Faigh (irregular verb)
The irregular verb Faigh means "to get". Faigh is one of 11 irregular verbs in Gaelic.
Contents
Summary of forms
- Independent forms of the verb Faigh are used without any particles.
- Dependent forms of the verb faigh are used after an, nach, gun and other verbal particles.
| context | independent | After Cha(n) | Dependent | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| basic forms | active | past | fhuair | d'fhuair | |
| Future | gheibh | fhaigh | faigh | ||
| Relative Future | --- | gheibh | |||
| impersonal | past | fhuaras/fhuaradh | d'fhuaras | ||
| future | gheibhear | fhaighear | faighear | ||
| relative future | --- | gheibhear | |||
| Conditional Mood | active | gheibheadh1 (gheibhinn2 in 1st sing) (gheibheamaid2 in 1st pl) |
fhaigheadh1 (fhaighinn2 in 1st sing) (fhaigheamaid2 in 1st pl) |
faigheadh1 (faighinn2 in 1st sing) (faigheamaid2 in 1st pl) | |
| impersonal | gheibhte | fhaighte | faighte | ||
| Imperative Mood | 1st person | singular | faigheam2,3 | --- | |
| plural | faigheamaid2,3 | ||||
| 2nd person | singular | faigh2 | |||
| plural | faighibh2 | ||||
| 3rd person | faigheadh e, i, iad3 | ||||
| verbal noun | faighinn/faotainn | ||||
Notes:
- 1 with the past tense, relative future and impersonal forms of this verb, the pronoun tu is used instead of thu
- 2 these forms are not used with any subject, they contain the subject in the inflection of the verb (Pro-Drop)
- 3 extremely rare/archaic.
Non Conditional Moods (indicative, interrogative, negative)
Active Voice
Past tense
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | embedded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fhuair mi | an d'fhuair mi | cha d'fhuair mi | nach d'fhuair mi | gun d'fhuair mi |
| 2 | Fhuair thu | an d'fhuair tu | cha d'fhuair tu | nach d'fhuair tu | gun d'fhuair tu |
| 3 masc | Fhuair e | an d'fhuair e | cha d'fhuair e | nach d'fhuair e | gun d'fhuair e |
| 3 fem | Fhuair i | an d'fhuair i | cha d'fhuair i | nach d'fhuair i | gun d'fhuair i |
| 1 pl | Fhuair sinn | an d'fhuair sinn | cha d'fhuair sinn | nach d'fhuair sinn | gun d'fhuair sinn |
| 2 pl | Fhuair sibh | an d'fhuair sibh | cha d'fhuair sibh | nach d'fhuair sibh | gun d'fhuair sibh |
| 3 pl | Fhuair iad | an d'fhuair iad | cha d'fhuair iad | nach d'fhuair iad | gun d'fhuair iAd |
Present tense
As is common in Gaelic, there is no present tense form of the verb. When a simple present meaning ("I get something") or a progressive meaning (I am getting something is intended, the periphrastic construction is used with the present tense of the verb bi (be), i.e., tha, along with the verbal noun.
Tha mi a' faighinn be.pres 1s prog get.vn I'm getting/I get
Future tense
The future tense in Gaelic is used to express the idea that an event will happen sometime after the speech time. Unlike English, the future tense can also be used with a present tense meaning, to express the idea that an action is habitual.
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | Relative Future1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gheibh mi | am faigh mi | chan fhaigh mi | nach faigh mi | a gheibh mi |
| 2 | gheibh thu | am faigh thu | chan fhaigh thu | nach faigh thu | a gheibh thu |
| 3 masc | gheibh e | am faigh e | chan fhaigh e | nach faigh e | a gheibh e |
| 3 fem | gheibh i | am faigh i | chan fhaigh i | nach faigh i | a gheibh i |
| 1 pl | gheibh sinn | am faigh sinn | chan fhaigh sinn | nach faigh sinn | a gheibh sinn |
| 2 pl | gheibh sibh | am faigh sibh | chan fhaigh sibh | nach faigh sibh | a gheibh sibh |
| 3 pl | gheibh iad | am faigh iad | chan fhaigh iad | nach faigh iad | a gheibh iad |
Note:
- the relative future is used after certain particles such as ma or the particle used with questions a.
Impersonal/Passive Voice
Gaelic verbs don't technically have a Passive verb form. Instead the passive is typically represented through a periphrastic construction using the verbs Rach or Tha + the passive marker air. It does, however, have an impersonal form. The Impersonal is used to indicate an indeterminate subject. fhuaras can be best translated as "someone got". Use of a pronoun is completely optional. So "fhuaras" is a completely well-formed sentence. When used with a pronoun, the pronoun represents the logical object of the verb. So "chualas mi" means "Someone heard me". This is often translated as "I was heard", hence the typical "passive" label.
Since Gaelic doesn't distinguish between subject and object pronouns (unlike it's sibling Modern Irish), it is very difficult to determine if these pronouns are subjects or objects. We list them here as if they were subjects, with the understanding that the pronouns in the following tables represent the logical objects of the verb (the person who was heard, not the hearer).
