Rach (irregular verb)

The irregular verb Rach means "to go". rach is one of 11 irregular verbs in Gaelic.

Summary of forms

• Independent forms of the verb rach are used without any particles.
• Dependent forms of the verb rach are used after an, nach, gun and other verbal particles.
• Unlike regular verbs, the dependent past tense particle do is never used with abair.

context			independent	Dependent
basic forms	active	past	chaidh	deach or deachaidh
		Future	thèid	tèid
		Relative Future	---	thèid
	impersonal1	past	chaidheas or rachar	deachas or d'rachar
		future	thèidear	tèidear
		relative future	---	thèidear
Conditional Mood	active		rachadh2 (rachainn1 in 1st sing) (rachamaid1 in 1 pl)
	impersonal		rachte or reighte or dheighte	rachte or d'reighte or deighte
Imperative Mood	2nd person	singular	technically Rach however thalla is more common	---
		plural	technically rachaibh however thallaibh' is more common1
verbal noun			dol

Notes:

• ¹ these forms are not used with any subject, they contain the subject in the inflection of the verb (Pro-Drop)
• ² takes tu rather than thu in the 2nd person.

Non Conditional Moods (indicative, interrogative, negative)

Active Voice

Past tense

	Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question	embedded
1	chaidh mi	an deach(aidh) mi	cha deach(aidh) mi	nach deach(aidh) mi	gun deach(aidh) mi
2	chaidh thu	an deach(aidh) thu	cha deach(aidh) thu	nach deach(aidh) thu	gun deach(aidh) thu
3 masc	chaidh e	an deach(aidh) e	cha deach(aidh) e	nach deach(aidh) e	gun deach(aidh) e
3 fem	chaidh i	an deach(aidh) i	cha deach(aidh) i	nach deach(aidh) i	gun deach(aidh) i
1 pl	chaidh sinn	an deach(aidh) sinn	cha deach(aidh) sinn	nach deach(aidh) sinn	gun deach(aidh) sinn
2 pl	chaidh sibh	an deach(aidh) sibh	cha deach(aidh) sibh	nach deach(aidh) sibh	gun deach(aidh) sibh
3 pl	chaidh iad	an deach(aidh) iad	cha deach(aidh) iad	nach deach(aidh) iad	gun deach(aidh) iad

Present tense

As is common in Gaelic, there is no present tense form of the verb. When a simple present meaning ("I say something") or a progressive meaning (I am saying something) is intended, the periphrastic construction is used with the present tense of the verb bi (be), i.e., tha, along with the verbal noun.

Tha	mi	a'	dol
be.pres	1s	prog	go
I'm going/I go

Future tense

The future tense in Gaelic is used to express the idea that an event will happen sometime after the speech time. Unlike English, the future tense can also be used with a present tense meaning, to express the idea that an action is habitual.

	Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question	Relative Future1
1	thèid mi	an tèid mi	cha tèid mi	nach tèid mi	a thèid mi
2	thèid thu	an tèid thu	cha tèid thu	nach tèid thu	a thèid thu
3 masc	thèid e	an tèid e	cha tèid e	nach tèid e	a thèid e
3 fem	thèid i	an tèid i	cha tèid i	nach tèid i	a thèid i
1 pl	thèid sinn	an tèid sinn	cha tèid sinn	nach tèid sinn	a thèid sinn
2 pl	thèid sibh	an tèid sibh	cha tèid sibh	nach tèid sibh	a thèid sibh
3 pl	thèid iad	an tèid iad	cha tèid iad	nach tèid iad	a thèid iad

Note:

1. the relative future is used after certain particles such as ma or the particle used with questions a.

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Impersonal/Passive Voice

Gaelic verbs don't technically have a Passive verb form. Instead the passive is typically represented through a periphrastic construction using the verbs Rach or Tha + the passive marker air. It does, however, have an impersonal form. The Impersonal is used to indicate an indeterminate subject. Rachar

Since go is an intransitive verb you'll never find these forms with a pronoun

Past tense

Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question
rachar chaidheas	an d'rachar an deachas	cha d'rachar cha deachas	nach d'rachar nach deachas

Present tense

The use of a passive in the present tense is odd, even in English. We leave this blank here.

Future tense

Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question	Relative Future1
thèidear	an tèidear	chan tèidear	nach tèidear	a thèidear

Notes

1. the relative future is used after certain particles such as a the particle used with questions, or ma "if".

Conditional Mood

Active

	Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question
1	rachainn1	an rachainn	cha rachainn	nach rachainn
2	rachadh tu2	an rachadh tu	cha rachadh tu	nach rachadh tu
3 masc	rachadh e	an rachadh e	cha rachadh e	nach rachadh e
3 fem	rachadh i	an rachadh i	cha rachadh i	nach rachadh i
1 pl	rachadh sinn (rachamaid3)	an rachadh sinn (an rachamaid3)	cha rachadh sinn (cha rachamaid3)	nach rachadh sinn (nach rachamaid3)
2 pl	rachadh sibh	an rachadh sibh	cha rachadh sibh	nach rachadh sibh
3 pl	rachadh iad	an rachadh iad	cha rachadh iad	nach rachadh iad

Notes:

1. The 1st person singular form is never used with an overt pronoun, the verb contains the pronoun already.
2. The pronoun tu is used here instead of thu
3. The 1st person plural has a special inflected form, which like the first person singular is never used with a pronoun. This 1st person plural form is rarely used anymore.

passive

!Declarative	Question	Negative	Negative Question
rachte reighte dheighte	an rachte an d'reighte an deighte	cha rachte cha d'reighte cha deighte	nach rachte nach d'reighte nach deighte

Imperative Mood

Rach is almost never used as the imperative of 'go'. Instead thalla (meaning "go away") is much more commonly used.

References

• Black, Ronald (2006) Cothrom Ionnsachaidh Peebles: Self-published.
• Byrne, Michel (2002) Gràmar na Gàidhlig. Eilean Leòdhais: Stòrlann-Acair.
• Deiseal Earranta tta (2006) Reference Cards: Sealbhairean Roimhearach/Riochdairean Roimhearach.
• Mark, Colin (2004) The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Am faclair Gàidhlig-Beurla. London: Routledge
• Mark, Colin (2006), Gaelic Verbs: Systemised and Simplified" 2nd Edition. Edinburgh: Steve Savage Publishers. http://www.savagepublishers.com/138.html
• Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. 2nd edition. Munich: Lingcom Europa