Buntús na Gaeilge - People Fas Harvard - Harvard University

CEACHT A CEATHAIR / LESSON FOUR
house'). The substantive verb tá, on the other hand, is used to describe the subject:
Tá an teach mór The house is big.
§1.1. Tá and the Dependent Pronoun
The set of pronouns used with tá and any conjugated verb (hence `dependent pronouns') differs
slightly from the set we have learned so far, having sé, sí and siad in the third person singular and
plural instead of é, í and iad. The second person singular tú is never lenited after a conjugated verb.
Note that the form of the verb is the same for all persons: 17
The relative form of tá, which is used in many questions, is atá:
Cad é mar atá tú? How are you?
Cad é atá cearr leat? What's wrong with you?
§1.2. The Dependent Forms of the Substantive Verb
The substantive verb has distinct forms used with the negative and interrogative forms of the verb.
These we call the dependent forms.
Negative: níl
Interrogative: an bhfuil?
Neg. interrogative: nach bhfuil?
Where is: cá bhfuil?
tá mé U I am tá muid U we are
tá tú you are tá sibh you are
tá sé he is tá siad they are
tá sí she is
Interrogative Negative
an bhfuil mé? U am I? níl mé U I am not
an bhfuil tú? are you? níl tú you are not
an bhfuil sé? is he? níl sé he is not
an bhfuil sí? is she? níl sí she is not
an bhfuil muid? U are we? níl muid U we are not
an bhfuil sibh? are you? níl sibh you are not
an bhfuil siad? are they? níl siad they are not
17 Ulster Irish uses very few synthetic verb forms, i.e. those combining pronoun and verb to form a single word.
Synthetic verb forms are much more common in Connacht and particularly in Munster Irish. In these dialects,
synthetic verb forms are used in the 1sg. and pl. of the present tense: táim `I am'; táimid `we are'; an bhfuilim `am
I'; an bhfuilimid `are we'; nílim `I am not'; nílimid `we are not.' By contrast, in Ulster, the verbal system is
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