Difference between revisions of "Beir (irregular verb)"

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(Impersonal/Passive Voice)
(Past tense)
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====Present tense====
 
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Revision as of 19:19, 1 August 2012

The irregular verb beir means "to catch" or "give birth". Beir is one of 11 irregular verbs in Gaelic.

Uses

  • can mean "bear"
  • Can mean give birth to
  • Rug + air "catch"/catch up

The verb beir is easily confused with the future and conditional independent forms of the verb thoir (i.e. bheir e He will take). They look similar, so watch out for these easily confused forms.

Summary of forms

  • Independent forms of the verb beir are used without any particles.
  • Dependent forms of the verb heir are used after an, nach, gun and other verbal particles (except cha).
  • Cha takes dependent forms but lenites the verb.


context independent After Cha Dependent
basic forms active past1 rug do rug
Future beiridh bheir beir
Relative Future1 --- bheireas1
impersonal1 past rugadh do rugadh
future beirear bheirear beirear
relative future --- bheirear
Conditional Mood active bheireadh1 (bheirinn2 in 1st singular) beireadh1 (beirinn2 in 1st sing)
impersonal bheirte beirte
Imperative Mood 2nd person singular beir2 ---
plural beiribh2
verbal noun beirsinn or breith

Notes:

  • 1 with the past tense, relative future and impersonal forms of this verb, the pronoun tu is used instead of thu
  • 2 these forms are not used with any subject, they contain the subject in the inflection of the verb (Pro-Drop)


Non Conditional Moods (indicative, interrogative, negative)

Active Voice

Past tense

Declarative Question Negative Negative Question embedded
1 rug mi an do rug mi cha chuala mi nach cuala mi gun cuala mi
2 rug thu an do rug thu cha do rug thu nach do rug thu gun do rug thu
3 masc rug e an do rug e cha do rug e nach do rug e gun do rug e
3 fem rug i an do rug i cha do rug i nach cuala i gun do rug i
1 pl rug sinn an do rug sinn cha chuala sinn nach do rug sinn gun do rug sinn
2 pl rug sibh an do rug sibh cha chuala sibh nach do rug sibh gun do rug sibh
3 pl rug iad an do rug iad cha do rug iad nach do rug iad gun do rug iAd

Present tense

As is common in Gaelic, there is no present tense form of the verb. When a simple present meaning ("I catch something") or a progressive meaning (I am catching 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' breith ...
be.pres 1s prog hear.vn
I'm catching/I catching ...


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 beiridh mi am beir mi cha beir mi nach beir mi a bheireas mi
2 beiridh tu2 am beir thu cha beir thu nach beir thu a bheireas tu2
3 masc beiridh e am beir e cha bheir e nach beir e a bheireas e
3 fem beiridh i am beir i cha bheir i nach beir i a bheireas i
1 pl beiridh sinn am beir sinn cha bheir sinn nach beir sinn a bheireas sinn
2 pl beiridh sibh am beir sibh cha bheir sibh nach beir sibh a bheireas sibh
3 pl beiridh iad am beir iad cha bheir iad nach beir iad a bheireas iad

Note:

  1. the relative future is used after certain particles such as ma or the particle used with questions a.
  2. Note that in the relative future the pronoun tu is used in lieu of thu.



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. Rugadh can be best translated as "someone caught". Use of a pronoun is completely optional. So "rugadh" is a completely well-formed sentence. When used with a pronoun, the pronoun represents the logical object of the verb. So "rugadh mi" means "I was born" or "someone birthed me"

Since Gaelic doesn't distinguish between subject and object pronouns (unlike it's sibling Modern Irish), it is very difficult to determine if these pronouns are subjects or objects. We list them here as if they were subjects, with the understanding that the pronouns in the following tables represent the logical objects of the verb (the person who was caught or born, not the catcher or the parent).

Past tense

Declarative Question Negative Negative Question
1 rugadh mi an do rugadh mi cha do rugadh mi nach do rugadh mi
2 rugadh tu1 an do rugadh tu cha do rugadh tu nach do rugadh tu
3 masc rugadh e an do rugadh e cha do rugadh e nach do rugadh e
3 fem rugadh i an do rugadh i cha do rugadh i nach do rugadh i
1 pl rugadh sinn an do rugadh sinn cha do rugadh sinn nach do rugadh sinn
2 pl rugadh sibh an do rugadh sibh cha do rugadh sibh nach do rugadh sibh
3 pl rugadh iad an do rugadh iad cha do rugadh iad nach do rugadh iad

Notes:

  1. The pronoun tu is used here instead of thu


Present tense

The use of a passive in the present tense is odd, even in English. But if forced, one would use a passive periphrastic construction using the present tense of the verb bi followed by the derived subject followed by air and finally the verb in verbal noun form:

Tha mi air cluinntinn
be.pres 1s passive hear.vn
"I am heard"


Future tense

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

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 chluinninn1 an cluinninn cha chluinninn nach cluinninn
2 chluinneadh tu2 an cluinneadh tu cha chluinneadh tu nach cluinneadh tu
3 masc chluinneadh e an cluinneadh e cha chluinneadh e nach cluinneadh e
3 fem chluinneadh i an cluinneadh i cha chluinneadh i nach cluinneadh i
1 pl chluinneadh sinn (chluinneamaid3) an cluinneadh sinn (an cluinneamaid3) cha chluinneadh sinn (cha chluinneamaid3) nach cluinneadh sinn (nach cluinneamaid3)
2 pl chluinneadh sibh an cluinneadh sibh cha chluinneadh sibh nach cluinneadh sibh
3 pl chluinneadh iad an cluinneadh iad cha chluinneadh iad nach cluinneadh 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
1 chluinnte mi an cluinnte mi cha chluinnte mi nach cluinnte mi
2 chluinnte thu an cluinnte thu cha chluinnte thu nach cluinnte thu
3 masc chluinnte e an cluinnte e cha chluinnte e nach cluinnte e
3 fem chluinnte i an cluinnte i cha chluinnte i nach cluinnte i
1 pl chluinnte sinn an cluinnte sinn cha chluinnte sinn nach cluinnte sinn
2 pl chluinnte sibh an cluinnte sibh cha chluinnte sibh nach cluinnte sibh
3 pl chluinnte iad an cluinnte iad cha chluinnte iad nach cluinnte iad


Imperative Mood

The Imperative mood is used when giving a command. 2nd person imperatives are the most common. In English these are translated with by just the verb "Hear!". 1st and 3rd person imperatives translated loosely as "Let me hear", "let us hear", "let he/she/them hear". The 1st person plural and third person imperatives are the same as the conditional forms except without lenition

person form
singular 1 cluinneam1
2 cluinn1
3 masc cluinneadh e
3 fem cluinneadh i
plural 1 cluinneamaid1
2 cluinnibh1
3 cluinneadh iad

Notes

  1. The 1st and 2nd person forms are used without subject pronouns.


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