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Grunn, dòrlach, meall agus dad

Several, a handful, a lump and anything

When we are learning quantifiers (nouns of quantity and number) in Gaelic, we need to learn the rules associated with each.

Grunn  is followed by the genitive (possessive) plural indefinite noun:

grunn bhàtaichean

a good number of boats

grunnan bheòthaichean

a small number of animals, a few animals

Meall, dòrlach and deannan, like mòran/beagan, are followed by the genitive (possessive) singular or plural indefinite noun:

meall mòr cloiche

a big lump of stone

dòrlach airgid

a handful of money

deannan bhriosgaidean

a (good) few biscuits, a small number of biscuits

Iomadh, gach and a h–uile are followed by the singular nominative (nominal) noun:

iomadh òran

many songs

gach latha

each day

a h–uile seachdain

every week

Finally, càil/dad/sìon/sgath (anything), and gin (any, a single one) are used in questions and negative sentences, without a noun:

Cha do rinn iad càil.

They didn’t do anything.

Chan innis e dad dhut.

He won’t tell you anything.

Cha d’ fhuair mise gin.

I didn’t get any (of them).

Am faigh thu gin?

Will you get any (of them)?

An do cheannaich iad càil?

Did they buy anything?

📑 This is important information! This page is well worth bookmarking. If you keep a notebook or notes file it is well worth keeping a note of this vocabulary and associated rules. 📚