Abair.ie Transcript on Substack https://julianatticus.substack.com/p/asking-a-question-in-the-present Eclipse/Urú · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUSfMcEx6Do How to PRONOUNCE ECLIPSIS, Gaeilge i mo chroí · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky8CQdg6Na8 Irish Eclipsis (Urú), Irish with Rosie Present Tense · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3cPnXPWG0 How to use the PRESENT TENSE in IRISH, Gaeilge i mo Chroí *** We’ve learned how to conjugate and negate the present tense, now we’ll move on to asking questions. To ask a question in the present tense, we use a word that signals a question. That word is “an,” or other question phrases (like who, where, when, etc). We will focus on “an” to form a simple question. An triggers the question in Irish, placed at the beginning of the sentence. The verb will follow “an”. The personal pronoun will follow the verb. · An + the conjugated verb+ the personal pronoun+ other An also triggers the urú, or eclipse, which we first encountered in the posession episode. Urú, like séimhiú, is an initial mutation. This means it changes the beginning of the word that follows it. Recall that only certain letters take an urú, and that the urú changes depending on the letter. Remember that urú will totally eclipse the letter it modifies, silencing it. · M eclipses b > ar an mbus (on the bus) · G eclipses c > ár gcat (our cat) · N eclipses d> naoí ndeoch (nine drinks) · D eclipses t> go dtí (to) · N eclipses g > Dún na nGall (Donegal) · B eclipses p> bhur bpáirc (y’all’s park) · Bh together eclipses f > go bhfuil (that is) · N- for vowels > ár n-athair (our father) So, to ask a simple question we will: 1. Begin the sentence with “an” 2. Conjugate the present tense verb 3. Add an urú to the present tense verb 4. Add our pronoun (the subject of the sentence) 5. Add any other elements of the sentence we may need, like places, direct objects, etc Example: · Let’s ask if she understands the question: o An o conjugate tuig, which is the verb for “to understand.” In the present tense this short and slender verb is conjugated as “tuigeann” o Identify the appropriate urú and add it. “D” is the urú for “t.” We have “dtuigeann” o Sí is the pronoun we use for she o “An cheist” means the question. It is feminine, so it gets a séimhiú following the definite article “the”. § “an” is both the definite article “the” as well as the question trigger. We know which we’re referring to by context, as well as other clues, like the presence of an urú or verb. o So this end result is: “An dtuigeann sí an cheist?” Does she understand the question. o How would you answer this? Think back to past episodes (answer will be at the end) The Verb Bí Bí is a highly irregular verb. When asking a question using bí, we must use a different, irregular form of the verb. That form is “bhfuil.” This form already has the urú attached to it. We call this the dependent form of the verb, because it cannot stand on its own, since it has a form of initial mutation. This verb form without the urú is not used. So for questions in the present tense with the verb bí: 1. “an” at the beginning of the sentence to indicate a question 2. Use the dependent present tense form of the verb, which is bhfuil. 3. The urú is already added to this form, there is no need to add it again. 4. Select the pronoun or subject 5. Add any other elements of the sentence needed. Example: · Is the dog alive? o An to trigger the question o The dependent form of bí: bhfuil. o No need to add an urú, as it’s already there. o The subject, an madra. Madra is masculine so there is no need to add a séimhiú after using “the” o Beo is the word for alive. o Here’s the end result: § An bhfuil an madra beo? o How would you answer this, both in the affirmative and negative? **Answers** Does she understand the question? An dtuigeann sí an cheist? Yes> Tuigeann sí/tuigeann No> Ní thuigeann sí/ní thuigeann Is the dog alive? An bhfuil an madra beo? Yes> Tá an madra beo/tá No> Níl an madra beo/níl
