Little by Little Beag air Bheag
Introduction
Close the door!
In this unit you can learn some phrases which are useful around the house. You may get the chance to use some of them if you have Gaelic speaking friends or if you take Bed and Breakfast in a Gaelic-speaking household.
Listen to the audio examples on the following pages for some Gaelic expressions which you could use in conversation with family and friends. Then Test Yourself to see how much you have learnt. Come on in and get started!
In the house
Close the door!
In Unit 4 you might have met
ann which means 'in it'. The similar
anns an or anns a’ means
'in the'.
Tha mi anns an taigh - I am in the house.
Here are some useful phrases. Listen to them and try
to pick out the new words.
I am in the house.
Are you in the house?
It is a big house.
Chan eil telebhisean anns a' chidsin.
There's no television in the kitchen.
Where is the toilet?
Note that taigh beag (literally 'little house') actually means 'toilet'. However when we say 'in the toilet' the b at the beginning of beag changes to a 'v' sound and is spelt bh. This type of sound change is common in Gaelic and is called lenition. This is only one of the instances where lenition occurs. Look out for further examples later in the section.
A bheil Iain anns an taigh bheag?
Is John in the toilet?
Who was in the big house?
Note that when we say taigh mhòr, 'in the big house', the m at the beginning of mòr changes to a 'v' sound and is spelt mh. This type of sound change is common in Gaelic and is called lenition.
Come in
Close the door!
Cò bhios anns an taigh a-màireach?
Who will be in the house tomorrow?
Close the door!
Where are you?
Come in.
Now try the two conversation pages. They consist of different conversations so you should try them both.
Conversation 1
Listen to this conversation which uses the present tense.
Conversation 2
Listen to this second example which uses different tenses - looking into the future and to the past. Look out for an aspect of Gaelic which is similar to many other languages but different from English - nouns can be either masculine or feminine. If masculine they can be represented by the pronoun e, or 'he/him', and, if feminine, by the pronoun i, or 'she/her'. Uinneag (window) is feminine.
Conversation 1
Listen to the conversation:
- John:
- 'S e taigh mòr a th' agad an seo, Eilidh.
- This is a big house, Helen.
- (Lit. It's a big house you have here, Helen.)
- Helen:
- 'S e. Tha e mòr gu leòr.
- Yes. It is big enough.
- John:
- Chan eil an taigh agamsa Agamsa is the emphatic form of agam, meaning 'I have'. mòr idir. Tha e beag.
- My house isn't big at all. It's small.
- Helen:
- Cia mheud seòmar a th' ann?
- How many rooms are there?
- John:
- Tha sia. Trì seòmraichean-cadail, cidsin agus dà sheòmar eile.
- Six. Three bedrooms (lit. sleep rooms), a kitchen and two other rooms.
- Helen:
- Càit' a bheil na seòmraichean-cadail?
- Where are the bedrooms?
- John:
- Tha iad uile shuas an staidhre.
- They're all upstairs.
- Helen:
- A bheil telebhisean agad shuas an staidhre?
- Do you have a television upstairs?
- John:
- Tha. A bheil fear agad fhèin?
- Yes. Do you have one?
- (lit. Do you have one yourself?)
- Helen:
- Tha. Tha dà thelebhisean agam shuas an staidhre.
- Yes I have two televisions upstairs.
- John:
- Tha e blàth. Am fosgail mi an uinneag?
- It is warm. Will I open the window?
- Helen:
- Fosglaidh. Bidh e math leis an uinneag fosgailte.
- Yes. It will be good with the window open.
- John:
- An dùin mi an doras?
- Will I close the door?
- Helen:
- Dùin an doras, ach fosgail an uinneag. Suidh siòs.
- Close the door, but open the window. Sit down.
- John:
- Càit' an suidh mi?
- Where will I sit?
- Helen:
- Suidh aig a' bhòrd. Agus nì mi cupa tì.
- Sit at the table. And I'll make a cup of tea.
Conversation 2
In the conversation below, keep a look out for an aspect of Gaelic which is similar to many other languages but different from English - nouns can be either masculine or feminine. If masculine they can be represented by the pronoun e, or 'he/him', and, if feminine, by the pronoun i, or 'she/her'. Uinneag (window) is feminine.
Listen to the conversation:
- Malcolm:
- An robh thu anns an taigh an-dè, Anna?
- Were you in the house yesterday, Ann?
- Ann:
- Bha, a Chaluim. 'S e Disathairne a bh' ann. Bha mi anns an taigh fad an là.
- Yes, Malcolm. It was Saturday. I was in the house all day.
- Malcolm:
- An robh sin math?
- Was that good?
- Ann:
- Bha gu dearbh. Ach bha mi trang.
- It sure was. But I was busy.
- Malcolm:
- Dè bha thu a' dèanamh? An robh thu ag obair anns a' chidsin?
- What were you doing? Were you working in the kitchen?
- Ann:
- Bha. Ach cha robh mi a' dèanamh biadh.
- Yes. But I wasn't making food.
- Malcolm:
- Dè bha thu a' dèanamh, ma-thà?
- What were you doing, then?
- Ann:
- Bha mi a' peantadh a' bhalla seo.
- I was painting this wall.
- Malcolm:
- Tha e brèagha. Agus soilleir. A bheil e deiseil?
- It's nice. And bright. Is it finished?
- Ann:
- Chan eil fhathast. Bidh e deiseil a-màireach.
- Not yet. It'll be finished tomorrow.
- Malcolm:
- Càit' a bheil Catrìona? A bheil i shuas an staidhre?
- Where is Catherine? Is she upstairs?
- Ann:
- Chan eil. Tha i a-muigh. Thig i air ais feasgar.
- No. She's out. She'll be back this afternoon.
- (Lit: She'll come back this afternoon)
- Malcolm:
- A bheil i toilichte gu bheil dath ùr air a' bhalla?
- Is she pleased that the wall is a new colour?
- (lit. Is she happy there is a new colour on the wall)
- Ann:
- Tha. Agus bidh ise a' peantadh uinneagan a-màireach.
- Yes. And she'll be painting windows tomorrow.
- Malcolm:
- Dè an dath a bhios orra?
- What colour will they be?
- (lit. What colour will be on them?)
- Ann:
- Geal. Bidh na h-uinneagan geal
- White. The windows will be white.