Prepositions

For a definition of preposition see the page Preposition (definition)

Gaelic has both simple prepositions and complex ones. In this article you'll find first a list of all the prepositions, then at the bottom you'll find some useful charts about how prepositions inflect for person and number.

List of Gaelic Simple Prepositions

• aig 'at' (does not lenite, takes dative case)
• air 'on' (does **not** lenite, takes dative case)
• ann an/ anns/ ann 'in' (ann an does not lenite and takes dative case)
• à/às 'out of'/'from' (as in place of national origin) (does **not** lenite, takes dative case)
• bho 'from' (as in source of movement) (lenite, takes dative case)
• chun 'to the' (in the sense of "as far as" but not "into" (can only be used with a definite noun, does not lenite, and takes genitive case)
• de (dhe^L/de^L) 'of/off' (lenite, takes dative case)
• do (do""^L) 'to/for' (lenite, takes dative case)
• fo (fo""^L) 'under' (lenite, takes dative case)
• eadar 'between' (does **not** lenite, takes accusative case)
• far 'off' (does not lenite, takes genitive case)
• gu (thun/chun) 'to' (gu does not lenite, takes dative case, gus lenite and takes XXX case)
• gun 'without' (lenite (except the dental sounds <d,t,n,l,r,s>). Depending upon the dialect it takes either dative or accusative case)
• le 'with' (does not [[[Lenition|lenite]], takes dative case)
• mar 'like'/'as'
• mu 'about' (lenite, takes dative case)
• o 'from' (lenite, takes dative case)
• rè 'during' (does not lenite (except when the object is a definite plural), and takes genitive case)
• ri 'to' (does not lenite, takes dative case)
• ro (roimh) 'before' (lenite, takes dative case)
• thar 'over'/'beyond' (does not [[[Lenition|lenite]], and takes genitive case)
• tharsainn 'across' (does not lenite, and takes genitive case)
• trìd 'through, on account of' (does not lenite, and takes genitive case)
• tro (troimh) 'through' (lenite, takes dative case)

List of Gaelic Complex and Compound Prepositions

(List taken from Mark 2004:686 and Lamb 2003:49)

• a chum 'for the purpose of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• a dh'ionnsaigh 'towards' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• a rèir 'according to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• a thaobh 'regarding' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitivecase)
• air cùlaibh 'behind' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• air feadh 'amongst' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• air muin 'on top of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• air sgàth 'for the sake of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• air son/airson 'for'/'because' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• air tòir ' in pursuit of (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• am fianais 'in the presence of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• am measg 'among' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an aghaidh 'against' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an àite 'in place of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an ceann 'within' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an coinneamh 'met with' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an coimeas ri 'compared to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• an dèidh 'after' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an làthair 'in the presence of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• an taca ri 'next to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• às aonais 'without' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• às eugmhais 'without' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• às leth 'on behalf of' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• às dèidh 'after' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• barrachd air 'in addition to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• ceangailte ri 'tied to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the accusative case)
• coltach ri 'similar to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the accusative case)
• còmhla ri 'along with' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• cuide ri 'along with' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• fa chomhair 'opposite' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• faisg air 'close to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• goirid air 'close to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• làmh ri 'next to', 'compared to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• maille ri 'along with' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• mu chomhair 'opposite' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• mu dheidhinn 'concerning' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• mu thimcheall 'regarding' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• mun cuairt 'around' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitivecase)
• mun cuairt air 'around" (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• os cionn 'above' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the genitive case)
• gu ruige 'as far as, up to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the accusative case)
• seachad air 'past' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• suas ri 'up to' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)
• thairis air 'across' (followed by a noun or noun phrase in the dative case)

List of Gaelic Adverbial Particles (intransitive prepositions)

• a-bhàn 'down', 'downwards'
• a-nìos 'up', 'upwards'

The Inflection of Simple Gaelic Prepositions

One rare property of Gaelic prepositions is that they inflect for person, number and gender when they take a pronoun as an object. In English you use two words: the preposition and the pronoun "to me", in Gaelic this is all bundled into one word "dhomh". Inflected prepositions never take a full object pronoun. So "*dhomh mi" is not well-formed. In addition many of the prepositions take special forms when coming before an article. For example, to say "from the", we use the form "bhon" (although bhon an is also possible). Similarly the preposition le becomes leis before the article. These two kinds of inflection are summarized in the first chart below. Much rarer (but frequently used in certain aspectual constructions) are forms of the preposition that inflect for a possessive pronoun. For example, to say "at my" we don't say "aig mo", instead " 'gam " is used. The inflection of the prepositions for possessive pronouns is given in the second chart.

