Irish: Lesson Ten
Habitual Present of "bi"
In addition to the normal present tense of "bi", which is "tá",
that verb also has something called a habitual present tense to describe
a state of being that extends over a period of time. For example, while
we would use "tá" to translate a sentence like "I am at home now",
we would use the habitual present to translate a sentence like "I work
nights" or "I am often at home on Monday":
| bím |
-- |
I tend to be |
| bíonn tú |
-- |
you tend to be |
| bíonn sé |
-- |
he tends to be |
| bíonn sí |
-- |
she tends to be |
| bímid |
-- |
we tend to be |
| bíonn sibh |
-- |
you tend to be |
| bíonn siad |
-- |
they tend to be |
This is often used with adverbs of time like "go minic" (often), "riamh"
(ever), "i gcónaí" (always), or "uaireanta" (sometimes),
or with days of the week like "(An) Luan" (Monday) or "(An) Aoine" (Friday):
| Bím anseo gach lá. |
-- |
I am here every day. (gach, "each") |
| Bíonn an bia go deas anseo. |
-- |
The food is good here. |
| Bímid sa bhaile ar an Luan. |
-- |
We are at home Mondays. (sa bhaile, "at home") |
| Bíonn sí tinn go minic. |
-- |
She is often sick. |
| Bíonn céilí anseo ar an Aoine. |
-- |
A ceilí is held here on Fridays. |
| Bíonn siad ag obair san oíche. |
-- |
They work nights. |
The negative is formed with "ní", which aspirates, and a question
asked with the eclipsing word "an":
Ní bhíonn ocras orm ar maidin.
I don't feel hungry in the morning.
An mbíonn an aimsir go breá i gCalifornia?
-- Is the weather nice in California?
Fortunately, "bí" is the only verb with a "present habitual"
tense. To express a present habitual action other verbs just use the simple
present tense.
Conditional of "bi"
The conditional of "bi" expresses what would be (if some other condition
were filled):
| bheinn |
-- |
I would be |
| bheifeá |
-- |
you would be |
| bheadh sé |
-- |
he would be |
| bheadh sí |
-- |
she would be |
| bheimis |
-- |
we would be |
| bheadh sibh |
-- |
you would be |
| bheidís |
-- |
they would be |
E.g.:
| Bheadh sé sin go deas. |
-- |
That would be nice. |
| Is minic a bheadh sé fliuch. |
-- |
It would often be wet. |
| An mbeifeá sásta leis sin? |
-- |
Would you be happy with that? |
| Ni bheinn. |
-- |
I wouldn't be. |
| An mbeadh toitín agat? |
-- |
Would you have a cigarette? (toitín [m.]) |
Past Passive
Also called the "past impersonal", this tense is used to describe action
that happened to something in the past, e.g. "the bicycle was stolen",
"the key was lost". To form this tense with a 1st conjugation verb, take
the root and add "-adh" to it (or "-eadh" if the last vowel in the root
is "e" or "i"). For 2nd conjugation verbs, chop off the "-igh" in the usual
manner and add "-íodh". When the subject of the sentence is a pronoun,
it tends to get pushed to the right by other elements in the sentence:
| tóg |
"build", "raise" |
| --> Tógadh i 1900 é. |
-- It was built in 1900. |
| --> Tógadh i nDoire mé. |
-- I was raised in Derry. |
| goid |
"steal" |
| --> Goideadh mo rothar. |
-- My bicycle was stolen. |
| bris |
"break" |
| --> Briseadh an fhuinneog. |
-- The window was broken. |
| bronn ar |
"award" |
| --> Bronnadh duais air. |
-- He was awarded a prize. (duais [f.], "prize, gift") |
| bunaigh |
"found, establish" |
| --> Bunaíodh i 1820 é. |
-- It was founded in 1820. |
| foilsigh |
"publish" |
| --> Foilsíodh "Ulysses" i 1922. |
-- "Ulysses" was published in 1922. |
An irregular verb worth mentioning here is the past impersonal of the
verb "beir" (bear), which is "rugadh" (was born):
| Rugadh i mBéal Feirste mé. |
-- |
I was born in Belfast. |
faoi
The preposition "faoi" has a number of meanings, most notably "below" or
"under" (when describing the position of an object -- e.g. "under my head"
or "below the stair") and "about" (when talking about something concerning
an object -- e.g. "about economics", "about the event" etc.) "Faoi" combines
with the definite article to form "faoin".
| faoin staighre |
-- |
under the stair |
| faoi bhrón |
-- |
sad (literally: "under sorrow") |
| faoi Nollaig |
-- |
around [or] about Christmas-time |
| leabhar faoi Londain |
-- |
a book about London |
The prepositional pronoun forms are:
| faoi |
+ |
mé |
= |
fúm |
| faoi |
+ |
tú |
= |
fút |
| faoi |
+ |
sé |
= |
faoi |
| faoi |
+ |
sí |
= |
fúithi |
| faoi |
+ |
muid |
= |
fúinn |
| faoi |
+ |
sibh |
= |
fúibh |
| faoi |
+ |
siad |
= |
fúthu |
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