Past tense
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fhuaras mi | an d'fhuaras mi | cha d'fhuaras mi | nach d'fhuaras mi |
| 2 | fhuaras tu1 | an d'fhuaras tu | cha d'fhuaras tu | nach d'fhuaras tu |
| 3 masc | fhuaras e | an d'fhuaras e | cha d'fhuaras e | nach d'fhuaras e |
| 3 fem | fhuaras i | an d'fhuaras i | cha d'fhuaras i | nach d'fhuaras i |
| 1 pl | fhuaras sinn | an d'fhuaras sinn | cha d'fhuaras sinn | nach d'fhuaras sinn |
| 2 pl | fhuaras sibh | an d'fhuaras sibh | cha d'fhuaras sibh | nach d'fhuaras sibh |
| 3 pl | fhuaras iad | an d'fhuaras iad | cha d'fhuaras iad | nach d'fhuaras iad |
Notes:
- The pronoun tu is used here instead of thu
Present tense
The use of a passive in the present tense is odd, even in English. But if forced, one would use a passive periphrastic construction using the present tense of the verb bi followed by the derived subject followed by air and finally the verb in verbal noun form:
Tha mi air faighinn be.pres 1s passive got.vn "I am got"
Future tense
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | Relative Future1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gheibhear mi | am faighear mi | chan fhaighear mi | nach faighear mi | a gheibhear mi |
| 2 | gheibhear thu | am faighear thu | chan fhaighear thu | nach faighear thu | a gheibhear thu |
| 3 masc | gheibhear e | am faighear e | chan fhaighear e | nach faighear e | a gheibhear e |
| 3 fem | gheibhear i | am faighear i | chan fhaighear i | nach faighear i | a gheibhear i |
| 1 pl | gheibhear sinn | am faighear sinn | chan fhaighear sinn | nach faighear sinn | a gheibhear sinn |
| 2 | gheibhear sibh | am faighear sibh | chan fhaighear sibh | nach faighear sibh | a gheibhear sibh |
| 3 pl | gheibhear iad | am faighear iad | chan fhaighear iad | nach faighear iad | a gheibhear iad |
Notes
- the relative future is used after certain particles such as a the particle used with questions, or ma "if".
Conditional Mood
Active
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gheibhinn1 | am faighinn | chan fhaighinn | nach faighinn |
| 2 | gheibheadh tu2 | am faigheadh tu | chan fhaigheadh tu | nach faigheadh tu |
| 3 masc | gheibheadh e | am faigheadh e | chan fhaigheadh e | nach faigheadh e |
| 3 fem | gheibheadh i | am faigheadh i | chan fhaigheadh i | nach faigheadh i |
| 1 pl | gheibheadh sinn (gheibheamaid3) | am faigheadh sinn (am faigheamaid3) | chan fhaigheadh sinn (chan fhaigheamaid3) | nach faigheadh sinn (nach cluinneamaid3) |
| 2 pl | gheibheadh sibh | am faigheadh sibh | chan fhaigheadh sibh | nach faigheadh sibh |
| 3 pl | gheibheadh iad | am faigheadh iad | chan fhaigheadh iad | nach faigheadh iad |
Notes:
- The 1st person singular form is never used with an overt pronoun, the verb contains the pronoun already.
- The pronoun tu is used here instead of thu
- The 1st person plural has a special inflected form, which like the first person singular is never used with a pronoun. This 1st person plural form is rarely used anymore.
passive
The pronouns here are OBJECT pronouns, not subjects!! "I would be got" etc.
| Declarative | Question | Negative | Negative Question | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | chluinnte mi | am cluinnte mi | chan chluinnte mi | nach cluinnte mi |
| 2 | chluinnte thu | am cluinnte thu | chan chluinnte thu | nach cluinnte thu |
| 3 masc | chluinnte e | am cluinnte e | chan chluinnte e | nach cluinnte e |
| 3 fem | chluinnte i | am cluinnte i | chan chluinnte i | nach cluinnte i |
| 1 pl | chluinnte sinn | am cluinnte sinn | chan chluinnte sinn | nach cluinnte sinn |
| 2 pl | chluinnte sibh | am cluinnte sibh | chan chluinnte sibh | nach cluinnte sibh |
| 3 pl | chluinnte iad | am cluinnte iad | chan chluinnte iad | nach cluinnte iad |
Imperative Mood
The Imperative mood is used when giving a command. 2nd person imperatives are the most common. In English these are translated with by just the verb "Hear!". 1st and 3rd person imperatives translated loosely as "Let me hear", "let us hear", "let he/she/them hear". The 1st person plural and third person imperatives are the same as the conditional forms except without lenition
| person | form | |
|---|---|---|
| singular | 1 | cluinneam1 |
| 2 | cluinn1 | |
| 3 masc | cluinneadh e | |
| 3 fem | cluinneadh i | |
| plural | 1 | cluinneamaid1 |
| 2 | cluinnibh1 | |
| 3 | cluinneadh iad | |
Notes
- The 1st and 2nd person forms are used without subject pronouns.
References
- Black, Ronald (2006) Cothrom Ionnsachaidh Peebles: Self-published.
- Byrne, Michel (2002) Gràmar na Gàidhlig. Eilean Leòdhais: Stòrlann-Acair.
- Deiseal Earranta tta (2006) Reference Cards: Sealbhairean Roimhearach/Riochdairean Roimhearach.
- Mark, Colin (2004) The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Am faclair Gàidhlig-Beurla. London: Routledge
- Mark, Colin (2006), Gaelic Verbs: Systemised and Simplified" 2nd Edition. Edinburgh: Steve Savage Publishers. http://www.savagepublishers.com/138.html
- Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. 2nd edition. Munich: Lingcom Europa
