Relative Clauses

Relative clauses in Scottish Gaelic act as nominal modifiers such that they modify a noun and not a phrase. They always occur post-nominally and are headed by the relativiser a.

Relativization of the object of the preposition:

An	duine	a	bha	thu	ag	èisteachd	ris.
the	man	Wh-C	be.PST	2SG	PROG	listen.VN	to.3SG.M
'The man you were listening to'

Preposition fronting version of the above sentence (acceptable to Lewis and Uist speakers, variable for Skye speakers):

An	duine	ris	an	robh	thu	ag	èisteachd.
the	man	to.3SG.M	Wh-C	be.PST.DEP	2SG	PROG	listen.VN
'The man you were listening to'

See Also

• Clause (definition)
• Relative Clause (definition)
• Noun Phrases