Negation

Negation in Scottish Gaelic can occur at the clausal level, the constituent level, or at the word level.

Sentential Negation

At the sentence level, a negative particle precedes the entire clause:

CHAN signifies a negative, declarative clause.

Chan	eil	iad	gu math
NEG	are	they	well
'They are not well.'

NACH signifies a negative, interrogative clause.

Nach	eil	iad	gu math
NEG	are	they	well
'Are they not well?'

NA signifies a negative imperative sentence.

Na	ith
NEG	eat.imp
'Don't eat!'

Constituent Negation

The prepositions gun and as aonais are used to negate certain constituents:

duine	gun	chiall
a man	NEG	sense
'a man without sense'

as aonais	nan	each
NEG	the	horses
'without the horses'