The
last part of the aimsir ghnáthchaite
or past habitual tense concerns the irregular
verbs. In every one of these, the aimsir ghnáthchaite
derives directly from the present tense, with
the changes you are familiar with for first
conjugation verbs, such as dún or caith.
For
example:
Tar
has tagaim for "I come." "I used
to come" is thagainn. The rest of the forms
are: thagtá, thagadh sé, sí,
thagaimis, thagadh sibh, thagadís, thagtaí.
The negative begins with; ní thagainn.
The questions begin with: an dtagainn? nach
dtagainn?
For
the other briathra neamhrialta:
Téim,
I go. Théinn (HAY*-in), I used to go,;
théití, people used to go.
Feicim,
I see. D'fheicinn (DEK-in), I used to see, d'fheictí,
people used to see.
Cloisim,
I hear. Chloisinn (K*LISH-in), I used to hear,
chloistí, people used to hear.
Deirim,
I say. Deirinn (DER-in), I used to say, deirtí,
people used to say.
Déanim,
I do. Dhéanainn (YAY*N-in), I used to
do, dhéantaí, people used to do.
Beirim
air, I seize him. Bheirinn air, I used to seize
him, bheirtí air, people used to seize
him.
faighim,
I get. D'fhaighainn (DEYE-in), I used to get,
d'fhaightí (DEYE-tee), people used to
get.
Tugaim,
I give. Thugainn, (HUG-in), I used to give,
thugtaí, people used to give.
Ithim
(i-him), I eat. D'ithinn (di-hin), I used to
eat, d'ití, people used to eat.
Cleachtadh
leis an aimsir ghnáthchaite
Léigh
na habairtí seo leanas (LAN-uhs) agus
cum pictiúr i d'intinn faoin ghníomh
agus faoin ghníomhaire. Read the following
sentences and form a picture in your mind of
the action and of the agent.
Sílim
go dtéití ann sa samhradh. Ní
bhfaighinn airgead roimh (rev) an Aoine. Thagadh
sé abhaile tar éis an chluiche
(K*LI-he). Nach n-ithidís íasc?
An dtugadh sibh seanleabhair don ospidéal?
Chloistí go minic é sin. Cloisim
go bhfeicteá an múinteoir ar an
traein. Deireadh sí a paidreacha roimh
a naoi a chlog. Dhéanamis bábóga
sa mhonarcha sin.
Key:
I think that people used to go there in the
summer. I didn't used to get money before Friday.
He used to come home after the game. Didn't
they used to eat fish? Did you-all used to give
old books to the hospital? That used to be heard
often. I hear that you used to see the teacher
on the train. She used to say her prayers before
nine o'clock. We used to make dolls in that
factory.
Special
expressions; cora cainte
(KOH-ruh KEYEN-te) or idioms
In
Irish, as in every language, there are special
ways of expressing ideas that employ prepositions.
For example, in English, relying on someone
may become "counting on him." Or a
person may "live off" someone else.
"Ar"
(er) means "on" most of the time,
but it has other meanings. Here are some examples
of idiomatic use. Several you may have met already.
Tá
áthas (AW*-huhs) orm, I am happy. Cloisim
go mbíodh áthas ar Sheán,
I hear that Seán used to be happy.
Tá
fearg (FAR-ruhg) air, he is angry. Bheadh fearg
ar Mháire, dá mbeadh an bus mall,
Mary would be angry if the bus were late.
Tá
brón air, he is sad. Beidh brón
ar Sheán, Seán will be sad.
Tá
náire (NAW*-re) air, he is ashamed. Bhí
náire ar a iníon, his daughter
was ashamed.
Tá
amhras (OU-ruhs) air, he is doubtful. Bíonn
amhras ar mo mháthair, my mother is always
doubtful.
Tá
ionadh (OON-uh) air, he is surprised.
Bheadh
ionadh ar ár n-athair dá bhfeicfeadh
sé é seo, our father would be
surprised if he saw this.
Often,
the reason for the emotion must be added, to
tell what has caused it. With the expressions
above, except for "fearg", the word
faoi (fwee), meaning "under" follows.
Examples:
Tá
áthas orm faoin mbronntanas seo, I am
happy about this present.
An
bhfuil brón ort faoi do mhadra?, are
you sad about your dog?
Bheadh
amhras orm faoin droichead sin, I used to be
doubtful about that bridge, I used to have doubts
about that bridge.
An
mbeidh ionadh ort faoin bpraghas (breyes)?,
will you be surprised at the price?
With
fearg, a person is angry "with" something
or someone. For example: Bhí fearg orm
le Nóra, I was angry at (with) Nóra.
To
speak about fear, this is the form: Tá
eagla (AH-gluh) orm. Another form is: Tá
faitíos (FWAH-tees) orm. In Irish, one
is afraid "before" rather than "at".
Tá eagla orm roimh (rev) an mbus, I am
afraid of the bus, the bus frightens me. Tá
eagla orthu roimhe (REV-e). They are afraid
of him.
The
forms for roimh with the pronouns are:
romham
(ROH-uhm), before me
romhat
(ROH-uht), before you
roimhe
(REV-e), before him
roimpi
(REM-pee), before her
romhainn
(ROH-in), before us
romhaibh
(ROH-iv), before you-all
rompu
(ROHM-puh), before them
When
more explanation is needed, a sentence such
as: Tá eagla orm go bhfuil an doras dúnta,
I'm afraid that the door is closed, is typical.
Not
as close to English are:
Tá
bród orm as mo mhac, I am proud of my
son. In Irish, you are proud "out of",
rather than "of".
For
jealousy, the difference is even greater. Tá
éad orm leat, I am jealous of you. Bhíodh
éad air le Séamas, he used to
be jealous of Séamas.
Cleachtadh
leis na réamhfhocail
(RAY*V-oh-kil) (prepositions)
Feictear
dom go bhfuil amhras ar an ndochtúir
faoin othar (OH-huhr) sin. It seems to me that
the doctor has doubts about that patient.
Bheadh
áthas ar gach duine faoin aimsir, dá
mbeadh an ghrian amuigh. Everyone would be happy
about the weather if the sun were out.
Beidh
náire ort faoi do mhadra, you will be
ashamed of your dog.
Nach
mbíodh eagla ort roimh eitilt (E-tilt)?
Didn't you used to be afraid of flying?
Bhí
brón ar na héisteoirí faoi
bhás an cheoltóra sin. The listeners
were sad over the death of that musician.
Tá
fearg orm le Dóirín. Chuirfeadh
sí fearg ar dhuine ar bith. I am angry
at Dórín. She would make anyone
angry (put anger on anyone).
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