Adverbs in Gaelic can be formed by using the inflectional morpheme 'gu,' or can follow a preposition. However, many Adverbs in Gaelic are non-inflected, and thus occur as fixed phrases.
Formation
Adverbs with 'gu'
Largest Group, Adjvective + gu = adverb
| Thuirt
|
Seamus
|
ris
|
gu
|
fuar
|
| say-PAST
|
Seamus
|
to him
|
ADV
|
cold
|
| 'Seamus said coldly.'
|
Furthermore, Adverbs can be intensified using "glè" (very), and "ro"'extremely:
| mòr
|
→
|
gu mòr
|
→
|
gu glè mòr
|
| 'great'
|
→
|
'greatly'
|
→
|
'very greatly'
|
| Thuirt
|
Seamus
|
ris
|
gu
|
glè
|
fuar
|
| say-PAST
|
Seamus
|
to him
|
ADV
|
very
|
cold
|
| 'Seamus said very coldly.'
|
Ones Formed using Prepositions
| air èiginn
|
'with difficulty'
|
air chall
|
'lost'
|
| fa sgaoil
|
'in dispersed fashion'
|
air seòl
|
'sailing'
|
| an làthair
|
'present'
|
aur iteal
|
'flying'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Time Adverbs
Present
| an ceart-uair
|
'just now'
|
a-nochd
|
'tonight'
|
| a-nis(d)
|
'now (contrastive)'
|
am bliadhna
|
'this year'
|
| an-dràsda
|
'now'
|
an-diugh
|
'today'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Past
| an-dè
|
'yesterday'
|
a-bhòn-dè
|
'day before yesterday'
|
| an uiridh
|
'last year'
|
an-raoir
|
'last night'
|
| a-bhòn-raoir
|
'now'
|
Mar-thà/Mu-thrath
|
'already'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Future
| an eara(i)r
|
'day after tomorrow'
|
gu sìorraidh
|
'for eternity'
|
| a-màireach
|
'tomorrow'
|
an ath-bliadhna
|
'next year'
|
| an ath-oidhch
|
'tomorrow night'
|
tuilleadh
|
'forever'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Indefinite
| an còmhnaidh
|
'always'
|
greis
|
'for a while'
|
| uaireannan
|
'sometimes'
|
fhathast
|
'still/yet'
|
| uaireigin
|
'sometime'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Direction and Location
| Location
|
Movement
|
English
|
| "shuas"
|
"suas"
|
'up'
|
| "shìos"
|
"sìos"
|
'down'
|
| "a-bhos"
|
"a-nall"
|
'over here
|
| "thall"
|
"a-null"
|
'over there'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Degree
Amplification, Emphasis, downtoning, and Hedges
Amplifiers
| gu lèir
|
'completely'
|
| gu mòr
|
'greatly'
|
| direach
|
'exactly'
|
| glè
|
'very'
|
| ro
|
'extremely'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Emphatics
| gu dearbh
|
'indeed'
|
| gu deimhinne
|
'with certaintly'
|
| gun teagamh
|
'without a doubt'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Downtoners
| gu ìre
|
'to an extent'
|
| gu ìre bheag
|
'to some extent'
|
| an ìre mhath
|
'sometimes'
|
(Lamb 2001)
Hedgess
| cha mhòr
|
'almost'
|
| 's dòcha
|
'perhaps'
|
| ma dh 'fhaoidte
|
'perhaps'
|
(Lamb 2001)
