We know the questions to ask to see how someone is, but how do we answer them? What do we need to know to express our pain in Gaelic? Let’s go!
A bheil thu tinn?
Are you sick?
A bheil sibh tinn?
Are you sick?
Dè tha ceàrr?
What’s wrong?
Dè tha ceàrr ort?
What’s wrong with you?
Dè tha ceàrr oirbh?
What’s wrong with you?
Here are two ways of answering this question. We can use the same type of answers that we give to ‘Ciamer a tha sibh?’.
Chan eil mi gu math
I am not good
Tha mi sgìth
I am tired
Tha mi tinn
I am sick
Tha mi bochd
I am poorly
Tha mi meadhanach
I am middling
You use this in the same context as the English phrase ‘I am not 100%’.
Tha mi cho sgìth ri seann chù
I am as tired as an old dog
In Gaelic, if someone is suffering from a physical ailment, we state that it is physically on them!
Tha … orm
I have …
Tha (an) cnatan orm
I have the cold
This literally translates as ‘The cold is upon me’.
Tha (an) dèideadh oirbh
You have toothache
Tha cur-na-mara oirnn
We are seasick
Tha ceann goirt orm
I have a sore head