Possessive Pronouns

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There are two ways to indicate possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their) in Gaelic. The first way, which is both more formal and indicates a close relationships between the possessor and the possessed item, uses a pronoun that comes before the noun. The second way, which can be used for a closer relationship (and is, in fact far more common) is to combine the use of a noun and an article followed by an inflected form of the preposition aig

Prenominal possessive pronouns

Gaelic has pronouns roughly equivalent to English my, your, his, her, etc. However these tend to only be used when the possession is of a particularly close or personal nature. For example, they are used with body parts (my arm), family members (my mother), and possession that is clearly ownership and not temporary.

Person Singular Plural
1 my moL our àrN
2 your doL your ùrN
3 masc his aL their an/am
3 feminine her aH

Notes:

  • L stands for lenition trigger, N stands for Eclipsis/nasalization trigger, H indicates the word prefixes an <h> in front of the following word. These letters are not written but are provided here as guides.
  • am is used instead of an in front of words beginning with any labial consonant (i.e. <b, m, f, p>), eg. their table am bòrd
  • before words beginning with vowels "mo" is reduced to mo', do is reduced to d', and aL his is deleted.

Examples

Before words beginning with consonants

  • my foot: mo chas
  • your foot: do chas
  • his foot: a chas
  • her foot: a cas
  • our feet: àr casan
  • your (pl) feet: ùr casan
  • their feet: an casan

Before words beginning with vowels

  • my father: m'athair
  • your father: d'athair
  • his father: athair
  • her father: a h-athair
  • our father: àr n-athair
  • your (pl) father: ùr n-athair
  • their father: an athair


Possessive Pronouns using Aig

To express a less close relationship between the possessor and the possessum, a combination of an article, a noun, and an accordingly inflected preposition, in this order, is used.

  • my cat: an cat agam
  • your cat: an cat agad
  • his cat: an cat aige
  • her cat: an cat aice
  • our cat: an cat againn
  • your (pl) cat: an cat agaibh
  • their cat: an cat aca

This pattern can also be used with full NP possessors:

  • Iain's Cat: an cat aig Iain"


See Also