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I was asleep all night long

Bha mi nam chadal fad na h–oidhche

We first saw sentences with stative verbs at level A2 , for example: Tha mi nam chadal (I am asleep).

We use these verbs with the prepositional possessive na , which we saw earlier in the lesson with na dhèidh .

But we can also use nouns that describe a 'state' in the same way:

Chan eil daoine nan cabhag air an dùthaich mar a tha iad sa bhaile–mhòr.

People are not in a (‘their’) hurry in the country as they are in the city.

Tha gu leòr dhaoine nan èiginn taigh a lorg air an dùthaich.

Many people are desperate (‘in their crisis’) to find a house in the country.

Chan eil cus ùine agad nad thost 's tu nad chroitear.

You don't have too much time to rest (‘in your silence’, for peace and quiet) when you are a crofter.

Gnìomhairean staideach

Although referred to as gnìomhairean staideach (stative verbs) because they can be used with the prepositional possessive na to describe a state, we can use these verbs in standard active forms as well:

Chaidil mi fad na h–oidhche

I slept all night long

Bha mi nam chadal fad na h–oidhche

I was asleep all night long

Ruith mi dhachaigh

I ran home

Bha mi nam ruith nuair a thachair e

I was running when it happened

When used to describe a state like this, verbs take their verbal noun form , but for the verb dùisg we use the noun form nam dhùisg rather than the verbal noun dùsgadh .

We often use nouns in this structure to describe the state someone, or something is in:

nam ghurraban

in (my) crouch