Sentential possession
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Revision as of 11:39, 20 June 2009 by AndrewCarnie (talk | contribs)
Gaelic has no verb 'have' . Instead sentential possession is indicated by using the verb Bi (Tha, Bha, Beidh etc) followed by the possessed element followed by the preposition aig and then the possessor:
(1)
Tha | leabhar | aig | Calum |
Be.pres | book | at | Calum |
Calum has a book |
When the possessor is pronominal one of the inflected forms of aig (e.g. agam, agad, aige, etc.) is used:
(2)
Tha | leabhar | aige | |
Be.pres | book | at.3sm | |
He has a book |
Idioms using Tha ... agam
- Need: Tha feum agam dòl "I need to go"
- Love: Tha gaol agam ort "I love you
see also
- Genitive case
- Pronominal possession
- how to indicate the perfect (I have eaten): Viewpoint Aspect
- how to indicate obligation (I have to go/I need to go): Modality
- Idioms using Tha X aig Y structures: