Past tense of regular verbs
Past and future tense of regular verbs
Forming the past and future tenses of verbs in Gaelic is straightforward on the whole. If you know the root of a verb, then you can form other tenses.
The past tense
There are variations in the way verbs form the past tense. They can be looked at in the following way:
- To form the past tense of verbs beginning with a consonant insert an h after the first letter of the root, eg 诲丑霉颈苍. The three exceptions are verbs beginning with the letters l, n, or r. They do not require an h, eg laigh
- All verbs beginning with a vowel put dh' before the initial vowel to form the past tense, eg 诲丑虫27;貌濒
- Verbs which begin with f + vowel have dh' inserted before the f and have an h inserted after the f, eg fuirich becomes dh'fhuirich.
NB There are no verbs beginning with the letter h in Gaelic.
Examples
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
bris | break | bhris |
cuir | put | chuir |
诲霉颈苍 | close | 诲丑霉颈苍 |
gabh | take | ghabh |
mill | spoil | mhill |
辫貌蝉 | marry | 辫丑貌蝉 |
suidh | sit | shuidh |
tog | lift | thog |
Root | bris |
---|---|
Meaning | break |
Past tense | bhris |
Root | cuir |
---|---|
Meaning | put |
Past tense | chuir |
Root | 诲霉颈苍 |
---|---|
Meaning | close |
Past tense | 诲丑霉颈苍 |
Root | gabh |
---|---|
Meaning | take |
Past tense | ghabh |
Root | mill |
---|---|
Meaning | spoil |
Past tense | mhill |
Root | 辫貌蝉 |
---|---|
Meaning | marry |
Past tense | 辫丑貌蝉 |
Root | suidh |
---|---|
Meaning | sit |
Past tense | shuidh |
Root | tog |
---|---|
Meaning | lift |
Past tense | thog |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
las | light | las |
nigh | wash | nigh |
ruith | run | ruith |
Root | las |
---|---|
Meaning | light |
Past tense | las |
Root | nigh |
---|---|
Meaning | wash |
Past tense | nigh |
Root | ruith |
---|---|
Meaning | run |
Past tense | ruith |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
aithnich | know, recognise | dh'aithnich |
猫颈谤颈肠丑 | rise, get up | dh'猫颈谤颈肠丑 |
ith | eat | dh'ith |
貌濒 | drink | 诲丑虫27;貌濒 |
ullaich | prepare | dh'ullaich |
Root | aithnich |
---|---|
Meaning | know, recognise |
Past tense | dh'aithnich |
Root | 猫颈谤颈肠丑 |
---|---|
Meaning | rise, get up |
Past tense | dh'猫颈谤颈肠丑 |
Root | ith |
---|---|
Meaning | eat |
Past tense | dh'ith |
Root | 貌濒 |
---|---|
Meaning | drink |
Past tense | 诲丑虫27;貌濒 |
Root | ullaich |
---|---|
Meaning | prepare |
Past tense | dh'ullaich |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
fuirich | wait, stay | dh'fhuirich |
falaich | hide | dh'fhalaich |
faighnich | ask | dh'fhaighnich |
Root | fuirich |
---|---|
Meaning | wait, stay |
Past tense | dh'fhuirich |
Root | falaich |
---|---|
Meaning | hide |
Past tense | dh'fhalaich |
Root | faighnich |
---|---|
Meaning | ask |
Past tense | dh'fhaighnich |