Inflected Prepositions with object pronouns

singular	plural
1	2	3 masc	3 fem	1	2	3
aig	aig an	agam	agad	aige	aice	againn	agaibh	aca
air	air an	orm	ort	air	oirre	oirnn	oirbh	orra
ann	anns an	annam	annad	ann	innte	annainn	annaibh	annta
à	às an	asam	asad	às	aisde	asainn	asaibh	asda
bho	bhon	bhuam	bhuat	bhuaithe	bhuaipe	bhuainn	bhuaibh	bhuapa
de (dhe)	dhen	dhiom	dhiot	dheth	dhith	dhinn	dhibh	dhiubh
do	don	dhomh	dhut	dha	dhi	dhuinn	dhuibh	dhiabh
fo	fon	fodham	fodhad	fodha	foidhpe	fodhainn	fodhaibh	fodhpa
eadar	eadar an	--	--	--	--	eadarainn	eadaraibh	eatorra
	chun	chugam*	chugad	chuige	chuice	chugainn	chugaibh	chuca
gun	no special inflected forms
le	leis an	leam	leat	leis	leatha	leinn	leibh	leotha/leò
mar	no special inflected forms
mu	mun	umam	umad	uime	uimpe	umainn	umaibh	umpa
o	on	uam	uat	uaithe	uaipe	uainn	uaibh	uapa
rè	no special inflected forms
ri	ris an	rium	ruit	ris	rithe	ruinn	ruibh	riutha
ro (roimh)	ron	romham	romhad	roimh(e)	roimhpe	romhainn	romhaibh	romhpa
thar	thar an	tharam	tharad	thairis	thairte	tharainn	<tharaibh	tharta
trìd	no special inflected forms
tro (troimh)	tron	tromham	tromhad	troimhe	troimhpe	tromhainn	tromhaibh	tromhpa

• Note the chugam, chugad etc. forms are rarely used anymore, nor is the definite form thun

Inflected Prepositions with possessive pronouns

The 1st person singular, 2nd person singular and 3rd person singular masculine forms here trigger lenition (indicated with a superscript ""^{L""). 1st and 2nd person plurals trigger the prefixation of n- onto words beginning with vowels (nasalization), This is indicated with a superscript ""N"". the pronunciation of the a consonant following these and the 3rd person plural is also frequently voiced or nasalized. Finally the 3rd person feminine forms prefix an <h> onto words beginning with a vowel. This is indicated with ""H"". The superscript N, H, and L are not usually written out in the orthography of Gaelic and are presented here merely to remind you what InitialConsonant Initial Consonant Mutation is being triggered.}

Note: of the following only the possessive inflected forms of aig, ann, do and ri are in regular use. All the others quite rare or considered prescriptively inferior.

	singular				plural
	1	2	3 masc	3 fem	1	2	3
aig	'gamL	<center>'gadL	<center>'gaL	<center>'gaH	<center>'garN	<center>'gurN	<center>'gan
ann	<center>'namL	<center>'nadL	<center>'naL	<center>'naH	<center>'narN	<center>'nurN	<center>'nan
bho	<center>bhomL	<center>bhodL	<center>bho aL	<center>bho aH	<center>bhorN	<center>bhuN	<center>bhon
de (dhe)	<center>dhemL	<center>dhedL	<center>dhe aL	<center>dhe aH	<center>dhe arN	<center>dhe urN	<center>dhen
do	<center>domL/dhamL	<center>dodL/dhadL	<center>dhaL	<center>dhaH	<center>dor/dharN	<center>dhurN	<center>don/dhan
fo	<center>fomL	<center>fodL	<center>fo aL	<center>fo aH	<center>forN	<center>furN	<center>fon
gu	<center>gumL	<center>gudL	<center>gu aL	<center>gu aH	<center>garN	<center>gurN	<center>gun
le	<center>lemL	<center>led'L	<center>le aL	<center>le aH	<center>lerN	<center>lurN	<center>len
mu	<center>'mumL	<center>'mudL	<center>mu aL	<center>mu aH	<center>marN	<center>murN	<center>man
o	<center>omL	<center>odL	<center>o aL	<center>o aH	<center>orN	<center>urN	<center>on
ri	<center>rimL	<center>ridL	<center>ri aL	<center>ri aH	<center>ri arN	<center>ri urN	<center>rin
ro (roimh)	<center>romL	<center>rodL	<center>ro aL	<center>ro aH	<center>rorN	<center>rurN	<center>ron
tro (troimh)	<center>tromL	<center>trodL	<center>tro aL	<center>tro aH	<center>trorN	<center>trurN	<center>tron |} Note that the /n/ ending on the 3rd person plural will change to an <m> when the word precedes word beginning with , <m>, <f> and Any preposition not in the list above simply combines the normal preposition with the normal possessive pronoun (e.g. air mo" The Inflection of Complex Gaelic Prepositions Complex Prepositions that end in a simple preposition such as //còmhla ri// are inflected just like the simple preposition. Complex prepositions that end in a noun (and govern the genitive case) such as //air muin// are inflected differently. They are inflected uses in the posspron possessive pronouns, so "on top of him" would be //air a mheasg//. References -Mark, Colin (2004) The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Am faclair Gàidhlig-Beurla. London: Routledge -Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. 2nd edition. Munich: Lingcom Europa -Deiseal Earranta tta (2006) Reference Cards: Sealbhairean Roimhearach/Riochdairean Roimhearach.