Take a look at the following sentences:
‘S e seo am balach aig a bheil ceann goirt.
This is the boy who has a sore head/headache. [lit. This is the boy at whom is a sore head/headache]
B’ e siud an nighean air an robh a’ bhìoras.
That was the girl who had the virus. [lit. That was the girl on whom was the virus]
Nach i an tè air an robh falt purpaidh an–dè?
Isn’t she the woman who had purple hair yesterday? [lit. Isn’t she the woman on whom was purple hair]
Do you remember the clàsan (clauses) we saw in SpeakGaelic A2? We learned how to introduce clauses using a (who, which, that) and negative clauses with nach (who, which, that not). However, when we have a preposition in the clause, ‘on whom’, ‘to whom’, we need to use a clàs roimhearach (prepositional clause). You can see the prepositions and the dependent verb in these tables:
THA | A BHEIL? | BHA | AN ROBH? | BIDH | AM BI? |
… air a bheil … | … anns an robh … | … aig am bi … | |||
… air nach eil … | … anns nach robh … | … aig nach bi … |
TRÀTH CAITHTE | PAST TENSE | TRÀTH TEACHDAIL | FUTURE TENSE |
BHRUIDHINN | AN DO BHRUIDHINN? | BRUIDHNIDH | AM BRUIDHINN? |
… ris an do bhruidhinn … | … ris am bruidhinn … | ||
… ris nach do bhruidhinn … | … ris nach bruidhinn … | ||
DH’ÈIST | AN DO DH’ÈIST? | ÈISTIDH | AN ÈIST? |
… ris an do dh’èist … | … ris an èist … | ||
… ris nach do dh’èist … | … ris nach èist … | ||
CHOIMHEAD | AN DO CHOIMHEAD? | COIMHEADAIDH | AN COIMHEAD? |
… air an do choimhead … | … air an coimhead … | ||
… air nach do choimhead … | … air nach coimhead … |