u/}}.

and the two ''a''-diphthongs which appeared from breaking of older ''*ē'' (before broad consonants) and ''*ō'', they survived to this day:
* {{IPA|/iːa̯/}} written ''ía'', eg. ''grían'' {{IPA|/g´R´iːa̯n/}} ‘sun’ (from earlier *grēna, cf. gen.sg. ''gréine'' {{IPA|/g´R´eːn´e/}}),
* {{IPA|/uːa̯/}} written ''úa'', eg. ''trúag'' {{IPA|/tRuːa̯ɣ/}} ‘sad’.

'''Note''' the placement of the ‘fada’ – in manuscripts the length mark could be written on either vowel, or not written at all (so ''maíl, mael, maél'', or ''láech, laich, láich, laích, loech, lóech'', etc. all are forms you can find written) – but modern editors generally place the length mark on the first vowel, except for diphthongs with ''i'' when the ''í'' always gets the ‘fada’. That’s to avoid ambiguity with ''i'' used to mark slenderization, compare eg. ''p'''ói'''ce'' {{IPA|/poːɡ´e/}} ‘of a kiss’ (gen.sg. of ''póc'') without a diphthong with ''G'''oí'''delc'' {{IPA|/ɡoːi̯ð´əlɡ/}}.

Also stressed short vowels {{IPA|/i, a, e/}} could merge with {{IPA|/u/}} to form short diphthongs:
* {{IPA|/iu̯/}} written ''iu'', eg. ''(oc) fiur'' {{IPA|/f´iu̯r/}} ‘(at) a man’ (dat.sg.),
* {{IPA|/au̯/}} written ''au'', eg. ''baullu'' {{IPA|/bau̯Lu/}} ‘members’ (acc.pl. of ''ball'' {{IPA|/baL/}}) – this early merged with {{IPA|/u/}}, hence also ''bullu'' {{IPA|/buLu/}},
* {{IPA|/eu̯/}} written ''eu, eo'', eg. ''(dond) euch, eoch'' {{IPA|/eu̯x/}} ‘(to the) horse’ (dat.sg. of ''ech'' {{IPA|/ex/}}).

But OIr. also allowed '''hiatus''', ie. two syllabic vowels standing next to each other, and most commonly two consecutive vowel signs next to each other mean that.
In modern editions often diaeresis (◌̈) is placed over the second one in this case, eg. ''fiach, fiäch'' {{IPA|/f´i.əx/}} ‘raven’, ''siur, siür'' {{IPA|/s´i.ur/}} ‘sister’, early ''oäc'' (often written as ''óac'') {{IPA|/o.əɡ/}} ‘young’ (later ''óc'' {{IPA|/oːɡ/}}), ''at·taat, at·taät'' {{IPA|/aˈta.əd/}} ‘they are’. Hiatus generally merged with long diphthongs in Ireland before MIr. but it stayed sometimes in Sc. Gaelic, hence eg. modern Sc. G. {{color|#00A0DA|''fitheach''}} {{IPA|/fi.əx/}}, {{color|#00A0DA|''piuthar''}} {{IPA|/pju.ər/}}<ref name="piuthar"></ref> vs Irish {{color|green|''fiach''}} {{IPA|/f´iːəx/}}, {{color|green|''siúr''}} {{IPA|/ʃuːr/}}.

Note that when no diaeresis is written, the spelling can be ambiguous, esp. if the second element is ''u'', eg. ''fiur'' can mean either monosyllabic {{IPA|/f´iu̯r/}} (‘man’, dat.sg.) or disyllabic {{IPA|/f´i.ur/}} (‘sister’, lenited ''siür''<ref name="fiur">this lenition of {{IPA|/s´/}} to {{IPA|/f´/}} happens because in earlier language this word had {{IPA|/sw-/}} (cf. eg. German '''''Schw'''ester'') which lenited first to {{IPA|/hw/}} and later yielded {{IPA|/f/}}</ref>). In unstressed syllable ''Ciu'' means {{IPA|/C´u/}}, as mentioned above (''léiciud'' {{IPA|/L´eːɡ´uð/}}).

{{#tag:ref|with {{IPA|/pj-/}} instead of {{IPA|/ʃ-/}} by analogical delenition of {{IPA|/f´-/}} in the OIr. lenited form ''fiür'' {{IPA|/f´i.ur/}}<ref name="fiur"/> as if from ''*piür, *phiür''|follow=piuthar}}

=== Footnotes ===
<references/>

[[Category:Old Irish]]