Auxiliary Constructions

Substantive Auxiliary Constructions

Bha	Calum	ag	òl	uisge	beatha.
be.pst	Calum	asp	drinking	whiskey
'Calum was drinking whiskey.'

Tha	Calum	'na	thidsear.
be.pres	Calum	in.3sg.m	teacher
'Calum is a teacher.'

Tha	Calum	faiceallach.
be.pres	Calum	careful
'Calum is (being) careful.'

Tha	Calum	anns	a'bhùth.
be.pres	Calum	in	the shop
'Calum is in the shop.'

Inverted Copular Constructions

As indicated by the name of the construction, the word order is copular-predicate-subject. Copular-subject-predicate order is ungrammatical.

Is	mòr	an	duine	sin.
cop.pres	big	that	man
'That man is big.'

*Is	an	duine	sin	mòr.
cop.pres	that	man		big

Is	tidsear	Calum.
cop.pres	teacher	Calum
'Calum is a teacher.'

*Is	Calum	tidsear.
cop.pres	Calum	teacher

See Also

• Auxiliary (definition)
• Phrase (definition)
• Tense (definition)
• Aspect (definition)